It is Saturday night in Coral Springs, FL and I’m sitting in a motel room with Brody and his mother, sister, and mimi. As I sit and contemplate the past month my mind is reminded of the roller coaster ride it has been. The emotional ups and downs have been at times almost overwhelming. There is a grieving process that goes with this journey.  When the doctor told us in early December that Brody’s eye would probably need to come out, the grieving process began. It’s hard to explain. It wasn’t so much fear, or anxiety, but grief! It has seemed like a cloud hanging over us. It has been a tough month. But I am happy to say that the cloud has been lifted! God is so good! There are still many questions that are left unanswered and we still have not heard “cancer free,” but we have such a peace.

This weekend has been tough, but we are rejoicing in God’s strength through the battle. A good friend of ours messaged us with these true words: “Miracles coming, wonder how long it’s been since this number of praying folks were in one accord for one very special little boy and family!” Wow! So true! So many people have been praying, including many of you who are reading this message. We have heard from people praying from Africa, the Bahamas, Asia, and all over the U.S.A. It’s been incredible. The outpouring of prayer for our little warrior has been amazing. We are so humbled by the whole experience. Well I’m glad to say that God answered our prayers. Not exactly the way we were hoping, but we are convinced for the best.

When Dr. Murray examined Brody on Friday, he came out and reported to Casey that Brody’s condition had worsened. He said that the tumor was not only active again, but growing. He said we have no choice,the eye MUST come out. When Casey came out of the consultation she looked at me and Beth and said, “I guess we didn’t get our miracle.” That’s about all she could say at the time. The surgery went well and within a few hours the eye was out and headed for the lab and a pathology report. As we sat with Brody in the hospital, waiting for him to wake up, we talked. Together we agreed that the cloud had been lifted! We all felt such a sense of peace. We won’t have the pathology report for 2 weeks, but once again, we have peace. The report will tell us whether or not the cancer has spread into the optic nerve, but we have peace. We know that our Great God is in full control.

After the crisis moment passed, we all agreed that we did get our miracle. Brody’s eye was not healed, but we had our miracle. How so?

1)  Brody is alive and enjoying a game of UNO right now! He is laughing, joking, and wanting his eye patch off.

2)  God has miraculously provided financially. Through generous people, God has met our needs incredibly.

3)  God has unified Christans arround the world and brought us together for a common cause in prayer.

4)  God has made Himself known through Brody’s battle.

5)  God has brought a strong sense of unity and prayer to The Orchard! This church continues to blow me away!

6)  God has brought churches together! I think this is the way God intended church to be. Churches praying and working for common causes. The common cause in this case was a little boy with cancer.

7)  Our family has been so greatly encouraged, affirmed, edified, and blessed by our friends, family, and even people who don’t know us.

I could go on but I hope you get the point. We have our miracle. The miracle of grace! God’s grace has amply supplied, strengthened, sustained, protected, guided, guarded, comforted, and rescued us! To Him be the glory! It has not been easy, but God has been more than sufficient! It has been a painful process but we have truly learned that Peace is not the absence of pain, but the promise of His presence. The battle is far from over, but we continue to trust God from whom all blessings flow!

We love you and thank you for your prayerful support!

Pastor Eddie

We preparing to take the next step on Brody’s journey to good health. Brody has been bravely battling to keep his eye for a year and a half now. Read more..

Stable. That is the word used by Dr. Murray this morning. Brody went to Miami for his monthly EUA and laser treatment this morning and the word back from the Doctor was “stable.” Read more..

This week was a new adventure for Brody. Having finished the full body chemo (PTL!) it is now time to begin treatment that is targeted at the tumor on his eye. Casey and Beth took Brody to Miami on Monday not fully knowing what to expect. What had become routine was now changed. They pretty much knew what to expect before and while it was not pleasant, at least they knew what to expect. This week was different. Here is the new routine:  Tuesday – go to Dr. Fernandez’s office (oncologist) and get checked in to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Start pre-op and wait! Wednesday – surgical procedure. A neurosurgeon guides the placement of the chemo to aggressively attack the tumor on the eye. This procedure lasts for about 2 hours. Fortunately this chemo is not as hard on Brody. He is asleep for the procedure and not as violently ill afterwards. He did have some nausea due to anesthesia. Thursday – check out of JMH in the morning and head to the mall for a bit of a break! Not much of a break for a little boy I’m sure, but they did find a Bass Pro Shop with a great fish tank! On to the hotel for mom and mimi’s first night in a bed since Monday. Friday – EUA at Bascom Palmer. So far…everything is good and all is well. Brody is a bit weak and nauseated, but nothing like before. He eats good and plays well. Read more..

It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally I am overwhelmed by emotions. Last night was a special night for G-Daddy and Mimi. We had all five of our grandchildren at our house. It was very LOUD! We had the Wii going in the Living Room (entertaining Gage, Cash, John, G-Daddy, and Mimi – by the way, Mimi was a beast on the Wii!) and a combination of hide-and-seek and chase going on in the rest of the house. It was pretty wild and crazy…but wonderfully so! Only grandparents can understand that combination! When things quieted a little bit Brody wanted to go outside and look at the moon and the stars. He wanted me to hold him since it was pretty dark outside. As we stood on the deck gazing into the beautiful clear night sky he was amazed with the moon and stars, but my mind went back some 6 months. Read more..

As I write I am anxious to have my little warrior back home! It’s late on Saturday night and I am home. Brody is finishing up his 5th round of chemo and I know that he is worn out. The treatment really takes a lot out of his little body. He has been very sick for the past 30 hours or so, but is just now starting to feel a little better. I am praying that he will sleep well tonight which will be good for him and his mommy! Read more..

Brody had a great day today. Mimi kept him today and reported that he was in great form. For the most part, Brody acts like a normal two-year old boy, well, except for the bald head! During the days between treatments he does very well. He plays with his brother, sister, and cousins. He eats well, fusses at things that bothers him, and enjoys watching Scooby Doo. If it were not for his lack of hair and fair skin, you would be hard pressed to remember that he is still a very sick little boy. His blood counts are good today and he is enjoying a good day. Read more..

We are thanking God today for answered prayer! Brody went to Bascom Palmer yesterday (Friday) for his fourth Examination under anesthesia and is currently getting his fourth round of chemo. Finally…an encouraging word! We haven’t really had a lot of encouragement since Brody’s diagnosis back in July. The doctors were very cautious about everything. But today we had a breakthrough! Read more..

It’s been quite a day. I am sitting in my study looking out the window at the setting sun and reflecting on this special Lord’s Day. Our Worship Experience at The Orchard was once again the highlight of my week. Today is our 35th Wedding Anniversay and we were able to celebrate it with our children and grandchildren! All 5 grandchildren were with us in Church today and it was a true blessing. The entire worship experience was special, but the ending was extra-special. Read more..

It’s early Friday morning and Brody is at the Bascom Palmer Eye Clinic waiting for his EUA (Examination under anesthesia). The routine has now become comfortable, but something adds some discomfort for me this time…I am at home. I know this sounds strange, but I think it’s harder being at home than it is to be in Miami. As difficult as it is to watch Brody go through the “stuff” down there, it seems harder not being by his side and available if needed. I’m grateful that Brody has a strong mother and Mimi to be with him this weekend.

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We are finally home from Miami. We made good time with relatively little traffic. By the time we got home, Brody was doing pretty well. He didn’t get sick the entire day!!!! It was a long weekend, but mission accomplished. The war on the cancer in his little body continues!  2 rounds down and at least 6 more to go! We are all very tired. Glad tomorrow is a holiday! As I bring this day to an end the words to one of my favorite songs is ringing in my head:

“And if our God is for us, then who can be against us; and if our God is with us, then who can stand against! – Our God is greater! Our God is stronger! God You are higher than any other! Our God is healer, awesome in power, our God! Our God!”

Amen and Amen. Thank you again to all of our prayer warriors!

I am anxious to provide  an update on Brody’s most recent trip to Miami. It has been a difficult few days, but we did receive some good news. In truth, Brody’s condition hasn’t changed much, but all we needed was just a little thread of improvement…and we got it! Friday morning Brody had his EUA (Examination under Anesthesia). I must admit that I was hoping Dr. Murray would come out and say, “Wow! This is amazing! His cancer is so much better.” Well, it didn’t go exactly that way. What Dr. Murray did say is that Brody’s cancer is still very extensive and that he is still convinced that Brody will lose the eye. The good news is that Dr. Murray did say that he could see that the first round of chemo had done some good. It wasn’t much, but in this current darkness we sure needed that little ray of light! It also made facing  the second round of chemo a little easier. By the way, we are still praying that Brody doesn’t lose his eye. Read more..

We are off to Miami for the second round of chemo. Our feelings are mixed. We are sad that Brody has to go through all of this again, but we are glad that we are gaining ground on the enemy! We are trusting God for a good report from the Doctors in Miami. He will have an examination under anesthesia on Friday and start chemo immediately following the exam. We are remaining very sensitive to what God is doing and are so grateful for friends who are walking with us on this journey!

I received so many comments about the Messages that I shared with The Orchard regarding Brody’s sickness that we decided to put them on our website. We have since added several other messages, but if you are interested in hearing the messages, go to the video section and select the messages for August 1 and August 8.

Hope to have an update in a few days! Blessings!

I don’t know if it’s a fair comparison. It certainly is no thrill ride and I don’t want to give roller coasters a bad name. However, I have found that it is full of ups and downs and there are many scary curves along the way. At times you wonder if life is going to come off the tracks and the sudden drops can really turn your stomach upside down – so maybe it is fair to say that this thing that we call chemotherapy is like a roller coaster ride. Read more..

We knew the day was approaching and I somehow knew it would not be easy. Thinking about it now, it seems so shallow, so small, so insignificant, and yet somehow it is big. It’s not about looks; it’s not about fashion; it’s not about ego; it’s all about the cancer. I am talking about Brody’s loss of hair. I know what you are thinking…well that’s no big deal! I agree that it is of little significance to him. This two year old boy will be glad that he doesn’t have to have his hair brushed anymore! He will be glad to not have his hair get in his eyes! He will certainly enjoy being cooler!  So what’s the big deal? It is the continual reminder that he is battling a horrible disease known as cancer. It is the constant reminder that changes are occurring in his body that are risky, dangerous, and yet healing.  It is the constant reminder that your baby is fighting for his life! Read more..

Sometimes one just needs a change of pace so we decided to give it a try! Beth and I really wanted to spend some time with our grandchildren. It seemed like we had been so engrossed in all that was going on with Brody (and rightfully so), that we missed out on some time with the other grandchildren. The summer is about gone and we have not been able to enjoy spending time with them. We had spent two weeks in the Bahamas on a mission trip, another week at Student Camp, and then after only a few days, we got the news about Brody. We needed some time away with Gage, Allianna, Cash, and Ashlyn. So we called Casey and made arrangements to get Gage and Allianna and then called John and Angela to invite them to go along with us to Ocala! I know it doesn’t seem like much of a road trip, but we had a blast! Read more..

We hadn’t seen Brody all week. Since so much of our time had been spent with Brody, we really had not had a chance to spend much time with his brother and sister this summer. Gage and Allianna had been very excited about coming to spend a week or so with G-Daddy and Mimi this summer, but as it turned out, the week they were supposed to stay with us ended with us going to Miami for Brody’s treatments. Since then, we have really wanted to spend some time with Gage and Allianna so we went and got them this week and had a great week with them at our house. We played Wii, watched movies, and made crafts all week, but on Friday, we took them back home so that Gage could go to Football practice. Read more..

I think we were all nervous as we got in the car, pulled out of the motel parking lot and navigated our way down the expressway toward the Health Center complex. Ironically, the only one who was not nervous was Brody! We were headed for Bascom Palmer Eye Institute to meet Dr. Murray. Days before we had not heard of Bascom Palmer, Jackson memorial, or Dr. Murray, but everyone we talked with assured us that Dr. Murray was the specialist that we needed to see and that Bascom Palmer was the place to be. Thanks to Karen (my GPS guide) and my sun-pass - we made it to the clinic. Read more..

Occasionally something happens in my life that reminds me of my younger days when I really enjoyed playing ball. I remember well that feeling of having a knot in your stomach before pitching a big game. I remember the sweaty hands as I stood at the free throw line with and one and one and the outcome of the game at stake. I’ve known the tension of being up to bat with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the winning run on second base.  Those feelings all returned to me as I drove my wife, daughter, and Brody to Miami. There was a nervousness that brought back that knot in the stomach, sweaty hands,  and nervous tension. I can honestly say that I had a deep peace from God, but I must also honestly confess that it didn’t do away with the nervous feeling as we plunged into the unknown realm of cancer. Read more..

Every Sunday at The Orchard is special, but Sunday July 25 is one that will forever be etched into my mind and heart. It was the first time that we were with our church family after hearing about Brody’s cancer. Between Sunday and Wednesday, word had traveled around and many people already knew of his condition. However, many of our church family had not heard. The service that morning was powerful and clearly orchestrated by God. Read more..

The days following our discovery of Brody’s tumor were challenging. The toughest moment might have been the night that he came home from the visit at Shands. The pediatric ophthalmologist told Casey earlier that afternoon that she was convinced Brody had a tumor behind his right eye. She ordered tests and eventually ordered a CT scan that would have to be done a couple of days later. The Doctor would not offer a definitive diagnosis until she received the CT scan, but we knew that there was great concern because the Specialist at Shands immediately referred us to Dr. Murray in  Miami at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and made an appointment for the following Wednesday. Frankly we had never heard of Dr. Murray or the Bascom Palmer Institute, and I had only been to Miami a couple of times in my life. Read more..

It was a hot summer day that seemed like any other. Leaving the office to go home, I enjoyed the 15 minute drive home along the back roads that offer long stretches of road without traffic and most of all, peace and quiet. I was more excited than usual about getting home because I knew that my grandchildren were coming for a visit. Beth spent the day in Gainesville with our daughter Casey and her youngest son, Brody. Brody was to visit a pediatric ophthalmologist at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. The plan was to have Casey’s other children at our house for a few days and as always, I was anxious to see them.  We weren’t stressful about Brody’s visit to Shands so I’m not sure why Beth went with Casey, but I’m glad she did! I now realize that Beth’s decision to go with Casey to the eye doctor was a God thing! Read more..