Be encouraged, the Lord is with you and yours!

0
225

Content-Type: text/html; charset=”utf-8″

Dear family of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Good morning=
!!! May God Bless you and yours forever and ever! 

=

We have a Praise Report from Le=
slie! Her hubby Dave found a job! PRAISE GOD! 

=

Let us be encouraged more than ever this day in our LORD! 

God gave me a message at about 1:30am. He gave me=
an encouraging message to also give to my wife Sharon and our pa=
rtner Pastor Paul Holt. It was a message of confirming our work a=
nd of encouragement. It is such a blessing to hear from the Lord. I Preach =
and teach on this much. It comes from that close personal relationship I ke=
ep talking about. WOW! There is nothing like being stirred from being sound=
asleep by the Lord to receive a message. If you do not hear from=
the Lord I want to help you……..just email me or call me 505-681-0331. =
Praise God the phone has been ringing off the hook, people knowin=
g we make ourselves available for God’s Glory Alone! 
=

When 5am rolled around this devotional came from =
Ras Robinson…………

March 1, 2013. =
Practicing for the big race has been intense and quite a challenge. You hav=
e participated fully and that is good. Over time, the practices have been m=
ore challenging. Now they are becoming quite rewarding. Many quit at this s=
tage. But not you. It is within you not to fail. In fact, you hate failure.=
Others can endure it because they are not willing to pay the price to win.=
The Lord says unto you today, “Run, run, run. Run until it hurts so bad yo=
u cannot bear the pain. Then run some more. Every step you take is bringing=
you closer to the ultimate prize of winning. Keep the attitude and strong =
hope that the crown will be yours. I am with you all the way. Pick up the c=
ross, run with it.”
 
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NLT) Don’t=
you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the pri=
ze? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do =
it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.So=
I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline=
my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fe=
ar that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. Ras Robinson

AMEN!!!!!&nb=
sp;

Can you beli=
eve it is already March 1st!!???! WOW! 

FGGAM is 6 m=
onth’s young this month! PRAISE GOD! 

God was showing me this morning=
that He is pleased with the work we are doing. He is pleased with the team=
we are building at FGGAM. Yesterday Pastor Mark Tross posted his first art=
icle on our web site: 
http://www.fggam.org/whats-wrong-=
with-new-mexico/ ;
 Ch=
ristian Attorney David Standridge has joined our team and will be posting s=
oon. The Lord has directed us to have the site for encouragement and b=
ringing the news Christians need to know. News that in most cases will=
not be reported in the secular media. We are to be salt and Ligh=
t.

FGGAM bringing the light of Jesus Chr=
ist to the world…..one person at a time through Preaching, Teaching, Revi=
val, Counseling, The Daily CUP, TV, Radio, and our web site. 

Have heard from many of you that you are helping sp=
read the word about the Ministry, thank you so much in helping us build awa=
reness as we are to be a resource for God’s people and you are helping get =
the word out! This is all for God’s Glory Alone…….it is all about our L=
ord Jesus Christ and the mission He has given us! The most important missio=
n! 

This Saturda=
y Jerry is with us……….

 Jerry Chavez of the ARK organization shares his tremendous te=
stimony and all about this years Kingdom Awards
. Airs this Sat Mar=
ch 2 on KAZQ CH 32 Great message from Jerry! You will be blessed my his message!

The followin=
g story will touch you……………

NY Mets catcher Landon Powell reveals how rare dis=
ease, Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH, led to death of infa=
nt daughter Izzy Trying to earn a job with the M=
ets, the 30-year-old opens up about Izzy’s disease with the hopes of raisin=
g awareness for Donors on the Diamond, the foundation he formed with his wi=
fe, Ally, and the importance of organ donation.BY ANDY MARTINO / NEW YORK D=
AILY NEWSPUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013, 5:50 PMUPDATED: W=
EDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013, 6:34 PM
HOWAR=
D SIMMONS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSLandon Powell and his wife Ally weren=E2=80=99t expecting a new addi=
tion to their family, let alone twins, when they found out they were pregna=
nt last spring.

PORT ST. LUCIE – The baby girl was supposed to have died six =
days before, when her heart stopped three times in one night, and her paren=
ts heard the worst words imaginable:
“Your daughter is going to die,” the doctor said then of Izzy=
Powell, born with her twin sister Ellie just four months earlier.
They wanted to hold her one more time. The dad was Landon Pow=
ell, a 30-year-old catcher new to the Mets; he stood while his wife Allyson=
rocked in a chair with Izzy.
What had this child endured? More than 70 transfusions, 14 su=
rgeries, eight weeks of chemo, four or five spinal taps, a liver biopsy, a =
skin biopsy, and a bone marrow biopsy. Ribs cracked from the inside by a li=
ver that inflated large enough to squeeze her lungs.
Now, when she was supposed to be slipping away, Izzy only roc=
ked and breathed with her mommy. For 24 hours, they sat in that chair.

When mom finally needed sleep, Landon took over. A few times,=
Izzy opened her eyes, flashing what always struck Ally as the peace and wi=
sdom of a much older person.
Mom and dad spent six days begging for more time with this ch=
ild who was leaving. But this was something they could not change, or decid=
e, and it happened on Jan. 25.
“I held Izzy tight in my arms,” Landon recalls just one month=
later, hands on his knees in the Mets’ dugout at eight in the morning, sob=
bing.
“We just talked to her, and prayed, and she passed away.”

***
How is it possible to tell this story, when it is so raw and =
new, when you are trying to make a ballclub, and remain whole for your two =
children?
In ripping off this Band-Aid so soon, the Powells can bring a=
ttention to Donate Life, an organization that builds awareness for organ do=
nation, and Donors on the Diamond, their own charity devoted to that cause =
(Izzy became an organ donor after she died).
Ally explains it like this:
“It was always like she had a purpose, and she was comfortabl=
e with it. She was the toughest little baby I have ever seen. I am so glad =
she came into our life, and we owe it to her to not just let this go.”

It is also a matter of faith. You hear about church a lot in =
sports, in references often wrapped in cliche, but this family’s relationsh=
ip with their God is private, deeply felt, and essential.
“She was a child who was sent here, we believe, with a divine=
purpose of showing people how much faith can do,” Landon says, citing the =
nearly 40,000 likes on the Prayers for Izzy Facebook page, and the way his =
certainty about heaven saved him from the darkest corners of grief.
“Honestly, people can believe what they want to believe,” he =
says. “I’m not trying to force my religion on anybody. That is just what I =
felt. If I didn’t have that relationship with God, I would not have made it=
through this.”
So, for all these reasons – for Izzy and her twin sister Elli=
e and three-year-old brother Holden, for organ donation awareness and for G=
od and for you, if you’re a parent and need to be reminded sometimes how lu=
cky you are, and how wobbly it all is – the Powells want to tell you what h=
appened.
***
The girl began as a miracle, popping up on an ultrasound scre=
en where she didn’t belong.
Ally wasn’t even supposed to be pregnant again, not after Lan=
don learned in 2009 that he had autoimmune hepatitis, a condition that migh=
t eventually require him to undergo a liver transplant. This can be a hered=
itary condition, but a definitive link was never established between it and=
the rare disease that killed Izzy.
Some positive action came of this, as Landon founded Donors o=
n the Diamond. But his medication made it nearly impossible to conceive, an=
d after almost a year of fertility treatments, doctors told the Powells tha=
t their family would probably not grow again.
Then, while Landon was in his final spring training with the =
Oakland A’s, the organization that made him a first-round draft pick in 200=
4 and valued him for years as a top defensive backup, Ally got pregnant – a=
nd so began the couple’s nearly yearlong rotation of joy, confusion and pai=
n.
At the first ultrasound, there was only one heartbeat. The se=
cond time, at eight weeks, there was one baby, and a second sack, this one =
empty. Doctors told Ally it was a “vanishing twin.”
“It will go away,” they told her. “There is actually no baby =
there.”
At the twelve-week ultrasound, there were two babies and two =
heartbeats.
“We just don’t understand this,” they told her. “It doesn’t m=
ake sense.”
Landon says the the doctors never knew “why that heartbeat di=
dn’t develop until that late in the pregnancy. She was kind of a miracle fr=
om the beginning.”
The rest of the pregnancy was quiet, with no signs of distres=
s for mother or twins. On Sept. 10 of last year, when Landon had finished t=
he minor league season and was home in Greenville, S.C., Ally went into lab=
or six weeks early.
The five-pound, three-ounce Powell who outraced her sister be=
came Ellie. Moments later, Isabel arrived at four pounds, two ounces. She s=
eemed like an Izzy.
The girls were premature, but in no extra or unusual distress=
, and their parents were able to enjoy that throbbing, whooping high that o=
nly comes when your babies join you in the world.
***
The doctors were first to notice the faint rash on Izzy’s bod=
y. If Landon and Ally were concerned about anyone, it was Ellie, who had lo=
st some weight and wasn’t taking her bottle. Izzy was eating, breathing wit=
hout oxygen support, and looking healthy.
When she went for tests at two days old, it didn’t seem parti=
cularly alarming – but from that moment, there was no more peace. Izzy’s pl=
atelets were low and her liver levels high, an ominous combination for prem=
ature babies.
The first suspect was cytomegalovirus, or CMV, which can lead=
to hearing loss. That was enough to freak out the new parents, but three d=
ays later, the tests came back clear.
While Landon and Ally were still sinking back into their chai=
rs, relieved, the doctor said, “This is good, but now we have to figure out=
what she does have.”
Landon an=
d Ally Powell with twins Izzy and Ellie.
RELATED: METS’ MINOR LEAGUE CA=
TCHER’S DAUGHTER DIES
Three weeks passed. Ellie grew stronger and went home, while =
Izzy’s rash intensified, her condition a building source of mystery and fea=
r. Landon and Ally entered a natural rhythm of trading strength and anxiety=
, of picking each other up. This was no longer a simple time, or a happy on=
e.
Landon’s first breakdown came when he was driving home from t=
he hospital one night, the tears arriving in a flash flood that forced him =
to pull over and call Ally.
“I just don’t want to be alone right now,” he said. “I can’t =
stop crying.”
This was Ally’s day to be solid. “We’ll get her healthy, we’r=
e get her home, everything will be fine,” she told him.
***
It was around this time that the hospital in Greenville conce=
ded.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” they told the parents.=
“We don’t know what it is.”
Doctors there had one final suggestion: Hemophagocytic lympho=
histiocytosis, or HLH. The hereditary condition was so rare, they told the =
Powells, that of the approximately four million babies born in the United S=
tates each year, eight or nine had HLH. Eight or nine.
In the simplest terms, a person with HLH has a wildly aggress=
ive immune system, so aggressive that it fights off healthy cells, too. For=
a baby, a bone marrow transplant is the only escape.
“Her body was just attacking all her cells, and trying to kil=
l her from the inside out,” Landon says. “Her immune system just went from =
zero to 60 to 100 to 400, and it just wouldn’t stop.”
They transported Izzy by medevac from Greenville to the Cinci=
nnati Children’s Hospital, the best facility available for the treatment of=
HLH. Dad went along in the helicopter, while mom had to stay home with Hol=
den and Ellie.
If Landon lives another 60 years, he might not see anything a=
s wrenching as when Ally loaded her baby into the ambulance, and watched he=
r family split.
***
As fall became winter, Landon and Ally commuted from Greenvil=
le to Cincy, parenting in ways they had never imagined.
“I’m having to sit with her in the hospital all day and try t=
o love on her, hold her hand and let her know she’s not alone,” Landon reme=
mbers.
Through the holidays and into January, their fear grew into h=
ope. The chemo was working, and Izzy’s HLH, went into remission. They found=
a willing bone marrow donor.
Then Izzy’s liver began to expand. It pressured her lungs and=
cracked her ribs. The doctors did not know why, but they knew that the bab=
y could no longer breath without life support.
On Saturday, Jan. 19, the Powells had just pulled into their =
home in Greenville from Cincinnati when the hospital called.
“She’s really struggling,” they were told. “If we call you, w=
e might need you guys to get in the car and come.”
They packed a bag and watched their phones. The call came wit=
hin an hour.
From 10 at night until four in the morning, Landon and Ally d=
rove. They talked, and cried, and listened to music. Ally slept. They were =
terrified, but did not believe they were traveling to watch their child die=
.
“With our faith we just felt like, she was this miracle baby =
who all of a sudden, at 12 weeks old, appeared in my wife’s womb,” Landon s=
ays. “She has 40,000 people praying for her on Facebook, people who have vo=
iced that their spiritual walk has strengthened because of this girl and ho=
w she is fighting.
“All these great things are happening because of this little =
girl and her struggle, so why would God make her just to die? If he is goin=
g to do all this, and make these miracles happen for her life, then we felt=
like it had to have a positive outcome.”
They did not yet realize how the story was supposed to go, th=
at Izzy’s time here was about to end, that she had accomplished what she co=
uld, and was ready to move on.
After those six days in the rocking chair, which ended when I=
zzy passed, Landon learned another way to see it:
“We prayed for God to heal her, and he did heal her – just no=
t in the way we thought,” he says.
***
Landon Powell is finished with his story now. He is still sit=
ting in the dugout, massive backstop hands pressing on his knees, jaw tight=
and eyes full.
“You know, ultimately, earth sucks, in my opinion,” he says, =
staring down the Florida sun.
“The time we have here is nothing compared to what we have in=
heaven, and I’m looking forward to that day, that I get to go there and be=
perfect, and have a perfect world and a perfect life.”
This is why he can tell his story, and compete for the backup=
catcher job, and smile for Holden and Ellie, and lift up his wife when she=
needs it. The belief that Izzy brought good to this world and has moved on=
to a better one – some will accept it, some will not, but there is no ques=
tion for the Powells.
“I believe she is there right now singing and dancing and twi=
rling,” Landon says. “I look forward to seeing her again one day.”
***
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Landon and Allyson Powell founded Donors on the Diamond, an o=
rganization that raises funds and awareness for organ donation. They partne=
r with Donate Life South Carolina.
To learn more, visit donatelifesc.org and donorsonthediamond.=
org.
For God’s Glory Alone in the Love of our Lord Jesus Christ, D=
ewey Sharon and Family! 

=
=
Visit=
us today! 

www.fggam.org 

If you would like to support the muc=
h needed
 work of For God’s Glory Alone Ministr=
ies,
 Dewey Moede, and De=
wey’s Daily Cup please consider giving a 
financial gift.  You can securely give&nbsp=
;
by clicking on this link- http://www.fggam.org/donate.html=
 then scroll down the page to securely give =
through 
PayPal
=
. Be assured my friends,&nb=
sp;your gift will be of the gre=
atest help
 in furthering the mi=
nistry 
work the Lord has laid upon u=
s to carry 
out in His Holy Name=
=

Thank you,

Dewey Moede

If you have friends or family you think =
would like to share a daily cup of inspirational coffee with Dewey please f=
orward this email and encourage them to join Dewey’s Daily Cup. All they ha=
ve to do is send an email saying “Sign me up!” to radiodewey@aol.co=
m.

If you do not wish to be on this email list please =
kindly inform Dewey by sending him an email titled REMOVE at 
radi=
odewey@aol.com
 – we will take you off this email list asa=
p

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.