Posted on 04/07/2006 12:01:04 AM PDT by Albion Wilde
FRiends, you who are initially pinged to this thread know whom it is for -- it is for someone whose preparation for a military career has been interrupted for an indefinite amount of time, and whose recovery will take patience and hard work. We will refer to this prayer recipient as Fightin' Spirit.
Fightin' Spirit is not a screen name, but a shield to protect the family and friends as we lift them up in prayer without leaving a cybertrail. God knows who this thread is intended for; he reads hearts. So, please, no names in your posts to the public thread.
This is a prayer chain, not intended for medical discussion, but rather to affirm God's healing power, and His gifts of peace and spiritual strength to move in a new direction.
Your responses to my last FReepmail have been astounding and humbling. When I suggested that those who may want to drop off my ping list for any reason should FReepmail me, I did not receive a single drop request -- but dozens of prayer warriors wrote, making sure they would be left on!
I will update this prayer thread once every week or two. From here on out, everyone who signs onto this thread will be placed on the ping list for updates, and those who do not sign on will not continue to receive update pings.
Prayers for everyone.
Great news!!
Thanks for the most recent update on Fightin' Spirit. I've been out of the loop for a while since I'm out of the country. Glad to hear he is doing so well. Will check back in when I can and my prayers for Fightin' Spirit will continue.
Today Fightin' Spirit turns 22; and it's barely more than a week before his graduation from university. What a wonderful milestone; and what an extraordinary eight weeks have preceded this birthday!
Eight weeks ago tomorrow, he was struck by an underage drunk driver making an illegal turn, thrown across the hood of the car onto the street, and landed with a force that resulted in coma and injuries from head to toe. On this, his last birthday of his senior year, FS and his friends had planned months ago to go to a home-team pro baseball game tonight.
Immediately after the impact, those friends with him on Spring Break were wracked with anguish, spending the rest of the Break visiting him every day in the hospital, calling for him to awaken. And they purchased tickets for tonight's game, including one for Fightin' Spirit -- just in case.
Tonight Fightin' Spirit will be in the stands with his friends to see the game on his birthday -- as planned!
The accident's unforeseen detour is putting his military career on hold, but it is also proving his determination to resume the fullness of his life as soon as possible. He is a walking testimony of God's infinite grace, to which your many prayers gave witness.
Fightin' Spirit embarked on his outpatient recovery program that began two weeks after Easter with what his mother calls "hard charging" determination. He worked so hard that he was rapidly upgraded from daily rehab visits (for physical and cognitive therapy) to the present two days per week, with exercises and homework. Part of his homework has been doing online research and writing papers for review by his therapy team. These exercises are giving him concrete feedback about his progress, and have led him to form a new goal for the coming months.
Fightin' Spirit is now determined to recover his research and writing skills. His goal is to be able to apply, by the final deadline in August, for a master's program that will start in the fall. Knowing he will not receive his ROTC commission and entry to helicopter school this summer, and realizing that the military will delay his reinstatement as an active officer candidate ready for active duty for at least a year and possibly longer, instead he hopes this one-year course and certification in government studies will either demonstrate his competency to resume a military career, or provide new exposures to other career options.
Let's join together to ask God to help him meet this goal of "grad school application by August", knowing that the Father is in ultimate charge of the situation, holding "a lamp unto his feet."
Let's also pray for the mother and father, who are feeling so blessed for yesterday's Mother's Day and the upcoming Father's Day to have their son not only returned to them so miraculously from the edge of death, but also to see the rapid unfolding of his recovery and the day-by-day regaining of his familiar personality. The strength and encouragement these parents have shown their only offspring has been a phenomenon in itself; it is no doubt where he gets much of his fightin' spirit. Nevertheless, the strain on them has been profound, so let us lift up Mom and Dad's full recovery from the deep shock, stresses and abrupt changes in their lives.
And I lift up every person who has posted here or prayed without posting; you are a testament to the Living God. May you be blessed in all ways for your faithfulness.
Happy Birthday, Fightin' Spirit! May you continue towards a quick and complete recovery! Time to celebrate! :)
Wonderful news. Praying for his success with the grad school application process.
Ping to post 243!
Great news!! Prayers continue.
AMEN!!!!!!!
This is wonderful news.
Prayers continue for Fightin' Spirit....
Hip, hip, hooray and Happy Birthday to Fightin' Spirit!
Prayers for his continued recovery and accomplishment of his newest goals, plus respite for his parents.
Our prayers will continue for him to fulfill his life's mission.
AMEN and prayers staying UP UP UP!
There isn't a better nickname for this amazing young man than "Fighting Spirit"' it's fits him perfectly! :o)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FIGHTIN' SPIRIT!!!!
What a blessed birthday it is...and right after Mother's Day.
I will pray fervently for the goals to be met...and from the way it sounds, he is well on his way.
God, please bring comfort and renewed energy to FS and his family as they embark on this newest chapter in his recovery and life.
Prayers up from Texas...
sleuth
thanks for the update, AW!!!
Absolutely fabulous!!!
Amen
Thanks for the wonderful news.
Fighting Spirit is a Tarus. Pretty tough to deter once they've decided on a course.
Hallelujah, Praise God!!! We exalt You, O Lord, for Your faithfulness, and we glorify Your Holy Name!!!!!!! Thank You that You continue to sustain FS, his parents and his family, and that You supply their every need. Blessed is the Name of the Lord!!! We give You all the glory, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Continued prayers for Fighting Spirits determination to reach his goals.
I'm awestruck, humbled, amazed, and so grateful to God for his recovery - as yet incomplete. What a miraculous story, AW.
Yes, prayers for Mom and Dad too. What an emotional ordeal they've been through. My heart and more prayers go out to all of them.
Thanks for the update.
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