Odie's Heart Full of Praise

A Note From Odie:

Hey friends, it is almost 2:30 AM Saturday morning as I type now. I can not find sleep yet. I am full of thoughts about what God has done for me. Two weeks ago this battle started with blurred vision in my left eye on Saturday. By Sunday morning, as most of you know, I was mostly blind in my left eye. In a way I sit here shaking my head saying that it does not seem like two weeks ago, It feels like yesterday.  In other ways it has been a very long two weeks. 

I think back to Friday night before this all started as we finished revival in Central City, Kentucky. At the end of the service The Lord visited the place strongly with peace. As we begin to sing Peace Peace Wonderful Peace, wave after wave of God's peace came through the building that night. I remember thanking God for the nearness of His spirit. Little did I know how much I would lean on His Peace the next two weeks.  

By that Sunday night in Salem, Kentucky I was in the thick of the fight. Yet I had an assurance of peace to weather whatever this storm brought my way. Most of the times I have had way more questions than answers but God's peace settled me. Now I am seeing victory clearer and clearer everyday. My heart is so full of joy right now. 

One week ago I crashed into bed after an eventful afternoon and evening at the ER. I must say the ER staff at Bethesda North Hospital treated me great last week. All along I have prayed for God to heal or to guide me where I needed to go to get the correct care. After last weeks MRI results I was rejoicing over some good news but I still did not have the promise of my sight returning. 

I chose to believe I would see again because of God. Everyday is  better!  I can not begin to thank God for His help!! God began to give us insight Monday into what was going on spiritually and He began to heal me physically. Although I am not seeing like I used to, I am improving tremendously every day.

My doctor's office called yesterday to check on my progress and I gladly told the receptionist who called that I am praising God because my sight is coming back. I have talked to her many times in the last two weeks. I was desperate to get the correct treatment in a timely manner. I have stressed to her, I am blind and I need help. I was glad to now be able to tell her that God is helping me.

Over the last last several days I have leaned on scriptures and songs to encourage me.  "Be still an know that I am God" has been my lifeline. During my MRI I was listening to Enlighten on XM and the song "Stand Still" began to play. As I listened closely to the words of one my all time favorite songs again, every word hit home. I had to stop myself from losing it completely right there. I knew again this was in God's hands.

Take few moments to listen my favorite group sing this timeless song. This video is from September 2010. 

I can not yet declare total victory. I know it is close!!!  I know it is because of prayer! Thank you to all who went to war on my behalf. Please continue to pray. I hope and pray I never face this again, but I have no promise this will not return. But I will try to rest with these words in my mind 

Victory is mine Victory is mine 

Victory today is mine

I told satan get the behind

Victory today is mine.

Odie

Thursday 4/24/14

Odie is still gaining ground in her vision every day. We are almost continually praising and blessing God for it. God is giving us victory in this fight and I can not begin to tell you how grateful we are. Odie wanted me to pass the word to everybody how much she appreciates all of the prayers, calls, texts, emails and comments. May God bless you for your kindness. It has all meant so much to her and to us.

We are still in limbo as to an appointment with the neurologist but we are content with that. We have decided to make plans to leave next week in time to begin tent revival in Oklahoma City May 4th. It feels good to have a plan. If the plan needs to be adjusted we are content to do that as well. We feel like God is in control and that is the safest place we know to be.

Several days ago we were asked to preach the last two nights of revival for Kelly Jo's brother, Danny Morgan. We were not sure we would still be around but once we decided to wait in Ohio another week we were glad to accept the invitation. Last night was our first night of our commitment there and we will finish tonight. I am sure we will have some pictures later.

We had a great response in the altar last night. There were some folks that had never been there before and God really touch them with His Word. I love seeing folks open their hearts to God during the preaching and then respond to Him in the altar service. Some lives are so messed up and mixed up but none are too far for God to reach them. God has grace for the greatest need. We saw that at work last night and that is worth the trip to church!

When I called our Pastor Wednesday evening to bring him up to date on Odie's condition and our schedule change, he invited me to preach Sunday. We will be there Sunday morning and we are looking forward to it. It is always great to be in home church.

I am spending my days working on small bus projects. I always have a list of things that need attention but rarely do I have time, tools and energy to address very many of them. I am trying to cross a few of those things off the list while we are in one place. There are times that is seems overwhelming but then I say to myself, "At least I am not pastoring a church."

Of course if we owned a home it would always be needing something. Plus, I have worked on every truck and fifth wheel we have every owned too. So I suppose it all equals out. Things where out and break and have to be repaired or replaced. It is part of the cycle of life.

Thanks for reading and thanks again for praying for Odie.

Davy

More Good News and Good Tires

Odie's vision in her left eye continues to improve every day. We are so thankful for what God is doing. It is amazing. She says that everything is still very, very blurry but she is seeing more and more detail each and every day. She has had a big dark smudge in front of everything and she said today that was mostly gone. Praise God, Praise God, Praise God! Please keep praying that God will bring the vision back 100%.

We still do not have an appointment with a neurologist. We have decided to wait another week and then hit the road. If we leave and then they call her back we will deal with that but hopefully somebody can fit her in soon. Who knows? By the time they find an opening for her she may not need it! That is what we are expecting.

Since we are staying home another week, I called Pastor Brandon Murray in Lawton, Oklahoma and let him know we were not going to be able to start revival Sunday. I HATE to cancel revivals and have went to great lengths and drove many long miles to keep from having to do it in the past. I just could not see a way around it this time. Bro. Brandon was very understanding and gracious. I will do my best to make it up to him and Pastor King in Gainesville in the future.

We are planning to pick up the regularly scheduled programming with tent revival in Oklahoma City the following Sunday. I should know more about that next week by this time.

Today was another work day. I mentioned in this thread that I had a tire on the tag axle going bad. 

Wednesday was the day to take care of that. I run Michelin XZA2 tires on the BoggsMobile and I have had a hard time finding somebody that had them in stock when I was in the area. Best One Tire in Middletown had two with recent date codes so I made and appointment.

When they removed the tag tires I discovered the tire pictured above was the better of the two. The opposite tire had at least two 6-8" long cracks on the sidewall of the tire facing in. They were not as wide as the crack above but much longer and very close to the rim. It is the grace of God that I did not lose one or both of those tires in the last few weeks. Thank God for His help.

I had the new tires mounted on the tag wheels and then moved them to the front. I had the three year old front tires moved to the tag position.

A few hours later and I was on the road and ready to go. Here they are before I cleaned them up.

Now we should be ready to roll. Thank you for reading.

Davy

Tuesday April 22, 2014

Make sure you read last night's post if you have not read it yet.

Odie's insurance finally found a neurologist that could get Odie in on ... June 23rd. Huh? What's up with that? So much for an emergency appointment, right? Actually it turns out it was not a neurologist at all. It was a neuro ophthalmologist which is an entirely different animal. Not exactly what Odie needed but it worked out in her favor anyway. 

Odie called the office and they were able to move the June 23rd to 2:30 TODAY. Now that is more like it! However not only was the doctor not  a neurologist but Odie did not even see the neuro ophthalmologist. She saw a regular ophthalmologist but she will officially be under the care of the neuro ophthalmologist guy. Got it straight? I know, we need to draw a chart.

Anyway, these folks were super nice and super helpful although we do not know a whole bunch more than we did before. They ran a bunch of test to establish a baseline of where her vision is and they would like to have her back in several weeks to do it all over again. We KNOW they are going to see a huge improvement when she goes back.

Speaking of improvement, although Odie's vision in her left eye is nothing close to what it is suppose to be, it is improving and we give God the glory for that!

The doctor today suggested a little expanded treatment for the Optic Neuritis and the office staff is going to do their best to get Odie into a neurologist as soon as possible. That is a positive development and we should know something about the neurologist appointment in a couple of days.

We are still on hold as to whether or not we will be able to make our next revival in Lawton, Oklahoma starting Sunday. I told Pastor Brandon Murray that I would try to let him know one way or the other by tomorrow evening before church. He has been so gracious to us as have all the Pastors we have scheduled over the next several weeks. I have been asked to preach the last two nights of a revival in Hillsboro, which is local, later this week. We are thankful for that.

Thanks again for praying for us. I know I say thank you over and over but interceding to God on Odie's behalf is really the very best thing you can do for us. May God bless you for taking this fight on for us. We KNOW that God is faithful to hear the prayers of His people and we counting on and experiencing His help every day.

May God bless you all.

Davy

Odie - We Are Making Progress

We seem to be making some progress. We are making NO progress in finding proper medical care. The neurologist that Odie was referred to by the ER doctor does not accept Odie's insurance. She spent several hours on the phone Monday trying to find somebody to see her. She talked to the insurance company, her primary doctor, the ER, the person at the hospital that coordinates patient care and many, many individual doctor's offices. She still has a lead or two to follow up on but so far nothing.

Recent Posts

Monday

Sunday

However, God IS helping. I was working on the bus this evening when Pastor Darrell Toliver called to check on us and Odie. I was in the middle of saying to him, "If this is a direct attack of the enemy..." and Bro. Toliver said, "Davy, it is a direct attack of the devil. I knew it from the very first text you sent me." He went on to expand on his point and I knew he was giving me a Word from the Lord for us.

I understand that we live in frail human bodies that are affected by 6000 years of the cumulative affects of sin. Our bodies are literally dying from the day we are born. We can expect sickness and disease because we are human. We also know that some afflictions can be attacks of the devil. When Bro. Toliver was talking to me I feel like it was confirmed to me this is more spiritual than physical.

Now, I know that I have a very wide range of readers on this blog and you come here from all sorts of varied backgrounds and beliefs. The idea of satan or even God having an active interest in our lives is completely foreign to many. But we believe in a real God that loves us and cares for us and is concerned for us. We believe in a real devil that is interested in destroying everything good, Godly and spiritual. We believe that Christians are allowed to be tested and tried (Job). We also believe that God can sustain us through these trials and tests and give us victory in the end. Maybe that gives everybody a little foundation for what I am telling you.

By this time in my conversation with Bro. Toliver we had loaded up in the Green Machine. Kelly Jo was driving, Odie was in the passenger seat and I was behind her.With this new sense of direction in prayer. I laid hands on Odie and passed the phone to her as Bro. Toliver, Kelly Jo and I prayed for her. As we praised God and rebuked the devil and his evil plan we could feel victory rising up within us. We could sense that we were now praying according to the will of God and He was helping us tremendously.

And help us He did!

By the time we reached Waynesville and we began to get out of the car, Odie could perceive some outline of the trees across the road in her extreme peripheral vision. She has been thinking she was gaining a little peripheral vision since Friday afternoon but she has been afraid she might be wishful thinking. The improvement this evening was out of the other corner of her eye so she knew it is an improvement.

When we arrived back at the BoggsMobile, Kelly Jo opened up her vision chart on her iPad and put Odie to the test again as she has several time over the last week. Odie has not been able to see a letter 8 inches tall right in front of her left eye. Not at all. But tonight for the first time Odie could make out some of the bigger letters on the chart looking straight ahead. It is nothing you could call real sight yet, but it is a definite improvement. Praise God. We have been rejoicing in the bus tonight!

To sum it all up, we now are convinced this is a spiritual attack and we are praying to that end. We know God is able. Hallelujah! We heard a Word from the Lord and experienced a move of God this evening. We are already seeing some improvement and we are expecting a complete miracle and restoration of sight for Odie. We realize we may be in this for a long hall but we are fighting with God on our side and that is exactly what we need to win no matter how long the battle. 

Please continue to pray for us. Ask God to cover us with mercy and grace and to give us the strength to stand and be courageous. Take the fight to the devil for us! We have received calls, text and emails from all over this country and from other countries. We know that folks are standing with us and praying for us. Preachers from all over have let us know their churches are extremely burdened for Odie and are seriously interceding for her. Praise God. If all these saints are rebuking satan in Jesus name there is no telling what is going to happen.

I believe it is possible that Odie may not only see well again but WALK  right out of this trial before it is concluded! Hallelujah!

God bless you all.

Davy

A Busy and Blessed Easter Sunday

There is really nothing new to report on Odie's situation today. She is about the same as far as she can tell although at times she thinks there may be a slight improvement. We are clinging to every promise we can and we really do thank you for all the prayers and concern.

Tomorrow she will try to reach the neurologist that has been recommended and make an appointment as soon as possible. We are hoping she can get in this week. If she does then MAYBE we can get back on the road by next weekend. We are anxious to get back to our duties but we are also at peace with being in Ohio at this time if that is what we need to do. I am usually climbing the walls after about 3 days at home. Although I am staying busy with several bus projects I do feel a contentment that I know God is giving me.

As of right now we are still planning to be in Lawton, Oklahoma next Sunday to begin revival. I talked to Pastor Brandon Murray again yesterday and brought him up to date on what we know. We should know by midweek whether or not we will be able to keep our commitment to Pastor Murray and his great church. We always have a great time there so we are hoping it works out.

So many of you have called, text and emailed to let us know you are holding Odie up in prayer. God bless you for it. We are thankful for the good news we received Friday night but blindness in her left eye is still a very serious matter to us and to her. Please keep praying. Thank you.

Sunday's Easter Poem

We had a very busy but very blessed Easter Sunday. Thank God for His blessings on our family.

Kelly and I started the day at Sunrise Service at Corwin Pentecostal Church with Pastor Acy Lamb. I used to attend sunrise service at Corwin many years ago when I was a kid and teenager. I have always enjoyed sunrise service. Bro. Terry Bowling has been in revival there and he was preaching Sunday morning. He preached great and God was reaching for the lost.

They had a huge breakfast prepared but we did not get to stay and enjoy it. We had to get back to the BoggsMobile and fetch Odie in time to leave for Sunday morning service at Dryden Rd. It was a great service with a great crowd and Bro. Bennie preached a tremendous message.

We had a move of God while the youth choir was singing. It was awesome. I was blessed, Odie was blessed and several others were blessed as well. Thank God for reaching down in His mercy and coming close to us. He knows how despertely we need Him at this time.

Sunday night we were scheduled to preach at Dodds where we are parked. I appreciate Pastor Kelly Rogers for inviting us to preach. The church was a great blessing to us and I hope we were a blessing to them. Several of the area churches have invited us to preach while we are home. It is very thoughtful of these pastors to have us in their churches while we are here in limbo. May God bless them for it.

I hope you had a great Easter too. Now for the pictures.

Davy

Sunday night at Dodds.