Steven Gibbs

Financial Analysis

With the price of gas going up, as well as food, etc., I’ve decided to go through and analyze our personal spending plan. This is a principle that Debby and I learned as we took Crown, so we are tracking our spending for the month. Sure, we could get by without it, fudge here and there to make things work out right. But it’s probably the wise thing to go through and analyze our change in spending based on current economic conditions.

Crown Financial Ministries has many great resources. Also, I’ve included a link to a blog that I read that gives some great encouragement during these financial times.

What about you? What are you seeing in your own personal financial situations during these times?

VDCCF

Since my son Ethan turned 13 this year, we have entered into an intentional discipleship process. One of our goals was physical - the Peachtree Road Race. We stayed motivated with the thought of the t-shirt, as well as a Venti Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino.

Frappuccino is too much dessert for me, so I treated myself to a Quad Grande Americano. The sweet taste of accomplishment!

One Year Later

As many of you know, this Saturday is the 1 year anniversary of John’s accident. It has definitely brought back many emotions and memories. Some good, and some that… well, you get the picture.

Our family is headed down for Ethan and I to run the Peachtree tomorrow. As part of our trip, we’re going down to visit the Egleston PICU for the first time since we left last July. On Saturday I’ll re-post my original post from last July 5, with hopefully some pictures.

John Update

Some great news on John! Last week he had a follow-up appointment with his rehab doctor, who released him to do whatever he wants to do. Until this point, John has not been able to ride his bike, etc. While he has been playing, his activities have been limited. So now, he can venture out!

The doctors are still surprised by his progress. The week prior to John’s visit, his doctor had taught a lecture to the PICU nurses at Egleston, using John as one of his case studies. We owe them a visit!

Hopefully he will get his new tooth by the end of the summer. We’ve grown so accustomed to the missing tooth, it will be a drastic change! He also has a bald spot on the back of his head from so many days lying in the hospital. He may need a hair plug before he’s 40…

John Update

Well, today we had 2 swallow studies – both went great. The first was at 8:00. This was the FEES (fiber optic endoscopy, or snake camera up the nose). They give him some pudding, etc., to swallow and watch it go down. While extreeeemely abnormal, it is functional. It is slow, and requires quite a bit of fluid, but it went down.

At 10:00 he had a VSS (video swallow study). He swallows pudding, nectar, and an oreo, all with barium mixed in. An x-ray machine watches it go down. It definitely gets hung up in the back of his throat. However, he does protect his airway, and the food makes it to his stomach eventually.

So now, we are treading water, just watching what happens. I’ll give a more extensive update next week. Thanks for praying. Pretty cool things happening!

John Update

WHY DO YOU FEEL LIKE I’M YELLING AT YOU RIGHT NOW!!!

There was no point to that, but I thought it was funny…

Anyway, the scope went incredibly well. We waited our allotted 2 hours for all of the pre-op information. John picked “grape” flavor for his laughing gas. In about 7 seconds, he was out like a light.

John was under anesthesia for about 20 minutes, while they took a look-see. While he still has only a 50% opening in his throat, the scar tissue had not grown. They did not do anything other than take a look.

The lung wash went fine, and his lungs looked great. This is an indication that his swallowing is going well.

So, for now we’ll come back in 6-12 months to monitor his progress. The doctor’s were very pleased, as were we. While there may still be some other surgeries in the future (especially as he hits puberty), things are going well right now.

Tomorrow we have a couple of swallowing studies, and then we’ll head back home.

One interesting thing of note: We were talking with John’s doctor before the procedure. He mentioned that if John had been in Cincinnati initially following the accident, things would have been different. There would definitely have been a tracheotomy, as well as the reconstructive surgery. It would have obviously been a more intense environment with all of that going on. As we met with the pulmonologist, he also commented on how amazing it was that John has never had a trach.

Yeah, pretty amazing. All I can say is, thanks for praying.

On The Ground

We made it safely to Cincinnati last night. This morning John has some vocal chord testing. That is one thing that we haven’t done yet, as the doctors have been focused on his breathing and swallowing – rather important issues.

Please continue to pray for John and these next few days. Tomorrow is the scope, as well as a lung wash. This will give us an idea of any scar tissue build up. The lung wash will determine if he is aspirating when he eats. We are optimistic, but you never know what you find!

God Size

I’m sometimes puzzled by this phrase, “God-sized.” When we hear this phrase, it’s generally referring to something HUGE, astronomical, or gargantuan. Of course that is sometimes true.

But sometimes “God-sized” may not be big in the terms that we think of big. Clearly in scripture, some people are 1 talent, 5 talent, or 10 talent people. In other words, we have to be responsible with what God has given us. Everyone would like to be 10 talent people, but some people are not. The problem is, we settle. We settle for 1 talent, when we should be 10 talent folk.

Also, remember the story of the widow’s offering? She gave out of her poverty, and God said she gave more than the rich dude. Can you say “God-sized?” The disciples didn’t think so. But Jesus did.

Don’t settle for less than what God has given you. But don’t drive for more than He has for you. In that tension, you’ll find contentment.

Man Stuff

Sometimes it’s just good for a man to do some man-stuff. Last week our staff men got together and hung around the campfire. There are certain man-things that happen around a fire that don’t include acoustic guitar and kum-ba-ya. It includes a ton of laughter, possibly a few cigars, and discussion around a variety of topics. We used the time as an affirmation of one of our newest staff members, speaking life into him. We awarded him with his Stonecreek sword – a symbol to remind him of the battle. It was the Stonecreek version of ordination.

Last night these same men and I took my oldest son to the campfire to begin an “initiation” journey. He turned 13 yesterday. For a boy to truly understand what it means to be a man, it requires the company of real men. I am going to take him through a yearlong intentional discipleship process, and we launched that last night. Each man spoke some life into him, affirming who God has created him to be. They also taught him a few things about what God expects of him.

He now understands more about what God intends from a man. He has other men he can turn to, can look up to, and can depend on. Hopefully, that will mean something to him, and God can use it in his future.

He is fortunate, as am I, to have these type of men in his life. Do you? If you don’t, what are you doing about it?

Never A Dull Moment

Yeah, that's my house. Don't worry, there is no damage. Seems that the fireplace got a little out of hand, setting off all the smoke alarms in the house. Something about balls of fire screaming out of the chimney. (I wasn't in attendance, so I can't say for sure.) Just for safety, someone used 911. That's what happens when it snows in March.

Nothing like the day after Easter...