An Expectant Hope

Now this is something that could make an eternal difference...

2010-06-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

With the three year anniversary of Mike's homegoing barely behind us, I think that your memories with Mike might be on your mind a little more than usual. I hope you take the time to tell Grace about them when you get a chance. She loves to hear stories about her Daddy. I think all of you have a reason to praise God in your memories of Mike, too, and that is something she should hear as well. God is so good. He works all things out for our good and His glory. So with all of this in mind, I want to tell you about a very special event this September.

In 87 days, our friend, Jonathan Pait, will ride his bike 700 miles in 7 days in Mike's memory.

On top of this breathtaking goal, Jonathan is recovering from a recent bike accident, where he fractured his neck along with receiving other injuries.

My first request to you is for prayer. Please pray for Jonathan's complete healing from all of his injuries. Pray that he will take the time he needs to recover. Pray for his encouragement along the way. Pray for a successful and safe ride.

Jonathan's big sacrifice in Mike's memory seems to get bigger everyday as he meets various obstacles, but there are some things that we can do to glorify God and support this amazing act of faith and friendship.

My second request is for you to pray about giving financially in Mike's memory. Donations can be made in any amount. All the proceeds will go to the Michael T. McCaskill Scholarship Fund. Here is a link with instructions about giving to the Ride and in Mike's memory: www.lowcadence.com/give/

My final request is for you to help us. Be there. Jonathan will begin in Memphis, Tennessee, at Eastside Baptist Church, where Mike attended growing up. His route will take him through Greenville, South Carolina, to Bob Jones University, where Mike studied and where he and Jonathan became friends. His trip will end at the church that Mike youth pastored, Catawba Springs Christian Church in Apex, North Carolina. 700 miles. For a friend.

If there is any way possible, please plan to join us in Memphis, TN on September 19 or in Apex, NC on September 25. I would love to see you there and it would be great encouragement and support to Jonathan and his family.

For more information about the Ride for Mike, visit the website that Jonathan has created: www.lowcadence.com/2010-Ride-For-Mike/

Long time, no blog...

2010-05-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since I updated this blog. Hmmm...something I need to rectify. I have some very exciting things to tell you about.

First, a little update on what has been going on in mine and Grace's life. We are learning more each day about God's faithfulness to us. Each trial that we face and each answer to prayer that we receive brings us that much closer to Christ. We are humbled by His care for us in EVERY aspect of our lives.

Some of you may already know our latest (and possibly greatest) answer to prayer, yet. Grace had something like an absent seizure almost a month ago. We went to the ER, where they decided to do a CT scan (to check for a tumor or bleed) and run some bloodwork (to check for any sources there). I cannot tell you the war in my mind as I laid my baby girl on that table for her scan. I had no idea if I would hear (for a second time) that one who I loved so dearly had a brain tumor. God had been preparing me through a variety of avenues to come to Him with open hands; however (as any parent who has been in a similar situation would say), the pain was no less. Twenty minutes later, the doctor came in and said everything looked fine in the scan. No sign of tumors. I sobbed. God was, yet again, so merciful to us.

We followed up the ER visit with a trip to the pediatric neurologist here in Raleigh. After talking with us, she decided to schedule Grace for an EEG, a test that monitors brain waves to look for any unusual electrical activity. This was a test they had performed multiple times on Mike, and was most definitely not something I wanted Grace to experience. I was so proud of the little curly girl as she did everything the doctors asked of her without complaining (so much like her Daddy!). The doctors said they’d let us know the results in a week or two.

The next day when I saw the neurologist’s number on my phone, I knew the test results were abnormal. The nurse confirmed that suspicion when I answered. We went in the next day and learned that Grace has two “abnormal” places on the right side of her brain, making her have a tendency for seizures. The doctor decided to do an MRI to check for any small tumors that would not have shown up on the CT or an area of “trapped cells” that might send out their own random electrical impulses and would cause a seizure. We were back in all-too-familiar territory.

I was consistently humbled throughout this process, constantly in need of God’s sustenance through every moment of each day. I had to bow my will to His sovereign wisdom when I thought I could not take one more second. Grace was His. I was His. He was all-wise, completely sovereign, perfectly loving, and all that I needed. Verses that I had recently learned continually flooded through my mind.

Grace would have to be sedated for the MRI, another concern that we had to place back on Christ’s shoulders. Since she had never been sedated before, I was completely unsure of her reaction to it or if she had any unknown allergies that would appear. Mercifully, God allowed Grace to respond well to the sedation, using only half of the allowed amount.

The MRI was probably the climax of my struggles. While Grace slept peacefully through the entire test, I fought back wave after wave of memories of Mike’s sickness that I usually stored away, only this time, the sadness of Grace’s struggle added a new dimension to each one. I doubted my ability to make it through. I doubted my ability to handle the outcome. But God, who is RICH in mercy, supplied the strength I needed. I can honestly tell you that there was no strength left in me. I could in no way have persevered on my own. The scars were too deep, too fresh. The pain was too much. But God. But God supplied every need according to His riches in glory.

The results were to come in the next day, and I asked my friend, Donna, to call the doctors for me. I knew there would need to be a lot of questions answered if it were bad news, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to think clearly enough. I will never, as long as I live, forget the sound of her voice when she called me and said through her own tears, “She’s perfectly normal. The MRI was completely clear.”

God was merciful to us in a way that was overwhelming and humbling. I shook, and cried, and thought, “Why us, God? Why would you choose to extend your mercy in such a mighty way to us?” I knew there was nothing in me that deserved His kindness, but because of Who He is, He lavished His kindness and mercy on us.

While I am as confident of His comfort as His mercy, I was thankful that the MRI showed exactly what I hoped for—nothing. God is good and does good. Every good gift comes from Him—including a day like today when nothing special is going on. That is a good gift to be thankful for. I am humbled that He allows me to see His lovingkindness each day.

So much for a short update on Grace and me.... You now know the vital lessons we are learning about God’s character, which is pretty much the most important thing going on in our lives. Thankfully, I have saved a very exciting and very interesting post for my next one or this blog could get very anticlimactic, very quickly. It’s something that I need all of your help with. I think you’ll be very excited as well…Have I piqued your curiosity yet???

Short update

2007-09-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

I wanted to say a big thank-you to Jonathan Pait who rode on Mike's behalf in the Palmetto Peloton Project to raise money for cancer research. I am overwhelmed that he would do this. It has meant so much to our family.

Just to give you an update, I continue to work on the tract about Mike's testimony. We hope to gear the tract to saved teens, encouraging them to be willing to go into full-time Christian service. Teens were Mike's heartbeat, so I think this focus for the tract is very appropriate. Although it has been difficult to write (and, believe it or not, I'm still writing), I think the Lord will use Mike's story to glorify Himself. I will try to keep you updated on the progress of the tract over the next few weeks, so you'll know as soon as it is finished.

Grace and I are taking everything a day at a time. I miss Mike so much. It is hard to believe that he has been gone for almost three months now. We're adjusting to our different life, and God is giving the moment-by-moment grace that we need to make it. Grace loves her daddy very much and still picks up his pictures and kisses them everyday. It does her mommy's heart good!

I will be starting a caring bridge website for my brother Randy, who was diagnosed yesterday with thyroid cancer. The site will be www.caringbridge.org/randallrhodes

Thank you for all of your continued prayers and cards. I cannot tell you what an encouragement it is to know you bring us before the Lord!

Love you all,
Lora

Welcome

2007-07-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new site! I hope this will be helpful to all of you as you follow Mike's continuing story. Mike's life did not end at his death. He lives on in a REAL place called heaven where he is now perfectly healthy and perfectly happy. His memory lives on here on earth in the way that God has chosen to use Mike's story! We hear stories almost daily of the many ways God continues to get glory for what He has done. And as long as I and our family have breath, we will be telling his story wherever we can.

We actually have tshirts, wristbands, and are currently working on a tract that will tell the awesome way God used Mike's life. I will use this site to keep you updated on what we are doing in the Pastor Mike ministry and I hope you will use this site to keep us updated also (you can leave comments below this entry). Leave notes when you can and let us know how God is using Mike's story in your life or your ministry.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
This is a question that I came face to face with June 16 when Mike passed away. I felt like I had come to a literal crossroads--one direction was believing word for word what the Bible taught about eternal life, the other direction was despairing in my loss. The question was simple (the answer a little more difficult). Did I believe that Christ's sacrifice bought Mike and gave him the ultimate life even though all I could see was a physical death?

It was not as simple as it sounds when it was my soulmate I saw lying there. Maybe my choice should've been automatic, but it wasn't. I had to make a conscious choice to hold fast to God's promises that He was taking care of my husband even though I couldn't see him. I had to fight down the feeling of panic rising inside me when I realized I could no longer care for him myself. He was just gone. There was absolutely nothing I could do for him anymore.

Hebrews 11:1 became more real to me than at any other time, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." I had to do some heart-checking. I had to be convinced that I believed what I said I believed. I had to (and still have to) step out on faith in a God that, to my shame, I did not know as I should. I still feel like I know little about my great God, but one thing I know for sure, He loves me (and you) with an EVERLASTING love. He desires a relationship with each one of us and He is waiting, as the father of the prodigal son, with His arms open.

Please contact me anytime. I am so grateful to all of you who are also dedicated to using Mike's story and remembering his life.