Happy Father's Day, dad!

Dear readers,

With Father’s Day coming up, I thought I’d do something a little different on this “Faithful Friday.” For those of you who have been readers of my blog for a long time, you know I am extremely proud of my family. Because of them, I am who I am today; they each help me grow in unique and different ways. You may have guessed that I’ve gotten the knack for writing from my dad, and you’d be right. As a matter of fact, he’s the one that initially brought up the idea for writing this blog; I wasn’t so sure I’d have anything worthwhile to say.. And look at me now over 600 posts later and 51 visible readers (that I know about!)

 

Anyway, I decided to look back at the archived blogs and give one a fresh new take. This one looks at my disability from a father’s perspective. In it, he shares the different perspectives he has on my life and what God has taught him through them. They are as follows:

 

1.   Looking at The Past: Gratefulness

2.   His Perspective Today: Inspiration

3.   Looking at The Future: Faith

 

Without further ado, here’s his guest post:

 

Debbie has asked me to write an article for her blog, and I chose to write about my perspective of her life as my daughter, a wonderful and disabled young woman. I must first admit that I am understandably proud of her accomplishments, including her faithful publication of the blog “Rollin into the Future”. Let’s consider the three perspectives that I have of Debbie’s life.

 

Looking At the Past: Gratefulness

Debbie was born prematurely and was in the hospital for many weeks before she could come home, and then her development was very slow for the first year. At about one year, the doctor informed us that he could confidently diagnose her with cerebral palsy. Debbie’s mom and I were shaken – because we both knew people with CP. Soon we got her into therapy and then into a United Cerebral Palsy school (at age 2) and prayed for the Lord to help her achieve her best. We had no idea what capabilities she would develop, but soon it became evident that she was quadriplegic; she had limited use of her left hand and virtually no use of her legs. She progressed well, and the Lord gave her a good mind and heart – and she loved school. By ninth grade, she began using speech recognition software (she is an early pioneer of the use of this technology) and graduated from high school in the National Honor Society. She proceeded to Community College and earned her Associates degree in 4 years, and then went to Concordia University (and lived in the dorm!) and within 3 more years, earned her Bachelor degree. As I look back on the first 10 years of her life, I never would have imagined she would come so far! Her mom and I are truly grateful!

 

My Perspective Today: Inspiration

 Today, I am blessed to have a daughter that is a wonderful young woman who is an accomplished college graduate, a writer, and the most enduring person that I know. I am very proud of her – but I would rather call my pride “inspiration.” because she encourages me. I see her deal with personal adversity and frustration every single day – and confront it with patience, grace, and faith. Most people do not have any idea about the challenges of daily life faced by the disabled – I get to see it up close. Debbie’s posts to her blog are major efforts even with her voice recognition software –a simple “copy and paste” is a major effort. And yet she plugs on without complaint – and with a glow of purpose in her smile. She believes that she is encouraging someone out there as she adds word upon word, paragraph on paragraph, and blog post upon blog posting. And I believe she is encouraging people out there – even as she encourages me right here. Debbie is my daughter, my friend, and often my date as we go to the movies and out to eat together. What a blessing to have such a sharp young woman to talk with, to discuss issues of faith, and to laugh with while watching “Judge Judy.”

 

Looking to the Future: Faith

 It is not a secret. The greatest concern of any parent of a disabled child is the apprehension about care for their child when the parent dies. This is my greatest concern; it is a test of my faith in the Lord. I can try to set aside a trust fund, try to help her find faithful friends she will have through life, and help her find a place, a career, and goals for life, but I know that there will come a time when I will not be there for her. And so I trust the Lord, who has cared for us so far, and I make reasonable plans for her. We all look toward the future in faith, but I guess I do in a special way. So, how do I sum up my perspective of life as the father of a disabled young woman? I live with fond memories in gratefulness, inspired as I see her live with difficulty and grace, and I live in faith as I trust the Lord for her future.

Five Lessons Learned from Chronic Illness: Alisha’s Story

Five Lessons Learned from Chronic Illness: Alisha’s Story 

by Debbie 

 Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference virtually from home. This conference taught lessons on everything- from how to take an idea and run with it to new marketing ideas for the published author. During this time, I also connected with other writers through zoom, and we shared how God led us to be writers; these stories not only inspired me to keep writing but I felt led to share them here with you

Alisha’s Diagnosis

 Growing up, Alisha Scroggins dreamed big just like any other little girls. She wanted to get married and someday serve as a missionary to those in Africa. Scroggins believed in Jesus and thought she had her whole life to look forward to. At 23, she was working as a middle school teacher in the daytime, but also served as a supervisor for a Christian residential school in Grundy Virginia. But after just 2 1/2 years of working there, Scroggins began exhibiting strange symptoms and unusual food allergies. In fact, she even developed hives after eating Chick-Fil-A.

“One freak reaction turned into more and more,” said Scroggins.

It was then that she decided to consult a doctor and was diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation-meaning she was virtually allergic to everything. This limited her diet to only eggs and carrots. Unfazed by the diagnosis, she didn’t take it seriously at first; despite being extremely weak and fatigued, Scoggins did whatever she could to keep her jobs.

“Honestly, I blew it off as being no big deal. Although as it took over more and more of my world and caused me to lose my job by the summer of 2019, I was devastated and definitely felt completely alone,”

Her “New Normal”

From that point on, her lifestyle changed drastically; no longer was she consumed by her outdoor hobbies, instead she remained vigilant about her health doing whatever she could to stay alive. Over the course of the next year, her symptoms began to intensify, seven to several other diagnoses and the decision to insert a feeding tube. Instead of simplifying matters, it only complicated things for Scroggins. These complications included think everything from two blood clots, a pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis several bouts of sepsis as well as other infections. Despite these setbacks, she never gave up hope that God had something bigger in mind for her.

The Near-Death Experience that Changed Everything

As her condition worsened and she found herself hospitalized over 100 times, Scroggins refused to give up and feel sorry for herself. Instead, she discovered solace in her writing; there she was able to make sense of her emotions and everything she experienced.

 “It really became a way for me to express all that was going on in my head and heart when I got sick and was in bed/resting so much.” Scroggins said.

She began to take her writing more seriously one day in April 2020. During her stay at the hospital, she coded due to a of her central line. In those few minutes, she had no pulse; however, she felt God speaking to her.

“I remember very clearly God telling me ‘I am not done with you yet’ as I took a big deep breath and came back to life in my body. It was from that experience that ‘Mess 2 Masterpiece’ and really my vulnerability with everything I was going through birthed.”

Five Lessons Learned from Chronic Illness

From then on, she has remained dedicated to her mission – teaching others to search for Jesus in even the darkest of circumstances. She hopes that her story will encourage others not to take a single day in life for granted-because tomorrow is not promised for anyone. Although her experience with chronic illness has been a painful one, she has learned some invaluable lessons:

1. Never judge someone else. Always extend grace. So many people are fighting battles we know nothing about
2.   There is such power in prayer. I could give example after example of how I’ve seen God move in the big and little… He is so personal and intimate.
3. God’s purposes and plans may not be in the timing nor look like we expect. He doesn’t require that we understand but just that our hearts are open to Him.
4. It’s okay to have emotion and even express that emotion to God. He isn’t scared of us or even our strongest emotions and it produces this beautiful rawness.  
5. Our purpose and significance isn’t found in a job or relationship, making a certain amount of money or being able to fit in a specific size. Even in bed, God can use us when we surrender all and make the mission of our lives glorifying Him. I’ve come to realize that if one person comes to know Jesus because of me/my circumstance then it was all worth it.
   

I think Scroggins puts it best when she says, “Even amidst suffering and struggles, we can have genuine joy in Jesus in knowing He is with us so we are never alone. We also know this world is not our home.”

 

This brave young woman is still defying the odds that the doctors put on her living this long. For more information on her ministry, please feel free to visit her website at:

 

 

https://alishascroggins.com/?fbclid=IwAR3ZxaJriqysj9IH6TZMLNwaeSm3yIMJltDh-azwa5vl3hISs2gwR8Pqu_I