December 2015
I (Kay) think during the month of December, we all are more giving and generous than other months of the year. In our church, we are taught the importance and power of service throughout our lives. We have the opportunity to serve our church members on a regular basis and encouraged to serve in our community.
So what does that have to do with ALS? Within a year and a half of Kim's diagnosis, he was so compelled to help others try to beat this disease, that we put together this web site. (We could also say he was angry that we were learning that doctors around the world were telling PALS, "You have ALS, go home and prepare to die;" and that no medical professional seemed to care that he was getting better and better or had any interest in what he had done to get better.) He was even banned from ALSForum.com for trying to give hope to other PALS. We hope and pray every day that we can give others the hope and the emotional power to work to heal ALS. It is in that very act of trying to help others, that we are also helped.
A powerful example of giving to others is Eric Edney. Although he passed away in January of this year after having ALS for over 20 years (and dying of complications of a stroke and heart attack), he spent those 20 years helping others find ways to heal. He wrote a book, actually two books. He kept up his website and posted an update every month for years. There were things he could not do, but he answered hundreds of emails, even some to us and passed out encouragement wherever he could. We had contact with a lady (and her husband) in the LA area who was diagnosed with ALS. She was having dental work done and was in the waiting room with Eric Edney and spoke with him. He gave her such encouragement that she came away with renewed hope and determination. Something came up and her daughter took her back to the neurologist. We have no idea exactly what the doc said, but from that time forward, she could do nothing but cry and be depressed. She was doing many, many therapies, ours and Eric Edney's, the Deanna Protocol. But she died in the spring of 2014. All the therapies in the world are of no value, unless you have PMA (Erics's term for positive mental attitude.) The reality is that when you are sad, depressed, angry, self-centered, any or all negative emotions, your body cannot take up nutrition. Eric was serving and we believe it extended his life.
Another example: I wrote recently about David Atkinson after reading his book. After he healed, he began getting requests to help others heal from ALS as he had. He spent the majority of the rest of his life serving others, traveling to different places and training others in what he had done to heal. Because the ALS took away his ability to make a living, he would ask the people who wanted his help to pay for his transportation and food and housing expenses. His wife did work but they also had a young daughter to raise. At one time, he tried to go back to work, but his symptoms started returning. But in selflessly serving others, they did not.
I have also written about Steven from Colorado. His was a very slow progressing ALS. After a period of self-pity and anti-depressants, he decided he did not want his young son to only remember an angry old man as a dad. He began helping Jerry Lewis with the Muscular Dystrophy telethons that were so well know years ago. Here is another example of service: Jerry Lewis called Steven every week for a whole year to see how he was doing.
Evy McDonald was a nurse when she was diagnosed with ALS. She lost everything and a friend gave her a room to stay in while she was supposed to die. Instead she healed her own self-image and in the process, her body. She became a minister so she could serve others full time.
Steven Shackle was probably the first to put up a website on healing ALS. He has served tirelessly to help others. His website is full of valuable information. As an editor, radio commentator, and a journalist, he edited Eric Edney's first book.
There is a guy in central Texas that healed his ALS and helped hundreds of others do the same. We are certain that there are many, many others that have found the blessing of serving others; we just don't know about them.
So the message here is what can you do to serve others? We feel that our Heavenly Father sent us all here with a mission to fulfill. Is your ALS a message that you need to find ways to serve others more fully or find a way to be less selfish and give of the blessings of hope and faith to others? We don't know your story, but believe with all of our hearts that if we serve our fellow man (woman) that blessings will be returned to us in our lives.
In cleaning out the house to get ready to come south for the winter, I came across a paper that had a note written on it. "Christmas is not about presents. It is about His presence." We feel very strongly the presence that the Savior has been in our lives even more significantly the last few years, as He has helped us find ways to heal. We also feel that He has given us a mission to help others find ways to heal. Our prayers are with you that you will have a wonderful Christmas season and that you may feel His presence in your life.
Sending Christ's Blessings from Yuma, Arizona,
Kim and Kay Cherry
I (Kay) think during the month of December, we all are more giving and generous than other months of the year. In our church, we are taught the importance and power of service throughout our lives. We have the opportunity to serve our church members on a regular basis and encouraged to serve in our community.
So what does that have to do with ALS? Within a year and a half of Kim's diagnosis, he was so compelled to help others try to beat this disease, that we put together this web site. (We could also say he was angry that we were learning that doctors around the world were telling PALS, "You have ALS, go home and prepare to die;" and that no medical professional seemed to care that he was getting better and better or had any interest in what he had done to get better.) He was even banned from ALSForum.com for trying to give hope to other PALS. We hope and pray every day that we can give others the hope and the emotional power to work to heal ALS. It is in that very act of trying to help others, that we are also helped.
A powerful example of giving to others is Eric Edney. Although he passed away in January of this year after having ALS for over 20 years (and dying of complications of a stroke and heart attack), he spent those 20 years helping others find ways to heal. He wrote a book, actually two books. He kept up his website and posted an update every month for years. There were things he could not do, but he answered hundreds of emails, even some to us and passed out encouragement wherever he could. We had contact with a lady (and her husband) in the LA area who was diagnosed with ALS. She was having dental work done and was in the waiting room with Eric Edney and spoke with him. He gave her such encouragement that she came away with renewed hope and determination. Something came up and her daughter took her back to the neurologist. We have no idea exactly what the doc said, but from that time forward, she could do nothing but cry and be depressed. She was doing many, many therapies, ours and Eric Edney's, the Deanna Protocol. But she died in the spring of 2014. All the therapies in the world are of no value, unless you have PMA (Erics's term for positive mental attitude.) The reality is that when you are sad, depressed, angry, self-centered, any or all negative emotions, your body cannot take up nutrition. Eric was serving and we believe it extended his life.
Another example: I wrote recently about David Atkinson after reading his book. After he healed, he began getting requests to help others heal from ALS as he had. He spent the majority of the rest of his life serving others, traveling to different places and training others in what he had done to heal. Because the ALS took away his ability to make a living, he would ask the people who wanted his help to pay for his transportation and food and housing expenses. His wife did work but they also had a young daughter to raise. At one time, he tried to go back to work, but his symptoms started returning. But in selflessly serving others, they did not.
I have also written about Steven from Colorado. His was a very slow progressing ALS. After a period of self-pity and anti-depressants, he decided he did not want his young son to only remember an angry old man as a dad. He began helping Jerry Lewis with the Muscular Dystrophy telethons that were so well know years ago. Here is another example of service: Jerry Lewis called Steven every week for a whole year to see how he was doing.
Evy McDonald was a nurse when she was diagnosed with ALS. She lost everything and a friend gave her a room to stay in while she was supposed to die. Instead she healed her own self-image and in the process, her body. She became a minister so she could serve others full time.
Steven Shackle was probably the first to put up a website on healing ALS. He has served tirelessly to help others. His website is full of valuable information. As an editor, radio commentator, and a journalist, he edited Eric Edney's first book.
There is a guy in central Texas that healed his ALS and helped hundreds of others do the same. We are certain that there are many, many others that have found the blessing of serving others; we just don't know about them.
So the message here is what can you do to serve others? We feel that our Heavenly Father sent us all here with a mission to fulfill. Is your ALS a message that you need to find ways to serve others more fully or find a way to be less selfish and give of the blessings of hope and faith to others? We don't know your story, but believe with all of our hearts that if we serve our fellow man (woman) that blessings will be returned to us in our lives.
In cleaning out the house to get ready to come south for the winter, I came across a paper that had a note written on it. "Christmas is not about presents. It is about His presence." We feel very strongly the presence that the Savior has been in our lives even more significantly the last few years, as He has helped us find ways to heal. We also feel that He has given us a mission to help others find ways to heal. Our prayers are with you that you will have a wonderful Christmas season and that you may feel His presence in your life.
Sending Christ's Blessings from Yuma, Arizona,
Kim and Kay Cherry