Tracy Barnes is one of the pastors at Ed Young's Fellowship church. I urge my readers to listen to his sermon last week. I wish I could embed it here on the blog, but the best I can do is give you the link here:Tracy spoke last week in the current series "Pain Management". Tracy's family has endured the incredible hardship of having their two young boys - Roger and Phillip - diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy back in the late 1980s. This awful disease causes a wasting away of all muscles. It is diagnosed when children are very young, and death usually occurs around age 20 to 25 from respiratory complications. Their son Roger died a few years ago, but Phillip is still bravely living with this disease, with the love and constant help of his parents.
In the sermon Tracy speaks from his heart to help people deal with painful life trials that have no end in sight. He gives three "stop signs" to help people live with joy despite living in a life-long struggle. A video is shown early in the sermon of how Tracy's wife Debbie has endured, her devotion to Phillip's care, and she speaks of her faith struggles and victories.
If you are dealing with long-term struggles and disappointments in life, Tracy and Debbie's story and the lessons Tracy shares in this sermon will be of great help.
There are so many touching parts of this story that will help you - from Tracy and Debbie's devotion to their boys, to the story of one of Tracy's daughters carrying the gene who decided to adopt a child from Haiti vs. birthing children, to seeing Tracy speak a word of encouragement and love directly to his son Phillip.
Thank you Tracy and Debbie and Phillip for telling your story. One of the most moving, touching, helpful sermons I've seen.
I hope my readers will take a few minutes to watch this.
6 comments:
The first time I heard Tracy speak was probably the 2nd or 3rd time I attended Fellowship Church. I remember crying like a baby when he spoke of his struggles and the goodness of our God to meet his struggles with great stength and courage. He and his wife are what is so good about that church. Just wish Ed and his wife were more like Tracy.
There was a family at FBC Jacksonville back in the 1980's that lost their three sons to a similar disease and as I recall the first one died at 19. Unbelievable what some parents live through. Thanks watchdog for this information.
Really puts things in to perspective
Wow, Tom, that was really good. Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention.
Years ago, when my oldest son was around 6, he was diagnosed with Perthes Disease. That is where the head of the femur dies in the hip socket. No one knows why this happens - or at least they didn't back then (1991).
I'll never forget the day he came home wearing a brace that kept his legs spread by having a bar between his legs just above his knees. My heart, and in retrospect, my faith, was broken.
Oh, I acted like it didn't phase me, but deep down I cried out to God. I look back on it now, and that was the beginning of my loss of faith - which came to full bloom around 1998 - then flowered around 2001 when I ditched the church and anything associated with the church.
Well, you know the rest of the story. My son's leg eventually healed, though he can never be in the military or play football - that sort of thing. But he has done very well in spite of the disease. About 4 years ago he earned his Black Belt in Kung Fu, for example. He's married now and studying to be an electrical engineer.
Thanks for sharing. I have DMD and I am 31. I am also married, have a 7 year old son and I am a youth Pastor in Texas. God has blessed me even through very tough times! Glad to see something positive on you blog :)
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