A friend needs your prayers

[Blackwater]

Folks, I have asked for prayers for my friend Jimmie here before, and the Lord was gracious enough to answer them. He's again in need of our prayers. He's a long time diabetic and for years, used his insulin to eat like he'd always done and just plain wanted to. And he got away with it for years and years. Now, he's a virtual cripple, and it sounds a lot like he's close to losing his legs. He knows he's paying now for his having been hard headed for many years, and he's certainly been humbled by it. But there's no going back, of course, and the diabetic nerve pain has gotten to be more than he can bear.

Just talked with him on the phone and he had company, so had to keep it brief, but he did at least tell me he'd seen a new doctor, a heart/vein specialist, who seems to maybe offer him some hope. This guy's as rough and tumble and stoic as they come, and he's surely been humbled by the final realization of his mistakes for many years, and he needs the simple Grace that only our Lord can provide, and His healing hand. He'll never be able to get out and about like he always loved to for so many years, but now, he just wants to be free from the burning pain, and be able to at least go out and sit on the porch, and go see his grandkids play ball.

If you will, please speak with the Lord on his behalf, and pray that the pain can be alleviated and that he'll be able to keep his legs. Thank you for all your efforts on his behalf. It's really tough seeing a man who's loved the outdoors and all God's creations as much as he has no longer be able to get out among it all. Sure has taught me to handle my own diabetes! Thank you all for your help and efforts in this.

[Boaz]

Lord help Jimmie , guide his doctors to a solution for his pain that he may continue on in his life . Please help him Lord in this time of great need to make good decisions and improve . Give him and his family comfort as they work through his medical trouble together . Thank you Lord . Amen

[shoot-n-lead]

Prayer sent.

[USMC87]

Jim will be held up in prayer.

[Pine Baron]

Prayer sent for Jimmie.

[jcren]

Prayers sent

[Blackwater]

Thanks to all of you, whether you posted here or not. We've been close friends for over 35 years now, and he really needs a reprieve. He said his legs felt like they were on fire, and his doc verified that they're burning up from the inside. They treated it just as they would a burn from a house fire. It gave him a certain amount of relief, but it's pretty apparent he's got a ways to go to get through this. I can't thank you enough for your prayers in this.

[jmort]

Praying for continued improvement and healing.

[Blackwater]

Just wanted to give you all an update. My friend Jimmie has received some significant relief from his new doc. He went to his old one asking for help "right now" because the pain was so intense he just couldn't stand it any longer, and the doc was busy, but they referred him to another doc, a heart specialist, who also has done some significant work with diabetics in his stage of the disease. It's not a cure, and there's really little to no chance his diabetes can be reversed at this point, but he DID get some relief from this new doc, and is able to carry the load much easier now, though the pain is a constant. It's been significantly lessened, and that's really all he was looking for. He's fighting now to keep his legs, so this was a very valued and appreciated development for him.

Just wanted to say thanks to all of you who prayed for this good man. I know many would deny it these days, but I believe prayer is what made the difference in this case, and led him to this new doctor. You can't know how much difference there is in him now vs. then! You guys are the greatest, except for the Lord who gives us things like this. Do we serve a loving and merciful Lord, or what? His healing hand is always an amazing and edifying thing to observe. I'll never understand how so many deny things like this. Thanks to you all on both his and my behalf. I have my friend back again! And that ain't no small thing, friends!

[Boaz]

Praise GOD he has found some relief . If I didn't think prayer works or helps I wouldn't pray or encourage prayer. Prayer does help . I'm glad for you and Jimmie . Thank you for the update .

[Pine Baron]

Thank YOU, BW, for asking for this and the opportunity to pray for Jimmie. My prayers continue.

[buckwheatpaul]

Lord, I come to You to ask that You heal Jamie so that he can get his diabetes under control. Through Your grace please let him keep his legs. Father, Jamie has been stubborn and due to that his health has deteriorated and his eyes are now open and he is wanting to make a change. Father, You are the great healer and please allow Jamie to change his habits and to keep his legs. AMEN

[Hickok]

Praise the Lord and Amen!

[Blackwater]

Thank you so much, guys. I talk with him almost daily, and I'm the one he calls when he needs some cheering up, or just a sounding board to expel his frustrations. We've been close friends for 40 years now. He's a unique individual, and though he's not perfect, who among is? He's full of goodness and good will toward others, and has often played with his band for free for fundraisers for others in the community, and just whenever it seemed the right thing to do. He's generous to a fault with what he has to give, and it's usually not appreciated, really. But he keeps on giving of himself. He sights in over 300 rifles a year for others in the community and their friends, because they know when he sights it in, it's dead on. He's lived more in his 65 years than most have in three times that. He used to hunt of fish for many years about 300 days a year, just because he was so awed by the beauty and grandeur of the woods and waters, and all the creatures in them. As John Wayne said in "The Shootist," that was his "church," and he was taught good, Christian principles. He was always very upset at the kind of hypocrisy that he found in many churches, and even some of the preachers, and he was never much of a church-going sort, but he believed, simply because he couldn't not believe, with all he'd seen and experienced in his life.

And through it all, he's been my friend, and if I needed him at 3:00 in the morning, or any of his other friends, he'd never ask why, but he'd just say "I'll be there in a few minutes." These are the kind of friends none of us have enough of. There's not a haughty bone in his body, and he's always humble, and always appreciative of whatever he has. He's never wailing about what he doesn't have, but if he can see a way to get something he wants or needs, he simply goes for it. There just aren't many men like him any more. His love of playing and singing has led him to quite a few bouts of violence, but he never started a single one of them, but he's settled a good many of them. He's been shot several times with small calibers, cut a number of times, and to keep it out of the law's grasp and the newspapers, he had a vet's assistant who used to disinfect and sew him up. It was a very different "world" that he grew up in. He was largely raised by his grandparents who hunted, fished and trapped for a living, and did seasonal farm work when available. And they always ate very well and love and justice pervaded his homes. His maternal great grandfather was once the sheriff of the county, back when things were done with insight and understanding, and not necessarily according to the letter of the law at times. And nobody in the community did anything but appreciate it. His great grand was a hero of sorts in the Civil War, and they made him Sheriff, and never had reason to regret it. People were busy back then, and didn't have time for all the "foolishness" that seems to reign today.

Men like him are so very rare today, and getting rarer every day. I miss those I've known who were largely the same as he is. He never has to be told what's right. He just knows instinctively, just like folks once did, though those others seem like they lived so long, long ago now.

He's a remnant of the folks I've been so blessed to grow up among and learn from all my life, and who I wanted to be like when I grew up. They don't tend to fare all that well these days, because there's not a PC bone in their bodies, but their faith was always in God and the talents He's given them at birth, and they all expected to be challenged, but never got disheartened because of it. They just kept getting better until they could manage whatever was before them. We need a lot more folks like him these days. A LOT more!

[Boaz]

Best wishes for Jimmie , hope and pray he does well . Thank you for caring about a friend .