Good Plans

Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the plans that I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for your good and not for disaster"

Parkinson's disease diagnosed in January 2012.  Up to now this is considered an incurable and progressive disease.  Then this past March I had a heart attack, and quadruple bypass surgery. Sometimes it can feel like life is just piling on and you may feel the same way at times. We can't afford to entertain those thoughts for very long.  Feeling sorry for myself is a long and dark road that is very difficult to recover from.  These are thoughts that I have to choose against all the time.

Jeremiah is sending me a different message.  He is saying that God has good plans for my life, so I am searching for them.  I may not be able to do some of the things I once did but there are things that I can still do well.  I spent years training sales people to sell insurance and I spent years leading start up churches.  The essence of what I have done was built on communication so I just need to find different avenues to use that gift.

I am finding great joy in communicating still.  I do it through the two blogs that I write on a daily basis. My life is finding purpose again as I share encouraging words with those struggling in a similar battle to the one I am fighting.

I am on a crusade to start an epidemic of hope.  This is God's good plan for me.  He has a good plan for you as well.

The Journey Continues

The journey continues.  Starting Monday August 19th I will be publishing this blog at a new website. You can find me now at battlingpd.com.  That's battling Parkinsons Disease.  This is where my health battle began on January 23rd of 2012.  At that time I was Pastoring a local church, involved in the insurance business, and living on a working 160 acre horse farm in Oglethorpe County just outside of Athens, Ga.  This is where the battle to reclaim my health began and this is what I have been writing about for these last several months.  Our new web site is designed to connect with others who are facing a serious health challenge, or know someone who is. I have a son, Andrew, who wants me to chronicle this battle from it's very inception.

I will continue to share and my wife will also share how this battle impacts her and the rest of my family.  We will also produce a video post on a weekly basis.  We are looking for new ways to help those who are feeling overwhelmed and isolated by their challenge whether it is Parkinsons, Cancer, Heart Disease or some other critical medical condition.

Our goal is simply to start an epidemic of hope and I pray that you will continue to follow along.

Join us at   www.battlingpd.com.

Enjoy the journey,  

Dan Brasher

A Bucket List

A bucket list.  Do you have one? Everyone who wants a heart filled with hope needs a bucket list.  Its a list of things you would like to do, things you would like to see, and places you would like to go in this life.  A couple of years ago my wife and I took a weeks vacation in Hawaii and we went horseback riding through an inactive volcano.  It was an incredible experience that we thoroughly enjoyed.  It had been on our personal bucket list for years.

Being told that you have a disease that is incurable can really take the wind out of your sales.  It can make you want to close the windows, pull the curtains and crawl under the sheets.  It will make you stop thinking about the future if you let it, so don't let it.

Don't let yourself get so focused on the pain of the now that you no longer see the joy of the future. Jeremiah 29:11 tells me clearly that God knows the plans he has for my life so if we are still here then God still has a plan and that involves a future.

So start thinking about a bucket list.  This will make you focus on your future and that is the beginning of hope, and hope can be a powerful force that will help us battle a powerful disease.

Making Plans

If you are like me and are facing a major health crisis then it is time for you to start making plans. Everything in you will want to stop looking forward in any way, but don't do that.  When I was diagnosed with P.D. 20 months ago a voice started in my head trying to convince me that my life was over, but you can't listen to that voice and have any hope.

Jeremish 29:11 nlt "For I know the plans that I have for you", says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

If you are facing Parkinsons, Cancer, Heart Disease or another serious illness you will need hope just to face the battle and no one can have hope without plans for the future so please, start making plans.

Isolation

We had a dog that has been with us out on our farm for many years.  His name was Barkley and our entire family loved him very much.  My wife used to joke about him that he looked like he was put together with spare parts.  He was a loyal and important part of our lives and we hated it when he got sick.

We knew that he was sick because he crawled up under the edge of our shed and wouldn't come out.  Ever since I was diagnosed with P.D. I have had to fight this same tendency because there are times when I just want to stay holed up at home. I have to continually remind myself that isolation is my enemy.

When you want to build a fire you have to stack a lot of wood in a pile because the fire will go out if the wood is scattered.  You can't keep the fire of hope burning if you spend too much time alone so get up and get out today.  Keep interacting with people and you will feel better.

A powerful message of hope...follow this link

A powerful message of hope.  Please consume at your earliest convenience.  Healing cancer from the inside out by Dr. Colin Campbell.

/www.loftcinema.com/film/healing-cancer-from-inside-out/

Contagious

As we have been battling Parkinsons and heart disease for over 20 months I have become convinced of one important truth and that is that "hope" is contagious.  When I hang out with positive, hopeful people I feel better about myself and my future...really I actually feel better after I have been around positive people.  There is a real, measurable difference in our responses to different kinds of people.

If you  hang out with angry people you'll want to fight about something, and if you hang out with disappointed people you'll want to complain.  This is true because attitudes are contagious.  Knowing this has led me to be on the lookout for positive, hopeful, forward looking people.

If you are determined to be a "grumpy Gus" please drive on by my house.