"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective,"  James 5:16

Paul continues to make very good progress in his recovery from surgery.  In fact, he plans on resuming his regular schedule and commitments as of March 1st.  We contribute his strong recovery to the prayers of so many people who have been faithfully praying.  Everywhere we go people mention that they have been daily praying for his recovery. 

Recently Paul's brother and sister-in-law gave him the book, When God Winks At You, by Squire Rushnell.  The book deals with how God speaks directly to us through the power of Divine coincidence.  In the chapter on prayer, the author shares about the evidence of the importance of prayer.  We would like  to share part of that section.

"Scientific studies to clinically confirm the efficacy of prayer have doubled in the past decade-encouraging new for those of us who have always known the power of prayer.

Dr. Mitchell Krucoff, a cardiologist at Duke University, randomly selected 150 heart patients and placed them into five groups for a pilot research project.  One group received standard cardiac care.  Three others received treatments from a bedside therapist described as imaginary, stress relaxation and touch therapy.  A final group received distant 'off-site' intercessory prayer.'

Those in the prayer therapy group improved by more than 50 percent.  'There may be a benefit to these therapies,' said Dr. Krucoff, cautiously optimistic.  He has subsequently expanded the study to 1500 patients. 

At St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, cardiac researcher, William Harris, PhD, also found positive results from a study of intercessory or distant prayer on 1000 heart patients with prior cardiac conditions of serious nature.  They were randomly assigned to two groups:  Without knowing it, half received daily prayer for two weeks, half had no prayer.  Those who received prayer fared 11 percent better. 

In a similar study, at San Francisco General Hospital in 1988, patients who received prayer were able to leave the hospital sooner.  Dr. Harold Koenig, Duke's associate professor of medicine and psychiatry, was quoted in USA Today as saying, 'Healthy senior citizens who said they rarely or never prayed ran about a 50 percent greater risk of dying from their cardiac condition.'"

According to these studies and many others, the efficacy of prayer is a fact.  This has also been proven in Paul's life because of the many answered prayers.  This truly proves the importance of prayer.

"Let me burn out for God.  After all, whatever God may appoint, prayer is the great thing.  Oh, that I may be a man of prayer."   Henry Martyn

Blessings and encouragement,

Paul and Gail

The lyrics of a song from the sixties, "People who need people are the luckiest people in the world", reflect our feelings over the past few months. Beside our relationship with the Lord, people are most important. Today it was reinforced when we spent time with a very dear person in our lives. We went with the expectation of discussing future involvements, but she had prepared the most wonderful meal including a side dish of chicken and ice cream for our dogs. (We are dog sitting our son, Roger's, dog for the next six weeks as he is on assignment in Danville, VA.) We had no idea that we would be treated to such a special time and meal. It certainly exceeded our expectations, and we went away totally encouraged and refreshed.  We were truly fortunate to share in this experience which solitifies the fact that, "people need people".

This past weekend our daughter, Rebecca, came home with her fiance for the first time. They plan to marry on July 7th in the Atlanta, GA area. They prepared a gourmet meal for us on Sunday which included a salad made of greens fresh from his garden in Atlanta, believe it or not.  Rick fit right in as part of the family and was eager to assist in whatever way possible. We were very delighted in observing their warm loving relationship which included exceptional communication between the two of them and with us. For almost forty years we have been praying for Rebecca's future mate and Rick is an answer to these prayers. We are excited about having him as a part of our family, as "people need people".

Recently, we ran into a person who had been following our CaringBridge website. She revealed to Gail that she had been closely following our daily postings and other people who had responded on the site. In fact, she even printed off the postings that had ministered to her immensely as she had been going through very difficult times with the health of a close relative. Even though we shared Scripture that had meant a lot to us as we journeyed through our experience with Paul's health, it is a blessing to know that it also encouraged others. This brings to mind a Scripture in II Corinthians 1:4 in The Message which reads, "He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us."  People need the Lord and "people need people".


Paul continues to improve and is gaining strength.

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul and Gail

P.S. The picture was taken at a sweetheart banquet a week ago. God has truly blessed us with each other, and we praise Him for that.

Psalm 100:4 says, "Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name."

As the sunlight began to break this morning, we could see the snow coming down leaving a blanket of fresh white on the ground and trees. It was such a beautiful way to begin the day. In the first lines of our devotions this morning it read, "Give yourself fully to the adventure of today. Walk boldly along the path of Life, relying on your ever, present Companion (Jesus)." This is a good reminder to make the most of every day.

Since today was Valentine's Day and Paul knows Gail's favorite meal to eat out is breakfast, we ventured out in the snow and ended up at Bob Evans. We enjoyed a great breakfast and lots of conversation about the day and other things going on in our lives. To add some spice to our day some friends brought a delicious lunch of homemade chicken noodle soup and croissant sandwiches. Not only did we have an excellent lunch but heartwarming conversation with lots of encouragement. We must have sat at the table most of the afternoon. According to Proverbs 27:17, the Message says, "You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another." When our time together ended we felt wisdom and encouragement had been shared which enriched all of our lives. The presence of the Lord was definitely felt.

This evening we are posting these thoughts in front of a warming fire in our fireplace. We wish you could have been here and joined us.

Each day is a day made by the Lord and may all of us give ourselves fully to the adventure of the day.

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul and Gail