We had our final family session at Peachford Hospital and we were able to bring Jesse home today! Praise the Lord!
Well, not exactly home. Jesse and I are actually living at Country Inn. We’re on the second floor with a beautiful view of Stone Mountain.
Stone Mountain is special to me. Whenever I look at that mountain—the largest single stone on the planet–I think of God. His long enduring love for me. His unchanging love. His love that lasts beyond any test!
And when I see Jesse, I know He loves me!
Keep praying for our family. Your prayer has moved the Mountain!
FINALLY got my computer back on line! Spent hours last night installing programs. Still haven’t finished. Wasn’t able to get on the blog.
Yesterday Ashley and I had a great time. We went over to the Gwinnett Detention Center to get the rest of Jesse’s stuff. In particular we wanted to get the Life Application Bible that I sent him. There were a LOT of letters! THANKS to all of you who sent him a greeting!.
We also went by Stone Mill Church which is where my brother Tito Ruiz is the Pastor. I purchased a new djembe for his worship team and took it over for them to use this weekend. Hope they like it!
Then over to the Mall of Georgia. We spent most of our time at the Apple store. Ash had a problem with her Mac with the Windows side of the programs. We had to go to Best Buy to purchase the Office Suite and reinstall that as well as the Vista operating system. All those disks were lost in the fire. Bahd luck. Took about an hour and a half to get everything running again, but now she’s her usual high speed self!
We’re still upgrading her clothes to a more mature, professional look. She’ll be starting Georgia State University in the fall, as well as making presentations to churches for Whirlwind so it’s a good investment for her. Our supporters have been SO generous to us! We really appreciate the outpouring of financial help for our family!
The bad news for me was that the two programs that I had almost completely edited for the Palmers were NOT on the backup. I still can’t figure that out at all. I’m really careful with stuff like that especially with projects that take a long time to complete. Pure spiritual warfare. I was really bummed out by having to redo everything, but that’s just the way it is sometimes. I spent hours reinstalling all the editing software and got the initial bed of the video laid. This morning I got up early and started laying in the cover video. I made good progress, but unfortunately they really needed the project this weekend. I sent them the only thing I had which was the DVD I created for Cathy Palmer and Terry Earl. It least it was better than nothing. It really frustrated me. I NEVER miss deadlines. But sometimes, things are just out of your control. You just have to take a deep breath and do the best you can with what you have.
I had a great talk with Jesse’s psychiatrist this morning. He feels like Jesse has made great progress and that we can take him out of the hospital Saturday after one more family session! Terrific! He was in the hospital for six days, which is about the average for most patients. He’ll be going back for outpatient care every week to make sure that his medications are working well or if they need to be adjusted. The brain is a very powerful and delicate instrument. It takes time to fine tune. The doctor is very optimistic about his recovery. Apparently, if treated properly, the recovery rate is over 90%. Please keep praying for that!!
Kathy and I had a fun afternoon. We rode our bikes from Avondale to Midtown Atlanta! That’s over 18 miles! It was great fun. Atlanta has a system of bike trails that go from Midtown all the way to Stone Mountain! That’s about 20 miles one way. It’s like a triple wide sidewalk that has a dashed line in the middle. It was really a lot of fun. I took a bunch of pictures.
Another of the programs I had to reinstall was Photoshop Elements. I use that to compress the pictures before I upload them to our Photo Gallery hosted by Smugmug. I’ll add pictures to the blog when I get that online!
Thanks for all your prayers for our family and for Jesse in particular. God is still in the miracle working business!
I started out in Alpharetta at the North American Mission Board where I did my seminar on how to raise up and mobilize volunteers. They were an enthusiastic group!
My computer is still in the shop and Ashley’s computer is not compressing pictures properly, so alas, no pix tonight! Bahd luck. I hope to pick it up tomorrow.
After my presentation at NAMB I went to all six of the missions where my team from Agricola, Mississippi was working. They did a FANTASTIC job on the project at Wynscape. Absolutely flabbergasting the amount of work they got done! They collected about 200 bags of trash from that location. After the team left I saw the Dekalb County Sanitation people come in with a big trash truck that had this immense mechanical arm pick up and dump all those bags. Super cool pix.
They also did a great job getting the old apartment at Huntington Ridge ready for the new occupants. Bill Hickey will probably have to finish some odds and ends over there.
In the afternoon I went around the 6 missions and shot video and pictures for the team. Ashley also took pictures of the service projects since I was in Alpharetta. Sure is great to have a partner I can depend on. Ashley rocks!
I had a good conversation with Jesse’s doctor, Dr. Byron Evans. He seems like a really knowledgeable fellow who can help Jesse. They’re still working on getting the correct dosage for him. I had mentioned that he seemed really sleepy. They plan on giving him his meds at night to help with that problem. I look forward to seeing him tomorrow night.
I was pretty stressed out after such a long day of driving–put in nearly 150 miles today. Got home and went straight out on a 4 mile run. Felt great.
This evening we took Kevin Lamb and his family along with the Mayfields out to Longhorn Steak House. It was delicious and the company was really fun. They are two of my very favorite families! We’re so lucky to be living in such a friendly, loving, family environment. I think living with the Lambs has been a critical part of my therapy. If we had been living in a hotel instead I don’t think I would have nearly recovered as rapidly. Pray for their family! It ain’t easy putting up with ME!
Somehow I felt like I heard a chorus of “Amens!” out there . . . .
Started out picking up the new van tire for my team from Agricola, Mississippi. It was a 10 ply tire especially made for carrying lots of people. Pretty expensive, but worth it!
Then over to Wynscape to check on the team. They were making amazing progress. I’m SO glad I went and got that chainsaw. That will flat clean out an area! There was a ton of underbrush to cut and haul out and the team was really going after it!
Kathy, Ashley and I had a meeting with one of the family counselors at Peachford. We had a good talk with her and Jesse seemed to react well to the situation. He still seemed really sleepy. I guess that’s one of the side effects of the medication. They assure me that they can work out the dosage and correct that. Pray that that’s the truth!
Later I went back to check on the teams at the missions. The kids seemed to be having a great time with them! They did a great Bible story about Jonah and the whale.
I checked on the mail and followed up on some phone calls over at FBC Doraville. Then went over to Borders book store to do some research on schizophrenia. The doctors feel like they can really help Jesse. Kathy asked him, “Do you think you’ll take your medicine?” “Yes, because I’m sick.” He’ll still be over at Peachford for at least another four days or so. The counselor said “We’re the emergency room of mental health.” I was glad that we had people taking good care of Jesse. Thinking of him over in that jail cell was heartbreaking.
Kathy and I went over for to visit Jesse again this evening for our regular visiting time. He still looked and acted really sleepy.
We came home tonight and there was a big wreck on 285. Traffic was blocked for miles. Welcome to Atlanta!
I have to get up early to check on the teams and then go do a seminar for the new appointees at the North American Mission Board. Then back to see how the missions are going in the afternoon. Full speed ahead, baby!
I had a great first day with my team from FBC Agricola, MS! This is about the fourth year I’ve worked with this team. They normally come during the summer. They’ve done a fantastic job so far!
I had a briefing with them at FBC Doraville and then sent part of the team on on over to Huntington Ridge to repaint the mission we used to have over there. The other 20 folks I took with me to redo the play area at Wynscape. It’s extremely overgrown and just plain nasty. We collected a bunch of bags of trash and started raking the area up.
Bill Hickey and I went to Lowes where we bought a chainsaw and a weed whacker so they can really start making headway against all the brush. I think the additional gear will be well worth the money!
In the afternoon I took them over to the missions where they’ll be working this week. They be covering Highland Gardens, Azalea Place, Pearl Lane, Briarlake Village, Kensington Station and Oak Forest. The kids at the missions are in for a real treat!
I also went by Peachford Hospital to drop off some art supplies for Jesse to enjoy while he’s in the hospital. We have our first family counseling session Tuesday morning at 11am at the hospital. Ashley will be coming with us too. I’m looking forward to seeing him. Hope he’s not so loaded on tranquilizers this time.
The team from Agricola had a problem with one of their van tires. I took it over to Tires Plus to get a new one.
Also went by our house to get the mail and see our sweet ol’ Sugar dawg. She was glad to see me!
K and I watched Rescue Dawn this evening. Glad I was never a POW. Makes me think even more highly of John McCain. That was some rough stuff.
My computer is still at the Geek Squad at Best Buy. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get it back. What a hassle.
After we got Jesse out of the Detention Center we took him out to eat Chinese food. He seemed to really enjoy it!
Then we went over to Miles’ house to see him and Ashley. Jesse was SO glad to see them!
We dropped by Kathy’s sister Ann’s house so we could pick up some extra clothes for him and let him clean up a bit. We packed him a bag and then went over to Peachford Hospital. He is still acting kind of strange. I guess that’s why we need to get him some help. We got there about 8pm and it took us until after midnight before he was finally in the hospital system. I had to fill out a bunch more forms and we had an assessment by one of the counselors.
He had a rough night and the doctors had to give him some meds to help him relax. Today he was kind of woozy. I guess the tranquilizers had really kicked him. We got to visit him for about an hour this afternoon. The doctors seem really hopeful that they can help him with therapy and meds. But they said that it’s a long term issue like treating diabetes.
After we went to the hospital we went over to Perimeter Mall to shop for some clothes for Ashley. I enjoy shopping with her. I think it’s kind of fun to look at the different styles and fabrics. I reckon that I pick out at least half of what she brings home! You have to be pretty sure of your masculinity to admit something like that, eh?
I was super tired and fell asleep on the way home. No, I wasn’t driving!
First thing this morning I tried to look up some information on my new computer about schizophrenia and it was completely frozen up. Wouldn’t restart, couldn’t see the cursor, nothing. Bummer. I had to take it over to Best Buy for their Geek Squad to take a look at. I was pretty upset because I had been working for hours on this big video project and now would I have to start over? I ran four miles this evening and at the very end of my run I realized that I had saved all the project on my EXTERNAL hard drive! So once the computer is repaired all my information should be just fine. PTL! Of course I don’t know how long it’ll be until I get my computer back . . . but while it was running it was a dream to edit with! Pray that it’ll be repaired asap. I’m using one of the Lamb’s computers now. That’s one thing that Jesse really taught me. Most of my critical work is web based so I can do it from ANY computer, not just mine.
Later, I went over to Walmart to pick up some supplies we’ll need for the service projects for me team from Florida. We’ll start work in the morning, including repainting the old apartment we had at Huntington Ridge and cleaning up a park area at our new mission at Wynscape. They’ll be in town through Wednesday working at 6 apartment complexes. I have plenty to keep them busy!
Keep praying for Jesse’s healing. He has really been through the wringer. It looks like he’s lost at least ten pounds. We still don’t know what kind of med they were giving him in the jail.
It’s Saturday morning and Jesse is still at the Detention Center. Apparently, the paperwork hasn’t made it over the 4 miles to the jail from the Justice Center. May not have anyone working on it until Monday! The lawyer is trying to get a hold of the judge to call them instead. I was really hoping we could have him out of there by now. Apparently the form missed the warrant number. C’est la vie, baby.
We used AA bond company. I call my Dad “Double A.” Ashley Ann is double A too!
I’ve been up since daybreak working on the video project for Tim and Cathy Palmer and Terry Earl, some of my favorite partners. I have the rough edits done now! I’m going to redo my standups because a part that I referred to on the video didn’t work out. I had a refugee from Burundi say, “Thanks for sending Terry!” but my wife couldn’t understand his accent at all. If Kathy, who lived in Africa for 5 years couldn’t understand him, no average white person will either.
Kathy and I visited Roxy Kendall, Miles’ sister to see her newborn baby. What a beauty.
We went bright and early to the Justice Center in Lawrenceville to wait for Jesse’s bond hearing.
First thing we found out is that the judge that we had heard that was going to listen to the case WASN’T going to be there. He was off on spring break! The new judge was a lady, Judge Head. She seemed to be very fair too.
Bottom line the lawyers got together and decided that letting Jesse out on bond ($20.000!) would be ok IF he was admitted straight into the hospital. This is what we wanted all along, so there wasn’t really a trial, the judge just signed the Consent Bond! PTL!
We didn’t get to see Jesse at all, which we were kind of sad about. But it’s better that they came to the right conclusion!
I’m going now to make arrangements with the bondsmen to get the money together for Jesse’s bond. I’ll call Peachford again to let them know to expect his arrival today.
I’ll be back on line later tonight with other developments.
THANKS again my friends, for praying fervently for my little boy. This is just the beginning of his healing! Don’t stop praying!
Ashley day! Yeah! Love hanging out with my daughter!
I started editing the video for the Palmers this morning. I got the initial bed of the program laid today. That’s where you put the standup videos and the narration track down. This evening I started laying in the “insert” edits. That’s where you insert video that covers the narration. I hope to finish editing the video tomorrow.
Ashley and I confirmed the six locations where my team from Agricola, Florida will be working next week. I’m sure everything is going to work out great for them. They’re a terrific team.
We also worked on the service projects. I have a couple of new things I need them to do including painting the apartment that we used to use at Huntington Ridge and a clean up project at our new mission at Wynscape.
Ashley and I went to do some shopping at Perimeter Mall. She’s replacing and upgrading some of the clothes that she had from the house fire. She’s adopting a more mature, professional look. She also got some new makeup–heard of Bare Minerals? Pretty cool stuff made out of all natural ingredients–5 different types of minerals!
After lunch, we shot over to Providence Christian Academy where we spoke to Dr. Carl Barrington’s Ethics Class. We had a good time sharing to this enthusiastic class. I pray that some of them will get involved at the missions near their school.
Then back to Chamblee where we checked on my office at FBC Doraville. Picked up some bills that I’ll drop by my treasurer’s house on Friday. I usually water my plants on Thursdays. They always brighten my day!
Went by the bank to get some money. I got a money order for a family that we’re helping with their rent.
Checked on the mission at Azalea. I talked a long time with Jouvens. We hope to get him into Perimeter College in the fall. We think we can do it as an international student now that he has a passport from Haiti. Pray that that will work out.
I picked up two computers from my friend Clatie Lewis who refurbishes them for me. Ash and I took them over to Wynscape where I met Officer Jose Ayala who is the leader of the community development for the area.
That’s another place where I’ll have a team working to clean up a playground area that is extremely overgrown. It’s become a crime ridden area. I called my partner from Florida to make sure they bring some landscaping tools and chainsaws.
This evening I worked on editing the video project and then Kathy, Ashley and I went to Miles’ house to see his sister Roxy and her new baby Isabella. That is a beautiful little baby.
Please pray for Jesse! We have the bond hearing on Friday morning at 9am Judge Hamlin is supposed to be a good judge. Pray that he will bond Jesse out to go to Peachford Hospital tomorrow afternoon. Please Lord, hear our prayers so Jesse can get some help!
I got up early this morning and started working on the video project for Tim & Cathy Palmer our new missionaries coming to work with us later this month and for Terry Earl, my partner in Clarkston. So far I have all the video I shot from my camera in my computer. I also went out and did a more field work to get pieces of video I needed to illustrate what we were talking about: like street signs, washing machines, filling out forms and counting money.
Got home and ran 4 miles. Getting hot out there! Gonna get a lot hotter!!
Taking care of my email and my phone calls from this morning.
The crew at our house is really working on cleaning it up. Amen to that!
I’ll start editing the video after I post the blog.
K and I will go to visit Jesse at the Detention Center this evening. We just got back from seeing Jesse. He seemed in good spirits and was talking a lot about Jesus! Progress!
Be praying for the bond hearing on Friday at 9am that we can get him into the hospital!
