Jake's Watering Hole

When we find something good, we can either hoard it, or we can share it. On the right you will see a link to Jake's Watering Hole and on it I have been adding links, video, sermons, etc. that have all helped me. I will include writings, podcasts and videos from the likes of Ravi Zacharias, Chip Ingram, William Craig Lane, and other sources that God has used to help me. The books shown down the right side of the page are linked to resources where they can be purchased. These books represent multiple views on various subjects. Some are more in-depth and scholarly in direction, and some are more devotional in nature. Some of the sermons posted will be ones I have preached simply because preparing those sermons have convicted and helped me. My hope is that by sharing them they will help others.

Why the name, Jake's Watering Hole? John 4 records a story where Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well, a landmark in Samaria and historical site important to the Old Testament. Jesus informs the woman that the well provides water that temporarily sustains, but that Jesus provides "living water" that sustains us forever. "Living water" was a technical term for good drinking water from a spring or well that was not stagnant or polluted. Jesus says his living water becomes a well-spring in us that overflows. This living water has sustained me and my family and I hope to let it overflow to others in any way I can.

Thanksgiving

Those first settlers in America had some tough first  years in the "New World." Whenever I have travelled to the northeastern portion of our country in the colder months, I often wonder why settlers ever stayed there. I would have gotten back in the boat and travelled south and settled somewhere like, Charleston, SC or the Bahamas. I think the folks who settled there were smart. But with the harsh winters and struggling crops of those first northern settlers also came blessings and harvests. They eventually reaped the benefit of their labors and as a result, we have a holiday called Thanksgiving. It is truly gratitude inspiring when survival is replaced with security. 

We are thankful. We are thankful for all of you who pray and support us. We are thankful for all that God does through you because you are willing. We get emails and comments through the website. We receive letters and cards of encouragement and prayer. We are covered in prayers, some we see and some we don't, but God's grace sustains us through them all. One of our main prayer requests on the website is protection for our marriage. That prayer is being answered daily. Many times marriages can be destroyed by circumstances like ours. It has become common in adulthood that many of your friends are getting married around the same time and later start having babies around the same time and then many start getting divorced around the same time. We hurt for and with the friends we have that are going through that. It reminds us to become more reliant on the Lord for strength in our marriage. Your prayers have contributed to that strength. We are thankful for Macayla's remarkable life and how she has maintained as well as she has. We are thankful for Jacob and the little prophet of God that he is. God teaches us all the time through our children. We are thankful for our extended family that is constantly pouring support and love into our lives. We are thankful to our church families that pray and support us. Over the last few years, the body of Christ has helped to meet our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Meals, prayer, housing, money, home improvements, hugs, letters and fellowship have all been used to bless our family. We recently received notice that a Sunday School class some friends of ours are a part of at First Baptist in Lincolnton, NC donated some money to the Virtual Toy Drive at Greenville Hospital in honor of Macayla. That was meaningful for us as it means that other kids will benefit as they face their own struggles in the hospital. 

Like the early settlers, we are inspired to gratitude as our survival mentality is being replaced by security. Security in Christ and His will for our lives. It is great when all things go the way you like, but that is not the world we live in. But the world we live in and the circumstances we are going through has taught us much. It will continue to teach us and grow us. We are thankful for all of you and we pray that Christ will bless you and that maybe He would work through Macayla's life in some way to draw more people to Himself. That is a legacy I pray for in Macayla's life. In short, we are giving thanks for Him, for her, our family and all of you.  

We love you, all. 

The Smoaks

MRI

We just got the images from Macayla's latest MRI. This video is a bit fuzzy because it had to be small to upload, but it will show a comparison of all her MRI's from approximately the same cross section location. 

Notice how the natural open areas (ventricles) within the brain are opening up more and getting larger. The least effected area of the brain is the temporal lobes (bottom, toward the front) and that would help explain Macayla's memory being as good as it is. As I look at these images, I am amazed at how much she can do. It is amazing to think that a person can have a tumor the size of grape in their brain and it cause so much havoc. By that standard, you would think that when more than half of the brain has atrophied, that a person would be dead. But, amazingly, Macayla still laughs, makes vocal noises, listens to us when we talk to her, knows who we are, and has some of the cutest stretches in the morning when she wakes up. I love to watch her yawn and stretch her arms over her head when she is waking up. It gets both of our mornings off to a good start.

Blindness

Well, it seems to be official. Macayla seems to have lost all of her sight. Until recently, she was still responding to light. We could turn on the overhead light in her room and she would look up at it. But now she does not respond to it. She no longer responds in a dark room to a single source of light, static or flashing. We just had an appointment with the eye doctor and he stated that based on what we were describing as far as her responses and the condition of her optic nerves and retinas, that he believes she is no longer processing light. Her hearing has become extremely sensitive while all this has been happening as well. She jumps at sudden sounds, even if they are not that loud. We are so thankful that her sight stayed active as long as it did. Most kids with Battens lose their sight early on. But she was still responsive to light and shadows this past summer. It has given us some great moments of joy when she would be in the midst of a series  unorganized movements and suddenly pause and look at us. We are thankful in Macayla's case especially considering she has been such a strong visual learner. She really kept her sight longer than we anticipated. We praise God for that and we praise Him that her memory has held on for so long and that she is generally happy and smiling.

Another Seizure

Yesterday morning, Macayla had another seizure. I was washing her hair and about to start blow drying when she started. It really was without warning. In the past she has seemed agitated for a period of time before the seizures. But she was acting normal before this one. It lasted about 2 1/2 minutes and then she seemed to pass out. About 5 minutes later, she started smiling. She has never done that after a seizure. She smiled and then slept for about an hour. Then she perked up the rest of the day and even was a bit agitated in the afternoon. So, far that has been the only one and it has been 4 weeks since her last one. There definitely is no rhyme or reason to these things. 

Growing Up

Macayla is growing up. She is 7 years old, but she is already experiencing some of the "changes" so this week during a doctor's visit we decided we would talk to an endocrinologist. We would like to prevent Macayla from having her menses if possible so that she does not experience all of the discomfort and pain associated with it. Some have found such treatment controversial in other cases. Usually the ones speaking out against it do not have a special needs, brain-damaged child. Macayla is 7 but in many ways functions on the same level as a 2 month old. She has a limited time left and plenty of discomfort and pain to go through. So, if we can minimize or remove any of that pain and discomfort, we will.

Still, it is hard for me as her Dad to sometimes deal with all these "girl" things. Jennifer laughs at me a good bit, but hey, I'm a guy. Womanhood is still a mystery to me on so many levels. Honestly, I thought we would never see the day when Macayla would go through this, but as it turns out many kids with brain disorders can start early and in some cases they can start really late. I guess we get the early category. I'll update as soon as we learn what endocrinology can do. This will be a learning experience.