San Diego Bound!

A number of people have said that they would like to contribute to Tiffany's rehab costs. I deeply appreciate the generosity of everyone during this time of challenge for the Joiner family. Your love and support has been very humbling and encouraging for us. In an effort to operate with integrity and accountability we will not be setting up accounts here in Valdosta at either New Covenant Church of Valdosta or Christian Alliance of Ministries. I want the fund and administration of the fund to be separated from my family and me. New Covenant Church of Tifton has graciously agreed to receive and administrate these funds. All money that is given will be spent on this rehab process and any that is left will be given to a benevolence fund. Because this money will be directed to the needs of an individual, unfortunately, you cannot receive tax credit for your donation. Please send your donation to:

New Covenant Church
2167 Whiddon Mill Rd
Tifton, GA 31793

Payable to: New Covenant Church
For: Project Walk

Thank you again for your love, prayers and support during this time.

Blessings!
L.A. Joiner

Tiffany Update

Thank you for your continued prayers for Tiffany until full restoration is complete. As of today the plan is for Tiffany to fly from Dubai to Atlanta later in the next week. Teresa will meet her in Atlanta and the two will fly to San Diego. She has been accepted at Project Walk in Carlsbad, California. You can check it out at: http://www.projectwalk.org/
Project walk is a pretty hard core program that requires all participants to sign an application saying "they believe they will walk"! That is what Tiffany is looking for. Her international insurance is refusing to pay for the rehab because it is in the U. S. A number of people have said that they wanted to contribute to these costs. I am now working on setting up an account through which donors may give toward Tiffany's rehab costs. I will give you more on that later this week but I wanted to let you know the progress to this point. Thank you again for your love, concern and prayers.

Blessings!
LAJ

The God Of Convenience

Nothing that God ever asks of us involving serving others is ever convenient. It is in the sacrifice of serving that the glory and presence of Jesus is revealed. I think that is part of what Mother Teresa learned in her sacrificed life. It is an easy thing to say, "if you need me, please call." The call will not come. The service will not be performed and no glory will be revealed. As leaders we are called first and foremost to serve others. We can plant churches, build buildings, develop ministry teams, make disciples, even give our money and never break the seal on the bottle of that very expensive ointment called service. It only comes as an inconvenient sacrifice. Many of the miracles of Jesus came when He did not have time to be bothered or when He was on a journey to help someone else. Let us be careful not to miss the God opportunity on the way to a good opportunity. If you planned it and had time to delegate it, it is probably not the service that will release the fragrance of a miracle.

Going back to the Blog!
Tiffany is doing well and still in search of the right rehab center. Therefore, after this update, I will return to my normal blog of assisting leaders in the Church.

Update:
Tiffany is making remarkable changes on her own in Dubai without a formal rehab program as of yet. It is shocking just how difficult it is to get the kind of help you need when these crises occur. I never imagined the pressure and stress of trying to get help for a loved one. I'm beginning to see what so many have been screaming about for so many years, "adequate health care for all". In this country, if you have the cash, you can get the care". If you don't, you are literally on your own. Also, if you are destitute you can get help. However, the middle class often suffer until they spend all they have and then care is provided. I know, I sound like an ad for socialized medicine. I'm not for that but what we have isn't working very well either. Enough politics!

Tiffany is hoping to come to America soon but we are hearing that most programs have up to a one year waiting list! We aren't discouraged (today), and we are moving forward with our efforts to get her in the right place, at the right time, with the right therapists! I would appreciate your continued prayers toward this goal.

My next blog will be back to our Vision with updates from time to time on Tiffany.

Blessings!
LAJ

Tiffany Update
Teresa and I are back in the U.S. We came back Thursday, arriving home from our drive from Atlanta Thursday night. We got up Friday morning, washed clothes and drove to Miami! Yep, that's right! Jet lag, what jet lag!!! Yeah, I'm feeling it, but compared to seeing Lucia for a little late Christmas, it's worth it! We are in Miami as we speak enjoying 80 degree weather and perfect skies.

Tiffany is in Dubai being assited by friends until we can get a handle on her rehab. We were shocked on Thursday to learn that her international insurance company "changed their minds" on the amount they would pay on her rehab. Actually, they just stopped paying. We are grateful for their paying for the surgery and a month in the hospital but now we have the challenge of finding funding and the right rehab for long term therapy. We are looking at a lot of options. Please join us in prayer for wisdom in all this that we will make the right decisions for her best treatment that will determine her future quality of life.

Tiffany is a tough cookie! She is already getting in and out of her wheel chair on her own, meeting her own personal needs, and even pulling up from her wheel chair into her Jeep! No, she's not driving but she's determined to walk again and live a normal life. She's not interested in learning how to live in a wheel chair, she tells everyone. Her active life as a personal trainer, yoga instructor, rock climber and all out sportsman, is definitely working on her behalf. She is doing great in that respect. I asked her one day how she was fighting off depression and she said, "I'll find myself in depression for about 30 minutes and I think, that's 30 minutes off my rehab, so I get out of it quickly"!

Again, thank you for your love, concern and prayers. Hopefully, she will be back here in the States soon for treatment or possibly in another country. I'll let you know. Just stay tuned! Your love for us has been almost overwhelming!

Blessings!
L.A.

Joiner Family Update - Good News!

We have Tiffany at her home!

After almost 4 weeks in the hospital, she's finally home and very happy about it. As a matter of fact, Tiff and I are on her balcony sipping coffee and looking over the Arabian Gulf. It was quite delicate getting the wheel chair over the 8 inch ledge but we did it. It wasn't as tricky as getting her up the 2 flights of stairs to her apartment! She made it up the first flight bumping along on her butt! (Her choice.). Then Teresa and I picked her up by the legs and under arms and carried her on up! We made it! This part of the world, with all it's modern buildings, is not handicap friendly in the least. Hopefully, we will hear today where she is going for rehab. She has told us that she wants us to take our previously scheduled flight home Friday. I think that living on her own for the last number of years makes her want her parents to visit, but not live with her! The therapists that I have talked with confirm that some very independent patients do better in long term rehab without family present. Well, that's certainly Tiff! Even as I am writing this, she sits in her wheel chair shaving her legs with a pan of water with legs on the banister. She picked each leg up and placed them there alone! (She still has little control from the knees down.) She has a strong group of friends surrounding her here who assure me they will take care of her and put her on the plane for rehab. That means we will be home this weekend.
We plan to come in quietly, wash clothes for a day and go to Miami to have Christmas with our little granddaughter Lucia, her Mom Tarah and Dad Scott! We missed her first Christmas, so now we will have it! We will leave there and head toward the CFN meetings at San Destin. I will preach for Jack Hollis on the way on Sunday, Jan. 17. That will be my launch back into public ministry and I will resume my schedule from that point.
Contingent upon where Tiffany goes for rehab and how long she is there, we may make a trip to see her in a couple of months.
I am deeply humbled and grateful for all the love, concern, gifts and prayers of faith extended to our family during this journey to date. It is my prayer that I may be a better servant to the Lord and others because of this experience. May the Lord bless you greatly for your rich generosity and your true Christian love.

Many Blessings!
L. A.

Tiff Update
Thank you to all who are continuing to pray. Nothing really new to report. We are still in the hospital in Dubai. Teresa and I cleaned the apartment and the Jeep for her to come home today but a minor infection has apparently postponed that. She had to buy a wheel chair yesterday and that wasn't too exciting. However, for the present it is a necessary purchase. She's an amazing little lady! She now throws herself in her chair and doing most things for herself. I'm really proud of her tenacity. She is also pressing the Doctors and insurance company to get her into a rehab facility that doesn't focus on learning to live in a wheel chair. She wants to go to a place that specializes in getting athletes back in the game!

I'm learning a lot in all this. (More about that in future blogs.) This Friday Teresa and I will have "lived in Dubai" for a month. Some may wonder if we are afraid here. Actually, I feel safer here than in many American cities. The Islamic laws that govern Dubai sets an atmosphere that make "most" experiences pleasant ones. Today we ran to the Mall of the Emirates, that's the one with the ski slopes you may have heard about. We had to pick up some shoes for Tiff and some items at Carrefore, Dubai's version of Wal-Mart. As we were having lunch in the food court I noticed a sign that said, "please dress respectfully by covering your shoulders and knees". Obviously, this was directed at ladies! It seems that religious laws regarding dress are always directed at women and miss the men, just like the U.S.! Don't worry, there are a lot of Westerners who can't read and they make it look more like the USA.

I'll close for now. Please keep praying for infections to be gone, the right rehab center and the right timing on her departure from the UAE.

Blessings!
L. A.

Quick Update Today
Tiffany is making progress although she is still in the Dubai hospital awaiting transfer to long term therapy. The Holidays have put everything on hold. She has worked diligently several hours each day with the tremendous help of her friend Alvaro Garcia from Spain. Today we even slipped in to the therapy room which they forgot to lock on the Holy Day. We did about a 1 1/2 hour routine on different weight bearing machines targeting her legs. The legs are still pretty non-functional from the knees down but she is working them hard and you can see her getting stronger each workout. I have great confidence that once she gets to a rehab facility the work here will go a long way toward full recovery. Please keep praying for the right facility and that it will be soon. There is a limit to the amount the insurance will pay so we are trying to get her into a center with the "most bang for our buck". It seems that Europe might be the best at this point. We haven't given up on Shepherds in Atlanta but that would require a scholarship. The financial crisis that is affecting the world has limited their income and consequently, the amount of scholarships awarded. I know the Lord has prepared just the right place with just the right trainers to work with her.

Thanks for continuing to stand with us.

Blessings!
L. A., Teresa and Tiffany in Dubai, UAE