Hello Everyone,

I am writing this with a humble heart asking for prayer and support for my husband, Ed, and our family as we navigate through these trying times. You may know one or both of us personally, or you may know Ed from a distance as he has led worship at Shiloh Community Church by playing the piano for many years. I'm Jackie, Ed's wife, and we have two daughters (Erika and Alexis). As many of you have already heard, Ed suffered a terrible and life-altering accident when he fell down the stairs on Nov 4th. As a result, he suffered compression fractures in his back and bulging discs in his neck. many of the vertebrae and disks were severely damaged. The most serious part of his injuries is the damage that was done to his spinal cord. He was rushed to the hospital where he was taken into surgery. In this surgery, they completely removed a few of the vertebrae in his neck and completed a spinal fusion. They also added many screws to provide support/structure, in order to stabilize the damaged spinal cord.

Due to this fall, he is currently unable to walk and has almost no control of his arms or hands. He is healing from his surgeries but there is a very long road ahead for him as his body heals. His Neurosurgeon has given us hope for Ed to someday walk again. Ed's doctor told him that his hands will be the last to heal. However, he recently began to move his thumb and index finger in his right hand. We are extremely thankful!

Because of these circumstances, Ed is not currently in a position to work at his job doing database marketing for the nonprofit marketing company here in Arizona like he has done for many years. Once Ed comes home from the rehabilitation and nursing facilities, I will become Ed’s full-time caretaker as he requires 24/7 assistance. This has left us in a challenging spot. Ed is determined to be back to work as soon as he is able, but in the meantime, his main focus will be to recover and heal. There are many known costs such as a specialized mobility wheelchair, potentially a wheelchair-accessible bathroom remodel, a motorized medical bed, retrofitting our home to be wheelchair accessible, converting a downstairs office into a bedroom for Ed, specialized transportation costs to and from appointments, a possible car conversion, a mountain of medical bills, as well as our normal monthly cost of living. There are many unknown costs ahead in this journey we face as well and any assistance you are able/willing to give would mean so very much to us.

We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your thoughts, kind words, meals, donations, and most of all prayers. As we start this journey to healing, we know God is helping us every step of the way. In this season of waiting, we are trusting and leaning on God. We understand there are many challenges ahead of us and have at times been overwhelmed by the uncertainty of Ed and our future.

One of those overwhelming moments was when our daughter Alexis was recently baptized, and Ed was not able to attend that very special moment due to being in ICU. Our daughter chose 2nd Corinthians 12:10 as her baptismal bible verse before her dad's injury. This verse says: "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." It is during these most difficult circumstances that we have felt God's power, strength and love so very much. We are hopeful and prayerful for Ed’s recovery. We hold onto His promises and encouraging Scriptures as our strength and comfort in these difficult times.

We want to thank everyone who is praying for us, helping us, and supporting us in this season. God bless you!