Dear Family of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Good Morning you you and yours!

When you try to figure out everything, you’re exalting your reasoning above God’s thoughts and plans for your life.

There is despair and hopelessness on every hand. Let us be faithful in proclaiming the hope that is in Jesus! The words of Billy Graham

To start our day a great message from Bill Graham……………

Billy Graham: Real Hope Starts with Prayer

NEW LETTER ASKS BELIEVERS TO JOIN MR. GRAHAM IN NOVEMBER’S MY HOPE OUTREACH

February 26, 2013 – “The goal is to share the love and hope of the Gospel with people in every corner of America, in every neighborhood possible, during 2013,” Billy Graham writes in his new prayer letter.

Our world today desperately hungers for hope, and yet uncounted people have almost given up. There is despair and hopelessness on every hand. Let us be faithful in proclaiming the hope that is in Jesus.

By Billy Graham

Dear Friend,
A few weeks ago I received an invitation to join some old friends, people I’ve known for years, at a dinner in Washington. I didn’t feel I had the stamina to make the trip, so Franklin went in my place.
He gave the opening prayer. After dinner a nationally respected opinion researcher, a pollster, walked over and said, “Franklin, this should be a year of great harvest. This really is a perfect time to show people the path to real hope.” He explained that he constantly monitors what Americans are thinking. “I can tell you that anxiety is extraordinarily high right now among Americans. Fear is crowding out hope in so many people’s lives. People are anxious about everything, especially about the future.”
You and I simply need to look around us to know this is true. I feel a deep burden for so many Americans who live with no lasting hope.
We can help them find it.
Start with prayer—my prayers and your prayers. As Christians, we often pray for the sick, for each other, for the nation, and many regularly pray for “the lost,” but we should also pray by name for specific lost people.
In the familiar parable Jesus told about the lost sheep (see Luke 15), the shepherd did not go out to see if he could find just any stray sheep he might come across. He went searching for a sheep, a particular sheep. Pray that way, for specific lost people.
We may pray for a person to find God, but Jesus said it the other way around—He said that He came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10, NIV). Jesus does the seeking, and the Holy Spirit opens a person’s heart. That’s what we should be praying for. The first convert to Christ in Europe, that we know about, was a businesswoman in Ephesus named Lydia, a dealer in fine fabric. The Bible says God “opened her heart to respond to the things spoken” (Acts 16:14, NASB). There is no other way to get an unsaved person to respond. It took me years to understand this. We may pray for the preaching and pray for someone to turn to God, but the preaching will have little effect and the person will not make a decision to turn without the Holy Spirit.
When we pray urgently and faithfully by name for lost people we truly care about, asking God to reach them, God works—often in unique and unexpected ways—to open hearts to Himself.
If you are praying in this way, not once or twice, but persistently, for people you know who need Jesus Christ in their lives, you are already participating in the first key step of My Hope, a nationwide outreach BGEA has launched in partnership with churches across our land.
The goal is to share the love and hope of the Gospel with people in every corner of America, in every neighborhood possible, during 2013. The outreach will culminate in November when Christians from all over the country—hopefully including you—invite some of those on their prayer list to join them in watching a message I am preparing as part of a special nationwide My Hope TV program. Over the next few weeks you can watch an example of a My Hope evangelistic broadcast on many cable channels.
I pray God will call you to be part of this outreach. America is a large country filled with people who need Jesus Christ, and the task is enormous. We ask for both your prayers and your gifts for the My Hope project.
Only the power of the Gospel can change a heart or a nation. Will you join me, beginning today, to pray for our nation by praying for specific people you know, asking God to seek them and draw them to Himself?
Warmly,
Billy Graham
P.S. For a good part of my adult life, I made it my personal practice to read five psalms and one chapter of Proverbs each day. My friend and colleague George Wilson, who managed our BGEA headquarters office for many years, put together a unique Scripture devotional book based on this pattern. We’ve recently updated the book, and when you send a gift to BGEA this month, we would like to send Words of Wisdom as our thank
Great words from Billy Graham. When I started in radio I used to play Billy’s “Hour Of Decision” on Sunday mornings on KGCX in Sidney, Montana. He helped grow me up in Christ!
Billy said this…………
Our world today desperately hungers for hope, and yet uncounted people have almost given up. There is despair and hopelessness on every hand. Let us be faithful in proclaiming the hope that is in Jesus!

This is what the Lord has sent us here at FGGAM to do………reach the lost………one person at a time…….. bringing the light of Jesus Christ to the world………..one person at a time.
I was talking to Jerry Lucero yesterday of Indigio Mortgage, which is a supporter of FGGAM, that just as Billy Graham says, so many people are lost, without hope, do not have a Church or Pastor, and we are helping get people reconnected with the Body of Christ.
Yesterday was a bit tough, maybe more tougher than I realize but Billy also said this…….
I have never met anyone who spent time in daily prayer, and in the study of the Word of God, and was strong in faith, who was ever discouraged for very long. AMEN to that! By mid-afternoon after praying, talking with Sharon and Wanell Pate, and having lunch with Gretchen I was back on track.
I call Kyle Martin Pastor/Founder of Time To Revive, a Billy Graham Jr., because Kyle reminds me so much of Billy out in the mission field holding revivals all over America and bringing others to Jesus Christ. I remember when Kyle was in Santa Fe, NM holding a revival and he told me that one night he was just weeping, wailing out to God for help, as he was being attacked by the Mayor of Santa Fe and the newspaper. That was me yesterday, wailing and calling out to God for help, and like Kyle, God also answered me and continues to do so.
Billy encourages us to read Acts 6:4……….We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
I also love this from Billy….We should not pray for God to be on our side, but pray that we may be on God’s side. AMEN!
I encourage you to read the many books that Billy has written. They will encourage you! Billy encourages us all to read into Psalms and Proverbs each day for encouragement, he has said many times that the book of Psalms and Proverbs helped him through the toughest parts of his life.
So as Billy Graham asks us to join him and pray for specific people…… let us make a list and pray over it many times each day.

March 5, 2013. You are blessed so that you may pass along the blessings of God to others who believe and who will yet believe. Your faith has made you whole. You are the redeemed of the Lord, sent to multiply and extend My blessings. It is now common in your life that you consistently are blessing others wherever you go. You are My ambassador of love and extender of blessings to Jews and Gentiles alike. The Lord says, “I am no respecter of persons. My love covers multitudes of sins. Bless the nations, even those who hate you. Bless those who are so different than you. Bless those of different color and those of different languages and cultures. It is My will that you do this and thus help fulfill My promises.”

Galatians 3:8-9 (NASB) “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.” Ras Robinson

This story of love and devotion, even to the point of death, will touch you deeply. Nolan Keane was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 24. He is 28 now and he has undergone eight surgeries and multiple rounds of chemotherapy. Recently, doctors determined that the cancer has spread too far and there is nothing left to do for Nolan.

This tragic piece of news hasn’t stopped Nolan, a Division I baseball player, from wanting to live his life. He is determined to marry his fiancé, Morgan Carstens, and to take her on a honeymoon to Disney World.

Unfortunately, the couple is struggling financially. The medical treatment for Nolan is expensive and Morgan quit her job as a nurse to take care of Nolan. The couple is looking to donors to raise money for the wedding and honeymoon; so far they have $12,000 raised. The donations have poured in from sympathetic, wonderful people from all over the globe. They hope to raise a total of $20,000 (via GiveForward.com) – and the money keeps flowing in from people who are praying and hoping that this amazing couple can truly enjoy their last days together!

“Truly an amazing couple and an inspiration to all,” Cassie, a donor who gave $100, wrote on the GiveForward page. “Enjoy this time together and cherish every moment <3.”

“They truly define love and commitment,” Morgan’s sister, Jaclyn, said in an email statement to The Huffington Post. “When they look at one another you can see the incredible love they have for each other. They never ask for anything and deserve an incredible honeymoon [to] help forget about the bad things, even if it is for a moment.”

We ask you to please pray for Nolan and Morgan. This couple has been dragged through so much in their relationship. Cancer takes a toll on more than the body it infects, it’s so inspiring to see this couple still so in love and dedicated to one another.

(via GiveForward.com and HuffingtonPost.com)

For God’s Glory Alone in the Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Dewey Sharon and family

Visit us today!

www.fggam.org

If you would like to support the much needed work of For God’s Glory Alone Ministries, Dewey Moede, and Dewey’s Daily Cup please consider giving a financial gift. You can securely give by clicking on this link- http://www.fggam.org/donate.html then scroll down the page to securely give through PayPal. Be assured my friends, your gift will be of the greatest help in furthering the ministry work the Lord has laid upon us to carry out in His Holy Name.

Thank you,

Dewey Moede

If you have friends or family you think would like to share a daily cup of inspirational coffee with Dewey please forward this email and encourage them to join Dewey’s Daily Cup. All they have to do is send an email saying “Sign me up!” to radiodewey.

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Dear Family of our Lord Jesus Christ,

We all get to serve the God that raises the son each day!!! Good morning from Albuquerque!!!

♥ Time to Think: As you travel life’s weary road, let Jesus lift your heavy load. –Anonymous

♥ Time to Act: Believe in yourself and the talents God gave you.

♥ Time to Pray: Lord, grant me the grace to endure the struggle in any area of life where you have placed me.

March 2, 2013. People expect good things when they are drawn to you. The Lord has given you a gathering gift for those He wants to love more. They expect something positive and up-lifting when they see you coming. You are constantly being observed by people who are curious about the Christian life. They may not say it in so many words, but they sense something special about you. Over the years, you have learned that these observers are being drawn by the anointing I have placed upon you. You did well to receive the Holy Spirit and to be baptized in Him. Seize every opportunity to tell them of the Christ in you. Lead them carefully to salvation so they become disciples of Jesus.

Psalm 1:1-3 (NLT) “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” Ras Robinson

March 4, 2013. I, the Lord, am protecting you on every side. Even while you sleep, I protect and sing over you. My cup is full of thanksgiving for the joy you bring Me. You have found My favor and have drunk of it deeply. It gives me great pleasure to say yes to your requests. Do not hold back from asking the greatest things you need. Sometimes you do not ask because you are not feeling good about yourself. May I remind you? Only Jesus was perfect. Confess your sins, seek forgiveness and then receive it when I grant that forgiveness. I see you as holy and clean. Therefore, come before My throne of grace in boldness and confidence.

Psalm 3:3-4 (NASB) “But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the LORD with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain.” Ras Robinson

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March 4, 2013. I see where you are. I haven’t forgotten you, even though it feels like I have. I know all about what is going on. I see your heart getting discouraged. You aren’t like that often, but you are now on the verge of being despondent. Keep cool headed. You know better than to have self-pity. That indeed heads you down into a pit. Don’t lose your hope. A breakthrough is on its way. From my perspective I can see your horizon better than you. Continue binding the bad and loosing the good. Remember this is a key to living an overcoming life in My kingdom…the kingdom within the kingdoms of earth.

Matthew 16:19 (NASB) “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Bev Robinson

From Daily Bread………

READ: Romans 3:10-18

By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. —Ephesians 2:8
“Jerry was a good man,” the pastor said at Jerald Stevens’ memorial service. “He loved his family. He was faithful to his wife. He served his country in the armed services. He was an excellent dad and grandfather. He was a great friend.”
But then the pastor went on to tell the friends and family gathered that Jerry’s good life and good deeds were not enough to assure him a place in heaven. And that Jerry himself would have been the first to tell them that!
Jerry believed these words from the Bible: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) and “the wages of sin is death” (6:23). Jerry’s final and eternal destination in life’s journey was not determined by whether he lived a really good life but entirely by Jesus dying in his place to pay sin’s penalty. He believed that each of us must personally accept the free gift of God, which is “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23).
Jerry was a good man, but he could never be “good enough.” And neither can we. It is only by grace that we can be saved through faith. And that has absolutely nothing to do with our human efforts. “It is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15). —Cindy Hess Kasper
Christ’s work for my salvation is complete!

No work of mine can add to what He’s done;

I bow to worship at the Master’s feet,

And honor God the Father’s only Son. —Hess
We are not saved by good works, but by God’s work.

Charles Spurgeon – The Prince of Preachers

‎”As for me, I have braved the sneer of men because I feared the frown of my Lord.”

Amen and Amen!

What AWESOME Encouragement this day from Ras and Bev Robinson, Daily Bread and that quote from Charles Spurgeon! Most of all, how about that sunrise from our Lord!!!!!

This may be the most important CUP I have ever written in the 15 years I have done the CUP! Please read the following and pray over it and share it!

I want to go back and cover a bit of what I have based my Preaching and Teaching on, a close personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ where you can hear him! I pray that you are filled with the Holy Spirit so much that you can feel the Spirit in and around you! I pray that you get up early in the morning and pray to God, read His Word, putting on the Armour of God! I pray you do not do anything or say anything without God telling you to! I pray that you are bearing fruit for God, that you are a fruit tree! That when others look around you, they can call you a fruit tree for the Kingdom!

When I look around and see the challenges of the World and right here in the United States, it is because too many have gone away from God to do what they want. This is not a Republican or Democrat or Tea party problem it is a human problem. The Lord has shown me most Politicians do not have a close relationship with Jesus Christ, if they did we would not have these problems. If your from New Mexico and you have been following how disgraceful the Senate has treated Sec. of Education Hanna Skandera, it just ungodly. This women has tried to change Education in New Mexico, one of the worst if not worst education systems in the United States! With the way the Senate is treating her and the Teachers union, you would think that she put New Mexico in last place! She did not, the state did! The drop out rate at a lot of New Mexico schools is 50%!!!! Why is the Senate and the Teachers Union fighting for a failed system????

As this goes on you have Abortions going on in Albuquerque, which is becoming the Abortion capital of the United States! I am hearing nothing from the Senate on the murder of babies!

Read this from Pastor Paul Holt …………. http://www.fggam.org/botched-abortion-at-albuquerque-late-term-abortion-clinic-lands-14th-woman-in-hospital/

Also this from Pastor Mark Tross………. http://www.fggam.org/whats-wrong-with-new-mexico/

We are covering these stories daily at www.fggam.org to keep you informed!

One other story I will touch on and I do it more at our web site, is the drought. I have been Preaching and reporting on this for 3 years now. This weekend we learned that Maxwell, NM is basically out of water. They are hauling in water to water trees, etc. Some are going without showers and having to but water in a jug. These folks have to go out of town to wash their clothes. Water just trickles from the faucet, the aquifer in Maxwell is going dry. The lack of water is now a HUGE problem in New Mexico.

We cannot keep aborting God’s children and expect to have our land and lives blessed. We need to repent of our sins and pray to the Lord.

Our State and Country does not have a Political problem that can be solved in Washington or Santa Fe, it is a God problem! We need to have a Revival and repent, repent, and pray and pray!

Human history shows that the natural mind becomes progressively self-destructive if left to it’s own desires. People who are directed by their natural minds walk in darkness and have incorrect thinking.

The Word of God call’s the mind of the natural man “blinded” 2 Cor 4:4 “blinded” Romans 1:28 “Depraved” 1 Tim 6:5 “Corrupt” and Col. 2:18 “Unspiritual”

The natural mind thinks from a humanistic, sin-based viewpoint. The viewpoint of the flesh direts it’s thoughts. The sinful mind is under control of Satan and can never please God because it concentrates on things of the world and not things of God. The natural mind walks a path of destruction.

Let us now go into Praise on the following report………..

WASHINGTON — A baby born with the virus that causes AIDS appears to have been cured, scientists announced Sunday, describing the case of a child from Mississippi who’s now 2 1/2 and has been off medication for about a year with no signs of infection.
There’s no guarantee the child will remain healthy, although sophisticated testing uncovered just traces of the virus’ genetic material still lingering. If so, it would mark only the world’s second reported cure.
Specialists say Sunday’s announcement, at a major AIDS meeting in Atlanta, offers promising clues for efforts to eliminate HIV infection in children, especially in AIDS-plagued African countries where too many babies are born with the virus.
“You could call this about as close to a cure, if not a cure, that we’ve seen,” Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, who is familiar with the findings, told The Associated Press.
A doctor gave this baby faster and stronger treatment than is usual, starting a three-drug infusion within 30 hours of birth. That was before tests confirmed the infant was infected and not just at risk from a mother whose HIV wasn’t diagnosed until she was in labor.
“I just felt like this baby was at higher-than-normal risk, and deserved our best shot,” Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi, said in an interview.
That fast action apparently knocked out HIV in the baby’s blood before it could form hideouts in the body. Those so-called reservoirs of dormant cells usually rapidly reinfect anyone who stops medication, said Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. She led the investigation that deemed the child “functionally cured,” meaning in long-term remission even if all traces of the virus haven’t been completely eradicated.
Next, Persaud’s team is planning a study to try to prove that, with more aggressive treatment of other high-risk babies. “Maybe we’ll be able to block this reservoir seeding,” Persaud said.
No one should stop anti-AIDS drugs as a result of this case, Fauci cautioned.
But “it opens up a lot of doors” to research if other children can be helped, he said. “It makes perfect sense what happened.”
Better than treatment is to prevent babies from being born with HIV in the first place.
About 300,000 children were born with HIV in 2011, mostly in poor countries where only about 60 percent of infected pregnant women get treatment that can keep them from passing the virus to their babies. In the U.S., such births are very rare because HIV testing and treatment long have been part of prenatal care.
“We can’t promise to cure babies who are infected. We can promise to prevent the vast majority of transmissions if the moms are tested during every pregnancy,” Gay stressed.
The only other person considered cured of the AIDS virus underwent a very different and risky kind of treatment – a bone marrow transplant from a special donor, one of the rare people who is naturally resistant to HIV. Timothy Ray Brown of San Francisco has not needed HIV medications in the five years since that transplant.
The Mississippi case shows “there may be different cures for different populations of HIV-infected people,” said Dr. Rowena Johnston of amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research. That group funded Persaud’s team to explore possible cases of pediatric cures.
It also suggests that scientists should look back at other children who’ve been treated since shortly after birth, including some reports of possible cures in the late 1990s that were dismissed at the time, said Dr. Steven Deeks of the University of California, San Francisco, who also has seen the findings.
“This will likely inspire the field, make people more optimistic that this is possible,” he said.
In the Mississippi case, the mother had had no prenatal care when she came to a rural emergency room in advanced labor. A rapid test detected HIV. In such cases, doctors typically give the newborn low-dose medication in hopes of preventing HIV from taking root. But the small hospital didn’t have the proper liquid kind, and sent the infant to Gay’s medical center. She gave the baby higher treatment-level doses.
The child responded well through age 18 months, when the family temporarily quit returning and stopped treatment, researchers said. When they returned several months later, remarkably, Gay’s standard tests detected no virus in the child’s blood.
Ten months after treatment stopped, a battery of super-sensitive tests at half a dozen laboratories found no sign of the virus’ return. There were only some remnants of genetic material that don’t appear able to replicate, Persaud said.
In Mississippi, Gay gives the child a check-up every few months: “I just check for the virus and keep praying that it stays gone.”
The mother’s HIV is being controlled with medication and she is “quite excited for her child,” Gay added.
PRAISE GOD!!!!

Please continue to pray for Ed and Jan Moore. Ed came through surgery and they both are staying in a nursing home for now.
Please continue to pray for Ron Bernard. It is a difficult time for him now. He has inoperable cancer. Please pray for Ron and the family.

Don’t forget that Pastor Paul and I are on AM730 KDAZ today at Noon with, “This is the World we live in”
For God’s Glory Alone in the Love of our Lord Jesus Christ, Dewey Sharon and Family

Visit us today!

www.fggam.org

If you would like to support the much needed work of For God’s Glory Alone Ministries, Dewey Moede, and Dewey’s Daily Cup please consider giving a financial gift. You can securely give by clicking on this link- http://www.fggam.org/donate.html then scroll down the page to securely give through PayPal. Be assured my friends, your gift will be of the greatest help in furthering the ministry work the Lord has laid upon us to carry out in His Holy Name.

Thank you,

Dewey Moede

If you have friends or family you think would like to share a daily cup of inspirational coffee with Dewey please forward this email and encourage them to join Dewey’s Daily Cup. All they have to do is send an email saying “Sign me up!” to radiodewey.

If you do not wish to be on this email list please kindly inform Dewey by sending him an email titled REMOVE at radiodewey@aol.com – we will take you off this email list asap

Dear family of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Good morning!!! May God Bless you and yours forever and ever!

We have a Praise Report from Leslie! Her hubby Dave found a job! PRAISE GOD!

Let us be encouraged more than ever this day in our LORD!

God gave me a message at about 1:30am. He gave me an encouraging message to also give to my wife Sharon and our partner Pastor Paul Holt. It was a message of confirming our work and of encouragement. It is such a blessing to hear from the Lord. I Preach and teach on this much. It comes from that close personal relationship I keep talking about. WOW! There is nothing like being stirred from being sound asleep by the Lord to receive a message. If you do not hear from the Lord I want to help you……..just email me or call me 505-681-0331. Praise God the phone has been ringing off the hook, people knowing we make ourselves available for God’s Glory Alone!

When 5am rolled around this devotional came from Ras Robinson…………

March 1, 2013. Practicing for the big race has been intense and quite a challenge. You have participated fully and that is good. Over time, the practices have been more challenging. Now they are becoming quite rewarding. Many quit at this stage. But not you. It is within you not to fail. In fact, you hate failure. Others can endure it because they are not willing to pay the price to win. The Lord says unto you today, “Run, run, run. Run until it hurts so bad you cannot bear the pain. Then run some more. Every step you take is bringing you closer to the ultimate prize of winning. Keep the attitude and strong hope that the crown will be yours. I am with you all the way. Pick up the cross, run with it.”

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NLT) Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. Ras Robinson

AMEN!!!!!

Can you believe it is already March 1st!!???! WOW!

FGGAM is 6 month’s young this month! PRAISE GOD!

God was showing me this morning that He is pleased with the work we are doing. He is pleased with the team we are building at FGGAM. Yesterday Pastor Mark Tross posted his first article on our web site: http://www.fggam.org/whats-wrong-with-new-mexico/ Christian Attorney David Standridge has joined our team and will be posting soon. The Lord has directed us to have the site for encouragement and bringing the news Christians need to know. News that in most cases will not be reported in the secular media. We are to be salt and Light.

FGGAM bringing the light of Jesus Christ to the world…..one person at a time through Preaching, Teaching, Revival, Counseling, The Daily CUP, TV, Radio, and our web site.

Have heard from many of you that you are helping spread the word about the Ministry, thank you so much in helping us build awareness as we are to be a resource for God’s people and you are helping get the word out! This is all for God’s Glory Alone…….it is all about our Lord Jesus Christ and the mission He has given us! The most important mission!

This Saturday Jerry is with us……….

Jerry Chavez of the ARK organization shares his tremendous testimony and all about this years Kingdom Awards. Airs this Sat March 2 on KAZQ CH 32 Great message from Jerry! You will be blessed my his message!

The following story will touch you……………

NY Mets catcher Landon Powell reveals how rare disease, Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH, led to death of infant daughter Izzy

Trying to earn a job with the Mets, the 30-year-old opens up about Izzy’s disease with the hopes of raising awareness for Donors on the Diamond, the foundation he formed with his wife, Ally, and the importance of organ donation.

BY ANDY MARTINO / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013, 5:50 PM

UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013, 6:34 PM

HOWARD SIMMONS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Landon Powell and his wife Ally weren’t expecting a new addition to their family, let alone twins, when they found out they were pregnant last spring.

PORT ST. LUCIE – The baby girl was supposed to have died six days before, when her heart stopped three times in one night, and her parents heard the worst words imaginable:
“Your daughter is going to die,” the doctor said then of Izzy Powell, born with her twin sister Ellie just four months earlier.
They wanted to hold her one more time. The dad was Landon Powell, a 30-year-old catcher new to the Mets; he stood while his wife Allyson rocked in a chair with Izzy.
What had this child endured? More than 70 transfusions, 14 surgeries, eight weeks of chemo, four or five spinal taps, a liver biopsy, a skin biopsy, and a bone marrow biopsy. Ribs cracked from the inside by a liver that inflated large enough to squeeze her lungs.
Now, when she was supposed to be slipping away, Izzy only rocked and breathed with her mommy. For 24 hours, they sat in that chair.
When mom finally needed sleep, Landon took over. A few times, Izzy opened her eyes, flashing what always struck Ally as the peace and wisdom of a much older person.
Mom and dad spent six days begging for more time with this child who was leaving. But this was something they could not change, or decide, and it happened on Jan. 25.
“I held Izzy tight in my arms,” Landon recalls just one month later, hands on his knees in the Mets’ dugout at eight in the morning, sobbing.
“We just talked to her, and prayed, and she passed away.”
***
How is it possible to tell this story, when it is so raw and new, when you are trying to make a ballclub, and remain whole for your two children?
In ripping off this Band-Aid so soon, the Powells can bring attention to Donate Life, an organization that builds awareness for organ donation, and Donors on the Diamond, their own charity devoted to that cause (Izzy became an organ donor after she died).
Ally explains it like this:
“It was always like she had a purpose, and she was comfortable with it. She was the toughest little baby I have ever seen. I am so glad she came into our life, and we owe it to her to not just let this go.”
It is also a matter of faith. You hear about church a lot in sports, in references often wrapped in cliche, but this family’s relationship with their God is private, deeply felt, and essential.
“She was a child who was sent here, we believe, with a divine purpose of showing people how much faith can do,” Landon says, citing the nearly 40,000 likes on the Prayers for Izzy Facebook page, and the way his certainty about heaven saved him from the darkest corners of grief.
“Honestly, people can believe what they want to believe,” he says. “I’m not trying to force my religion on anybody. That is just what I felt. If I didn’t have that relationship with God, I would not have made it through this.”
So, for all these reasons – for Izzy and her twin sister Ellie and three-year-old brother Holden, for organ donation awareness and for God and for you, if you’re a parent and need to be reminded sometimes how lucky you are, and how wobbly it all is – the Powells want to tell you what happened.
***
The girl began as a miracle, popping up on an ultrasound screen where she didn’t belong.
Ally wasn’t even supposed to be pregnant again, not after Landon learned in 2009 that he had autoimmune hepatitis, a condition that might eventually require him to undergo a liver transplant. This can be a hereditary condition, but a definitive link was never established between it and the rare disease that killed Izzy.
Some positive action came of this, as Landon founded Donors on the Diamond. But his medication made it nearly impossible to conceive, and after almost a year of fertility treatments, doctors told the Powells that their family would probably not grow again.
Then, while Landon was in his final spring training with the Oakland A’s, the organization that made him a first-round draft pick in 2004 and valued him for years as a top defensive backup, Ally got pregnant – and so began the couple’s nearly yearlong rotation of joy, confusion and pain.
At the first ultrasound, there was only one heartbeat. The second time, at eight weeks, there was one baby, and a second sack, this one empty. Doctors told Ally it was a “vanishing twin.”
“It will go away,” they told her. “There is actually no baby there.”
At the twelve-week ultrasound, there were two babies and two heartbeats.
“We just don’t understand this,” they told her. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Landon says the the doctors never knew “why that heartbeat didn’t develop until that late in the pregnancy. She was kind of a miracle from the beginning.”
The rest of the pregnancy was quiet, with no signs of distress for mother or twins. On Sept. 10 of last year, when Landon had finished the minor league season and was home in Greenville, S.C., Ally went into labor six weeks early.
The five-pound, three-ounce Powell who outraced her sister became Ellie. Moments later, Isabel arrived at four pounds, two ounces. She seemed like an Izzy.
The girls were premature, but in no extra or unusual distress, and their parents were able to enjoy that throbbing, whooping high that only comes when your babies join you in the world.
***
The doctors were first to notice the faint rash on Izzy’s body. If Landon and Ally were concerned about anyone, it was Ellie, who had lost some weight and wasn’t taking her bottle. Izzy was eating, breathing without oxygen support, and looking healthy.
When she went for tests at two days old, it didn’t seem particularly alarming – but from that moment, there was no more peace. Izzy’s platelets were low and her liver levels high, an ominous combination for premature babies.
The first suspect was cytomegalovirus, or CMV, which can lead to hearing loss. That was enough to freak out the new parents, but three days later, the tests came back clear.
While Landon and Ally were still sinking back into their chairs, relieved, the doctor said, “This is good, but now we have to figure out what she does have.”

Landon and Ally Powell with twins Izzy and Ellie.

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Three weeks passed. Ellie grew stronger and went home, while Izzy’s rash intensified, her condition a building source of mystery and fear. Landon and Ally entered a natural rhythm of trading strength and anxiety, of picking each other up. This was no longer a simple time, or a happy one.
Landon’s first breakdown came when he was driving home from the hospital one night, the tears arriving in a flash flood that forced him to pull over and call Ally.
“I just don’t want to be alone right now,” he said. “I can’t stop crying.”
This was Ally’s day to be solid. “We’ll get her healthy, we’re get her home, everything will be fine,” she told him.
***
It was around this time that the hospital in Greenville conceded.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” they told the parents. “We don’t know what it is.”
Doctors there had one final suggestion: Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH. The hereditary condition was so rare, they told the Powells, that of the approximately four million babies born in the United States each year, eight or nine had HLH. Eight or nine.
In the simplest terms, a person with HLH has a wildly aggressive immune system, so aggressive that it fights off healthy cells, too. For a baby, a bone marrow transplant is the only escape.
“Her body was just attacking all her cells, and trying to kill her from the inside out,” Landon says. “Her immune system just went from zero to 60 to 100 to 400, and it just wouldn’t stop.”
They transported Izzy by medevac from Greenville to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the best facility available for the treatment of HLH. Dad went along in the helicopter, while mom had to stay home with Holden and Ellie.
If Landon lives another 60 years, he might not see anything as wrenching as when Ally loaded her baby into the ambulance, and watched her family split.
***
As fall became winter, Landon and Ally commuted from Greenville to Cincy, parenting in ways they had never imagined.
“I’m having to sit with her in the hospital all day and try to love on her, hold her hand and let her know she’s not alone,” Landon remembers.
Through the holidays and into January, their fear grew into hope. The chemo was working, and Izzy’s HLH, went into remission. They found a willing bone marrow donor.
Then Izzy’s liver began to expand. It pressured her lungs and cracked her ribs. The doctors did not know why, but they knew that the baby could no longer breath without life support.
On Saturday, Jan. 19, the Powells had just pulled into their home in Greenville from Cincinnati when the hospital called.
“She’s really struggling,” they were told. “If we call you, we might need you guys to get in the car and come.”
They packed a bag and watched their phones. The call came within an hour.
From 10 at night until four in the morning, Landon and Ally drove. They talked, and cried, and listened to music. Ally slept. They were terrified, but did not believe they were traveling to watch their child die.
“With our faith we just felt like, she was this miracle baby who all of a sudden, at 12 weeks old, appeared in my wife’s womb,” Landon says. “She has 40,000 people praying for her on Facebook, people who have voiced that their spiritual walk has strengthened because of this girl and how she is fighting.
“All these great things are happening because of this little girl and her struggle, so why would God make her just to die? If he is going to do all this, and make these miracles happen for her life, then we felt like it had to have a positive outcome.”
They did not yet realize how the story was supposed to go, that Izzy’s time here was about to end, that she had accomplished what she could, and was ready to move on.
After those six days in the rocking chair, which ended when Izzy passed, Landon learned another way to see it:
“We prayed for God to heal her, and he did heal her – just not in the way we thought,” he says.
***
Landon Powell is finished with his story now. He is still sitting in the dugout, massive backstop hands pressing on his knees, jaw tight and eyes full.
“You know, ultimately, earth sucks, in my opinion,” he says, staring down the Florida sun.
“The time we have here is nothing compared to what we have in heaven, and I’m looking forward to that day, that I get to go there and be perfect, and have a perfect world and a perfect life.”
This is why he can tell his story, and compete for the backup catcher job, and smile for Holden and Ellie, and lift up his wife when she needs it. The belief that Izzy brought good to this world and has moved on to a better one – some will accept it, some will not, but there is no question for the Powells.
“I believe she is there right now singing and dancing and twirling,” Landon says. “I look forward to seeing her again one day.”
***
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Landon and Allyson Powell founded Donors on the Diamond, an organization that raises funds and awareness for organ donation. They partner with Donate Life South Carolina.
To learn more, visit donatelifesc.org and donorsonthediamond.org.
For God’s Glory Alone in the Love of our Lord Jesus Christ, Dewey Sharon and Family!

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