Friends and Family
There are circumstances that we face in life that are difficult to comprehend, and even more difficult to explain. Often, when we are faced with those challenges, we struggle to deal with the pain in our own hearts without losing sight of those who need our help. Recently, our family has been called by God to deal with a very difficult reality, and to show His love and grace in our situation. After several hours of questions and testing, what we have “known” for a few years was confirmed. Our daddy has early-onset Alzheimers. As we sat around the table in the doctor’s office with our mom and our spouses, we thought about the daddy that we had known all of our lives. He was superman. We was a head mechanic for years, and a master carpenter. He was the man that taught his sons to build anything, and to always build it right. He started a construction company so that they could follow in his footsteps as business owners who knew how to work hard to provide for their families. He loved his wife and daughter unconditionally, and would do anything it took to keep them safe. If something needed to be done, he could do it. If something needed to be fixed, he could fix it. As the Pastor of Midway Bible Baptist Church for 14 years, he modeled selfless love. If someone was in the hospital, he was there. If someone called the house who needed to talk, he was always available to help, even if it was 3 am. In the midst of raising his own family and running a full-time business, he studied the Word tirelessly to preach to his church family 3 times a week. It seemed that he was physically and mentally bulletproof. Through all of these years of serving others, his beautiful wife, Jenny, was always by his side. She was a friend and counselor to whomever needed help. If there was a church function, she was cooking, decorating, and planning. At 7 am, when it was time to leave for work and school, lunches were packed, clothes were ironed, and instructions for the day were given. She made it clear to us that nothing in the world was more important than her family. If we had an athletic event, she was going to be there. If we needed a hug, we knew where to go. We will forever be thankful for the selfless, godly parents that God blessed us with. When our daddy was 50, we started to realize that not only was he not superman, but something was very wrong. It started out as simple memory problems, but quickly became more serious. The man that had always been so wise was making strange, unexplainable decisions. The man who had always done things right for so long, seemed to be forgetting how to do them at all. He couldn’t remember people that he had known for many years. That was 7 years ago. Today, it is no longer a question of what is wrong. Now, we are facing the question of how to work through what we know. His Alzheimers is progressing steadily, and we are doing everything that we can to make his time with our mom and us as comfortable and fulfilling as we can. For several years, mom worked. Our daddy, who had worked 60+ hours a week his entire life, could not work at all anymore. Mom got a job, and he stayed at home by himself, or spent the day with one of us. About a year ago, he began leaving if mom wasn’t with him. He would wander through the woods, or drive off. When he would come back, he could not remember or explain where he had been. Mom had to stop working to stay with him 24/7. We are asking for your help. We have all done everything that we can to help financially, and we will continue to do so. However, because of their astronomical insurance payments, their very meager disability income, and our own families, we are barely able to help them break even. They have been confined to their house, except for a trip to church once a week, and a quick drive to the grocery store. We want our parents to be able to enjoy their last little bit of time together. We want mom to be able to drive daddy to a restaurant, or walk around the mall, without worrying about buying gas. We believe that there are many people that would love to be able to help our parents. Mom doesn’t know that we are doing this, because she would never ask for help. But we know that many people love them, and we feel that it is our responsibility to let you know how you can help. Please pray about what God wants you to do. $10 a month would literally change their lives right now. We believe in a God who does “exceeding and abundantly above all that we could ask or think.” And we believe in the people of this community. Please help us let them know that they are loved. We have set up a paypal account for those that would like to set up ongoing help for mom and daddy. For those who would rather not use technology, checks can be mailed to Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. Please earmark it for “Jenny Rackley.” They will make sure that every dime gets to them. Thank you so much for your concern, prayers, and love. We look forward to watching God provide. In Christ,
Jonathan Rackley
Brandon Rackley,
Whitney Sexton
