Birthdays & Frontotemporal Dementia

 

My daughter Miranda happened to snap an image of her Dad & I that stunned me. He looks just like Randy before dementia. His eyes were both looking at the camera. I couldn't believe it. And you know what? I needed it. I needed a glimpse at what he looked like. He's still in there. And I know he still knows me.

Birthdays are hard. Another year wondering how his dementia is going to progress. What is the next decline going to look like. Was this his last birthday? As much as I want him to be with Jesus, I panic with every decline. But I was so thankful he was having a good day when our daughter and her family came to celebrate his 71st birthday. He would just stare at her, his grandchildren, his son-in-law. Like he knew them. What a gift. To see him so aware, so present. God is so good to give us sweet memories to remember.

Even though I am his caregiver, his advocate, he is still my husband and the love of my life. He still makes my heart skip a beat when I see him, when he hugs me, pats my bottom, when we touch noses. 

I will leave you with a powerful truth from Randy's book A Believer's Journey.

"If I have no firm conviction, then every trial that I encounter in my life becomes a test of God's goodness, rather than what it is ~ an opportunity to live by faith in Christ. This firm conviction keeps me dependent on Him rather than myself. Otherwise I will start trying to run my own life and I do not have the ability to do that. I will quit and give up on the journey, and then I will miss the joy of having persevered and endured, and stand at the end of all things knowing I finished well and held steadfast in my faith."

Randy Thompson ~ A Believer's Journey

August 2024 recap

• celebrated our 45th Wedding Anniversary! 
• deposited $101 in rolled coins last week.
• we seriously paid for our 3 night honeymoon in CA with rolled coins.
• found the perfect baby doll for Randy @ Goodwill for $2.49.
• a friend replaced the hatch springs on my 18 year old van. bye-bye broom stick!
• I walk while I talk on the phone inside my house.
• I've been doing it since the start of the pandemic.
• sometimes I walk over 10,000 steps during phone calls in one day.
• I talk on the phone a lot.
• I'm fostering my daughter's little dog June.
• they want me to keep her.
• my 8 year old grandson Will told his parents "I worry about Mimi in that big old house all alone."
• so he thinks I need June ~ she really is the best dog.
• Randy's book ~ in its 1st full month on the market.
• trusting God to put this book in the hands of those that need it.
• another record breaking summer ~ so far 96 consecutive days of 100+ degrees.  
• paid $10 for a Shark Ultralight Stick vacuum @ Goodwill ~ retails $229 on Amazon!
• why so cheap? It was filthy dirty. Looks as good as new now!
• finally going to make my backyard livable. 
• haven't done a thing to it in 14 years, since Randy got sick. 
• one big unsightly mass of weeds. I can't wait to transform it.
• I've been going around collecting free bricks off Marketplace.
• I have plans to do some serious hardscaping myself.
• it was the 8th Annual Ride for Ronnie Tribute Ride.
• my brother died of cancer. (multiple myeloma) 
• you can read his story HERE
• 70+ cycles participated in the Tribute Ride, raising a lot of money to help families fighting cancer.
• 18 years ago this month I started my blog. You can read my first blog post HERE. So excited to be blogging again!

Our 45th Wedding Anniversary

Today was so special. I delivered a baby girl to Randy on our anniversary. 

Ok, I didn't actually deliver a baby, but I hand-delivered a baby doll for Randy to love & nurture. I found out this week that when the caregivers gave him a baby doll to hold, he spent 2 hours patting her and holding her gently. I was so surprised. But it got me to thinking... everyone needs someone or something to nurture, and Randy's instincts to nurture is so strong. He always loved babies. I remember his Mom telling me while we were dating that Randy was obsessed with babies from the time he was a little boy. 

Baby Darling even looks like our daughter Miranda. 

Oh how he loved being her Daddy!

Randy with our first born grandbaby Emolyn Kate. She's 16 now!

Oh how he loved being her Pop Pop!

He adored our three children, but especially as newborns. I remember nursing them, handing them over to him, crawling back into bed, while he would spend hours rocking them, burping them, patting them, walking them and singing to them. Often times it would be time to nurse again before he had even put them down to sleep. 

He loved the baby stage.

 

 Seeing him so tender and intuitive with Baby Darling brought me to tears. While he shows no expression, his gentle demeanor melts my heart. When I finally left, I had such a peace knowing he was caring for his baby. In his dementia world, he may even think he's caring for his daughter Miranda. Wouldn't that be the sweetest!

Randy's Book Reveal!

 A Believer's Journey was released on July 26th, 2024.

When my book arrived Saturday the 27th, I couldn't wait to show Randy the next day!

He was finally going to hold the book he finished writing over 10 years ago,

just before he was diagnosed with Frontotemporal dementia in 2014. 

He no longer communicates. And he shows no expressions.

But I just know that he knew!

He stared at it so intently, as though he knew.

He listened as I read excerpts from the book, as though he remembered.

I was praising God from Whom all blessings flow!

Thank you for buying his book. I appreciate it more than you could ever know!

So blessed to hear from so many of you that have been changed 

because of Randy's words.

That can only come from the Lord! 

A Believer's Journey is available HERE

Randy Thompson ~ About The Author Bio

My husband Randy's About The Author bio on Amazon. 

A Believer's Journey is available HERE

 

Randy Thompson began playing guitar and writing songs as a young boy. He would later accept Jesus into his heart as a teenager. He was so passionate about his faith, he wore a wooden cross necklace and carried his Bible to high school every day. He soon switched to a 12 string guitar, and began to write Christian songs and sing in Christian coffee houses in the 70’s throughout Phoenix, Arizona. 

Randy recorded his first cassette of original songs in 1978 ~ Jesus Touched Me. Recently those 10 songs were uploaded to his YouTube Channel. (Randy Thompson Ministries YouTube Channel)

He married his wife Linda in 1979 and they entered into full-time ministry in 1980, the same year he graduated from Grand Canyon College with Bible & History degrees. They started a family in 1982, raising Shawn, Miranda & Tyler in Tempe, Arizona. 

Randy Thompson Ministries was formed in 1990. He started marketing his ministry and traveling around the country doing concerts in big and small churches. He was doing what God created him to do… sharing the love of Jesus in song and powerful teaching. 

Seven more cassettes and CDs would follow. God would use his songs mightily, as more and more testimonials would pour in. One particular letter stood out. A young girl was walking along the Carefree Highway after her car had broke down. (No cell phones back then) She saw a cassette on the side of the road with the tape hanging out. She wound it up with a pencil and popped it in her portable cassette player. She was so deeply moved by the songs that she spent months looking for more of Randy’s music. But because the cassette case was scuffed up, she was looking for Randy Thomas. Eventually a Christian Bookstore in Flagstaff showed her Randy’s cassettes. She had found him! She immediately bought his cassettes and eventually his CDs. She was so thrilled to have a way to contact Randy to tell her story, how God used his music to bring her back to God. 

After many years in full-time ministry, he took on the position as the pastor of his church. But in 2011 they let him go as he wasn’t himself. Something was wrong. That is when he started writing A Believer’s Journey, because he’s a prophet, an evangelist and a truth teller. He finished the book three years later, six months before he was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia in 2014. The book was finally published in 2024. 

Randy is currently in a memory care facility. He is peaceful, calm and easy going and dearly loved by the staff and caregivers who love his music. While he is unable to do concerts, share Jesus, or write songs anymore, the lyrics in his songs and the words in his book will live on long after he sees Jesus face-to-face. 

A Believer's Journey by Randy Thompson

My husband Randy wrote a book! And today's the day it's finally available on Amazon. I am so excited, but even more excited for Randy. He wrote this book from 2011-2013, about his 30+ years in full-time ministry with Randy Thompson Ministries. He wrote about his adventures on the road. He wrote about what he shared at his concerts... his faith, his beliefs, his convictions, and his passion for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He wrote about A Believer's Journey.

He also wrote with a sense of urgency. I remember when Randy finished the book, I was so glad it was done. Our lives had turned upside down. He wasn't working. He needed a job. Something was terribly wrong. So when he was finally diagnosed with Frontotemporal dementia in 2014, a year after he finished the book, I remember thinking he couldn't have written another word when the book was done. God had given him a window in time. Randy was obedient. So he wrote. Until he couldn't. And I thank God he did!

Today I will visit Randy at his memory care facility. He will hold the book intently, as I go on and on about how God is using this book in my life... to heal me, inspire me, to equip me for the plans He has for me. Oh how I want to know the depth of Randy's relationship with the Lord. You will too when you spend time with Randy in the pages of this book. 

One day Randy will no longer be with us. But thank God he leaves behind the lyrics in his songs, and the words in this book. He always said he wanted his life to matter, to be used of God until his final breath.  

So it's only natural that Randy would close A Believer's Journey with these final words ~ 

"I will forever write songs and sing praises to the One who is like no other. I will tell of His great love and power until my last breath, and then I will see Him face to face, and worship Him. My Savior! My King! My God!" 

You can order your copy of A Believer's Journey HERE

A Believer's Journey Book Launch

 Randy's book will be available on Amazon tomorrow

Friday, July 26th!

Please join us on Youtube for a book launch video premier that my friend Linda & I recorded.

Youtube Video Launch

We will be sharing the Amazon link. 

I will also be posting the Amazon link here on my blog tomorrow.

Or you can search "A Believer's Journey" by Randy Thompson.

Thank you for following my blog over all these years! 

I am looking forward to posting more often.

A Believer's Journey ~ Coming Soon!

 

Randy's book is almost here! 

Release date coming soon!