Inspiration for the book: Cody

Cody had a degenerative neurological disorder called Chronic Inflammatory Demyleinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), which affected his breathing, coordination, all fine and gross motor skills, balance and stamina. He contracted the disease at around 19 months of age.

Because of his strong relationship with God, Cody always believed that he could do whatever he set his heart and mind to do...in spite of what the doctors, the world, circumstances and appearances might have said to the contrary. What he did in his lifetime is "impossible," according to everyone else but Jesus and Cody; and he did more in 17 years than many people accomplish in a lifetime.

All Things Are Possible

He received his second dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and he went for two consecutive years to the Junior Olympics in Tae Kwon Do (in order to go you must finish in the top three in your state competition) where he received national recognition in the form of multiple medals for his indomitable spirit and perseverance. He played youth soccer, baseball, and football. He was the starting center on his football team, until he could no longer balance well enough to snap the ball, at which point, not to be deterred, he moved to tackle. From the area football program, he received a trophy called the Kyle Maynard award, given for overcoming severe obstacles to make a significant contribution to his team.

The pediatric neuro-opthamologist stated it was impossible with his uncontrolled jerky eye movements for him to read, yet he read extensively, including such works as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and even the Silmarillion (a Tolkien history of middle earth...sort of like reading Chronicles in the Bible)...not like he was reading simple stuff here! In fact, he loved to read more than anything. The doctor said, flat out, it was a miracle. His last academic testing showed him scoring at the Masters degree level of comprehension in reading, in spite of being told he would struggle with doing any school work at all. Because he had difficulty with the fine motor skill of writing, he did all of his math in his head...this was a great benefit to Mom, who let him total deposit slips and checkbook balances for her! He was also quite a Bible scholar: even our adult Sunday school leader and his Disciple Class leader emailed Cody for his insights into Scripture. Some of Cody's responses can be found on the following pages.

Perhaps his greatest, most profound accomplishment was his continuing positive spirit in the face of the deterioration caused by his disease. Over the last three years of his life, he was in the hospital ICU four times; eleven times he was intubated; three times before his last day with us he stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. On his first hospital visit, the doctors said he would not survive; when he survived, they said he would never leave the hospital without being attached to a respirator through a trach tube; when he walked out of the hospital with neither a respirator nor a trach tube, the staff said, "you have made believers out of us." On subsequent visits, the doctors and nurses basically asked Cody what he thought he could do and what he thought he needed from them; they could not continue to be harbingers of gloom and doom in the face of his strong beliefs. I remember during that first ICU visit, a resident came in and talked about all the negative things Cody had to look forward to, and Cody told us to never let that doctor back into his room. "Get the negative out!" he yelled...and we did.

In spite of these circumstances, he continued to have an unyielding positive spirit, smiling and joking (the nurses told us he was the very first child they had ever had in the hospital ICU who smiled around an intubation tube), still saying he could do anything, never giving up or giving in. His last evening with us, he climbed the stairs himself, as he always did, to get ready for bed. He was always telling little inside jokes, and laughing at us in our silliness. That night, he made his final joke. "Momma," he said, "you are a golden mushroom." "Why?" I asked. He smiled and responded, "Because you are a fun-gi." Get it?

On the following pages, you can read excerpts from the individuals who spoke at his celebration service. From these comments, I believe you will be able to see the kind of powerful impact he had. I know his life in the world may have been short, but it was certainly meaningful.

We hear Bible verses like "all things are possible with God" and "My strength is made perfect in your weakness," and we think, 'what a nice concept; I agree with that.' Cody lived it. Of all the people I have ever known in my life, Cody was the best, most profound, and most genuine example I have ever seen of someone living Christ's teaching, "the Kingdom of God is within you." Cody did EVERYTHING - eating, walking, even breathing - through Christ who strengthened him.

I pray you receive inspiration from his story, and as Jesus spoke to Cody, he will have touched some more lives.