September 8, 2009 - from Dotty

9-8-09
I'm sorry that you had trouble accessing the video our church produced regarding "to die is gain." It was my fault...a computer geek I am NOT....I just know how to tap a few keys, for which I am very thankful. Here is the correct address for the video: www.vimeo.com/5919906 Type in that entire address and behold! it should be there. I usually hold my breath until it comes up...not sure how much good that does. (Smile).

Tom's weekend was mixed...too weak to go to church, which we miss terribly, but we had a great worship service together here at home. We invited Dr. Charles Stanley in to give the message...awesome.

We see the pain management doc today...Tom is having some reactions to the pain meds. Pray that she will know of something that will control the pain without the side effects (sweating/hallucinations/dizziness).

I have had my new hearing aids a couple of weeks now...Wow...all that I have been missing! We are so thankful we could get them (thanks to gifts from many of you). Tom's voice is just a growl now but with my new "ears" it's a louder growl. Now he says I'm mumbling. See why we have so much fun together?

Your cards, e-mails and calls are so precious to us. If we could only express how much we appreciate and love you. But that will be made clear to you someday. You are dear, dear, faithful friends.

Seeking to finish well in TX....
Dotty Hash (for Tom too)
326 Highland Ridge Dr
Wylie TX 75098
214-501-2527 cell: 720-480-7487

September 3, 2009 Update

Our days are becoming more difficult…Tom’s pain is increasing in area and intensity. His strength declines daily it seems. I have been having severe back pain…am seeing a pain management specialist and have some hope. Tom will see her next week to get help with his pain. He’s on heavier pain killers now, which make him sleepy. His voice varies but usually he can speak on the phone but not for long. Are we having fun yet? Yes and no! We laugh about what a puny pair we are, but how much we enjoy being together. But it hurts to see him in pain and his general health declining. We rejoice in our loving daughter, Lori, and her family who are having to do more and more of our work. They are so willing and so kind—we are so blessed.

So that’s the bad news….here’s the good stuff…. We had precious visits from two dear couples last week...Lem/Marge Morgan from GA former Cadence missionaries and George/Lillian Davis from SC, present Cadence missionaries who were with us at Subic in the 60s. Our time with the Lord is still so sweet. I was fretting a little because we are so limited in function, and sometimes when the pain is bad we aren’t too cheery.,..but this morning the Lord reminded me of a verse that has always been special to me…Prov. 3:5-6….”Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding…in ALL YOUR WAYS acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” He assured me that this is His path for us right now and He is directing it all. There is such peace in that assurance.

Some have asked where you can access the video our church did as we shared about “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” You can view it here. We are amazed how the Lord has used that 3 minute video to encourage others. To think that He can use us while we sit here in our home feeling rather useless. Only He can do such wonders. If we had our lives to live over, we would serve Him again, and again. And to think after this we will be with Him forever. Doesn’t get any better than that.

Seeking to finish well in TX....
Dotty Hash (for Tom too)
326 Highland Ridge Dr
Wylie TX 75098
214-501-2527 cell: 720-480-7487

August 15, 2009 Update - Dotty

8-15-09

My last update was on 7-22—--I try not to send out too much info, but perhaps I’m erring on the other side. I’m sorry if this caused you concern

We’ve had three weeks of interesting developments in Tom’s health. Twice we went to the ER because of intense pain at different levels and different places. We now know that’s how it will be so we will just treat him with pain meds and it passes. This seems to be working okay. His voice improves at times so he can talk almost normally, but it doesn’t last long. We are thankful that the paralysis isn’t total and permanent. Tom can manage about one event a day now (usually a visit to a doctor {smile}.) He is still driving most of the time. We don't go out in the evening anymore because he doesn't have the energy by the end of the day. (This is going to be a challenge because Casey is playing football again this year--his sophomore in high school-- and we want to be there to cheer him on.) Tom is sleeping well and eating okay...still maintaining his weight which is good since his appetite is poor. Though his strength is waning, his spirit and sweetness remains strong.

Recently our pastor asked to video Tom and me concerning our attitude about death/dying. It was shown two weeks ago at our church here in Dallas and will be shown tomorrow morning (16^th) at Southern Gables in Denver. After a standing ovation at Woodcreek Church, I wrote to our pastor: “What does one do with something like that? Just humbly pass it to the One to Whom it belongs. There is no way we can express our deep, deep sense of awe as we stood to acknowledge your very gracious presentation of our story. To have your life subscribed to the words "to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" has got to be the highest honor one can have on earth. Thank you for allowing that to happen. “ How we pray that the hearts of our dear friends at Woodcreek, Southern Gables or others who view the video on line, will turn in reckless abandon to the will of our Lord, who loved us so much He willingly gave His life for us.

Our son, David, whose business is Initial Productions Group in Arvada, CO recently had the privilege of doing sound, lights, video for Promise Keepers in Boulder, CO. It was a wonderful event—one of the largest he has done (11 semis of gear). Today (Sat) he is in Grand Junction, CO to provide sound for the town meeting with Pres. Obama. His life certainly isn’t dull.

We paid off our bill at M.D.Anderson Cancer Center…it was $3800--about half of what they had quoted. And all of our other medical expenses are paid so far. Is the Lord good or what? And thanks so much to those of you who provided the funds. We are deeply grateful.

Have you heard the Gaither song: “In the upper room with Jesus, sitting at His nail-scarred feet, Oh, what blessed sweet communion, fellowship divine and sweet.” That describes our living room when it becomes a sacred sanctuary each morning. Wish you could join us. We just enjoy Him so much and thank Him each day for being together and sharing peace and joy in our journey. Yes, this is the good life. Thanks for being such a special part of it. We love you so much!

Seeking to finish well in TX....
Dotty Hash (for Tom too)
326 Highland Ridge Dr
Wylie TX 75098
214-501-2527 cell: 720-480-7487

Tom & Dotty:Woodcreek Church Video

Tom & Dotty Hash from 617 Production Group on Vimeo.

August 3, 2009

Cheryl, Dad and I were at Woodcreek Church yesterday to see a brief video of Tom and Dotty - their take on his illness, and their absolute rest in the sovereign will of God.

We hope to have the video here shortly. Stay tuned. Kevin Engle

Here is the email Dotty sent to the Church staff:

Pastor Mark, Aaron and Brian,

What does one do with something like that? Just humbly pass it to the One to Whom it belongs. There is no way we can express our deep, deep sense of awe as we stood to acknowledge your very gracious presentation of our story. To have your life subscribed to the words "to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" has got to be the highest honor one can have on earth. Thank you for allowing that to happen. And to have it enveloped in such a spirit of worship starting with "Crown Him with Many Crowns" and ending with "I Can Only Imagine!" Thanks, Aaron. How we pray that the hearts of our dear friends at Woodcreek will turn in reckless abandon to the will of our Lord, who loved us so much He willingly gave His life for us. Yes, this is the good life.

Seeking to finish well in TX....

Dotty Hash (for Tom too)
326 Highland Ridge Dr
Wylie TX 75098
214-501-2527 cell: 720-480-7487

"What a Trip" July 22, 2009

We returned from our trip to KY and CO one week ago–3600
miles in 16 days... We can’t possibly describe how much love was poured out on us in during that time. “Overwhelming” would be an understatement. Thank you to each of you who welcomed us so warmly and loved us so well. Tom’s sister, Deloras, who traveled with us felt the same way. We know it was God’s love flowing through you–human love just isn’t that strong. Boy! Do we ever love you in return.

Tom did well on the trip–did most of the driving. I helped some but we declined Deloras’s kind offer because she’s almost blind--got a lot of good laughs though. Two-thirds of the way through the trip, Tom’s voice gave out. The doctor confirmed that one vocal cord is paralyzed–probably from one of the tumors. He will have a CT scan to determine if it’s the one in his throat or in his chest cavity. He’s also having some pain in his head and neck, but so far Tylenol seems to take care of it. His strength is also waning. We’re quite a pair–with his impaired voice and my hearing problem you hear mostly growling and“what’dyasaying” around here. It did push me over the edge to order hearing aids, though. Everyone is rejoicing --but me.

This being Tom’s “goodbye” trip (he said we’d try to make another one next year), our goal was to share the unfailing love of Jesus with everyone we visited. We feel confident the Lord honored our desire.

We planted and watered the seed of God’s word in many hearts and are praying for a fruitful harvest, even though we may never see it. We were asked more than once to speak on video about our mantra, “seeking to finish well.” The pastor of our church here in Dallas also asked us to share about Philippians 1: the dilemma of going to be with the Lord in heaven–joy beyond compare, or staying to invest in the lives of believers–with the final cap being “to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Being in a life/death mode sure brings that dilemma into focus.
We can say from the depths of our hearts that we want only His will. The peace this stirs in our hearts is beyond words.

If you are struggling with really trusting the Lord with your life, please, please know that in all these years, He has never failed us, but instead has blessed us beyond measure. He is totally
trustworthy. This morning during our time with the Lord, I sat at the piano reveling in these words:

Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father
above, Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, in fathomless billows
of love. –and He did!

Seeking to finish well in TX....

Dotty Hash (for Tom too)
326 Highland Ridge Dr
Wylie TX 75098
214-501-2527 cell: 720-480-7487

Update - June 28, 2009

No news is good news–it’s been awhile–Tom is doing well–still no debilitating effects of cancer though his prognosis is still less than a year. (He was diagnosed with untreatable thyroid cancer by “accidental finding” in October 08 in Denver then told he had 3 to 6 months in March and revised up to a year in April.)

About travel, Tom’s doctor said “do it now!” so we are making a trip. Here we come: June 29-30 Arkansas/travel; July 1-5 Kentucky; July 6-7 Kansas/travel; July 8-13 Denver; July 13-14 travel, Wichita, home. We are so eager to see so many of you–we can hardly wait. If Tom has problems, of course we will abort the trip. (Wow! We have at least 2 back -up drivers to take us home if needed.) But that is only plan B. We are starting out strong on Monday.

We now have some dear friends here in Woodcreek Church and are getting involved in helping the ministry to seniors called “Faithful Friends.” What an honor to serve the Lord here in this small way.

Summer in Texas (100 degrees and over with almost matching humidity) is from June to October. Nuff said. I promised the Lord I wouldn’t complain...so I’m just stating the sizzling facts. (Smile) We are actually happy and content here in our air conditioned house and car. Lori and her family take such good care of us.

Thanks to your prayers and gifts, we are still enjoying great peace of heart and our financial needs have been completely met. We are humbly and deeply grateful. And our daily walk with Jesus just gets better every day. What could be sweeter?! Trusting to see many of you soon...

Seeking to finish well in TX....
Dotty Hash (for Tom too)
326 Highland Ridge Dr
Wylie TX 75098
214-501-2527 cell: 720-480-7487

Update May 25, 2009

Into the valley? 5-25-09

Dear Ones....

It has been about 2 weeks since I last wrote an update on Tom’s condition. He goes every weekday morning for his radiation treatment (through June 2). He has stayed well and we have been enjoying it so much. Then about 4 days ago, his cough became louder and deeper and more persistent.

Checking on line, we learned that cancers in the lung usually develop into deep wrenching destructive coughs–maybe we are at that stage. We’ve shed some tears talking with the Lord and each other about this, but Tom always ends up with: “The Lord suffered to death for me, why should I do less for Him? I am willing.” We know He will give us the strength to go through whatever He sends our way.

On a brighter note, we have had several friends visit us here for a day or two–what joy!–including our Dave and Deb who were here for a video project. What joy! Others have called saying they are coming. We are also planning for Tom’s sister, Deloras Wilson, to come from Salt Lake to see us the end of June, then take her with us for one last trip to see their relatives in Kentucky, but that may not be realistic with this turn in his condition. We are taking one month at a time now.

We are feeling more at home at our new Woodcreek church all the time. So many dear friends already. This church has grown 60% in one year (since moving into a new building) and the ministry to seniors is developing. We have met with our pastor and other leaders sharing ideas to expand the ministry--we so much want to be a part.

As we participated in the Lord’s table at church yesterday morning, rejoicing in His unfailing love for us, these words came to my heart:

Some through the water, some through the flood,

Some through the fire, but all through the blood,

Some through great sorrow but God gives a song

In the night season, and all the day long....

With those words ringing in our hearts, we are......

Seeking to finish well in TX....
Dotty Hash (for Tom too)
326 Highland Ridge Dr
Wylie TX 75098
214-501-2527 cell: 720-480-7487