Hi Phil,
I just got to your personal update message.  It is awesome, thanks for 
sharing it, I am very touched and blessed.

Virgie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 6:29 PM
Subject: Personal Update


> Addendum:  February 8, 2009
>
>     Praise the Lord!
>
>     I can now shower without help, I'm no longer using the
> walker, and although I have a lot of stiffness in my upper and
> lower body, and although my hands are still not completely normal,
> everything is dramatically improved.
>
>     My physical therapist had planned coming twice a week for two
> months but after three weeks post op, she said I was equal to a
> physical level of 6 to 8 weeks beyond the surgery.  So this week
> was her last week.
>
>     I'll be returning February 23 to the surgeon for new x-rays
> of my neck and eventually another MRI to check all that was done
> and how it looks.
>
>     As of this very date, my walking as changed dramatically.
> Before, I had been walking with my legs stiff and almost locked,
> and rolling my hips from side to side and almost throwing each
> foot forward just to keep from losing my balance.  Sandy said
> neurologically, they call that type of walking "Wide Based Gait."
> Neurologists look for just such a form of walking because it is
> one indication something is neurologically wrong and likely
> related to the spine.  As I said, on February 8th, during the
> afternoon, I was walking out of my office back into the house when
> I suddenly realized, for the first time since Christmas, I was
> walking normally.  I still walk slowly just to be careful, but it
> is a blessing to have returned to a normal way of walking.  My
> physical therapist confirmed it would be like learning to walk all
> over again due to the surgery because of the spine now being more
> properly balanced and even my posture would be different.  For the
> last week or so, I noticed I was no longer concerned about
> falling and my balance alone had greatly improved.
>
>     My voice is nearly normal but not as strong yet as it should
> be.  I can't yell yet so preaching is out until sometime in the
> future.  Offering are still greatly appreciated, however, even if
> there is no yelling involved; smile.  I still have some throat
> discomfort at times but that may, I would imagine, come and go
> during the healing process.  The same is true for all of the other
> aches and pains associated with my legs, hands, back, and neck.
> Swallowing is definitely something I have had to get used to doing
> carefully because of swelling caused by the titanium plate that
> fused two vertebrae together.
>
>     I have begun slowly scheduling prayer sessions so your
> continued prayers for me are appreciated.  I'm sure it will be
> awhile before I get back to a full time type schedule because I
> tire easily and my voice gets weaker if I talk for prolonged
> periods of time.
>
>     I'm just sending this update out to Christian people I know,
> thus, the following remarks should be of interest.
>
>     I spent between one and two hours, as I recall, in ICU
> following surgery.  Originally, he said they would keep me asleep
> over night and I would stay in ICU for 24 hours.  Plus, I was
> scheduled for a 7 hours surgery and was out in only five.
>
>     As soon as they wheeled me in to the private room, my family
> came in.  I was able to talk and over the next few minutes, some
> unusual spiritual things occurred.  The very first thing that
> happened is that I heard the Lord say so loudly that He sounded as
> if He were using a battery powered bull horn, that my daughter-in-
> law, Donna, who is married to my youngest son, Everett, is an
> intercessor.  I knew from times spent with Donna in prayer over
> the years that she was indeed spiritually sensitive but this was,
> as I said, so loud, I spoke what I heard out loud.
>
>     Soon Donna had to leave to go home to take care of her
> children but she returned to the hospital to lay hands on me and
> to pray.  She reported later that the feeling was so strong, it
> felt like a heavy weight on her chest.  So she turned right
> around, before getting to far away, and returned to the hospital
> and the fourth floor.  I still felt a lot of anxiety but not the
> kind relating to emotional fear.  It was fear relating to death
> but not fear of death.  Her return, the Holy Spirit said,
> confirmed what I told her was not only true but that she was
> sincere about learning more about how to pray for others.
>
>     The second thing the Lord told me was very loud, just as loud
> for that matter, as the first.  The Lord said, "This is not a
> game."
>
>     "Come on, Lord.  I know it isn't a game," I said to myself.
> It felt as a strong confirmation in a way I cannot explain
> relating to the Christian life we have in Him associated to His
> identity with us and our identity in Him.  I said it out loud,
> just as did I the first revelation, and again because it was so
> loud:  "It's not a game; it's not a game, the Lord says."
>
>     After being home a couple of weeks, and after asking the Lord
> hundreds of times, "why did this happen?" He answered my question.
>
>     He said, "Satan tried to kill you."  I can tell you exactly
> where I was at the moment this was spoken in my thoughts and
> spirit.  Any time I have ever heard something revelatory, or
> prophetic, or spiritually illuminating in nature, I can, no matter
> how many years later, tell you exactly where I was at that very
> moment.  It is, in my mind, as if I were frozen in time.  If I
> were outside, indoors, in my office in my chair, at my computer,
> etc. I remember exactly.  This happens to be one way I identify it
> as the voice of the Lord and not the Enemy.  Furthermore, but less
> intense, and by the way, the Lord literally used the word "Satan"
> and not "The Enemy" or "The Devil," which I believe is spiritually
> significant but I'll save that explanation for another time, what
> the Holy Spirit said gave me the impression that this experience
> was some how related to my future.  No, He has not explained that
> fully as of yet but it most certainly is related to the ministry.
>
>     Thus far, no big deal.  Right?  I mean, this was just a
> frightened and sick emotionally distraught man, coming out of
> major surgery, which could have easily killed him, so these things
> are commonly experienced by anyone.  Right?  Let me tell you what
> happened a couple of days prior to the surgery on January 14th
> before you decide.
>
>     For weeks, even months, prior to the surgery, I kept having
> an emotional feeling that if I died, I somehow would be
> disappointing my family.  I rationalized this pestering thought
> by saying to myself that what I meant was, they would be sad due
> to my death.  Of course, that would be true but knowing that truth
> wasn't setting me free from that chronic thought of disappointing
> my family by dying.  If Jesus said the truth will set you free,
> and I wasn't free, then my reasoning couldn't be the answer.
>
>     When such thoughts appear in my thinking, and my emotions are
> negatively stirred, I automatically, without any hesitation, go
> into what I call a Search And Destroy mode, or SAD for short.  It
> isn't a step by step procedural formula I use but something which
> now happens automatically in my mind.  It is known Scripturally as
> praying without ceasing.  As I said, since my reasoning about what
> was on my mind wasn't bringing peace, it wasn't the correct
> answer.  As I prayed in my mind, searching for the cause of this
> feeling, I logically assumed it was somehow related to my
> blindness back in 1964 following my father's death.  My family
> would have felt disappointment in me, if such a lie had been
> spoken in my thoughts, and thus, all these years later, I could
> still be deceived.  However, I knew it could not have anything to
> do with my blindness because, if you read my personal testimony of
> being healed from PTSD in "I Flew Kites With Jesus," you, too,
> would have known what I now know.  I said as much in my prayers.
> "Lord?  You told me I was healed of everything at that time of my
> life.  You said, we are leaving this place and never coming back.
> This cannot be the place of the lie concerning being a
> disappointment to my family."
>
>     Suddenly, I heard the Lord's voice as He punched a hole
> through my fears and worries and doubts.  "It's a lie."  Now I
> knew where to pray.  To make a long story short, my SAD mission
> turned up nothing so that left only one answer; the lie was
> present and not past.  I then did what I always do and prayed a
> spiritual warfare prayer, binding the lies and words of the lying
> spirit and those under his authority before turning them over to
> Jesus.  During my prayer, I felt, and saw in my minds eye, a small
> ball like figure floating about two feet above the floor.  It was
> a transparent ball but I could clearly see a struggling figure
> inside as if trying to escape.  He was speaking but his words were
> garbled.  Yes, it is weird but so Jesus was thus accused in His
> ministry so I don't let things like this worry me any longer.
> "What was happening?"  Good question.  Jesus was letting me see
> that I was being lied to concerning becoming a disappointment to
> my family if I died.  Second, He was showing me the size of the
> demon, (I.E. meaning his authority as he attempted to speak into
> my thoughts). Thirdly, I was allowed to see that he was powerless,
> trapped, and unable to communicate with me since I had bound him
> and was sending him away to Jesus.  Did it work?  Yes.  The
> feeling, it was a feeling, too, of being a disappointment went
> away and never returned.  Yes, it is true, demons hung around to
> continually try to frighten me that I was going to die but now I
> had truth upon which to stand.  I didn't say I was perfect; I just
> personally happen to know the only One who is.  I trust you know
> Him that well, too.  I mean, so you can depend upon Him in one of
> the most frighten experiences of your life.  I've had a few; this
> one was likely the worst to date.  This time, as just described, I
> had a place to stand and hold my ground.  Cry?  I sure did and a
> lot.  Still worried about my family if something happened to me?
> You bet.  Experience fear and being afraid?  Absolutely.  I still
> had solid ground on which to stand and additionally, I had friends
> and family agreeing with me in prayer.  Try and beat that.
> According to what Jesus said in Matthew 18:19, you can't but He
> can and will because He promised.
>
> Phil.
>
> P.S.  For those who read my first report, you will be glad to know
> that Spoc is still alive at 77 years of age.  You older Star Trek
> fans I'm sure will be glad to hear that news.
>
>
> It Sounds Like God To Me.
> www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
>