The name Chris Klicka holds a dear place in the hearts of many home educators. He has stood and helped home educating families since 1985, as Senior Defense Attorney for Home School Legal Defense Association. Many of us have been touched to hear Chris speak, and changed by his books, HomeSchooling: The Right Choice, The Heart of Home Schooling, and Home School Heroes.
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Chris has battled MS for several years, and has seen much deterioration lately. After his unsuccessful hyperbaric oxygen treatment late this summer, I was surprised to hear he was feeling well enough to attend the HSLDA Leadership Conference in Colorado Springs this past week.
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But during the conference he had to be hospitalized. After several ups and downs – while the saints prayed fervently, they were able to get him fairly stable, yet not back to a place that he would be able to return home.
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Chris and his wife Tracy had already discussed what should be, if it came to this. He had determined he did not want to continue an artificially induced life. Tonight they are preparing to transition Chris to hospice care at a friend’s home in the Springs, where Chris will apparently spend his last days here on earth. Short of a miracle of God (which we continue to pray for) Chris will soon be with his Savior, Jesus Christ and Almighty Father God. For Chris, “to live is Christ, to die is gain.”
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Please pray for the Klicka family – Chris, Tracy and their children, and relatives. I’ll close this post with the words of Pastor Tito Mercato, on Chris’ Caring Bridge site: “In all of this, we have grieved and have been buffeted by the hope of Christ and of his saving grace and resurrecting power. We are grieving with hope even now. Would you please join Tracy and family in giving thanks to God for his grace in Chris’ life and would you pray for them that they would have strength and peace to continue to walk through the necessary details of this decision.”
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May God be praised. To Him be all the glory. We thank and praise him for the life of Chris Klicka and what He has done through him, that has blessed our lives.
And —
At the same time Mike Farris, founder of HSLDA, was called home from the same conference, as his wife Vickie was/is having a flare up of what was recently diagnosed as interstitial cystitis. This disease has no known cause or cure. It is severely painful, but thankfully not life threatening. She is going through a bad episode right now and she is not really functional–she can’t homeschool, she can’t manage the house, etc. Just about anything she eats causes pain reactions. Pray for Vickie and the Farris family too.
