Obituary

Paul Dobbins

Paul Dobbins, 36, of Amarillo died Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in Hillside Christian Church Chapel with Greg Corona officiating. Burial will be in Llano Cemetery by Boxwell Brothers Funeral Directors, 2800 Paramount Blvd.

Paul was born Oct. 8, 1973, in Amarillo to Johnny and Cindy Dobbins. He graduated from Dumas High School in 1992, and he earned his bachelor's degree from West Texas A&M.

He married Sheree Herald on Jan. 12, 1996, in Amarillo. He attended Hillside Christian Church.

Paul played sports of all kinds and was an avid sports fan. He shared his love of sports with his children, taking them to sporting events and teaching them how to play golf. He had a passion for family time, always putting his family first.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Arlie and Sue Burchfield.

Survivors include his wife, Sheree Dobbins; three children, Peyton Dobbins, Trevor Dobbins and Kesleigh Dobbins, all of Amarillo; his parents, Johnny and Cindy Dobbins of Dumas; a brother, John Dobbins and wife Heather of Dumas; his grandparents, Wilson and Martha Dobbins of Amarillo; his stepgrandmother, Marie Burchfield of Amarillo; a father-in-law, Doyle Herald and wife Kay of Hooker, Okla.; a mother-in-law, Jackie Clutter and husband Dennis of Hooker; a brother-in-law, Jeff Herald and wife Kathy of Hooker; and a nephew, nieces and a host of friends.

The family suggests memorials be to Dobbins Children Fund, in care of any Amarillo Community Federal Credit Union.

Celebration of Life

The celebration of Paul's life will be
Saturday, November 28
2:00 PM
Hillside Christian Church

A journey

It is difficult to believe, it has been nearly 24 hours since we realized Paul was in his final hours. Paul was called home to be with his Savior the morning of Tuesday, November 24th. We are still getting arrangements ready, and I will let you know them soon.

I want to thank you for all the prayers along the way. Please continue to pray for me and the children because we will have some tough days ahead.

Remember

Life is a journey, not a destination.

Paul has reached his destination, and although I had wanted his miracle to be here on earth; his miracle is in Heaven with eternal life.

Phillippians 4

I really feel called to share Phillippians 4 with you today. Please read and I will share below what I has helped me the last couple of days.

1 Dear brothers and sisters, I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and the reward for my work. So please stay true to the Lord, my dear friends.

2 And now I want to plead with those two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.

3 And I ask you, my true teammate,* to help these women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. And they worked with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again--rejoice!

5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

7 If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

9 Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

10 How grateful I am, and how I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but for a while you didn't have the chance to help me.

11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little.

12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

13 For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.

14 But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.

15 As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this.

16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once.

17 I don't say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness.

18 At the moment I have all I need--more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him.

19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

20 Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen.

21 Give my greetings to all the Christians there. The brothers who are with me here send you their greetings.

22 And all the other Christians send their greetings, too, especially those who work in Caesar's palace.

23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

So here it is...the apostle Paul reminds us Phillippians 4:6-7 in my condensed version.

Don't worry, just pray. And you will experience God's peace.

I Believe

I want to say that there is hope, Paul has never given up on hope. He is a fighter, when he sets out to do a job, he gets it done. This journey has been difficult but we know how truly blessed we are. We are blessed to have so many walking with us and praying for us in this time. There have been difficult days for Paul, but it seems on those days I am able to lift him up. And when I have had difficult days, Paul is able to lift me up. God is good, He is always there for us.

In July of 2008 Paul and I did some updating on the bathrooms in our home. We tore out wallpaper, textured and painted. Paul is one that starts and finishes his goals. Like when he paints, he goes around the room once. He does the cut in work, paints again. Never even stopping long enough to wash the brush.

When the bathrooms were finished, I wanted to put a saying on the wall above the mirror. I researched, googled, looked through catalogs and magazines. I wanted to find that special saying. I searched Bible verses and other sayings. I was patient knowing when I found the right saying, it would just jump out at me. It took me 6 months to find the perfect saying. And in January I put it on the wall. I remember it vividly. It was Sunday and Paul was watching sports on TV as always. I pulled him away long enough to help me measure so I would get this inspiration on the wall just perfectly.

I was able to get the saying on the wall and I was so proud. It was the early morning hours of the following day that the pain began for Paul. January 19th. He spent the next day getting scans and seeing doctors. It was a little over a month before he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer stage 4.

Here is the saying I put on the wall…

Everyday holds the possibility of a Miracle.

I still Believe.

Hospice care

Paul has moved to BSA Hospice. One of our dear friends has organized a prayer vigil for Paul.

Prayer Vigil for Paul Dobbins & family
Saturday, November 21
8 am to 8 pm

Amarillo House of Prayer
4808 S Bonham

There will be a sign in the foyer saying "Paul D" with an arrow pointing to the room reserved for him.

Where's my sign?

I write tonight knowing that I have left many of you wondering what is going on. The days and nights have sped by. Paul is still in the hospital still working on pain. It seems from all the tests that were run that the pain is from the cancer. So the plan is to keep fighting cancer with the chemotherapy and keep praying.

Paul’s new experience this week was getting chemo while still in the hospital. Even though the steps in the chemotherapy infusion didn’t move as fast as at the doctors office, I think it was nice that he could do it from his hospital bed.

Paul has a few hurdles to get through and so I am not really sure when he is going home. From the numbness in his right leg, it has lost a lot of control. Then you add weeks of poor nutrition and he is just weak.

A journey such as this is so difficult. Sometimes the road takes you through dark and dreary places, where you are filled with fear and anxiety. Then there are times when the road is bright and cheery.

I am always looking along the side of the road for a sign. The one I have been searching for lately is…Pain stops in 1 more day. I want to see it, I picture it like the sign you see when coming into beautiful Amarillo...Amarillo 15. When I see that sign I know it’s only 15 miles to home! But in this journey I look, but I don’t see. There aren't any signs along the road. This makes the journey so difficult. There aren’t any signs telling you how much longer or even where you may be going. I know everything happens for a reason, I just wish there was a sign telling me why!

Still blogging from the hospital

Still at the hospital. Nothing has helped in determining the cause of the pain so far. Paul has had an MRI and a CT scan. Although we haven't read official results, there doesn't seem to be anything. Not only are we still trying to find the cause we are still working to get the pain managed also. Frustrating. I guess just keep treating cancer in hopes that this will help with pain. Hopefully be out of the hospital soon, but unsure.

Writing from the hospital

This post is from my phone at the hospital. Please keep Paul in your prayers. We are trying to get his pain under control. Hopefullythis stay in the hospital will help

Chemo delayed

Well here's the news from yesterday. Paul went to the doctor to get the second chemo treatment, but his "counts" were too low. Basically his blood count were low enough that he couldn't get the full regimen. So he will be waiting until next Monday and go back.

He did get to see the doctor and discuss all the new things going on. A new treatment has been started for pain and a lot of discussion about numbness and tingling in his right leg.

I wasn't totally surprised about the low counts, because the common saying with chemo is once you start feeling good, it's time to go back. I never really saw Paul feeling good this time. I'm sure some of that goes with the lack of nutrition.

We continue to try to battle through each and every struggle with this disease. Thanks for your support along the way.

Struggling on day 11

Paul's mouth sores are still bothering him, so much that he can't really eat. We really want to get these healed before he goes back in 4 more days. I can tell it is frustrating to be hungry and not be able to eat. Anyway, that is the biggest struggle right now. It appears that the pain is diminishing a little, keep praying so we can continue to see the pain diminish.

Here is the bible verse Trevor brought to me today:

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Joshua 1:7

Thankful

There are many stressful days watching someone go through chemotherapy. It is one of the most difficult things to watch. I know he is going through this kill this disease and that is where we will be someday, the road is a long one. Through the last week he has been through so much; nausea, vomiting, fatigue, dehydration, diarrhea, constipation, and now mouth sores. The side effects of some of the medications that he is taking for the side effects of chemotherapy have been bad also. This is when it is difficult to remember that He has a plan, and to be thankful.

I had a friend send this to me the other day, so I thought I would share...

DEAR GOD:

I want to thank You for what you have already done. I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get the job; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed; I am thanking you right now. I am thanking you because I am alive. I am thanking you because I made it through the day's difficulties. I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles. I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and do better.

I'm thanking you because FATHER, YOU haven't given up on me.