Day 332 A New Beginning

When I met with Dr. Manji last week, he told me that having contacted colon cancer at my age and, obviously having had it for a while, I am lucky to be alive.   This morning I woke to the sound of rain and then the sun came out, flowers were smiling, birds were singing and the skies were blue and I knew how lucky and grateful I am to be alive. 

"I will send down the flowers in their season; they shall be showers of blessings."  Ezekiel 34:26

I am sometimes overwhelmed by God's goodness.  People at church know that my eyes leak ........a lot.  I cry at the beauty of God's earth, I cry at His goodness in giving me healing and allowing me more time here on earth to serve Him.   I feel like I am showered daily with His blessings and I am so grateful. 

Today is the vernal equinox, the first day of spring.   I almost feel like January 1 should come in the spring when everything around us in a state of renewal.  What a glorious time for new beginnings and starting over.  God reminds us over and over that no matter how far we stray,  He is always there waiting to welcome us back into His loving and forgiving arms,

Father God, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for giving us chance after chance to do it over, to start over and to correct our past mistakes, leaving them behind as You erase them from Your mind.
Forgive us Father for the lapses we have made in honoring You with our good health and for taking it for granted.   Thank You for giving us each a chance to learn from all the knowledge You are inspiring and for changing our ways so that we can better serve You.
Lord, please touch each of our friends and loved ones fighting cancer today.  Show them how they can best support the treatment they are receiving from the medical staff.  Instill in their hearts the courage to fight this hated enemy so that cancer is erased from their body completely never to return.
And remind us daily Lord, in our busy days, to slow down.........and just love You.
In Jesus' precious name, the name above all names.
Amen

Day 331 Length of Days

When I see the word "length of days" I always think of long life.  In a devotional that I read recently, it was pointed out that since God used "length of days" and "long life" together in this verse in Proverbs, "length of days" must mean time or hours in the day.  That thought has stayed with me.

"My daughter (pardon me for personalizing), forget not my law, but let your heart keep my commandments.  For length of days and long life and peace shall they add to you."  Proverbs 3:1,2

My days still seem to end a lot earlier than I would like them to as the effects of chemo are slowly but surely clearing out.  I had plans yesterday to go to the Y to walk on the treadmill and when I got there I just didn't have the energy to get out of the car so I drove back home and hit the couch.  My prayer this week will be for longer days so that I can squeeze in the prayer and study time, paint time, and exercise.   Notice I conveniently left out any reference to housework. 

For the past two weeks while Pastor RO was on a mission trip to Romania, Rosemary, who leads the music ministry, has delivered the Sunday morning message.  Let me say first of all, that we don't have a quickie service at our church.  There is an hour of praise and worship music followed by the message which usually runs about an hour.  So that means that for last Sunday's service, Rosemary planned an extensive music program, practiced with the singers, and put together a wonderful message about loving God.  All this while working a full time job.  That, to me, is a pretty good example of God lengthening someone's days. 

So, for each of us this week, I am asking for, not just long life, but length of days so that we have more time to do what we need to do and time to do what we want to do and then time to slow down and just love Him.

Father God, Jehovah Rapha,
We thank You Lord for this gorgeous day and each and every hour in this day in which to do more, to accomplish more and to just love You more.
You are the God who heals and we thank You for that healing, giving us another opportunity to make the best of our time here on this wonderful earth that You thought into existence.  Help us to honor You as we learn to better care for our health, doing our part in gratitude for the life You have given us.
You are great.  You are wonderful.  You are our all.
In Jesus' precious name,
Amen

Day 330 Don't You Know...........?

In Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth, he said:

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?  ...For God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple."  1Corinthians 3:16

I have to keep reminding myself of what I have been through and the gift that good health is.  How easy is would be to go back to old ways of eating drive thru and drinking diet sodas thinking that because I wasn't overeating and because the sodas were "sugar free", it was okay and that it was doing my body good.   Silly girl.

I only have this one body but God has given me another chance to prove to Him how grateful I am and to do what I can to care for it as best as possible.  There is so so so much information available to us through the internet and even through Facebook, for goodness sake.  I saw a post this morning about fighting cancer attributed to Johns Hopkins.  It wasn't from Johns Hopkins but I agree with every single thing on the long post.  It was about eating to establish an alkaline environment in our bodies instead of acid, eating fresh fruits and veggies, limiting sugar and salt, avoiding meats full of hormones and antibiotics, exercising to oxygenize (not sure that's a word but works for me) our blood and body.  

I have watched The Bible for the last three weeks and was so excited that it covered Daniel last night.  I first came to love the Old Testament through the book of Daniel.  There is so much more to the Old Testament than just interesting stories and lots of killing and this is a good place for anyone to start to find that out.   When Daniel and his friends were taken from Jerusalem back to Babylon along with other healthy young men that were being groomed to serve the king, they were fed food and wine from the king's table.   Daniel asked the guards to bring him and his friends only vegetables to eat and and water to drink for ten days and at the end of the ten days they looked healthier and stronger than any of the other men who had been eating from the king's table.

God is so good to show us even through these ancient writings the benefits of eating plant based diets.  I'm not saying that everyone should be vegan.  What I'm saying is that it seems to me that there is more and more proof every day that a diet based primarily on vegetables can have a huge positive impact on our overall health.  Hmmmm...........what to eat today?  I love roasted veggies.... peppers, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, zucchini sprayed with a little olive oil and salted and roasted in the oven to bring out their natural sugars and flavor.   What are you eating today?

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for revealing more and more to us every day about the healing properties of the foods you have created.  I believe that in the divine order You put into place in the universe, You placed healing for every disease.  Help us to keep those foods You have given us pure and free of harmful chemicals and dyes whose only purpose is to encourage us to eat more than our body calls for.
Father, You are Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals and we thank You for that healing.  We thank You for the knowledge You have given the medical community and the self control and self discipline You have placed within each of us to treat our bodies with respect and to honor You with the care that we give ourselves.
We love You, Lord, and we give You all the praise, honor, and glory.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Day 327 PRAISE GOD!

I guess you can tell from the heading that I received good news yesterday.  I have felt like I had a cloud over me the last few months and yesterday I emerged from under it with God's glory on the other side.

At the halfway mark through chemo, the cancer markers in my blood went up instead of down and the enzymes in my liver started to go up.  A petscan showed no new cancer but both indicators of trouble stayed up.  At the end of chemo in December, cancer markers were down just a tiny bit but liver enzymes up even higher.  Two months off from chemo and cancer markers were down but liver enzymes had shot up to three times where they should be.  Both my oncologist and Dr. Manji thought I had chemo induced hepatitis.  Sigh........ 

The results yesterday were unexpected and still expected.  Dr. Manji said the ultrasound showed no abnormalities and my liver is functioning fine.  Six vials of blood and ten blood tests later, no sign of hepatitis and, even though enzymes are still high, they are way down from two weeks ago.  He is astounded by both the high enzymes and the lowered enzymes.  He said the only thing he can think of is that it is from the chemo and it has taken longer than expected for it to clear my body and quit effecting me.  Isn't it strange that after healing from surgery and cancer, I had to heal from chemo. 

I see God's hand in this.  I prayed for that healing and my family prayed and my church prayed and my friends prayed and unknown friends who follow this journey prayed and I had the elders of the church anoint me with oil and pray over me.  In the meantime, I did my part taking the best care of my body that I could.  God heard the prayers and blessed me with these good results and I am so incredibly grateful.  I feel like my life has been on hold waiting for the results of yet another test and at this point I don't have to wait any more. 

Of course, I'll repeat the tests in another month but I'm sure they'll show even better results and in May more tests for my oncologist but I know those will show still better results. 

Thank you to everyone who prays with me and has prayed for me.  Know that your prayers were heard and answered.  And don't forget.....slow down and just love Him.

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
You are indeed the God who heals.  You knew my fears and you comforted me.  You knew my disease and you erased it.  You have given me a new life, one of greater love, greater faith and greater understanding.  I bow before You in humble gratitude for all that You have done for me. 
It is all You, Father.  All You.
In the name of Jesus Christ, the living God.
Amen

Day 326 Today's The Day

This afternoon is my appt with Dr. Manji to find out what damage the chemo has done to my liver and whether it is in the process of healing itself by God's hand or if my healing is going to come again through medications.  Here's the strange thing about it.   I feel good.  I know that hepatitis has been called "the silent killer" but so has cancer and the Lord and I kicked that so I'm sure we will kick this as well.

I do have to admit I'm a little nervous waiting for the appt this afternoon.  It was in this same office and same doctor that I first received a diagnosis of colon cancer last April 23rd.  What a lot has happened since then.   Surgery to remove six inches of colon, then six months of a debilitating chemo.  Three months off chemo and here I am back waiting to hear what the tests reveal.

God always puts words of encouragement in front of me whenever I need them.  Early in my diagnosis, my art friend Cliffa sent me a leather bound copy of a beautiful book called Streams in the Desert by L. B. Cowman.  Today's devotional said this:

"Do not be afraid to enter the cloud descending on your life, for God is in it.  And the other side is radiant with His glory."

Then I was led to a scripture in Joshua but one near it jumped out at me telling me:

"Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9

How great He is to always make sure that I am comforted and reassured of His loving and healing presence.  And I am.   So lunch today with my dear friend Terri who loves the Lord as I do and then off to see Dr. Manji. 

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
Father I thank You for Your presence in my life, Your healing spirit that You have placed within me and the increasing faith that You give me every day as I study Your word.  Thank You Lord for Your word that comes to us inspired, transcribed and a answer for every care. 
I thank You Father for the healing I've experienced along this journey and thank You for the continued healing as my body heals from the effects of the chemotherapy.
You are Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals.  I surrender all my cares and concerns to You today Lord.  I thank You that by Your stripes, I AM healed.
In Jesus' precious name.
Amen

Day 325 Self Discipline

It's difficult.  I know exactly what I need to do.  I know the foods I need to eat to starve the cancer cells in my body.  I share that knowledge here and as often as I can, but do I do it?   I try.  I try hard.   I keep those thoughts with me daily but still it isn't easy.   I am tempted by the smell of fried food when I pass McDonald's, fried chicken when I go past a KFC, and my car wants to pull in every time I pass a Sonic for a large Diet Dr.Pepper with extra crushed ice.  I want to turn to donuts and candy and ice cream when I'm stressed.   I don't have to search for knowledge about what healing food to feed my body and what foods to avoid.  The information comes to me from all directions, telling me what these foods do to strengthen my body and enhance my health.  It tells me that too much protein and meals high in sodium can damage my kidney, liver and heart and too much sugar can damage my pancreas.   I know that the chemicals and dyes man puts into my food can damage my body.   Yet I long for those things.  I am not saying that what we eat is the sole cause of cancer, disease and organ failure but I am saying it can be a huge contributor.  Why, then, don't we all do everything we can to keep our bodies as healthy as possible?  We probably all know the answer to that.

"Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self control."   Proverbs 25:28

For me, I am finding it easier to not focus on what not to eat and instead to focus on what is best for me to eat.  As I bring more and more of the antiangiogenesis foods into my diet, I am automatically eliminating those that either do nothing for my health or harm my health.

 

Daniel eliminated foods that didn't contribute to his health and instead focused on those which made him healthier and stronger.  More and more is being proven that certain foods help eliminate the blood supply to cancer cells which means a lot to me.  For more information about these foods, go to www.eattodefeatcancer.com .   Just try daily to bring more and more of them into your diet.  God's food heals and if we ask, he'll give us the self-control, the self-discipline, the strength to back off of the harmful foods and, like Daniel, prove how healthy and strong we can become eating His foods.

 

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control."

Galatians 5:22

"For the spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."

2 Timothy 1:7

"The Lord stood by me and gave me strength."   2 Timothy 4:17

 

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,

You are the God that heals.  You are showing us daily that by eating Your food, we can live a stronger, longer and healthier life.  You are the one who gives us strength to avoid the foods that do nothing to enhance our lives.  We turn to You Lord in deepest gratitude for the wisdom You are giving us daily, the self-discipline and self-control to become the best that we can be for You.

Thank You.  Thank You. Thank You.

In Jesus' name and loving gratitude we pray.

Amen

Day 324 Praise Report

I am so excited to report good news about my friend Frank.  We have prayed for Frank many times as he went through chemo and radiation for inoperable lung cancer.   The good report that we  prayed for yesterday, God granted.  His three month checkup revealed that the tumor in his lungs has continued to shrink, even after being off treatment for several months.  What an awesome God we serve to hear and answer our prayers.  Frank was told to go home, gain some weight back and just enjoy life. 

This is my beautiful friend Lisa who is fighting multiple myeloma.

 

She is trying on wigs as she gets ready for a 5 week stay at MDA where her stem cells will be harvested in preparation for shutting down her immune system before reimplanting the stem cells.  Lisa is already on chemo and is way ahead of  schedule in her treatment.  God is so good.  Lisa also posts to an online journal and if you would like to follow her journey, you can at www.healinglisafromheaven.blogspot.com .

Please join me as we pray for continued healing for Frank and Lisa and for all our friends fighting this terrible enemy.  And don't forget to slow down and just love Him.

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
We just want to thank You and give You all the praise, honor and glory for the healing that is taking place in Lisa and Frank right now as Your healing spirit moves mightily within them.  You said that after having done all, to just stand.  Frank is standing.  He is standing on Your word and on Your promises.   Lisa, Father, stands on Your word and on Your promises.  We know that you are giving them strength to continue this battle to complete victory over the enemy.  You have given us authority over all the powers of the enemy and we know, Father, that cancer is a power of the enemy. 
Thank You for the power to trample it under our feet. 
You are the one true God and we love You.  We thank You for another day here on this glorious earth.
Thank You, Father.  Thank You.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ, the name above cancer, the name above pain, the name above all names.
Amen