Trust

When do we trust a prognosis from a doctor? My husband has a neurological disease which impairs his mobility and takes away his strength bit by bit. The last time we went to see the neurologist he told us that he would give my husband six to nine months to live. We better prepare our future, according to him. We were stunned with this verdict. It was like a death sentence. This happened 2 1/2 months ago. Should we believe this doctor? We have heard over and over from other people that you can not trust a prognosis, because the doctors have been wrong so many times. We know now that if we make it till the new year we have broken the six months. If we make it till his 85th birthday the end of next March, we have broken the nine months prognosis.
However we refused to live that way. We are blessed every morning when we wake up and still have breakfast together. We are happy that we can still be together in our home. We know that God is in control and we will accept His prognosis for our life. Our future is secured, we know that Heaven  is waiting and we can still enjoy peace and rest together. We are still so blessed knowing Who is in charge and Who we can trust.
The doctor could be right or wrong. We do not care, but just live one day at a time and enjoy each other.

Fall is just around the corner

It is about time that I put down a new post.
Many things do happen in more than two years. That was the last time I posted a blog.
It is the first of September, the wind is blowing, clouds are filling the sky and it feels like fall is just around the corner. Most farmers in our area are behind schedule because of a very wet spring which meant a late seeding and then more and more rain. They are anxious to go out on the field and start their harvest.
 I see many pictures of people who are putting the produce of their garden up and have some canning done. I am thrilled to see the younger generation starting up this great time consuming task.
I remember it was my mother-in-law's hobby to have the shelves in her pantry full with jars of vegetables. She looked at them with pride and all she really did was giving them away to family and friends. It just gave her such a feeling of satisfaction and her face would shine with glory over another task accomplished.
We are not all like that. I love my indoor garden and have a sun-room full with plants and in the winter time the geraniums from my deck are still added to it.
Well I made some jars with applesauce from my neighbor's apples and froze them and some jam from raspberries someone gave me. My claim is that we live in town, half our backyard is parking, we have a three-car garage and the rest is for the dog. She needs some room to run too.
What I do enjoy is making slippers. It is an easy pattern and I can even watch t.v. and make them. On my trip to B.C., when I went to see my family,  I took 18 pairs with me and was still two pairs short, because even some of the grandsons liked them also. I crochet extra big ones with double yarn for the auxiliary of the hospital. People who have had surgery on their leg or foot like the big sizes. I always have a pair on the go.
It is productive, it kills time and this way I can spend much time with my husband who is pretty well housebound  with a fatal disease. He farmed for more that 60 years but is not able to do this anymore. I am thankful that we still have each other and can be together this way.
One desire of my heart the Lord provided for me. After the children were grown I had hoped to be able to sleep in, but an active farmer gets up early in the morning and goes to bed late. Now that my husband is home all the time we get up late, enjoy our breakfast together, have our daily devotions and the morning is more than half gone. I love it because I am not a morning person.
God is good, if we know Him and are able to accept what He has in store for us. He will give us the desires of our heart in His time.

Answered prayer

Does God answer prayer? Yes, he answers lifesaving prayers, but also small, to many insignificant prayers. Both answers came to me last week. I had to undergo some minor surgery and the surgeon promised to leave me a note to say what had been done and what the result was. The first line that stood out to me when I read the note after I awoke was "benign." She did not even want to see me again unless I had further problems. I was ready to jump off the bed. To me this was the best answer I could get from a doctor and to me it meant a new lease on life and to be able to continue what I so much enjoy, like my reading, writing, crafts and music. 

By now it was 5 pm and I had not eaten or drank anything for 20 hours. Oh, did I ever have a craving for a milkshake to quench my thirst and stop the growling in my stomach. At 5 pm it is extremely busy on Main street in Winnipeg and I did not say anything to my husband when I saw a big M on the left side of the street. He would probably have made a U-turn to please me. I prayed that if the Lord would provide a big M at the right side of Main street I would ask my husband to stop so I could get a milkshake. Would you believe it that when we were almost at the Perimeter, where we had to turn off, there I saw a big M? Yes, it was easy to get there and the milkshake never tasted so good and quieted my stomach until we came to our daughter's home, where supper waited.. 

I thanked the Lord for answering my prayers twice that day. Yes, He answers prayers, great and small.

Answered prayer

Does God answer prayer? Yes, he answers lifesaving prayers, but also small, to many insignificant prayers. Both answers came to me last week. I had to undergo some minor surgery and the surgeon promised to leave me a note to say what had been done and what the result was. The first line that stood out to me when I read the note after I awoke was "benign." She did not even want to see me again unless I had further problems. I was ready to jump off the bed. To me this was the best answer I could get from a doctor and to me it meant a new lease on life and to be able to continue what I so much enjoy, like my reading, writing, crafts and music. 

By now it was 5 pm and I had not eaten or drank anything for 20 hours. Oh, did I ever have a craving for a milkshake to quench my thirst and stop the growling in my stomach. At 5 pm it is extremely busy on Main street in Winnipeg and I did not say anything to my husband when I saw a big M on the left side of the street. He would probably have made a U-turn to please me. I prayed that if the Lord would provide a big M at the right side of Main street I would ask my husband to stop so I could get a milkshake. Would you believe it that when we were almost at the Perimeter, where we had to turn off, there I saw a big M? Yes, it was easy to get there and the milkshake never tasted so good and quieted my stomach until we came to our daughter's home, where supper waited.. 

I thanked the Lord for answering my prayers twice that day. Yes, He answers prayers, great and small.

Time flies

Sometimes we are too busy

It feels like I am driven. It is difficult to explain. Time seems rushing by and my daily schedule is overwhelming. How can I find time to practice my pieces for Community Band or our church orchestra? The concerts will be in a few weeks. My homework is not done yet for the drawing course I am "trying" to take.

Sometimes I overbook a meeting and have to make a choice which one I should attend.

Medical appointments (out of town) for my husband have broken up my routine and today (Wednesday) I am doing laundry, which I normally do Mondays. I even missed sending one of my newspaper articles.

I know what is driving me. I enjoy all the things I am doing and try to squeeze in any many as possible, for as long as the Lord will give me health and strength. Some of the things I am doing now, like the music, my writing and my crafts and volunteering in the care homes, I enjoy tremendously and would not like to have to give up.

However in a few weeks my age will be three quarters of a century and I do not know how much time I have left. The activities I am doing now I could either not afford years ago, or did not have the time because I was raising a family and foster children.

I am convinced that the Lord is in control of my life and could stop me from doing these things at any time, but He knows that whatever I do I want to glorify and honour Him. When I participated in a girlsclub we learned the verse from Colossians 3:17 "And whatever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." Even in a secular situation, like the Community Band, I know that the Christians do influence the atmosphere (I do not hear anymore dirty jokes and swear words).

I just wanted to share with you what is driving me these days and the reason why.

Maybe someone can relate ..........

The Inscribe Fall conference

It is almost two o'clock and I am ready to go. The suite case is packed, the plants have been watered and my little dog is at the neighbour. My birds have also been cleaned, fed and watered and my husband's lunches for five days are waiting in the fridge. Now what do I do? I need to wait two hours before my husband will be home to take me to the bus. I sometimes wonder if I was born early, because wherever I need to go I always like to be there ahead of time. I am always early everywhere I go. Maybe this is a good time to put some of my thoughts on paper. The computer is the last thing that I will shut down. However to stay in touch I bring my little netbook.

I am very thankful that I only have to travel by bus to Saskatoon, approx. six hours from where I live. From there I share a ride with my friend. This will help us both because we can share the cost of the trip and we will have great fellowship together. On Friday morning we plan to leave bright and early so that we can be in time in Wetaskewin. As you can see it is quite an undertaking, but I am looking forward to see some of my friends at the conference and I need to be motivated again. My enthusiasm is at a low at the moment.

However the last few weeks I learned something valuable (we are never too old to learn). I was at a meeting which could be upsetting for me. I found out that as I started to take notes I felt at peace and was prevented from opening my mouth and maybe say something I would regret later. It was an eyeopener, so from now on my notebook will go wherever I go.

After the conference we travel to Edmonton, where Sheri will visit her daughter for a few days and my daughter, who lives in Whitecourt will pick me up and I can spend a few days at her place. I will also see my other daughter, my grand daughters and my sweet little great grand daughters. We might even go swimming I am told. My bathing suit is packed. I am so blessed that I can make this trip and us girls can spend some time together. When I come back the harvest is probable in the bin and my husband will be happy too. He does not mind that I go away to see the children and do some of my own things. That is a blessing.

On Tuesday morning very early my daughter will bring me back to Edmonton and I catch my ride back to Saskatoon, spend the night at my friend's house and catch the bus to go home the next morning.

It will be a packed, but wonderful trip and I wish you all could join me and share my blessings with me.