March 24, 2006. I still remember that day so clearly. As if it was only a year ago. Not eight years. How time flies! I still remember holding that little girl in may arms and softly repeating “Elfrieda Naomi. How nice it sounded!                                                                                                                                                               Now you  may be wondering,” Why did it take you so long to post this birthday post?” I don’t know either. Probably because I didn’t feel like it. Good excuse. Well, here are some pictures. The credit goes to Yesenia. She did a great job.

Elfrieda got to sit on Mama’s lap while opening gifts. Here she’s reading a card from Yesenia.

Mama putting the flowers from Yesenia in Elfrieda’s hair.

In the evening comes one of the best parts. Blowing out candles!

“Are you sure you can do it Mama?”

First comes the Bible…

and then the Bible case. These gifts were from Daddy and Mama.

 

“Just what I wanted! Lead pencils.”                                                                                                                              God bless your 8th year Elfrieda.                                                                                                                 Bianca

 

This morning we spent a second or two thinking about the month of March. It started when Edgar mentioned that Samuel wanted a new month. He was tired of March. I think we all agreed with him. Other years the weather would have brought this statement. Although we are waiting for spring to arrive in Alberta (the snow just doesn’t want to leave us yet), the bigger reason is circumstances this year. Sometimes I’ve agreed with the trite phrase “I wish I could wake up and realize that it’s all a big, bad dream.” And yet, the peace and nearness of God is so precious that I am hard pressed as to what I would like better:  His closeness or the absence of cancer in our lives.

It’s not been easy. No, it’s a hardship that we would have gladly omitted from our life if possible. First the cruel fact that Mama had cancer. Then the wait for an appointment. BTW, I totally agree with the fact that it takes patience to learn patience. But praise the LORD for His faithfulness. We got a call on Monday, March 17 and then an appointment for the next day. After waiting in the Health Science Centre quite a while, (waiting again :-)), Mama saw a Doctor. She seemed very positive so we were very glad. She arranged for Mama to have a surgery to remove a greater area of skin and a lymph node removed. That surgery was on Thursday of this week. Mama and Daddy left for Calgary on Wednesday already since they wanted to do some tests beforehand. We children stayed at home. On Thursday, Tante Janice had invited us for lunch and supper. May God Bless you for your efforts, Tante Janice. We really appreciated that. We left soon after supper since Mama and Daddy were home already. What a blessing to be a family again! What a relief to hand the responsibility of being in charge to more capable shoulders!

Although Mama didn’t feel well yesterday forenoon, she is doing a lot better. We are very glad to have her around even if she isn’t quite herself. Tante Marcie brought us supper yesterday and yours truly was very relieved to have it taken care of. Daddy and I went to Grassy Lake to look at a car and… yes, he bought it. A 2007 Dodge Caliber. I’m looking forward to driving a smaller vehicle. 🙂

Mama is planning on taking all four of her daughters to a Ladies’ Retreat in Montana on April 9,10, and 11. At first I wasn’t very excited but now that we are planning on going (if Mama feels strong enough), I’m starting to get excited. The day before we leave, Mama has an appointment in Calgary to get the results of the surgery. Please continue to pray that she will have good news for us. We are hoping for the best: a Mama pronounced free of cancer!

So, even though God has been close to us this month, I am not sorry to see March march on.

Trusting the All-Powerful,

Yesenia Unger

“Why does this song keep rolling through my head?” Daddy wondered as he came home from Men’s Seminar a few weeks ago. He didn’t know but he decided to enjoy it. The verses of this hymn are worth a lot.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He hath said, To you who for refuge, To you who for refuge, To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

Fear not I am with thee, O be not dismayed; For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid; I’ll strengthen thee help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by My righteous, Upheld by My righteous, Upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go, the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;  For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply; The flame shall not hurt thee: I only design Thy dross to consume, Thy dross to consume, Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake, I’ll never, no never, I’ll never no never, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

(E. F. Miller)

‘ “Why?” “Why us? We’re the perfect family.” “Why now?” ‘ Questions like these and others found their way into my diary. I realized that I was already letting the seed of bitterness take root. Even after this realization, the “why’s” didn’t get answers. I still do not know why God has let Mama have cancer but I do know that He doesn’t make mistakes. I started trusting God and His Will and I got perfect peace. It was so great that I couldn’t sleep. I had to write about it.

‘ “And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

“When Peace Like a River” what a blessed state. My heart is overfull. God is so near. This peace is so great, it almost feels wrong. Shouldn’t I be worried? I mean, this is serious. Why am I so calm? Thank you Lord for Your Peace and Your Nearness.’

I read Daily Light for my devotions and after the diagnosis, almost every entry was for me.

Proverbs 3:5,6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Trust in Hm at all times; ye people, pour out your hear before Him: God is a refuge for us.

Psalm 55:22-Isaiah 53:4 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.–Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

There were many more and I was very blessed, especially as I had been missing ‘life’ in my devotional life.

Now we know (at least partly) why this song came to Daddy. If you have time, read it over again. It’s such a blessing and a comfort.

True, melanoma cancer wouldn’t have been our choice. But what would be? I had been sensing that a hardship was probably on our doorstep. I was praying that we as a family would draw closer to God and I realized that it would probably mean something difficult. As you look at the lives of godly people that you have respect for, what do you see in their history? Blue skies, green pastures? More likely it was the Valley of the Shadow of Death. This thought frightens me. I’m human, I don’t want hardship. I want an easy life. But I also do not want a shallow Christian life. What kind of sift/funnel am I holding between me and God? “God, I really do want to be like You, but please, don’t use __________.” Am I placing God in a box, limiting His ability to transform me by His Almighty Power? If I do this, I also limit the amount of Grace God can pour into me. Now this sounds complicated and scary. However, all I need to do is to be willing to be obedient and accept God’s will for my life.

I don’t know what the future will bring. Sickness? Death? Or Healing? Health? This is all unknown but I do know that God is on the throne and that He holds the future in His hand. In fact, He knew before the creation of the world that our dear Mama would be affected by melanoma skin cancer. Should I not, then, trust Him completely and totally?

Written from Yesenia’s Perspective.

P.S. If you have the book, Angels Over Waslala read the chapter “Under the Shadow of the Almighty” replacing the word ‘robbers’ with the word ‘cancer’. That expresses my heart.