Author: Dale

Waiting for surgery this morning. She was such a happy girl even though she couldn’t eat.

Waiting
Jon and I feel like we have been put into God’s Waiting Room. This is an idea our pastor has spoken of often in the past. We can read lots of verses in the Bible that talk about how trials produce patience. In my experience, patience isn’t something that’s produced when things are moving quickly. Patience comes when we have to wait.

Our church is currently going through a time of waiting, and our pastor sent out an update to missionaries recently that was encouraging us when we have to wait. He used the example of Lazarus. I’m just going to share an excerpt of his email with you.

John 11 has been a delightful text of instruction for me during these last few months. Lazarus became gravely ill; but Christ intentionally delayed his…

Uncertainty
We are beginning to learn that this cancer ride is full of uncertainties and can be a constant roller coaster. We feel like this weekend has been one of ups and downs. When we face all these ups and downs, it’s so refreshing to know that something is always certain.

God loves our entire family! We know that’s God’s character doesn’t change. His character is certain. Sometimes the simplest truths are the ones that can bring the most hope when everything else seems like it might be falling apart.

Here are a couple verses that talk about God’s character:

Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Deuteronomy 7:9

God is love.
1 John 4:8

There are a lot more verses about God’s character! I spent…

Discouraged
Today has been the hardest day since we came to the E.R. the first time. In my mind, it has even rivaled Ellie’s initial diagnosis of leukemia. Last night, we measured Ellie’s temp at 100.5 shortly after bath time. We decided to wait 30 minutes and re-check it to see if it had come down. By that point it was at 101.8 and we called our oncologist knowing he would say to bring her in. By the time we arrived at the E.R. her temp was 104 and she was shaking visibly. Immediately, my mind was a battle field of doubt and questions and Jon and I have both been battling discouragement ever since.

She was admitted after several hours – her fever had come down but her heart rate was soaring between 190-225 the entire time we were in the E.R. They tried pumping her with lots of…

Released
We were released from the hospital today! What relief to know that we have started our journey home. We have been looking forward to going home for so long it’s hard to believe it’s almost here. It’s made me look at the way I view heaven and question if my anticipation is at the level it should be. The obvious answer is no. I will say…the night we found out about Ellie’s leukemia, I begged God to come back before she had to go through any pain of surgery or chemo. That’s the first time I feel like my desire for heaven was close to what it should be.

For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Philippians 3:20

Daily Update
Ellie’s lumbar puncture, chemo treatment, bone marrow aspiration & biopsy were today. This meant that she couldn’t eat…

Feasting Time. Steroids = hobbit eating habits. I believe this was Elevensies.

Grateful
Before any of this leukemia stuff started, Jon and I had decided that we wanted to really work on the area of gratitude with the girls. It’s something we need to cultivate more in our own lives to be honest. One goal in teaching gratitude is to keep the entitlement attitude out. Guess what I was struggling with today………yeah, entitlement.

We found out that our flight isn’t going to work out like we had hoped. The generous philanthropist did what he could to make it happen, but you just can’t overrule insurance. He said his insurance wouldn’t approve flying Ellie back. So immediately, I was thinking God, don’t you realize that Ellie has leukemia? Don’t we deserve to be able to get back easily and stress-free? And then I realized I was feeling a little entitled. I…

Merciful
I’m thankful for a God that is merciful. A beautiful portion of Lamentations has been a special encouragement to me, and has been shared by several friends who have faced trials in the past year.

It is of the Lord‘s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23

It reminds me of two songs that we have sung many times at Wolf Mountain.

The Steadfast Love of the Lord

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new ev’ry morning,
New ev’ry morning.
Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord.
Great is thy faithfulness.

Mercies Anew

Ev’ry morning that breaks there are mercies anew.
Ev’ry breath that I take is your faithfulness proved,
And at the end of each day when my labors are through,
I…

Encouragement
My pastor’s wife has a habit of praying specific Scripture passages for people, which is an idea that I love! There are so many times you can find a verse that’s applicable to someone’s need – why not just pray that for them?! A friend sent this passage as an encouragement to me today, and I love it! I would love to know that people are praying this for our family.

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints…

All-Powerful
If God wasn’t all-powerful, we might have reason to question His ability to do what we request of Him. If He wasn’t all-powerful, we couldn’t be certain that His will was actually what has happened to Ellie. We can look at stories throughout the Bible from Creation to the Return of Christ that tell of God’s power. Because He is all-powerful, Jon and I can rest during this time of turmoil.

We are excited to look back on this time and tell Ellie and Brooklynn stories of God’s power. We don’t know what the bills will look like from our stay in Tennessee, but we are truly happy to be able to see Him meet our needs in unexpected ways.

As we work with college-age individuals regularly, we know that finances are a big need that is on most of their minds (and the minds of their parents). Jon…