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Blessings and Answered Prayers

11/27/2010

Label says, 'Noni Oil, 100% Quality'

November 22. No rain again. It is nice to have some dry days in between the rainy days. It is very hot today though, and humid. This afternoon, it has been dark and cloudy so there is probably rain coming.

        We thank the Lord for several answers to prayer today. Since Daddy’s doctor appointment was postponed until Thursday, we washed clothes after breakfast. (Someone called from the clinic yesterday afternoon to tell Daddy that Dr. Morton would be going to Australia today to accompany a medi-vac. So they rescheduled him for Thursday to have blood tests and whatever else, Daddy can’t remember.) Had to hang the clothes down on the outside clothesline since there were already clothes hanging on the back porch.

            When I came back up, Sharon (in the flat next door) was at the doorway so stopped and talked with her for a while. She and her husband Bill are with a medical mission from Canada. They worked in PNG a number of years ago, but now are regional directors for Southeast Asia. They travel back and forth from Canada several months out of the year and usually stay here at CRMF when they are here. Bill is a doctor and Sharon is a teacher. They are the ones who helped trained Kelly so they are a little bit familiar with Owena. They are from Calgary, Alberta, and her husband has relatives in Red Deer.

        While I was talking to Sharon, John Gray called and talked to Daddy. That was one answer to prayer today. He said that Mary is not doing well at all. Has to have a blood transfusion every week.

        After that, we went out to do a bit of shopping — Papindo, Remington, Bintangor, SVS, pharmacy, and Papindo West. At the pharmacy, Daddy got some bandages to redress his leg where the biopsy was done. At Remington we looked at the computer Karen had shown to Daddy the other day. We hadn’t taken the money with us so Karen set the computer aside for us. Then we asked about printers. They have a Brother laser printer on sale for about 60% the regular price, a little less than the cost of ink which we need, and almost half the price of a new image drum which we will soon need. (The printer is already showing signs that the image drum is going bad. Karen said that the image drum is usually good for about 12,000 pages, and we have printed at least that many with the HP laser printer.) So we had her put the printer aside too.

        Came home and had leftover spaghetti and veggies for dinner. Right after we got back, we had a call from Meridian Life. We had sent them an e-mail yesterday. Her last offer was a K1000 package (about $400US). We told her to send all the details by e-mail, which she did immediately so looks like we will order that. Then, if need be, we can always order more later. The K1000 packet has three boxes of crypto and two of cleanse. She said Daddy should start noticing a difference within a week. So this was an answer to prayer too for her to call back so quickly.

        Hadn’t heard from Jenny yet so wondered if she were going to come. After dinner, Jenny called to say she was on her way here, and was at Daulo Pass at that moment. I lay down for a nap so I could get a little shut-eye before she got here. About the time I woke up, Jenny called to say they were at the market and would get a PMV to come here. Then Daddy reminded me that there were clothes on the line, so I went out to get those while he waited for Jenny to call again and say they were here. We waited and waited, but it was quite a while before they got here — about 2:00. The drivers they got didn’t know where CRMF was.

        While we were waiting, Norm came out and talked to Daddy about helping us by making a fuel tank for the generator. Praise the Lord! That was another answer to prayer. We had just decided today that the most economical thing for us to do would be to get a new fuel tank instead of buying a generator at this time.

        Jenny finally arrived with her husband Ane. They spent about two hours with us — from 2:00 to 4:00. Jenny said she led Ane to the Lord. They have been married a little over two years. They live at Kudjip. Apparently they are quite active in the Nazarene church. Ane was eager to meet us as Jenny had told him a lot about us. In spite of the fact that they have not had a lot of teaching and Ane is young in the Lord, they do seem to have some discernment about what is right and wrong. They had several questions they wanted to ask us about spiritual things. We gave them some Scriputres to help answer their questions.

            They also brought some of their products to show us. The Lord has blessed them with their own business — Ane Hebs Marasin. And they are faithful to give their tithe and more to the Lord. Right now they are saving to build a church in Jenny’s village and bring a man there to preach the gospel. They do a lot of traveling, getting herbs for their products and marketing their products. One of the products they produce and sell is Noni oil. Ane rubbed some on Lew’s sores while he and Jenny were here. They said it will help with joint pains and many other external and internal problems too. Said it can even be used on the eyes for eye problems. They said Daddy should see the sores start drying up in a couple days so we will see.

              You can put a little in the water when cooking greens or other food too. Let the water boil off, they said. They also had Noni soap, Noni juice, and a couple other juices from other plants. We did buy the Noni oil which cost K100, but should last a long time. Then they turned around and gave us K100 gift. Also got a bar of the Noni soap which was K5, but they gave the K5 back. She said that soap is available in some of the stores. The juices were K25 each bottle — coke-size bottles. These trees grow in the Obura-Wonenara district according to them and the labels on the bottles. Prayed with them before they left and took them to the market to get a PMV to where they will be staying. They will be in Goroka a few days so Ane can renew his driver’s license. They do not have a vehicle of their own right now, but are praying about one as they do a lot of running around to market their products. Apparently they have seen much success with healing of various illnesses. They had some testimonials that people had written. We thank the Lord for bringing Jenny and Ane along.

        If the Lord will use the Noni oil and Meridian Life products to help Lewis heal, we will be most grateful. And if not, we will still be thankful.

         So the Lord has answered a number of prayers today, including showing us the wisest way to use the finances He has given us. Why should the Lord bestow such favors upon his children? Unworthy we are to be so blessed. Such love cannot be explained. We can only bow our heads and thank Him, which seems like so little a return for all the benefits He bestows upon us.

        “1Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. 2His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.” Psalm 112:1,2

            The Lord did provide Dad and Mom with these products at good prices. And then He blessed them by returning their money to them. The Noni oil was K100 (between $30.00 and $40.00 US) for about 16 oz. Noni oil can be purchased here in the US for $36.00 for 6ml (a little over a teaspoon).

            The Meridian Life products are a blessing as well. Below are 2 files that explain what these products are and how they are designed to work. These products were developed in Taiwan and studied under the approval of the Taiwanese government. The files are in Microsoft Word format. For some reason, the first file has a hard time downloading. I just keep pressing "OK," and it eventually downloads.
             (Because this information comes from another country, there is no FDA disclaimer on it. Use at your own discretion and risk.)

             Thank the Lord for providing this product for Dad. We pray it will be of help to him and speed the healing of his condition.

snt-3fold-a.doc
File Size:	648 kb
File Type:	doc

Download File

faq_-_crypto.doc
File Size:	90 kb
File Type:	doc

Download File

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Dad's Dr. Appointment

11/27/2010

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November 19. Not much sunshine today. Cool at the flat, but felt pretty hot uptown. I am so thankful for a good rest last night. And for a long nap this afternoon. Not sure what time I lay down, but it was a little after 3:00 when I got up from nap.

          Daddy left this morning around 7:45 to go to Lapilo for his doctor appointment. He got there early, and the doctor took him right in. The biopsy was scheduled for next week, but Dr. Morton went ahead and did it today. I wondered if he would since the sores had grown so much. He checked them first under the microscope to see if it might be a fungus, but did not see any fungus. Also all the anti-fungal stuff Daddy had been putting on them had not helped any. Dr. Morton has to send them off now to Australia to be tested. It will be five weeks or so before he gets back the results. So now we still don’t know whether to invest in a generator or not. Dr. Morton said to hold off on anything like that. If the results are positive, Daddy will have to go to Australia or back to the states to see an oncologist. We are hoping he won’t have to do that as the ministry in the Owena church is so important right now. We do have to trust that God knows and will do what is best.

          While Daddy was gone, I wrote an e-mail to Christy and Connie and sent them journal notes from the past six weeks. Also wrote an e-mail to a friend and sent birthday wishes for her mother. She had sent me birthday wishes yesterday. Read some of the other e-mails.

          After Daddy got back, he went to try to find Elijah so he could get flour for Wan at the bulk store. Couldn’t find Elijah so came back, and we went out shopping. We had just gotten to Papindo when Elijah called. Said he would meet us at Papindo. He was there shortly, so after that we went looking for brown flour, but there wasn’t any in town. We have only seen brown flour at one store and not too many bags of it.

          After Elijah left, we did more shopping — at Bintangor and SVS. Things were really busy uptown today — lots of people out shopping. Then we came back for lunch. Did not go out this afternoon. After nap, I washed the dishes, washed my hair, and then started supper. It was so good to have a full meal with fresh veggies. Fixed rice with chicken gravy, along with zucchini and carrots.

          After supper and cleaning up the kitchen, I started work on acknowledging supporters. Got most of that done.

          A little bit of rain this afternoon and evening, but nothing like yesterday. Power was off for a while this afternoon.

          “1To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” Psalm 139:1-6

November 20. Praise the Lord for a good night’s sleep. And another long nap today. It helps to get some extra sleep while we are in town.

          It was a cold morning inside, and I kept sneezing, and my nose kept running. So we were glad to get out and do some shopping and warm up a bit. We were only out for about an hour today. When we came back to the flat, it was still cold here. So we opened up the door and windows to see if some warm air would find its way inside. It finally started warming up in here around noon.

          Finished up the watermelon for snack this morning. Enjoyed spaghetti for dinner today. And leftover veggies from yesterday.

          Worked on e-mails after nap until supper time. And again this evening after supper. Need to do up the dishes shortly.

          In Jesus the weak are strong, and the defenceless safe; they could not be more strong if they were giants, or more safe if they were in heaven. Faith gives to men on earth the protection of the God of heaven. More they cannot need, and need not wish. —Morning and Evening

                “O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.” Psalm 140:7

November 21 The evening shadows are falling. This day will soon be over. No rain today or last night.

                  I did my walking, which I hadn’t done earlier this morning because I was busy making pancakes for breakfast. So was ready to sit down for prayer time after that, instead of walking. Then I got dinner ready. Actually I put dinner on to cook first so it would be ready to eat when I got done walking. Had leftover rice and chicken, but had to cook more veggies.

                  Around dinner time, the internet started working. We wonder if the problem was with the server. Then we had our nap. After nap, I wrote to Meridian Life. Their e-mail address was in the phone book. Then we called Jenny.

                  She had tried to call us in Owena one morning, but I was on my way to school. She is remarried and lives in Hagen. She works with herbal medicines. She didn’t want to talk long and use up our minutes, but said she is going to come down to see us tomorrow. She talked like she might have something that would help Daddy. (Matyu has tried to find herbal medicines in Owena. We gave him the herb book with all the pictures, but so far he has not come up with anything that compares accurately with the descriptions in the book.)

                  After talking with Jenny, I fixed a fruit snack - apples, pears, and bananas. Apples and pears work out to about 80cents each this time. Last time we were in town, they were much higher. Prices on lots of things have gone way up since last time.

                Well, supper is ended, and our bellies are full for now. Had tuna sandwiches tonight. Will work on the computer for a while before doing dishes. Then we will listen to another CD.

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Let's Take a Break

11/27/2010

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     Greetings everyone, and thanks for all your prayers.

     Recently Dad and Mom were able to take a break in the town of Goroka and get some rest and much needed medical attention. The Lord gave them some blessings and encouragement while they were there. Mom sent her journal, excerpts of which I plan to upload over the next few weeks; but I thought I would start with their time out in the town of Goroka and then go back and start at the beginning of her journal and work the way forward through their news of the past 6 weeks.

     November 18. It has been a long day. About 1.25” rain last night and more rain this morning. Lots of fog. We were up early. I finished up the packing first. Then had breakfast. Went walking and praying in the schoolroom. Then they told us the plane would be in Owena at 9:15. We wondered if the fog would be lifted by then. We were to get another update at 9:00. Now that doesn’t work very well, because it takes at least 20 minutes to get up to the airstrip from the house. So if we get an update at 9:00, we can’t make it up to the airstrip by 9:15. Well, we didn’t have to get an update at 9:00. About 8:50, we heard the plane coming over the mountains. He had gone to Sindeni first to take two mechanics in to remove the wings from the airbus that had crashed there six weeks ago. The helicopter will then go in and take the airbus out, probably to Hagen for repair. We had already sent our cargo up to the airstrip. But it would take us a while to get ourselves up there. We closed up the house as quickly as we could and were on our way. The trail was very slippery, however, after all the rain last night. It was really hard for me to hike up the mountain this time because it was so slippery. Daddy and I talked again on the way up about moving our house and the church building, if the people are willing, up the hill near the airstrip. As the years go by, it does not get any easier to climb that mountain. Thank God for His grace and strength.

            Well, even though the plane landed in Owena a little before 9:00, it was going on 10:00 before we were able to leave. The fog rolled in, for the third time this morning, and prevented us from taking off. Holga said the weather is the same all over the country right now — thick clouds and heavy rain. We were thankful for a safe trip to Goroka.

            After dropping things off at the flat, we went out to SVS for our usual meat pie lunch. I was happy to see that SVS had the Topco brand juices in again. They also had quick oats (which nobody had last time), Black and Gold mayonnaise (which we couldn’t find last time), and several other products which we had hoped to find. We hadn’t thought about it being so close to Christmas. The stores are very busy right now with Christmas sales.

            After lunch and shopping at SVS, we stopped at the Post Office. Three packages and a few letters. Praise the Lord for the supplements that arrived. I used my last Olive Leaf this morning. Olive Leaf seems to be the only thing that keeps me from having chronic earaches and sore throats. I was also very thankful for the Cran formula — down to the bottom of the bottle of those — and ALJ too. Velma sent a sweet note of encouragement with a Hug in it. How good God is to give us so many people to encourage us and stand with us in the work here! — have had a number of notes of encouragement both through regular mail and e-mail.

            Brought all that stuff back to the house. Daddy went down to talk to Hollands on the radio. I unpacked and put away some of our stuff that we brought out. Hollands said that one of their deacons is going through a difficult trial. He refused to let his daughter marry an unsaved man, so people have burned up all his gardens.

            After Daddy came back up, we went out again. The truck was running on empty. Went to three service stations in Goroka, and they were all out of petrol. Said they were still waiting for the petrol trucks to come. We were afraid nobody in town would have petrol. Finally went to a service station just on the edge of town. Praise the Lord, there was petrol there! After that, we went to New Century to get a few things and look around to see what they had. Then to Brian Bell to check on generators — again.

            Then we went to Papindo West and got a few things. By then my back and feet were hurting. Daddy brought me back to the house, and he went a couple other places. I did some more unpacking and looking through the packages we got today, then took a short nap.

            One place Daddy went to was Remington Technologies. We received an ad in our mailbox concerning some specials. Don’t know how long the ad had been there, but thought we’d check. They had Toshiba laptops advertised for K1750. The manager said they just sold the last one, and that they were refurbished. They do have HP Compaqs, however, for about half the price that PNG Toner sells them. The manager quoted Lew a cost of about K2200 less K200 discount. We really are going to need something soon. However, it is celeron, not Pentium.

            Made egg salad sandwiches for supper, and then topped it off with a refreshing slice of sweet watermelon which we had gotten at SVS today. It was a little pricey, but what a welcome treat! During the middle of his supper, Daddy ran over to the Turtles’ to get Randy Smith’s car to take out to New Tribes tomorrow for his doctor appointment. It seems to be the most reliable vehicle available for making a trip out of town.

            Shortly after supper, the rains started pouring down, and the power went out. We are thankful that it has come back on again now.

          “2I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: 3Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 4We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. 5For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: 6That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: 7That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: 8And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.” Psalm 78:2-8

Well, that’s the news up-to-date. Will keep you posted as the days go by.

And this update was closed with the following words:

Many prayers, hugs, and kisses for both of you, with our love,

Dad and Mom

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Dad's Health update

11/21/2010

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God has blessed Dad with a new office chair

             Thank you for those who have been praying about Dad’s health needs. He did have his appointment with the doctor, and Mom wrote this update.

            Daddy left this morning around 7:45 to go to Lapilo for his doctor appointment. He got there early, and the doctor took him right in. The biopsy was scheduled for next week, but Dr. Morton went ahead and did it today. I wondered if he would since the sores had grown so much. He checked them first under the microscope to see if it might be a fungus, but did not see any fungus. Also all the anti-fungal stuff Daddy had been putting on them had not helped any. Dr. Morton has to send them off now to Australia to be tested. It will be five weeks or so before he gets back the results. If the results are positive, Daddy will have to go to Australia or back to the states to see an oncologist. We are hoping he won’t have to do that as the ministry in the Owena church is so important right now. We do have to trust that God knows and will do what is best.

              Please be praying about this. The Lord is answering prayers for the spiritual needs among the Owena people. Things are at a critical point and it seems very important that the work not be interrupted right now. Please pray for the Lord’s wisdom. Is this a test from the Lord, or is this a temptation from Satan? Either way, we know that the Lord wants to prove Dad and Mom. He is seeing how they will respond to trials. He wants to bless them and fill them with the finest of His wheat and with honey out of the rock. Thank you, God.

             As you pray for Dad and Mom, perhaps you might consider the words to Psalm 81. God loves His children.

              Also, please be praying as Dad may try to work at things with natural remedies, at least to start with. He and Mom are supposed to have a meeting tonight (tomorrow their time) with a lady who works with herbal medicine. She thinks she may have something that would help my dad. Pray that Dad and Mom will have wisdom knowing exactly what to do.

            “Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. 2Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. 3Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. 4For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. 5This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not. 6I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots. 7Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah. 8Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; 9There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god. 10I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. 12So I gave them up unto their own hearts'lust: and they walked in their own counsels. 13Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! 14I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. 15The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever. 16He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.” (Psalm 81)

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Update on Lewis and Judy

11/13/2010

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          “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. (I Thessalonians 3:12,13)

            Tonight the Lord blessed us with a phone conversation with Dad and Mom. Thank You, Lord.

            Dad and Mom are thanking the Lord for the answered prayer they are seeing in the spiritual needs of the lives of some of the people in Owena. Some of the people are responding to and showing a desire to seek after the word of God and the things of the Spirit. No doubt it is Dad and Mom’s prayer that God would stablish their hearts and make them unblameable in holiness before God the Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how sweet to know that no matter where a Christian is in the world, he or she has the same Father that we have here. Thank you for your continued prayers.

            Dad and Mom continue to request prayer that the Lord would send more rain. The Lord has sent some rain and people’s gardens have begun to grow and there has been just a little water in the water supply. But much more is needed. Thank God that He has met all their needs.

            Dad has also asked prayer concerning a specific health need that he has. For some time he has had some spots on his legs. These spots are continuing to grow and spread. He has an appointment set up to have these biopsied when he and Mom go to town to get supplies. I think his appointment is the 19th. The doctor feels it may be some type of T-cell lymphoma. But he said there is a chemo cream which Dad can apply to treat it. Please pray for wisdom for them in this area. For more information on T-cell lymphoma visit this site - http://www.dermatologychannel.net/skincancer/tcell.shtml

            Thank you so much for your prayers; and, Lord willing, we will update again soon.

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Judy's Favorite Hymn

11/8/2010

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             Do you have a favorite hymn? Most of us do. Do you ever wonder what favorites different missionaries have? I asked Dad and Mom to share their favorites, and here is a little about Mom’s favorite - “It Is Well With My Soul.”

             This hymn was written by Christian lawyer Horatio G. Spafford (1828-1888) and the music was composed by Philip P. Bliss (1838-1876). The words of this deeply touching song have brought comfort to many a heart that has been heavy through sorrow or sore tribulation. It reflects the heart of a man who has learned Jesus in the school of suffering. Truly, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)

             God was a very present help in trouble many times throughout Mr. Spafford’s life. Horatio G. Spafford was born in North Troy, New York on October 20, 1828. He became a successful Christian lawyer and maintained a deep devotion to the Scriptures.

            Mr. Spafford had made large investments in real estate on Lake Michigan, but much of this property was destroyed in a fire in Chicago in 1871. Before this, Mr. Spafford had experienced the loss of his son.

             Horatio Spafford and his family took a trip to Europe and enjoyed a restful time there. Mr. Spafford also had the opportunity to assist Moody and Sankey in one of their evangelistic campaigns in Great Britain. When the family was ready to leave, Mr. Spafford had a last minute business transaction and stayed behind while his family sailed for home. On the way home their vessel, the S.S. Ville du Havre, was struck by the Lockhearn, an English vessel. It sank in a few minutes and Mrs. Spafford was saved alone. Mr. Spafford’s four daughters were lost at sea.

             As Mr. Spafford sailed home, and as he passed over the place where his four daughters had drowned, he penned the words to “It Is Well With My Soul.” Though the hymn touches on the sorrow he experienced and the trials of his life, he did not dwell on these things. In verse 3 he focused on the redemptive work of Christ. In verses 5 and 6 he portrayed his anticipation of the second coming of Christ.

             Philip P. Bliss, the composer of the music for this song, wrote many gospel songs himself. Shortly after composing the music for this song, Mr. Bliss was killed in a tragic train accident. As one individual wrote on a web site, “On reflection, it is divinely amazing that one could experience such personal tragedies and sorrows as did Horatio Spafford, yet, [be] able to say with such convincing clarity, ‘It is well with my soul.’ It is an enormous challenge to embrace the significance of this hymn.”

            We pray that you will be blessed by reading this story of this beloved him. Information was taken from http://www.suite101.com/content/hymn-it-is-well-with-my-soul-a32616 .

Here are the words to “It Is Well With My Soul”

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

4. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

5. But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

6. And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

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Connie’s Health Update

11/4/2010

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( Sorry this is a little long, but I did go into a good bit of detail here.)

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” These words from II Corinthians 12:9 were spoken by the Lord to the apostle Paul when Paul pleaded with the Lord to give him relief from his thorn in the flesh. And they are words that I am hanging onto at this time. For some time now I have been dealing with a lot of joint and muscle pain and some other symptoms such as numbness in my hands, feet, and face. More recently severe headaches have been added to the mix. Many times I feel a great deal of fatigue and weakness and find it a great effort just to get through the day. I do need the Lord’s strength. It is perfect though I may be weak.

And I need the Lord’s grace. When I am experiencing a lot of pain, it is difficult for me to have a gracious and kind spirit. But I know that any other type of attitude is not pleasing to the Lord and does not come from Him. Please pray that the Lord will help me in this area.

An appointment had been made with a rheumatologist to discuss the joint and muscle pains, but this appointment got postponed because the problems of weakness and also of loss of sensation in the arms, legs, and face became more of a concern to me than the joint pains. Muscle spasms became a problem as did severe headaches accompanied by pain that traveled from my neck up into my head. This neck-to-head pain increased upon standing or upon moving my head quickly.

I began to wonder if I had more of a neurological problem than a problem for a rheumatologist. An appointment was made for re-evaluation with the family doctor to see what her thinking would be in that regard. No appointments were available until November 4th, and my regular doctor was to be off for that week, so they set me up to see the Physicians Assistant.

In the meantime, recommendations had been made to us to try a chiropractor in Charlotte. The daughter of a missionary friend of ours from church had been greatly helped by this chiropractor, who is a board certified sports chiropractic physician. To learn more about what that is, check out this link http://www.chiropracticfitness.com/doctor-s-training/

After praying and researching this chiropractor’s credentials, I made an appointment with him. Dr. Schulman took 3 x-rays and did some other tests. He found that there is moderate nerve impingement (pinched nerves) in my lower back and moderate to severe nerve impingement in my neck. He felt that the pressure on these nerves was sufficient to cause the neurological symptoms I had been experiencing. My neck is very straight, has no natural curve. It has been this way for a long time, but Dr. Schulman says I was not born this way. He feels it can be corrected.

The follow-up with the Physicians Assistant was today. She is very nice and seemed to be very good. Apparently some years of experience have given her some wisdom. When I told her the chiropractor was a board certified sports chiropractic physician, she said, “Good.” After hearing what he had found, she said that the neurologist probably would not be able to tell me any more than the chiropractor did. At this point, she does not think seeing a neurologist would be helpful.

The joint pains apparently are not associated with the pinched nerves. Also, she said that very tight muscles can actually pull the neck out of alignment and make it straight. A number of years ago a chiropractor in Florida mentioned that my muscles were so tight she could “pluck a tune” on them. They apparently have remained that way for quite some time. Now there are severe muscle spasms with loss of muscle tone. The PA believes the loss of muscle tone is due to lack of use of the muscles. The muscle spasms she thinks can be helped with certain types of exercise and by applying heat. Her caution was to use moist heat rather than dry heat and not to use anything that is too hot as that would actually make things worse.

With the exercises and stretches I have already been given, the moist heat, the supplements, and the specific exercises recommended by Dr. Schulman, she thinks I should see a great deal of improvement. She said that I have already had all the labs the rheumatologist would recommend. Tests were done for rheumatoid arthritis and possible lupus. Though the tests for rheumatoid arthritis were normal, it appears that there is some form of arthritis with the muscle pain and spasms. But she feels this can be controlled by the exercises and chiropractic treatments.

Her recommendation - No need to see either a rheumatologist or a neurologist at this time. Continue with chiropractic care and follow-up in 3 to 4 months. Praise the Lord! Thank You, God for giving wisdom.

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