God cares for all of us

I want to share the emails and responses after some of my previous blogs went out. This is such a testimony to me how our Father loves us and take care of us. He prompt people to share His heart with me, to encourage me out of heaven, lifting my face like a flint to keep trusting and looking unto Jesus.

Hi Elmien,

You don’t know me I go to LCC. We have been praying for you and last week at the men’s prayer God gave me a picture when we were praying for you.

I saw a smashed cup, it was fragmented but the cup was restored, all the smashed pieces joined together to form a cup again. The cracks were still visible but the cup was now able to hold what it was intended for.

I believe God gave me this to encourage you, although you feel weak and fragmented, it is Christ who makes you complete!

As you continue to read through Luke read what the King James says several times in accounts where Jesus healed people.

Luke 6:10 -- "And, looking round about upon them all, He said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so; and his hand was restored whole like the other."

Luke 7:10 -- "And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick."

Luke 8:48 -- "And He said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace."

Luke 17:19 -- "And He said unto him, Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole."

What good is a fragmented cup? When you pour into the cup it leaks. Praise God that in Christ he has ‘already’ made you complete and an effective vessel for the Holy Spirit.

I pray that having been restored in Christ Jesus that you become a cup not only whole but with no visible marks of physical damage and full of the Holy Spirit.

My sister’s son–in-law

You are an inspiration to many and a blessing.

I learned last night that the cancer is growing in your liver now. This is sad, but I feel that I must mention this and please forgive me if I sound insensitive....God is not a man that he should lie. His Word is the truth, not the report of the doctors. The truth is that you are healed. I know this battle is difficult for you and I am amazed at your strength and courage.

I can see Jesus in you. I can see him in you everyday you fight this thing, without complaints, just worshipping him. I am in awe of your faith. You are amazing!

I hope that you will just never give up, you are too precious to be lost now, there is too much for you to do. Your time has not yet come. Hang on and stand, let God fight the battle for you...remember that Jesus is your strength, you have shown all of us that you have relied on and trusted in Him. Do not let fear into your heart, but continue to believe the Word of God.

Elmien you are a great blessing!

Thank you so much for who you are.

From my sister-in–law out of SA. It is Le Roux sister.

My dear Elmien

If EVER I believed that God can save someone's life through a miracle, I believe it more than everything else in the world right NOW! You ARE HIS beloved child and HE WILL be taking care of you.

Love you lots!

One of my colleague from our business

Hi Elmien

It was so wonderful to see you in the office last week! I have read your blog and understand that things may look grey but I still believe that good will overcome. Remember last year when you were first diagnosed and the negative attitudes that surrounded your prognoses. And yet - here you are, a year on, still smiling and still determined! I believe in my heart that you will continue to defy all the odds and get stronger. We are all here for you and love and support you!

I hope you and the family have a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous 2010!

Take care, keep resting, keep eating, and keep believing!

Family friends from our church

Hi 22 December 2009

Praying for you today just felt to say that we love you and are praying & believing for your full recovery in 2010.

God is saying:

Don't give up hope my child, hold on be steadfast. What remains is faith, hope and love. The enemy may seem to win battles and take away much but there is stuff he can't touch. We are going to win the war.

I am holding you and your faith won't fail. Shortly an avalanche of prayer, a chain reaction, is going to start for you and the enemy’s designs and plans will be totally exposed and destroyed. He won't know what has hit him!

I came to give you life and life in abundance. What you now have is lack but soon that will change my glorious daughter - beloved!

Here are the lines of a song I have written recently:

"Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father, he is good to all he is good to all

Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father, it is freely given it is freely given.

Daily he loads us with his benefits; his mercies are new every morning

His love and kindness know no end.

This is our God, This is our God"

Friends from our church where we lived previously.

Dear Elmien, 22 December 2009

This morning I read from Daily Light this phrase from Isaiah 60:20 'And your days of sorrow will end'.

Today is the shortest day of the year, the day when there is most darkness.
The beginning of Isaiah 60 says 'Arise shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.'

The whole of Isaiah 60 is about the glory of Zion, but in a way also seems to me to be somehow relevant to you.

I do pray that the living hope of Jesus in you will be a bright light in this day and in the days to come.
“The Life-light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out” (according to the Message paraphrase).

Shekinah Shalom

A dear friend from SA

Dearest Precious Elmien,
You continue to teach us so much about faith, love, family, friendship and life! You encourage us daily to worship the Lord and praise HIM for all HE HAS done for us, and this you do in the midst of your battle! I admire you so very much Elmien and thank God for you! I actually don’t have the words to say that could for one moment describe the respect and love I have for you! All that you have learnt only few get to grasp it? You are constantly in my thoughts and prayers and as your precious sister in the Lord I put my arms around you and give you the biggest hug and say that I love you ... and I thank you for taking the precious time to share with us all these very precious jewels! You are AMAZING!! I am trusting the Lord with you for your miracle! Without faith it is impossible to please God and I know that it is in your heart as much as mine to walk by faith as pleasing God is ALL I care about... the rest follows!

Be strong my lovely friend and even though it’s dark outside... the light shines so bright in your heart and life and it will drive out the darkness! The Lord's hand is certainly on you for good!

We are all praying for you and standing with you all the way...

LeRoux is wonderful, what a mighty man of God he is! God will undertake for all you need as HE always has...

Friends with whom LeRoux worked previously.

Stay brave Elmien and remember God is Love; Le Roux and all the family love you - so God is always with you

Thinking about you, I am reminded of Jesus’ parable of the Good Landowner and the Vineyard Owners – Matthew 20:1-16

We wish you a peaceful Christmas and will be praying for you

Love and regards

My friend Madeleine called from SA and spoke words of encouragement, healing and wisdom from God’s Word. I listened carefully to my friend because she herself went through though times in her own health and how God brought her through. Never a day passes that she is not smiling and resting in God’s goodness. She is in a wheelchair but lives life and victory to the full. Bringing in the lost by living, loving and giving to the needy whom God prompts her to give. She minister to them by love and deed and they come to her to ask about this Jesus. She is a living testimony of life in Jesus. Thanks Madeleine as I look at you there is just joy unspeakable.

My children speaking life to me and the comments on the blog of friends and family, a sweet aroma to my soul, cheering me on to stand firm on God’s promises.

Le Roux’s brother called and my sister and family visiting in the Cape with them on that day all spoke to me. They folded me in their love like a blanket.

Our pastor and his wife came to visit and we had a glorious time together. Another pastor and his wife came a week before and as I say we had a glorious time of sharing and praying together.

This is why I lift up my hands in praise to my Lord and keep on standing on His powerful Word. He is faithful and sent His sons and daughters to encourage me, showing in a tangible way His love to me in this challenging time, but now changed into great victory because of Jesus.

It is a great encouragement for me and my family to know God has surrounded us with such a great cloud of witnesses.

I am eating better each day and my weight is stable creeping up by the 100gm. I am grateful for every change I notice in my body.

Dark, grey and cold but looking unto Jesus!

17 December 2009

It is Thursday morning. The weather is grey, dark, dreary and cold and I am feeling like the weather! I had a stent removed out of my stomach and a stent put in place for me to feed myself less than a week ago. My energy levels are as dreary as the day outside and my weight is now at scary levels according to the dietician who worked out my BMI. Oh but my hope is fixed on Jesus because I had such a great chat with Him and the Father during the night every time I woke up.

I have an appointment with the oncologist on this very grey day. Le Roux was gentle and understanding helping and nudging me to get dressed. I have decided not to take any further chemo and she, the oncologist was happy with the decision because she was of the same mind and do not see that my body will make a next round of chemo. The reports as grey and dark as the day. She was very compassionate in her own way and made us aware to contact a hospice so I can be in control of my last days. I looked her in the eyes and said: “Caroline, I just want to say it again to you I am not going to die. I am too young and I believe God’s Word is true. His promises to me were none of death but of life and victory in Jesus. I read a book of Dodie Osteen healed of liver cancer, with God nothing is impossible.” I left the room because Le Roux and she still wanted to discuss matters and I chose not to be part of this conversation. Although I warned her not to scare my husband, she laughed and promised she won’t but will try to just answer his questions.

As I walked to Ward 2 to have blood taken for tests my mind played hide and seek with me. What if you are wrong and you are going to die? Do I recognise this “What if” oh yes I do and I started quoting God’s word to myself and prayed in the spirit, while I was waiting for the nurses to help me. Le Roux came and he was all smiling. I asked him how many days did she give me. Le Roux looked with great compassion to me and his answer was. "Our Lord is our hope and future it is the start of a journey walking in God’s goodness as never before. An exciting road because this healing is going to manifest or these people will never know how alive God and His Word are." What a husband showing me always to the love, mercy and grace of Father God. Meanwhile he has loads to deal with himself, running and trusting the Lord for business to keep flowing, building up a new company, dealing with the closing of the year end, intellectually dealing with the figures, and books himself. Cooking and feeding me at home! As I looked at him I thanked God for a husband who shows so much of God’s character to me. So how do I still bother with these “what ifs”?

Oh the wonderful Jesus whom is the Word of God whom became flesh for us. As I was studying the book of Hebrews that night these are the verses standing out to me.
Hebrews 10:35 Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward.
10:36 For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.
10:23 So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.
I bring it under your attention that I specifically put it in this order as the word spoke to me and I meditated on it. If this is not God speaking directly to me through His Word I am missing Him through a ‘wicked unbelieving heart’.

I was reminded of what my youngest son said to me the previous weekend: “Mum it seems as if you haven’t got this quite worked out you know as I know there is only One Healer and he lifted his one finger heavenwards, that is Him”. I was shocked and then I knew he is right ‘believe in God and also in Jesus’. I say it many a times to myself, now I need to walk in it. I know it I should not give a hair's breadth of doubt in my mind. There is no place or time in my case for an unrenewed mind. Emails of encouragement from family and friends in South Africa, USA and the UK followed after my previous blog…God speaking to me through them? Oh yes I believe that.

I ended with God’s word just washing through me from Hebrews to Psalm 40, 70, 71 being lifted by Him and again Psalm 46:10a “Be still, and know that I am God!” This verse is on a magnet at my bedside table. One of my dear friends gave it to me on the airport as we flew out of South Africa. My sister’s words ringing in my ears… Rest in the Lord!!!

The next morning as I woke there was this great stillness…and I want to quote my dear friend Russell as he wrote it on his face book.

‘Woke up in a Winter Wonderland! Thick snow! Stark black and white landscape! The world’s noises muffled by the blanket God spread over us in the night.’

God’s Word do wonders for me…read with me.

Psalm 40:2 He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.
40:3 And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord.
40:4 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who makes the Lord his refuge and trust, and turns not to the proud or to followers of false gods.
40:5 Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; no one can compare with You! If I should declare and speak of them, they are too many to be numbered.

I say thank you Father for Jesus Christ Your Son and our full Salvation. Nothing has been left out of Your salvation plan everything had been dealt with. We are so privileged to know Jesus our Redeemer. I am so satisfied with Jesus! Thank you to all our family, friends and followers of my blog who have been so dedicated over the past year, praying, standing with us, sending Word of God, emails, telephone calls, SMS’s and encouraging me not to give up. Thank you Lord for all these precious friends and family in my life, You are a good Father!

May you have a wonderful, blessed Christmas time together with your loved ones and see Jesus Christ as our ultimate Redeemer! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Back in the UK

Dear friends and family,

It is a month since I last updated the blog. It was also one year since the visit to the hospital and the first verdict of the doctors. 'Only a miracle will work' they had to agree.

The past four weeks were exceptionally difficult with a sudden change in my ability to swallow which resulted in significant weight loss. I looked so much forward to the visit of le Roux in South Africa as I really felt so well and was enjoying my time in South Africa. His visit was taken up by the battle against the onslaught which culminated in me having a stent (small pipe) been put into my oesophagus to ease the pressure. We also decided that it is better for me to return earlier to the UK. Last week I said goodbye to all my lovely friends and family in South Africa and very excitedly returned to my grand children and children in the UK.

Through a scan back in the UK they discovered last week that the stent dropped down into my stomach and I was immediately booked into hospital to investigate. Last Friday another stent was put in, with the intention to remove the old stent this coming Friday. All of this has made it even more difficult to eat with more weight loss and to the great concern of all around me.

Today the full result of the scans was made available. The verdict was grim. It reminded me of a year ago. The cancer has grown aggressively in the liver over the past month with little options and solutions offered by medicine.

The onslaught threatens to overwhelm. The physical signs are damning. In the midst of it, I can only resort to the One and Only Loving Father who’s Word is eternally true. The work that Jesus has done on the cross is complete, there is nothing to add and no circumstance can taken anything of it away or nullify what it has accomplished.

With every breath I take, with every sip of liquid food I want to remind my soul and body what Jesus, the Word has accomplished.

Thank you for standing with me in the gap as we continue with this miracle journey. Now is the time!

Luke 1:37 ‘For with God nothing is ever impossible, and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfilment.’
Ps 103:3 ‘Who forgives every one of all your iniquities, who heals each one of all your diseases’ - Jesus the perfect Lamb.