QUICK UPDATE

Until I have time to sit and post what I was going to write, this will have to suffice. We are knee-deep in chaos once again----why DO we do this to ourselves? Our carpet needed replacing, and instead of doing that, we are laying wood floors. Dick is doing it himself. Sam is a camp counselor this week at Miracle Bible Camp, so we are trying to get his room done while he is gone. The prep is a killer....my back already aches only a few hours into the project. His bedroom is in the living room and once again, I need to get comfy with a torn-apart house!! I am trusting that the finished product, once down and urethaned (it is ash planking), will be beautiful and walked on for many decades to come.

Our resident doe and her fawn have company in the woods. The day before yesterday she was nursing the fawn in our driveway.....pretty cute. We also have a mom with twin fawns.....they were running around the cabin yesterday morning twice in a row like they were playing tag. We also have a very docile deer who is fairly unreactive to us even when we walk within 15 feet of him. He just stares at us, but is not skittish.

Our family reunion planned for the 4th of July weekend at Itasca State Park is in possible peril. The state of Minnesota cannot get its budget together and if they cannot reach an agreement, the state shuts down Friday morning, and state parks are considered non-essential. We have 33 people coming; we rented the large log hostel in the park which will sleep all of us, so we are in a wait-and-see mode. My brother has graciously offered up his cabin and yard for the event if we need to switch. It may be a tent reunion, but we are all pretty flexible, so as long as we are together, we'll have fun. This is the first ever Hieb reunion. Can't wait.

Need to get back to work scraping glued-on foam backing from an old carpet pad off the plywood. Sounds like a blast, doesn't it??

ACCORDING TO FAITH

The Lord used an early morning headache to speak to me yesterday morning, and it was solid spiritual food. At 5 AM, I cuddled up in a blanket on the sofa (yes, northern Minnesota nights are still cold) after ingesting Excedrin, and opened my Bible. My book fell open in the 9th chapter of Matthew (v. 27):

Two blind men were following Jesus and called out, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" Jesus asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"

"Yes, Lord," they replied.

Then He touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you," and their sight was restored.

Though a well-known passage, I "saw" it as if the first time. Jesus did not say to the blind men, according to how much you love me will it be done to you, or according to how much I love you will it be done to you. Jesus did not say, according to the degree of your blindness will it be done to you; or according to how much you sit here and praise Me or beg Me will it be done to you. Their blindness could not be healed by tithing, being good neighbors or going to synagogue.

Jesus gave the men ONE condition. ACCORDING TO THEIR FAITH. He would heal them based on their FAITH and nothing else. So if we know that real faith is the evidence and confirmation of God's promise before it is seen, then their healing was contingent on this:
To the extent that these blind men believed WITHOUT WAVERING that God would heal them BEFORE their eyes could see again, they would have restored sight. No hoping, no wishing, no wondering, no wavering.

Faith. Amazing unswerving faith. The key to wholeness.

DAD UPDATE

For those of you who have been praying for my dad....they found he has diverticulitis, which thankfully is controlled by his diet. He will have to give up his beloved salted nut rolls and his popcorn, but the diagnosis is a great relief to the whole family. Thanks so much for your prayers.

HEALING AT THE LAKE

This is a picture of healing!! My arthritic leg continues to amaze me. I can now lift and hold it up in this position for up to 15-20 seconds. The wooden feeling in my leg on my daily walks is gone. The buttock pain is completely gone. I have not massaged it in 6 days. Painful stiff arthritic leg joints do not do this. God is at work!! In addition, I have had a neuroma on my middle finger knuckle for about 4 months....very painful and I have been unable to make a fist (without looking like I am flipping someone off). It is just plain gone in the past 3 days. I can make a fist with no pain. Praise God with all that is within me!!

PLEASE PRAY

So many of you who have been so faithful to pray for me the past 9 months, I know I can request more intercession from you! My dad has been admitted to the hospital for rectal bleeding. No tests have yet been scheduled, so we know nothing at this point. Please pray for discernment for the doctors in making a diagnosis, and please pray that the cause would be treatable. Pray for the Holy Spirit to cover both my mom and dad as they wait for answers. Thanks so much!

MY NEW PRAYER WARRIORS

This morning I got together with my Friday "Warrior Women" (taking over for the summer from my Wednesday Prayer Partners back in SD). Lee and Penny, sweet dear friends, have come alongside me on this journey of total faith and belief in God's healing of me, and we had a rich time together. We sang praise sangs, talked about who we are in the Lord and the power and authority we have in His name, and prayed. It was such a rich time of sharing. I am so blessed to have their support and love and their Godly wisdom. We all agree in God's promises throughout Scripture for healing, and agree that we appropriate that healing by faith in His divine Word. I am so grateful that Jesus died for my sins AND my sickness!



LEE AND PENNY

I am grateful for feeling so good after chemo once again. Two days out, I am climbing hills and moving furniture and planting flowers and simply enjoying each day at the lake.

What is most exciting to tell you is that in the past 72 hours, I have seen amazing improvement in my right leg. Radiation has left me with a very stiff, painful arthritic leg and a very painful trigger spot in my right buttock next to the hip tumor. I massage and stretch and heat my leg daily to keep it as limber as possible so as not to lose mobility. Only at the end of the day, with all my self-therapy can I lift my leg within 8-10 inches of my face. BUT in the past 3 days...........the pain on my back side is GONE and this morning, with no walking, stretching or massage, I was able to put my toes on top of my head. AMAZING. GOD IS SO GOOD!!

THANKS FOR PRAYERS

A thanks to all of you who prayed today......prayers were answered!! My facility here is very nice, private rooms with flat screen TV's, a heated massaging Lazy-Boy which I used the WHOLE time, and WiFi. Got lots of work done on the laptop while infusing. My oncologist up here is very nice and very bright. He does not, however, have the element of faith that I share with my SD doctor. And that is a huge hole for me. But I am not having chemo in MN to find a doctor who believes in divine healing. I am having it because I live here for right now, and all I need are 3 sessions. Then back to my wonderful new doc.

The bright moment came when my 21-year-oncology-veteran nurse Gina put in my line. She found a good vein on my upper forearm and got the catheter in with ONE stick. Not only one, but I literally did not feel anything after the initial needle prick. She was so fast and got it in the perfect position and we were done in about 8 seconds! She is my new hero. Sadly, she is on vacation at my next appt.

Today I prayed that since God is healing me (or perhaps already has!), He would protect my entire body from the effects of chemo if I do not need it any longer. If Jesus can turn water into wine, He is highly capable of turning a chemo drug into saline!!!

I am feeling great....no nausea or fatigue at all......just made a banana cream pie for dinner, and am getting salmon ready to grill. Praise God for my appetite which has never wavered during any chemo cycle!

Since I am not supposed to eat sugar any more, I have tried several sugar substitutes, all with poor results (mostly bad aftertastes). But I got onto Xylitol, made from birch trees, tastes exactly like sugar, and it has a glycemic index close about 6-7, which is nothing compared to table sugar at 100. I have been experimenting with it in baking and cooking and it is turning out to be the #1 choice. Made this whole pie and meringue with xylitol and the consistency and taste is perfect. I am so excited to not have to give up sweets anymore (at least ones I make at my own house!!)

Again, thanks for all the prayers for things to go well today. They did, and I am humbly grateful to my Lord and Healer for his providence.

FAWNS, CHEMO AND MY DAD'S BIRTHDAY

Tomorrow I go to my first chemotherapy infusion in northern Minnesota. I admit some anxiety about the unfamiliarity of it all. New doc, new nurses, new needle-stickers, new surroundings (I've been spoiled with my luxury private room with flat screen TV and heated Lazy-Boy). I will accept any and all prayers for everything to go well. And as always, please pray that my veins will hold up on the first stick. I start my steroids this morning, so I will be awake most of the next 3 nights. Ugh.

I have two precious friends up here, Penny and Lee, who are going to pray with me on a regular basis. They are so on board with belief in healing and standing on The Word of God! I feel so blessed that they are willing to have this time of fellowship with me, thanking God together for the healing He is doing in me!

*****

Like most years, we have a doe and her fawn living in our woods somewhere. We saw them the other day in the driveway, and last night they walked down between the cabin and garage. I hope to snap a pic of them sometime, but we always freeze when we see them because they will run off at any movement. The baby is very newborn, but she is balancing herself and walking well. It is always a sight to behold. This morning we woke up to mama and papa goose waddling across our beach with their 6 babies. They went about 15 yards and then swam away in a perfect row, mom at the head and dad coming up the rear.

*****

As the chemo is being pumped thru my body tomorrow, my dad will be celebrating his birthday. On the north side of 85, my dad is ever the north star for me and our family. I know I speak for the whole clan of kids, grandkids and great-grands when I say that we all sort of think he hung the moon!! We all feel so loved by him.

Dad, I need you, I respect you, I am proud of you, and I love you past the moon. Happy birthday!! Wish I could be there to hug you in person. Consider this blog post to be a virtual hug!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PA!!!

O Lord, you alone can heal me; you alone can save. My praises are for you alone. Jer 17:14

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATTY

The first day of Mrs. Black's Kindergarten, I met her. Something clicked, and the rest of our young lives is history. Patty and I became best friends. So many shared secrets. So many Barbie and Ken play times. So many sleepovers. Here we are playing a duet in our 1965 piano recital. (P, I think you got that dress at Tiny Town!) 



Patty is the cute one!!



We learned about menstruation together from one of her older neighbor girls who made it out to be quite the dreaded event. Patty and I had to stifle our giggles and feign surprise in front of our mothers when we saw "the movie." We spent days and weeks together at Pelican lake, getting crushes on boys and spinning around the lake in her big orange inboard.

Through the 8th grade, we were inseparable. But Patty and her family moved from our hometown when she was a freshman. Our contact was less, and though we re-connected when we both lived in Minneapolis after my grad school days, there was far too much space between our get-togethers.

We haven't seen each other in over 25 years, but we are in touch. And like I know my old hometown phone number, I will always know her birthday (and HER old phone number!) Patty, our memories are irreplaceable. You were such a huge part of my childhood. I hope that your birthday brings a new year full of contentment. I thank you for all of your encouragement the past year. Love you, old friend!!

AFTERMATH

 I love God's displays of beauty from ashes and calm after storms. When the Memorial Day storms swept through the area, our lake was black and churning and covered in white caps. It brought with it many downed branches and trees and a 2-day power outage. But then, the calm......

We went down to the dock and saw the aftermath.....our beach was actually ridged. It looked like a Florida beach after high tide. The sand was incredible. Had to take some pictures of it. Don't think I have ever seen it like this in all the years we have lived here.

And then I opened my devotional for the day. It had this:

Because of storms that lash the ocean waves, 

the waters there keep purer than if the heavens o'erhead

were always fair.

The bright banner of the skies floats not at noonday warm;

The rainbow follows after thunderclouds

and after storm.

Great faith must first endure great trials. Amen.