HE will make a Way!

It’s been a while since we’ve updated, seems like life just gets in the way sometimes. Speaking of Life I am being reminded just how precious life is. I am sitting here this morning with my precious sister Felicia as she starts Chemotherapy. What a difference just a week or two or for that matter even a day can make. A few weeks ago she was living a normal rather healthy life and began to vomit. She thought she had a stomach virus so put off seeing the doctor. She was busy helping our Daddy through his two surgeries and Dr. appointments that go along with that. Finally after feeling bad for over a week she decided to see her doctor. The Dr. listened to her abdomen and could hear a very strong pulse and thought that was abnormal. She ordered an abdominal ultrasound since we have a history of abdominal aneurisms. The test was scheduled for Thursday. The technician’s facial response made Felicia know there was something wrong. They told her they were ordering a CAT scan on Monday along with more ultrasound. She was told on Tuesday that she had cancer. There was a mass on her pancreas, a mass on her left ovary and lymph node involvement throughout her abdomen. Are we ever prepared to hear that kind of news? Our only preparation is our trust in our all-knowing completely in control God. Our trust in the Lord has been our Rock. HE is the firm foundation on which we stand so that news of this magnitude does not make us fall. I am so grateful that we know the ROCK and that our house is built upon HIM!! The Lord brought to my mind the verse from Isaiah 43 – “When we pass through the waters, He will be with us, and when we pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over us. When we walk through the fire, we will not be burned; the flames will not set us ablaze.” Here I was 9000 miles away from my family and totally helpless. My Daddy had received news on that Monday before Felicia received her news that his pathology reports had come back and were not what they had expected. They told him that he needed to be followed up with an oncologist. When all this news was delivered to me in Botswana I was for the first time since my arrival 8 months ago longing (actually aching) to be home. The longing was not for me but for them. I knew I needed to be there to help. Not only to help through medical testing and doctor’s appointments that would ensue but also to take over Makenzie’s wedding preparations that my family was handling in my absence. I am so overwhelmingly grateful for my husband. Scott knew without me even saying or asking him that my heart was in SC. He told me to go. He told me he could handle what was happening in our home and ministry. We had tickets to fly home on April 3rd so we knew there was a possibility of changing my ticket to an earlier flight. A friend of mine was driving to Johannesburg that same day and was leaving at 3pm. Our travel agent is in Tampa, FL so there office wasn’t open to call to make ticket changes. It was 12 noon and my ride was departing at 3. I began to pray for God to make a way. Scott began trying to contact the travel agent as soon as we thought they might be open. Of all times (actually on a pretty regular basis) our internet at the house was not working. “Dear Lord will you make a way? I am going to trust you because that is what you ask of me.” I knew that I could go, trusting in our Mighty God to provide. I left that afternoon at 3 not knowing when or how but trusting completely that when I arrived at the airport I would have a ticket and be on my to SC. As soon as you cross the border into South Africa you have no cell phone connection so my blind faith was leading me. I was so grateful for our friends Des and Lara that were traveling to Joburg and that knew the area so well. Scott and I had never ventured from Botswana to Joburg so it was all new to me. When we arrived late that evening in Joburg I had a message from Scott that the ticket had been arranged and I would be departing the next day for SC. I sent out a Facebook message to my other sister Lea to arrange for someone to pick me up. As I was in the air on my 17 hour flight my sister Felicia was undergoing surgery to remove a lymph node from her abdomen. I was greeted Friday morning at 10am (SC time) at the Charleston airport by my sweet daughter and future son. Surreal – I think that is a pretty good word to describe the feeling of getting off that plane being back in my “familiar” place and in my daughter’s arms. We headed straight to the hospital in Augusta, GA where Felicia was recovering. She had no idea I was on my way there. I made it to her room to where Momma and Daddy were waiting. Oh the joy of reunions but oh so bittersweet. We had been counting down and anticipating our reunion and how wonderful it would be. It was wonderful to hugged and kissed by my parents but the tears that flowed from all 3 of us on this day were not of joy but of sadness for what Felicia was facing. They rolled Felicia down the hall from a scan and I stepped out to see her. There she was the healthy sister I said goodbye to in August on a gurney moaning in pain. I kissed her and stroked her face and she was overcome with emotion. She was crying - she couldn’t believe I was there. She told me later that she was surprised but then again not sure why she was…she should have known I would come. My sister Lea was there but once again we didn’t have the reunion we had been so looking forward to sharing. From that moment on it has been a whirlwind of activity. Did I have jet lag? I don’t think so. If I did there wasn’t time to concentrate on me or the effects. We took Felicia home from the hospital and began keeping up with pain medications, changing dressings, and Doctor appointments. We saw the oncologist on Wednesday and he made the plans for her to begin Chemo today. In the meantime I took Daddy to see the oncologist and were told he has stage 3 melanoma. They found a lymph node that was positive in the tissue they removed near his tumor. “Dear Lord help us” was the cry of my heart! “How do you want us to do this? Will you show us Your way? Your ways are so much higher than ours.” After talking with that Doctor, Daddy and I left both feeling certain that God didn’t want Daddy to seek any chemo treatment. We all started praying that God would affirm what we were feeling and that we would know it was from HIM. We had a desire to walk in confidence and never have any regrets. While I had Felicia at her first chemo treatment Lea took Daddy to a melanoma specialist at Emory. So many questions ran through our heads but in them we trusted God to make a way. He answered our prayers through that specialist. The Dr. said to consider his quality of life, what he is facing with his daughter, to enjoy his life and celebrating his granddaughter’s wedding. He said he is cancer free today and melanoma is a strange cancer. It may never come back or may come back next year. If or when it comes back he can deal with it then. The Dr. agreed to follow Daddy with observation. We were all praising God for answering our prayers and Daddy left with an affirmation knowing he was doing exactly what God wanted him to do.
God will make a way when there seems no other way! I left my very supportive husband and 5 boys in Botswana. I knew it would be difficult for Scott to handle it all by himself but I knew without a doubt that he was more than capable. I have been praying that God would make their path straight and easy until we were reunited. I prayed for God to give Scott an extra measure of HIS grace as he took on the roll of Mr. Mom and took care of our ministry commitments. God is faithful even when times are tough. Scott, by God’s grace, was able to lead training at Flying Mission, complete a packet of training information for the pastor’s conference in Zambia, train someone to lead in our absence and take care of a sick little Joshua. I am so grateful for Scott. He has cooked the meals, paid the bills, ran the errands, met all previous commitments and nursed a sick little boy. I am grateful for Scott’s heart for our Lord and his heart for our kids and me. He is one of a kind!! God made a way for me to be here to minister to my hurting family through the sacrifice of my man!! Thank you God!! And thank you Scott.
Please continue to pray for our family and our ministry. Pray for healing for my sister Felicia. Pray that Felicia would be a light for Jesus throughout her journey with cancer. Pray for Daddy to continue to walk in confidence of what the Lord has done for him. Pray for peace for my sweet Momma. Pray that she would find a new level of trust in our Lord through all of this. Pray for Scott and the kids as they travel this weekend to SC. Pray that Joshua would continue to get well before they leave Botswana. Pray for the details of Makenzie’s upcoming wedding to come together. Pray for the pastor’s conference in Zambia. Pray that the materials we put together would be used to reach many children and that they would come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord!! Most importantly pray that God would be glorified through us!!