Prayers Being Answered

Hi Family and Friends,

Gary is now entering the middle of his fourth week of treatments. I know many, many people have been praying for him daily that he will tolerate the radiation and chemotherapy. Well, the Lord has graciously answered our prayers as Gary has been feeling so good that he returned to work this past Monday and has been working everyday. He has not been experiencing any of the expected side effects; he has very little nausea, lots of energy, good appetite and no hair loss.

We are doing a lot of driving, bringing him to work in the morning and picking him up at work whenever his treatment is booked and then returning him to work to finish off the day. David, our son, who works in London picks him up on the way home. With my flexibility and all the volunteer drivers to take him for treatments at least 3 times a week it is all working out very well and we are most grateful.

We know that God hears prayers and wants us to continue to depend on Him.
Please continue to pray that this good health continues, that the treatment is killing off the cancer cells and that he may continue to go to work.

All praise and thanks to God.
Joanne

Cancer is so Limited

Cancer is so Limited
It cannot cripple love,
It cannot shatter hope,
It cannot corrode faith,
It cannot eat peace away,
It cannot destroy confidence,
It cannot kill friendship,
It cannot shut out memories,
It cannot silence courage,
It cannot invade the soul,
It cannot reduce eternal life,
It cannot quench the Spirit,
It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.
-author unknown

Visits with Doctors

Once again another week has gone by. I have now received two full weeks of treatment. We were at Victoria Hospital every day this week, and two days we met with three different doctors. On Monday we met with the Neurosurgeon Dr. Steven. That time, we had hoped that I could go off the anti-seizure drug,Dilantin, and that I would be able to drive again soon.

Today, however, we met with Dr. Macdonald and Dr. Fisher, the chemotherapy and radiation oncologists, and I found that a notice had been sent to the ministry and my license will be suspended for at least six months. This was somewhat disappointing news. However,I will be tapering off one of the other drugs, and this is good news, because it is the one that had caused the most side effects. As well, we have not yet heard from U.I. as to when and how much I will be receiving from them.

I am feeling very well and have so far not experienced any side effects from the radiation or chemo. I am thankful that I am remaining in good spirits and am able to trust that God is in control and He is trustworthy. I am very grateful for the help we have received, both in financing the cost of driving, as well as the people who have generously volunteered their time to drive me to London and back. We have also received many delicious meals (to the extent that I am worried about getting too fat).

The total time spent for a radiation treatment is about two and a half hours a day, with it being a one hour drive and the average time spent there being a half an hour. On the days that I meet with doctors Joanne drives me in because it will take longer (We set out at 8:30 today and returned at 3:30 P.M.) and she likes to be there for the consultations.

Thanks for the nice card Nigel, your prayers mean a lot to us!

We continue to receive cards and best wishes and the assurance of prayers as well and this is most appreciated.

Thoughts While Reading

While I was on vacation recently I had the opportunity to do some reading. (The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis, Heaven by Joni Earickson and some novels, and I didn’t finish them all.) It being a beautiful week, we also enjoyed the weather and the lakes.( Hiking, biking and swimming)




It was a enormous joy to see and spend time with my family, both my brothers and sisters and Joanne’s, also Mom and Dad Pennings. I have read Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven, and a good part of Joni Earickson’s book and this got me thinking. I am sure many of us have wondered whether we will recognize our loved ones in heaven. I do not know the answer to this question without a doubt, but I like to imagine that when we arrive there, we will have the joy of dear loved ones already there greeting us, as happened at Port Burwell Provincial Park, or, like at Pinery Provincial Park, to be there and repeatedly have the joy of finding that another of your children or brothers and sisters has arrived. (For the most beautiful description of this that I have ever seen, read The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis and Revelation 21 :1-7).





Those of you who have a relationship with Jesus as Saviour will be able to empathize with this. For those of you who read this blog and know nothing of this, I would ask you to think about what will happen at the end of your life. All of us will some day have to face our maker. Many people believe that to get into heaven all you have to do is die.

The Bible tells us, however, that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and this not just physical death but separation from God for eternity in hell. Because all have sinned, unless God’s anger is appeased, our default destination is Hell, not Heaven. This is hard to understand for us because we tend to judge our actions and morality by society’s standards and the way others act. If there is a God who created everything, however, He has the right to set the standards and He has done so in His book, the Bible.

God in love has provided a way to escape this punishment, however. The same verse that tells us of the punishment ends with “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. 1John 4:10 says: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

A secular jailer in Phillipi who met the early apostles in the early days of the church was convicted of his sin and asked: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

Jesus Himself said "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” ( Mt 11:28). 2Peter 3 : 9 says: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

All who recognize that they deserve God’s punishment, turn from sin and follow God to the best of their ability and trust that Jesus took their punishment will be forgiven and one day share eternal joy in heaven.







I plead with all who read this blog to read the article found here. (you may have to copy and paste the link into your browser.)

http://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Mar/18/how-can-we-know-well-go-heaven

Once again, thank you all for your support and prayers.

Annual Vacation

Last week we were able to have our annual vacation, in spite of two medical appointments at the Victoria Hospital Cancer Clinic, one a planning session for radiation and the other for a MRI scan. The MRI was at 6:30 a.m. which meant getting up at 4:15 a.m. in order to get there on time; this was also the day we had to pack up and move from Port Burwell to the Pinery. We camped for a few days at Port Burwell Provincial Park with Joanne's family and at the Pinery Provincial Park with my family. As a family we have always had our vacation at provincial parks and I am thankful that I was well enough that our family could still get together for this annual tradition.

My radiation and chemotherapy was to start tomorrow, Friday Aug. 20th but that has been changed back to Monday, Aug. 23rd at 9 a.m. We appreciate your continued prayers.

Eating ice cream with the Pennings family in Port Burwell.

Spending time relaxing and reading.

Joanne and I went swimming almost every day before breakfast.

Ryan, Michael, David and I spent time climbing the dunes.

Enjoying the togetherness of a campfire with the Vandenbrinks. Emily Cressman, Michelle Schuit and Stephanie De Jong sang and played the guitar.

Of course no trip would be complete without repairing bicycles.

We saw some marvelous sunsets. And the weather was HOT!

Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary Bill and Evelyn Menkveld!

Tuesday was a Full Day

It has been a few days since Tuesday but that was the day that my brother-in-law, Rick Fintelman; my brother, Steve Vandenbrink and my nephew, Kevin Menkveld were over to finish up the barn foundation. It has taken a few more days to complete the finishing touches. Not a small job! Ryan, my son was also there to help between his milking jobs. Once again, we are very grateful to all who helped on this project and all the help received in many different ways.

That afternoon we spent over 4 hours at the cancer clinic. We were able to see both radiation and chemo doctors. Many of our questions were answered that day. There really wasn't any change made to the original diagnosis with the pathology report. It is an aggressive type of cancer which we hope and pray the therapy program will successfully treat. It will take the next week for the doctors to organize the start of the treatments. The first 6 wks will be intense as there will be 5 days a week of radiation and 7 days of chemo. Four weeks of rest will follow and then one week on and 3 weeks off for a total of 6 months.
We are hoping that I can tolerate the treatments well. I am not allowed to drive and may not be working much for some time. This will be a big change for our family and will take some adjustment. But God has been good to us in the past and I'm sure He will continue to stay close beside us through the days ahead.
We will not lose hope. Our God is all powerful and in total control. We will continue to trust Him no matter what the future holds.

We plan to take our family camping trip at the end of the week which we had booked since March. We will be camping at Port Burwell with the Pennings family one long weekend and at the Pinery with the Vandenbrinks the following long weekend. We're hoping the nice weather holds out.
Gary and Joanne

Another Week Gone By

Tanner Petterson and  his best bud, Ryan

Yes, another week is gone. The days have been filling up nicely. Gary is feeling quite well and has been keeping busy around the farm as well as helping his kids with their projects.
I'm trying to make sure he doesn't forget to rest!! It seems like I'm more tired then he is!
I believe that keeping busy is helping to make the uncertainty and waiting time less on our minds.
Gary's staples were taken out on Tuesday. The wound has healed up nicely and his hair is growing back. This past Wednesday our friends Greg and Laurie Kenyon came to visit and on Thursday night our neighbours, Chuck and Diane Armstrong, took Gary and I out for dinner. Then Friday,Kimberley Petersen, our good friend from Brockville came for supper and spend some time with us. On Saturday we had lunch with Gary's mom which helped to break up her day.

To everyone, thanks for your continual words of encouragement, concern and prayer. God is faithful and He continues to give us strength and patience in this waiting period. Thanks too for the continued emails, phone calls, cards, visits, offers of help,blog comments, goodies and meals!!
Joanne