Life Beyond Care

I visited my doctor as I thought I might need something to fight off the chest infection but by the time I saw her I knew I was greatly improved.  Two days later I had laryngitis!  While I was at the doctors, she did a follow up blood test; the results really surprised her.  Early May, when I had seen her last, my cholesterol had been high, iron count was down and it seemed my liver had been suffering.  This blood test was taken during the early days of a time of fasting so I expected the liver ketones to be high.  The latest test showed my cholesterol was normal (which hasn’t been the case for years), iron stores were normal, and my liver, no longer inflamed, was normal.  My doctor was surprised that the results had all become normal in such a short time and encouraged me to keep up with what I was doing.  This made me wonder what changes I had made.  There were a few things that came to mind, including less stress now that I am no longer my Mum’s carer.  The most substantial change I would say was the fast.  It is well documented that fasting can and does bring significant cleansing and repair of your organs.  To say the least, I was delighted with the results.

I’m now going to back track a little to help fill in the whole picture for my latest plans.  During the weeks after Mum’s passing I have been asked what my plans are for the future.  Firstly, I’d like to say it’s the Lord who holds the future and it’s to Him I look for direction as He knows what I’m best suited for.  It’s very reassuring and comforting to know I don’t have to stress or strive to find the Lord’s will for my life but just to trust it into His faithful hands and wait upon Him for leading.

With all the time on my hands while recovering from the chest infection, I had time to think and pray.  First I considered an evangelistic cruise throughout South East Asia.  I asked two friends if they would like to join me.  I’m glad both said “not this time”. Looking back, I realise it wasn’t really my thing.  I went on a cruise once with Mum and really didn’t enjoy it for several reasons.  The more I thought about it, the more I felt uneasy about the cruise.  If I was to do anything I wanted it to make a difference to others, not just to me.  I also wanted to work on our start-up business, get the app up and running and the business operational.

During this time my business partner, Grace, asked me to look up a contact in the Philippines who is involved in an outsourcing IT company.  I contacted my friend Mindy, who had visited me when I was in Thailand in 1991.  She asked me how I was going, to which I replied that I was waiting on the Lord to see what and where next.  I then asked if she thought there might be any ministry opportunities there.  She said I would be welcome to visit them in Cebu to explore opportunities.  Most of the contacts she has work with survivors of abuse and exploitation.  She said “to be honest, I’ve often wished you were here – you are always so organized and on top of things and I wish I had that gift!  Life is so challenging here with the work we do – a constant spiritual battle – I guess I’m just wishing it didn’t have to be so hard.”

My chat with Mindy made me think and pray about visiting them.  I had already planned to visit friends in Phuket, Thailand as this is where I wanted to get some dental work done.  I also wanted to help my friends pack up their house, as they are planning to return to Australia after 31yrs in Thailand.  It turns out they are now returning in 2020.  I decided I’d go anyway and make it a round trip via the Philippines.  Once I made up my mind, I started planning the route.  I contacted friends to see if they would be in town during the dates of my planned visits.  I researched prices and times of flights so I could avoid night travel.  (Why have to catch up with sleep during the day and feel terrible.  Better to chat to the passengers and arrive in daylight to meet the people you were visiting.)  My final itinerary was to go through Singapore, to see friends there, then to the Philippines, Phuket and finally Malaysia spending time catching up with a few long-time friends there too.

Once the plan had been mapped out I contacted a travel agent, sent through my itinerary for them to book the flights and add the travel insurance.  I then started looking for my passport.  I knew I had applied for a new one in 2016 and I’d seen it somewhere! I couldn’t remember where though.  I looked in all the normal places but still couldn’t find it!  Don’t panic, it was probably in the safety deposit box at the bank.  A special trip to the bank when I wasn’t feeling well but had to ease my concerns.  No not there!  Ok search the house again!  I was sure I had hidden it in a very safe place which I’ve forgotten!  I’d prayed of course.  That night I was fretting so much I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and looked again!  I had turned the house upside down a second time!  I looked in all the obvious hiding and storage places.  I tidied up papers and things as I went.  There was a pile of books and magazines to be read on the floor beside my bed so I tidied them too.  I couldn’t believe my eyes!  When and why did I put my passport under these? Thank you Lord for revealing it to me.  Unfortunately I was so stirred up by then I still couldn’t sleep!

I had never used this passport which expires in 2026 so there are plenty of pages for future stamps. I’m really looking forward to what the Lord has installed.

Part of my cleaning up included my computer files as I’m short on computer memory.  I have been thinking of getting an external backup drive and saw one on a website where I could use my survey gift vouchers.  I saved up $100 of gift vouchers before trying to order online.  No, I was only able to use one gift voucher.  I rang the store which, praise the Lord wasn’t far away, and was reassured I could use them all at the store.  While I was there I also bought a hands-free mobile holder for the car, as every time I use the GPS on my phone I feel convicted – it’s illegal in Australia to use a phone while driving unless it is in a car holder.

I also decided I’d close Mum’s facebook account.  Once less thing to distract me.  I have access to her account as it was me who set it up, so I put on her wall:  “Just letting all fb friends know that this account is closing sometime soon…. Just have to figure out how to do it from the sweet bye n bye….”   One of Mum’s facebook friends posted a comment below: “bye darling Jane x”.  This brought me to tears.  Mum was so well known and loved.

I’m still trying to sell things on Gumtree and Market Place.  During one of these I received a message from Denise O: “Hi, this is just a long shot but l knew a girl of the same name when l was at school a long time ago, she went 2 MLC Claremont & lived in City Beach. She would be in her 60’s now like me. U wouldn’t be the Sally l knew would u.”  Yep! That was me!  What a coincidence!

One evening before going to bed I was going over in my mind what to do about SIM cards as I travelled, as it is so much cheaper to buy a SIM in the country you visit than to pay the extravagant fees on roaming with the Australian mobile providers unless you are only away for a short time.   I contacted Mindy and my friends in Phuket to ask about a local SIM.  Both said it was possible when I arrived.  I won’t be long enough in Singapore but hope I can do the same in Malaysia.

I have two mobiles, so one would stay (the one which receives all my calls), the other I would take so I can stay connected by using Wi-Fi.  The battery in my old iPhone 4S was about to fail and I wondered if I might be able to replace it.  I called the Apple store in Perth but they told me they no longer repair phones that old and gave me a link to see if I could find an iPhone repairer who might be able to help.  The place I called was in Coogee (WA pronounced coooo-gee).  He had one battery left as well as a charger port.  I was delighted. I thought Coogee was about 20 mins away but then realised it was more like 45 minutes and was south of Freo.  Ok no problems I’d go in the afternoon and stop off at the Copper Chimney on route home for a yummy Masala Dosa. Then stop to see a place that sold ceramic garden pots to see if they had a Chinese Dragon pot to replace one of Mum’s that had broken.  Finally stop off at Karrinyup to order some foreign currency so I had a bit of cash for the pending journey and then to pick up the travel documents and tickets.  On my route home I also stopped off to see Karen, to bring her up to date with my plans over a coffee and help her with the worm farm.  Suddenly while with her, I remembered I was meeting an arborist at 5pm at my place. I was already 10 mins late.  Praise the Lord he was running late too.

Although I didn’t book any work with the arborist, I did glean reams of information on various things, including how to prune the espaliered citrus and encourage growth on my mango and fig trees.  I asked if he knew any workshops on grafting and pruning as I would like to graft a few different varieties on my citrus, avocado and fig trees.  He didn’t know of any but said when he next pruned some of these trees he would let me know as he might be able to get me some cuttings to graft.  Wow!  Thanks!  That would be amazing!  The rest of the evening I helped my neighbour organise her clothes off the floor ready for the plumber who is coming to every unit to install safety valves on all our flexi pipes.  What a day!  Two of the units across the driveway from me were flooded due to a flexi hose bursting.  There was extensive damage done to floor coverings which needed to be ripped up and replaced; the reason my neighbour was in such disarray.  Our committee meeting had agreed we would all have safety valves attached to help prevent this in the future.

I had been looking on line for workshops teaching pruning and grafting and came across a session on pruning at Bayswater.  Although I was still unwell, I didn’t want to miss out and I’m glad I made the effort as I learnt so much which I put into good use when I got home.  We even learnt how to sharpen out secateurs.  Once sharpened, I put them to good use.  More trimming of the citrus, roses and whatever I could get my hands on.  You will be pleased to know all the plants have sprung back with lush new growth.

With my old phone once again operating like a new one, I now feel I can leave it with a friend to take any messages while I’m away.  My old iPhone 4S is used solely for incoming calls, it is small so is perfect for the job.  I don’t need two fancy smart phones with all the mod cons.  Both my phones should now last till Apple brings out another small phone, God willing this time with the capacity for two SIM cards.  This is what I really want.  I don’t need or want a large screen, which is the reason I waited so long for my second phone, the SE iPhone.

Our fortnightly visits to Regis Residential Centre for our Gospel singalong continued without me due to my ongoing poor health.  The Lord provided a couple of ladies from my church to join Patrick on two occasions.  I went along on the third but was unable to sing due to my lack of vocal cords. We are in the process of cutting back to once a month while I’m away and maybe on my return, to fortnightly again.

In my previous update I explained my dental dilemmas.  It is a very expensive procedure to replace a tooth here.  I had spoken with my health fund and if I was to stretch it out over three years I would have the maximum cover.  It would also save me two trips to Phuket to get it done, which of course would add to the expense.   My second visit to my dental surgeon, Shawn, was the first of many stages.  After the initial consultation, this was the day for big tooth extraction.  I was very apprehensive.  I dislike needles in my mouth.  Shawn is a very gentle man and reassured me I wouldn’t feel much.  He numbed the area first before inserting the needles.  When I saw the needle coming I decided that was the time to close my eyes and not to open them till it was all over.  I also started praying.  Many friends had and were praying during this time, which was reassuring, especially as I was later told it was quite a complicated operation.  The tooth had nearly rotted in half and the jaw was very thin. Before commencing, Shawn had taken some of my blood, which he spun in a centrifuge.  This allows platelets and blood plasma to be isolated from other blood components, which is returned to the wound to help shorten the healing time of an injury.

I am very reluctant to take antibiotics but in this case I succumbed.  I didn’t want an infection to complicate the removal of the stitches which was scheduled for two week after the operation. Also, the day before I fly out, the synthetic membrane, which was put in to protect the jaw, will be removed.

Even on antibiotics and mouth washing I thought the area was a bit inflamed so I went back a week later for a quick check.  All was normal, praise the Lord!

Saturday 3 August was our monthly prayer breakfast where they also prayed for my up-and-coming adventure that the Lord would protect and lead me.  I rushed off afterwards to attend the TEAR conference which was being held at church.  I sat in on a few talks which I found very interesting and then helped with serving teas and coffees and clean up after lunch.

Sunday was our Social Action Group meeting over lunch to discuss the coming outreach events.

Monday was our Bible Study where we meet at church.  There was a funeral on at the same time, so once Bible Study had finished I was asked to help, as there was only one other barista working and there were a lot of attendees wanting a proper coffee.  I was back again the next day making coffees for the primary school teachers who we serve every Tuesday.

During the three weeks of illness I did no jogging.  The first time I went out again I did a shorter circuit but even this was too much.  I came home exhausted and the next day my legs ached.  I didn’t go again for another 3 days due to other commitments but when I did I jogged even less and still felt exhausted!  I’m slowly gaining my strength although my voice has still not recovered and I’m needing to limit my talking, which as most of you know is not easy for someone like me.

I’m looking forward to my next adventure which starts on the 28 August.

Photos:  1.  Jonquils from Mum’s garden now blooming in mine.   2. Hillary’s Boat Harbour as sunset      3. Snowdrops also from Mum’s garden    4.  Rainbow at Trigg Beach after the storm

Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for watching over me and His healing of both the chest infection and the operation on my tooth.  Please continue to pray that my voice will fully recover and that the stiches and membrane will come out without infection or complications.

Please pray for ongoing peace, strength, leading and protection as I travel around Asia.  What a comfort and reassurance knowing He is with me as I face the future and the adventures that lies ahead.

Please continue to pray for the salvation of my three sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat and especially for reconciliation and forgiveness between Tricia and the rest of us.

Thank you for your prayers for the business, Senior’s Benefits and Rewards.  It continues to proceed and God willing will be trialled before I leave.  Please continue to pray for its success.

Thank you to all my supportive friends and prayer partners; it’s such an encouragement to know you are all standing with me.