Stepping out in Faith

This week has very much been a mum week.  We went out shopping for a bar fridge so that our new boarder will have somewhere to keep her perishables as mum’s fridge isn’t very big.  It will also ensure mum doesn’t eat her thing by mistake as her memory has been very bad lately.  On another excursion we went shopping for a HDD recording system that I can program for her so that if she is stuck at home for any reason she has something she will enjoy watching.

I also did a bit of shopping for myself.  It was time to hunt for the best deal in flights to Asia.   I was a bit hesitant to book my tickets because mum has not been 100%.  But I felt if I didn’t make a step of faith and buy my tickets, I might never leave!  I felt this was the time for me to go.  I set a date, 15 February and trusted mum into the Lord hands.  His love for her is far greater than mine and if He has called me to go then He will watch over her.

Mum seemed to be going downhill very fast in the past month.  She seemed to be slipping into a foggy mist of forgetfulness and vagueness.  She said she felt very fuzzy headed.  I was quite concerned and really didn’t want to leave her while she is like this.   She has been repeating herself and very absent minded not remembering that she has already told me the same thing two minutes ago.  In fact three times!  She was muddling up her medication with the dog’s medication.  Both are on heart tablets!  Both are geriatrics and both sleep often during the day.  She has been very lethargic and tired as well as out of breath, labouring to breathe even when she has just walked from her bedroom to the lounge room.  I was told this was due to the fluid on her lungs related to her heart problems.  She had also refused to allow me to go with her to the doctor so I felt I couldn’t properly manage her health and the medication she was on if I had no idea what the doctor was telling her.  I rang the doctor to discuss my concerns and also had a terrible rough with mum one morning when she was taking tablets the doctor had asked her to cease and which I had labelled ‘DO NOT TAKE DOCTORS ORDERS’.  She had snuck up to the doctors that day without telling me but I knew where she had gone as she takes all her medications with her.  After this she started asking me if I would like to join her when she went in to see the doctor.  That was a huge break through and since then she has been more compliant with other things too.

On one of her doctor’s visit, I asked the doctor if he could organise a nurse to visit her once a week to check her medications etc.  After the last episode I didn’t feel happy leaving her without weekly medical supervision.  Even with this in place I was hesitant to leave her.  How could I leave her in this condition and yet I felt the Lord once again remind me to trust Him.

So I took a step of faith and started researching for the best deal for my tickets.  During this process and before I made the final discussion on my itinerary a friend, who I’d been out walking with, suggested I go to Cambodia via Malaysia instead of Singapore.  I had told her I was planning to go via Singapore but it was the wrong timing as the friends I had planned to visit were busy at that time with visiting family.  It was the week of Chinese New Year.  There were no direct flights from Perth to Phnom Penh.  Kuala Lumpur had a connecting flight and was actually cheaper.  I was then chatting to my friend Josh in Cambodia who said he would be in Malaysia from 17 – 26^th February.  He suggested I stay in Malaysia with his family while he was also there.   I realised the Lord must have another plan in mind for me.

I have known Josh’s family since my very first ministry trip when I was fresh out of Bible Collect in 1986.  Ps Bob, who has just bought my Mazda 2, and I went there for ministry and I stayed for over six months.  Josh was just a wee lad then.  His mother and I became very good friends and often went out together ministering to those she had a burden for in jail and to those with a drug addiction.  I had stayed in touch after I left Malaysia, and when I moved to Sydney met up with her sons who had moved to Australia to study.  One of these boys was Josh.  He later married a Korean girl and had a 4 lovely boys one of which is now studying in Malaysia.  Josh now ministers to the poor in Cambodia and frequently visits his family in Malaysia and Sydney. More about his story and the things he is doing later.

Anyway after my chat with Josh and finding out his plans I booked my ticket leaving Perth 15^th February to Kula Lumpur where I’ll go north to stay with his parents and catch up with old friends.  I fly out of KL on 16^th of Feb which was the date Josh said he too was leaving but then that was changed.  It looks like the Lord has a special mission for me to go before Josh who will follow on the 28^th.   I also booked an ongoing ticket to Chiang Mai for 26th March (Cambodia, like most Asian countries require an outgoing ticket before you arrive) because I was hoping to stay a month or two with Josh in Cambodia and was unsure if I could extend my visa.  Fortunately this ticket can be changed, at a price of course, and with Josh’s suggestion I will request a multiple entry visa, as we also plan to visit Vietnam. I should be able to say till mid-April which is when Josh is hoping to return to Malaysia.

With all this sorted I stepped out in faith and booked my departure.  It was done!  The first step to my long awaited Asia venture had begun!

I continued to pray for mum’s health.  Not long after I had returned to Perth a friend whom I visited, raved about the effects of coconut and hemp oils.  My mum has also had terribly itchy skin for years and my younger sisters who are both into healthy eating has suggested various things to help.  Jen who has also had dietary problems for years had has some amazing results from switching her diet to the FODMAP diet. I’ll not go into it other than to say it has done amazing things for her.  She also started mum on it and IF we stick to it we notice a dramatic change. Kathy my youngest sister also suggested the coconut oil.  Anyway I have digressed.  It was the coconut oil and hemp oil, the latter only recently legalised for consumption, which was recommended by my friend.  Both these oils I’m told have amazing properties to assist brain function.  While buying these at a health shop I also asked what they might help prevent memory loss or at least improve memory and was given Phospholipid Complex.

I had been giving mum all of these for some time now and seen no real improvement.  Than the day after I had paid for my tickets which by the way were very cheap (maybe because they are with Asian Airways), mum woke up and was totally different.  Coincidence or not!  I think not.  I can see the hand of the Lord in all of this.  Not that I’m saying He wasn’t going to or that He was holding out on a healing until I had done my bit but I think He was just proving to my unbelief that He was still in control and just wanted me to learn to trust Him more.  To step out in faith and trust Him.  As Hebrews 11:1 puts it ‘Now faith is the substance of things hope for and evidence of things not seen’.   As I know it is the Lord who is leading me on this adventure it is He who will provided for every aspect of it including my mother’s health.  I can have confidence to leave with His reassurance that He is watching over her as I know His love for her is far greater than mine.

It was lovely having my old mum back (excuse the pun) not the muddle headed one.  She also commented on how different she felt.  She no longer felt her head was full of cotton wool, her thinking was much clearer.  It’s been three days now, she has started driving herself to the beach for a 6am swim which she has been doing for years till her recent memory lapse.  We are also enjoying normal conversations without the repetitions.  It’s just wonderful.  Thank you Jesus.

Not only has her health miraculously improved the Lord has also provided a distraction for her just after I leave.  As I’m sure she will miss me and the companionship we have had.  My older sister once a year has a holiday in Rottnest and invites mum to join her.  Unbeknown to us she had booked her stay for the 16^th February the day after my departure.  Now that’s perfect timing.  Thank you Lord!  Mum and I then took a trip up to Hillarys Marina and booked the ferry then continued up the coast just to see how far we could go along the coast road.  We were amazed at all the new residential areas and especially the size of the houses or should I say mansions build along the beach road.  Unlike some areas, Perth has strict rules for building near the beach.  Most of our coastline has a road that separates the beach from residential and commercial areas.  This is so that the public has easy access to the beaches which stretch along our western coastline.

Well, I think I’ll end this now and tell you about the new church I have started to attend in my next blog.  That will hopefully hold you in suspense till then.  😉

The photo of Mum and her four girls and only granddaughter was taken at her 80th birthday in 2007.  It is a rare occasion for all of us to be in the same place at the same time as we are all scattered across Australia.

Praise & Prayer points:

Please give thanks to the Lord for the miraculous healing of mums memory and her ongoing good health.  I also want to thank all of you who have been upholding my mum in prayer as it is the prayers of the saints that have brought about this miracle.  Please continue to pray that her health will continue to improve.

Praise the Lord for all the things that have fall into place as I prepare to leave and for providing cheap tickets and a new itinerary so that I can catch up with old friends.

I’m still believing for a miracle in regards to the sale of my business.  Please believe with me for this to happen soon.

I know all things are possible in the Lord for those who believe.   I leave it all in the capable hands of our loving Lord and in whose perfect timing I have come to trust.  Till next time, may the Lord richly bless each one of you.   (Not each and every, which saying I really detest! Why repeat yourself with it’s either each or every not both!)