Before moving to South Dakota, I remember wondering if I was going to die up here--
die because my cancer would take me
because
I wouldn't have what I needed.
I wouldn't have the right kind of food or organic produce or resources of whatever kind.
At first it didn't occur to me to stay home in Colorado;
God had called my husband to go, and I was his wife. That meant I followed wherever he went.
That meant even if I died, I was going.
I didn't know where we would find what I needed like fresh, organic produce;
goat milk (we only had one milk goat shortly before moving, and she had dried up; we bought another one just before moving);and many other things.
I literally thought I might be giving my life to say yes to missions again.
Instead, up to this point, God has been supplying my very special needs over and over.
And I am still very much alive!
In fact, this morning I felt better than I have felt in a very long time.
The goat that had dried up miscarried her triplets, but started producing milk--a few quarts a day!
She even comes right up to the door of the travel trailer to be milked--as if her milk is a gift to the lady with cancer and her family.
The hens are laying fresh eggs chock full of vitamins and minerals from fresh South Dakota bugs and greens every single day--laying them all over the place--in their nesting boxes, in the outhouse :)
and in the bag of wood chips in the garage.
Danny found twenty of them this morning there.
And when fresh produce is hard to be had, there are bushels of fresh yucca blooms nearby, some only yards from my travel trailer door. They are edible!
The whole plant is edible.
I took a bunch of them this evening with my fresh veggie plate for the carry-in after service, wondering if there would be any interest at all. One person after another not only asked about the blossoms but actually tried them!
Danny said they tasted like snow peas, one person said they tasted like lettuce, and another one was reminded of grass! I agreed with Danny that the petals tasted like snow peas!
And then on our way back from our walk to the river this afternoon, I discovered wood sorrel-a cancer-killing herb that my mom has used to cure hers and others' skin cancers.
It is also edible.
You can see its heart-shaped leaves with tiny yellow flowers about to bloom behind the yucca blossoms. It is also called sour grass, something kids like to chew. I pulled some and ate three whole plants, one at a time with time in between. It is very high in oxalic acid, tasting like fresh rhubarb, but it fights cancer. And God provided it.
When I thought I might be giving my life, and was tempted to stamp my little foot and say, "I'm not going! I want to spend my last day with my children," instead, God is giving me a life!
"He who seeks to save his life shall lose it," God said, "but he who loses his life
for My sake (there is the key, it's for His sake)
the same shall save it."
He also provided beauty galore--something this mom needs as much as good food.
Can you find the hidden dragonfly?
It was flitting about as I made my way back from checking out the ground nest of a lark sparrow
that Danny had found recently.
Four baby birdlings in there!
And a brilliant monarch in the bright green grass.
I was in awe this morning with the perfectly idyllic weather and the beauty of nature around us.
Is it just a gift from God for today?
Is it the calm between the storms?
I don't know.
I am to talk to my nurse practitioner tomorrow about the results of some tests I had in Colorado.
I don't know how that will turn out, or what the results were.
But for now, I revel in God's beauty.
This whole place here in South Dakota just seems like a perfect blend of Jonathan's Colorado and my Pennsylvania.
Only God could wed together so many familiar things that mean so much to both Jonathan and me--
trees and flowers, cactus and yucca, singing birds and insects, big sky and soaring eagles,
green herbs and thriving garden, a river and rattlesnakes!
Rattlesnakes.
That's the next post!
Wonderful! God has you in His perfect spot and plan.
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