Our beautiful daughter was declared CANCER FREE today!  The oncologist gave the optimistic news that the CT scan and all bloodwork showed no presence of melanoma at this time.  He was also careful to not promise anything for tomorrow and we are under no illusions that there will NEVER be another issue.  But for today we celebrate and thank God for a clean bill of health.  God has tomorrow in His hands.
In a couple of months, Caylea will see a dermatologist.  In six months, another visit to the oncologist.  In a year, another CT scan.  For the next three years, Caylea will continue to be monitored and must be vigilant about any unusual or prolonged health issues or concerns.
Relief, joy, concern, praise, gratitude...all emotions we are experiencing.
We cannot live in the shadow of worry but must dwell in the shelter of the Almighty.

So much has been happening this month and I knew November would fly by!
We had a missions conference weekend in Nipawin at the Bible College.  Jason and Anita Boucher represented NCEM while Kelly and Nancy Morton represented Healing Hearts.  So Walter and I could float, connecting with the college staff and other folks we knew, while we had our other reps manning the booths in the gymnasium.  The speaker for the conference was the Canadian director of IJM (International Justice Mission).  His challenge to us was something we have been indirectly involved with (justice issues) and yet our focus has always been on ministering to the emotional and spiritual needs.  In the past year, we have seen a couple move to India to work with IJM in the legal end of bringing charges against brothel owners and child traffickers.  Our eyes were opened much more to the new generation of millenials and their passion for getting involved in missions with a justice component. Really made us think...
With a one-day turnaround, we flew off to Victoria for five days. We participated in the One Hope Canada national conference, where Walter taught a seminar on ministering in camps with a First Nations emphasis.  It was a worthwhile time of encouragement for us, with time to rest and enjoy some downtime.  The Westbay Walkway was a lovely path for walking along the Victoria Harbour. If we crossed the bridge, we were on the Wharf area across the street from the Empress Hotel.  We felt so pampered spending some time there.
Again, Walter had less than a day to repack and fly to Toronto.  We decided I would stay home while he had meetings in Durham with the leadership of Ethnos Canada.  NCEM and Ethnos are partnering in a church planting initiative among First Nations and Walter met with these leaders to solidify the relationship and make some more specific plans.  Many organizations working in Canada are seeing the need to bring the hope of Christ to a people group who have either been overlooked or mistreated when it comes to a genuine and healthy ministry.  We are very excited to see this growing interest and action being taken to reach out thoughtfully and prayerfully in light of the dark past of the Gospel being brought to the indigenous people of Canada.
Oh, that the Lord would bring about a wonderful spiritual healing work to reconcile our nation under Jesus Christ!
This past week, we had five days of meetings with all the coordinators and leaders of NCEM held in Prince Albert.  I mostly took notes, giving input as we met with each leader and then catching up with some Personnel administration.  My brain was mushy by Thursday and Walter still had a meeting with the Board of Directors on Friday!  God gave grace for Walter to engage with the Board.  At the 8 month mark of our journey with NCEM, the Board affirmed us as being the right people for the position and they prayed for us and encouraged us to keep going in this direction.  Although completely spent, we left Prince Albert with full hearts.  The Lord has shown us favour as we have taken on the challenges of two mission organizations and has raised up faithful ones to serve alongside us. 
Looking ahead, we have a short week in Prince Albert with an early Christmas party and a day of administration, then back home to go to Caylea's last oncologist appointment.  She will have the results of her last blood work and CT scan.  We pray for God's healing to be made clear in these test results. 
As the prophet Habakkuk said, "Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." (3:18) 

To keep my devotional life active and alive, I've been reading books on the disciplines of the quiet time and prayer.  It's not that I have lost interest in the Lord or find my times boring; it is that in our new routines and ever-changing weekly schedules, I am very challenged to find the time to seek the Lord!  So to keep my motivation up, I found some books that have small reading portions and lots of questions that get me digging into the Scriptures.
As we drove from Nipawin to Regina - following an exciting and busy missions conference at the Bible College, I mentioned to Walter that I missed how the Lord would give us Scriptures and insight into our initial weeks serving with both Healing Hearts and NCEM.  Almost daily God would reveal something very relevant to our new areas of responsibility. So I was wondering if I wasn't hearing from the Lord, or maybe we were to just continue to serve as His Word had already shown the path we were to follow.
Then this morning as I turned to the next chapter in my study book entitled "Intercessory Prayer", the author focused on Ephesians 6:10-18.  Ever since I first read and memorized this passage back in 1985, it has been very meaningful to me.  That summer, I was serving for 6 weeks in a small village near The Pas, Manitoba (Young's Point) and our supervisor assigned this Scripture as part of our training and experience in the Native village.
When I began to read it today, I immediately saw how it applied to a couple of situations we have been praying for recently.  The question was "What is the armor of God?" and my answer was "It is the spiritual protection that God provides through Jesus' victory on the cross and over the grave."  Suddenly, I could envision the individuals I was praying for arming themselves to battle each other, instead of battling the real enemy, Satan!  Disagreements, divisions and disunity are all instigated by the invisible arrows that the devil aims at us.  But he deceives us into thinking the arrows are coming from each other and then we launch our counter-attack.  By our words, attitudes, avoidance or all-out offense, we might attack our friends, family, co-workers, even our spouse.  And the armour of God doesn't protect us when we engage with warfare that we aim at flesh and blood. 
I am so, SO grateful that the Lord heard my wishful longing yesterday as I voiced my desire to hear from Him.  I experienced a renewed vision and vitality for prayer this morning.
"...and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication."  (Ephesians 6:17 & 18)