JoAnne's Blog

Help! I just can't do it!

Purge that is!  I just can't seem to do it!

It seems like spring is in the air here on Vancouver Island.  We have had some beautiful sunny weather and warm temperatures over the last few days.  People are beginning to work outside in their yards.  My husband acquired a green house and is getting excited about starting his garden early this year.  My next door neighbour has been washing his windows.  And of course there is spring house cleaning, where people begin to purge things as they clean.  In with the new and out with the old, I guess. 

Now, I like spring cleaning.  But, try as I might; I just can't get rid of things.  I just rearrange or move things from one place to another.  When I think about purging, I am taunted with "Maybe, I better keep that; I might need it later."  or  "So and so gave me that, I can't give it away."  Maybe it's a young person's thing; my daughters have no problem purging. 

But purge, I must.  I think of my mom, who is 84, and will not throw away anything. She keeps empty boxes and tin cans; because they are pretty and she may use them someday.  Yikes, will I become like that?  I hope not; but I do keep the boxes that my appliances and other things come in; because, well, it might break down and I might have to send it back.  or What if we move, I will need them to pack things in. 

Oh dear, I do have a problem.  I must find a way to part with things; but I just can't throw them out.  Some are not really good enough to give away.  What do you do with those things?  I need to find the answer and the sooner the better.  They are rapidly becoming clutter, on my shelves and in my closets, and will soon find their way out!

I see clutter as not only a physical problem; but it can also translate into an emotional and spiritual problem.  Why, you say?  Because it's always on my mind and it keeps me from doing other more important things.  It's like a heavy weight that I just can't get rid of.

There, I've put it out there and now I see how silly I'm being.  Of course, I can do this.  It's important to my well being and those around me.  So, I'm off to purge! and get that good feeling.

 

 

Are Your Limitations Holding You Back?

Recently, our pastor stated "Do not give up; do not accept the limitations that you have!" 

I have been pondering that statement as I am nearing the completion of my book, "You Have Cancer".  I could feel limited by the fact that I don't know anything about editing or publishing a book.  Actually,  I don't even know any people in the field. I don't have the funds to really publish it myself.  But like the following people, I will not be bound by these limitations, however big or small.  I know my God is big enough to handle any limitation that I might encounter. 

I am encouraged by people, like the ones below who have accomplished much in their lives, despite the limitations that they have.  They have learned to overcome. 

Kevin Connolly is a young man, who was born without any legs.  He is currently a professional skier, photographer and skateboarder.

Joni Eareckson Tada became a quadraplegic as a teenager through a tragic diving accident. She has become a great speaker, author, artist and evangelist. 

Liu Weil lost both his arms in an accident at the age of 10.  He learned to play the piano with his feet and won China's Got Talent Show in 2010.  His motto is very inspirational ""I can die as fast as possible, or I can live a brilliant life.  And I chose the latter."  Wow! 

No matter what our limitations are, we must not let them stop us from doing what we want to do, or even yet, what we were meant to do.  The challenges they bring can serve to teach us and make us stronger if we will not give up.  There is really nothing that can hold us back except ourselves. God, in us, will enable us to do the impossible. 

In Deuteronomy 13:19, God spoke to his people and said, " This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live."

Let's live life to the fullest and experience God's blessings.

 

Do you know who you are?

Today, I am so thankful for who I am. And who am I?  I am a woman, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a retired school teacher, a cancer survivor, a dancer and so much more.  I am also a daughter.  I am the daughter of Charles and Kathleen.  But more important than any of the afore mentioned, I am a daughter of the most high God!  He is my abba Father and I am adored by him.  He lavishes His love on me and wraps me with favour. He has given me great and precious promises.  He has plans to prosper me. Wow!  Because of the sacrifice of his only Son, Jesus Christ, and the blood that was shed for me, I am worthy to receive all that He has for me.  It is all that I could ever want or need.  Do you know who you are?

You Just Gotta Dance!

I know I have written about dancing before.  But I am so excited that I must tell you what I am doing now.  I just started tap dance lessons.  That's right!  I had my very first ever tap dance lesson on Friday night and I can't wait to go back this Friday.  It was so much fun and low impact; so I don't have to worry about hurting myself.  At least not yet, it is a beginner's class and I was able to keep up with the steps so far.  I imagine that it can get a little trickier as we begin to put certain steps together to make a routine and I need to remember the order.  However, that will be good for me, too.  It will be another challenging exercise for my brain as well as sudoko that I enjoy.  Last week, I wore running shoes to class; but I am going to look for a pair of tap shoes as soon as I get the chance.  It will be a lot more fun, to actually hear a tap.  Of course, if I don't tap at the same time as others, it may be a little too telling.  Oh, dear!

Are we accumlating wealth only to spend it on our health?

"Most people work hard and spend their health trying to achieve wealth. Then they retire and spend their wealth trying to get back their health."

I imagine you have heard or seen this quote before; but now, that I am retired, I have been thinking about the absurdity and the truth in this statement.  As we age, our bodies begin showing signs of disease like high blood pressure, heart disease, type II diabetes, arthritis, and cancer; just to name a few.  If you have a health plan and follow exactly what the doctor prescribes; then you may fare well.  However, what if you don't have a plan or you decide to treat your disease without the doctor's prescription drugs. You can spend a lot of your own hard earned money, seeking alternative ways to get well. 

Does it have to be this way?  Of course, the answer should be no; but more often than not it is yes.

So, what can we do.  We could lobby for more money but alas governmental funding is already being pulled everywhich way.  We need to do something now, to prevent the onset of disease and to even reverse it.

That something is to take responsibility for your own health.  True enough certain diseases are hereditary; but more often than not a case can be made to prove it's not always so.  What does seem to be hereditary is lifestyle or eating habits.  I have a book entitled, We Are What We Eat that I bought when I was first diagnosed with cancer.  However, since then, I have realized, that a better title would  be We Become What We Eat.  You could also say We Become What We Do or What We Think. 

First and foremost, we all know the health benefits of exercise.  It can help protect you from the above mentioned diseases, relieves back pain and the effects of osteoporosis, can improve your mood and general well-being.

Secondly, we are all aware of the importance of relieving stress in our lives.  Being at rest or at peace with yourself and getting a good night's sleep allows your own body's natural defenses to do their job.

And last but not least, let's look at what we are eating.  Once again, we all know that we should cut back on white flours and their products, eliminate our intake of sugar, increase foods with fibre and drink lots of water.  We are even told to buy organic if you can afford it. This is all good advice. 

But recently, I have been reading about the importance of eating food that is locally grown or even grown in your own garden, as opposed to food that has travelled miles and miles across our country.  Think about this, the food we eat can actually change our DNA over time.  So let's start taking care of our health now so that we can enjoy our lives later.

 

Go ahead and dance!

As a child, I loved to sing and dance; it was almost impossible for me to be still.  Even if I made it up, there was always a song in my head, or music playing somewhere.  However, the opportunity never presented itself for me to take singing or dance lessons.  As I grew older and more self conscious, I stopped dreaming.  I felt I couldn't dance or sing.  When my girls were old enough I enrolled them in piano, ballet, jazz and tap dancing lessons.  I wanted them to know the joy I felt as a little girl and have the chance to pursue it if they wished.

Years later, when I had cancer, I was journalling and more than one time I would hear God telling me to dance.  At the time I didn't really understand what that meant or the significance of dancing before our God.  Besides I didn't see myself as a dancer and I didn't have any training. Timidly, I would dance around our house but never where anyone could see me for fear of what they might say and/or what I looked like.

But now, after some solid teaching, I realize that dancing is a wonderful, creative form of praising and worshiping our God.  It has nothing to do with training and everything to do with our heart.  When we dance we can actually usher in the very presence of God and posture ourselves in a position to receive from Him.  Being in His presence in this way allows God to come in and touch us in the deepest areas of our lives.  Often, it is areas that we are not even aware of, where we have subconciously buried or hidden things.  His very presence in us can bring about healing, emotionally, spiritually and even physically.  I recently heard of a lady whose breast cancer was cured by flagging.  (basically waving flags to praise and worship music).  God told her to flag and she was obediant to that word from Him.

So what am I saying.  I am saying that if you feel like dancing, then go for it.  You will be glad you did.

p.s. This post came about as an addend to an earier post that I wrote entitled Cancer and Your Memories and after a morning of dancing. 

Praise Changes Things!

Live in an atmosphere of praise!  It changes things!  As I am writing my book, I am so reminded about this.  When I lay on my couch, Nov.2/06 at 79 lbs, thinking that I was breathing my last breath, I began to praise God.  My friend, Mary, had sent me a CD from Joshua Mills, entitled Praise Changes the Atmosphere.  Wow!  I was so impacted by that CD and here I am today.  I am well and enjoying my life.  And I know, it is because God raised me up.

I cannot stress enough the importance of praising God in everything.  We often take the everyday things for granted.  But, nothing happens to us by chance.  If we are a child of God, then He is watching over and seeing to every little detail of our life.  There are times, when praise is the last thing that we want to do. I know, I've been there.  But that is exactly the time that we must.  I believe that is when it becomes what the Bible says "a sacrifice of praise".  It wasn't easy, but as I acted in obediance to what God said, he filled not only my heart with praise but my mouth as well.  I became aware of all the things that I had to be thankful for and joy filled my heart.  So let's be a people of praise!  Let's change the world we live in!  Let's be a peculiar people!

Pain

I read an interesting article by Philip Yancey today talking about pain.  In summary, Philip suggests that pain can either turn us away from God or turn us toward God.  I think that is a true statement.   None of us like pain and we may even ask why there is so much of it in life.  As Christians, we can blame it all on the "Fall" (Adam and Eve), but that doesn't offer much help or seem relevant for our pain today.  We still would like to know why God continues to allow such pain and suffering. 

First, I believe that it was all a part of God's plan.  In my case, God used the pain to draw me closer to Him.  Nothing around me seemed to matter when I found out I had cancer.  At first, I didn't want to see anyone; but I sure did talk to God.  I'm not sure I was all that pleasant either; but I knew He would listen and not interrupt.  God did eventually lead me to what I should do; but not until I had vented all my anger and frustrations. 

Secondly, I believe it is because He loves us so much.  What, you say?  Hear me out.  If you love someone, you want the best for them.  God wants the best for us.  The best is what He has planned for us.  It is what we were created for.  Sometimes, we need a wake up call to discover what that is.  I know I did.  I can't say that I have arrived or that I've got it all figured out.  But I can say that I am a whole lot more at peace with myself and my life.

Thirdly, I believe it is to prepare us for the future events that will surely come as the Word of God tells us.  There is coming a time of great tribulation that will make it extremely difficult for believers of Christ to exist.  Perhaps, we will not be here, because we will be taken away in the rapture.  I don't know, Bible scholars can't even agree.  But I do know, this is a time to put oil in our lamps, in other words to build relationship with our creator, God, so that we will be ready for whatever happens in the future.

So, even though we do not want to embrace pain, we need to look at it from different perspective and see what is in it for us.

Southern Ontario

Southern Ontario is such a lovely place to visit.  The weather has been super this summer for riding motorcycles.  This past weekend we were riding with some good friends from Bright, Ontario - Dunc & Diane.  We were riding north and came through the little village of Wellsely when Wynn spied an adult sized tricycle. Now, this was something!  You see, prior to this day, we had been searching everywhere, to no avail, to try and find one for my 83 year old mother.  It was in pretty rough shape but when told it was only $10.00, Wynn said, "Sold!"  Wynn is pretty good at fixing things up, so we made arrangements to pick it up the next day. 

Continuing on, we rode to Mount Forest where they had a summer festival going on.  There were lots of old cars to see and a display of motorcycles as well.  I found some wonderful cream that is all natural called "Bee By the Sea" with Sea Buckthorn.  It is supposedly good for radiation burn (& age spots.)  I bought some for my brother Bill who is taking radiation treatment for rectal cancer.  I'll have to get some when I get home and try it for my 'spots' later.  I found it on the website and there is a distributor in Victoria.

There was also a fair as part of this festival, so we decided to check it out. The big drawing card was a square dance, and before you think I am square, it was with tractors.  That's right!  I said tractors!  If you have never seen this, you really should check it out.  There are 4 tractor pairs, (8 in total).  One of the drivers in each pair is dressed like a girl and both are in regular square dancing attire.  A lady is on stage calling out the moves and they drive around to the music.  It is truly fun and something the whole family would enjoy.  How they can move those tractors so quickly and turn so sharply is amazing.

After the 'square dancing', we took in a beef barbecue and decided to head on home.  It was a good idea, too, as there were lots of detours along the way.  All in all, it was a very fun and profitable day.

 

 

Life

I just read a quote by Elbert Hubbard and I had to laugh.  It said, "Do not take life too seriously.  You will never get out of it alive."

In the years before cancer, that was definitely not me. I took everything seriously.  Having cancer and now being a survivor has most certainly made me rethink about how I view life.  Why is it that people get so bent out of shape about so many things?  Why does everything have to be just so?  Or, even worse, why does it have to be my way?  I have learned to step back and ask myself, "Will it matter a year from now, a month from now, a week from now or even tomorrow?"  If I can honestly answer "No" to any of those questions; then I really don't need to worry.  I can live my life without trying to please everyone and at the same time not expect everyone else around to please me.  I can be myself and allow others to be themselves as well.