Just little foxes and taking a lesson from the duck

In Song of Solomon 2:15 I have read about little foxes that spoil the vine.  Lately I think I have been learning a bit about what this means.  In my understanding, the foxes are little things that I allow to get in between me and my husband in our marriage - things that slowly creep in, and if not nipped in the bud, can take root and become something big.  It can me a misunderstanding, lack of communication, something assumed, or simply the differences there are between male and female that we are both still learning about!

It's hard.  Sometimes I just want him to understand me, but he doesn't always. I need to explain, just like I need him to explain for me, or rephrase something.  I have issues with holding on to things, even if they are small. 

Grrr...why?

Why can't I take a lesson from the duck who has a water resistant oily-substance on his feathers so that the rain just rolls off? In 1 Peter 5:7, I find that I am to cast my cares on Adonai because He cares for me.

I am learning. Let go, let go, let go. Be humble. Talk it out. Forgive.

Surrender.

So blessed my cup is overflowing!

Today was an extremely long day. I woke up knowing that we were in for a long one, and still managed to go back to sleep after turning off my alarm!  That can be a scary thing when a caregiver is going to show up on our doorstep at 6:00am!  I usually give myself a half hour to help Michail with his personal care before the caregiver comes so that we have a sense of some privacy.  This morning I had 10 minutes when I woke up...ahh!  But, I found that somehow Yahweh gave me enough grace for the day, beginning that early, and I was finished by the time someone needed to walk in our home. 

 

Another challenge was that I woke up with a headache and pain in my neck, which made me feel blah, and created difficulty in getting Michail and I ready to leave the house by 9am.  Michail was such a sweetheart after praying for me, gave me a neck/back massage with his elbow. We managed to leave not too much later, after we had stopped to start our day in prayer with our Heavenly Father.

Our first item of the day was an interview with Immigration Canada. I have been working on paperwork to become a permanant resident of Canada. We have been waiting for this day for a long time!  We were in and out of the office in about 2 hours, most of that being wait time, as the office was packed with people like us.  So, yes! I am now a permanant resident of Canada!  I am just awaiting my PR card to come in the mail, which may be up to 8 weeks.  By the way, I realized that my headache was gone while we were sitting waiting for the interview!

We went out to celebrate afterwards, and cheated on our diet a bit.   Michail loves Poutine (for those

who are not Canadians like me, and had to ask, "what?" - fries with melted cheese and hot gravy

poured over them), and so we treated ourselves, plus we stopped at our favorite falafel place in the

mall - Feta & Olives for some healthier food :)

Our next appointment was at the Hand and Upper Limb Clinic at the hospital.  My husband managed to break his arm (a spiral break to the humerus bone) 3 weeks ago, and we were referred to a specialist after getting some x-rays, as they said an operation might be necessary.  Today, five days after the last scans, they did another x-ray, and found that the bone had already begun to straighten out, and no operation was needed!  Praise Yah!  We are so grateful for His healing power! 

Can the day get better? Of course!  We have a class we are taking on Tuesdays.  Usually we share a

meal with another classmate/friend, and take her to the class with us.  Today she had a meal prepared

for us when we arrived at her house, and we could eat and get on our way to class, just like that. 

There was no stress on my part about preparing a meal after such a long day.  I felt so blessed...richly

blessed!

I realized on the way home tonight as Michail and I were talking, we were not late to one appointment today!  We were even early to our class when we are usually pressed for time every week.

HalleluYah! I am so excited to serve the Living God! 

playing catch up...soon :)

I will catch up one day...hopefully soon.  Has life really been this busy since July?  What really matters is that Yahweh is still faithful, still on the throne, and still knows what is going on in my life.  I will share with you all as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience.

Here is a post specifically for my mother in law, who I affectionately call Mama.

This is Michail and I with Mama, in front of our house.

Today we took a nice 30 minute walk to her house to help her with translation for a service technician who was doing some measuring. Mama is getting a new AC unit this Friday. Her old one broke almost a month ago, and she has weathered the heat all this time.  I am so proud of her. She is a very spiritually and physically strong, Russian woman, who has a passion for God, and loves her children so much. She cares about their souls, like any good mother would. I have seen her weep, and take on loads of stress for those who she may see to be wandering.

I am so blessed that she has accepted me into the Bantseev family with open arms! I love her so much, and its special that she lives only 5 minutes away (driving distance), and we can pop in anytime we want to visit. Like any good Russian, she always has some good food to offer.

Today we had fried salmon, and fresh garden veggies with hummus for supper at her house, quite unexpected too! She was careful to bless us even though she was very obviously exhausted herself today.

Mama Nela - ya loobloo teba, dorogaya!

P.S. My biggest challenge that I cannot afford to put off any longer, is to learn the Russian language. I so want to just sit down and have a heart to heart talk in a language we can both speak fluently!

Wow. Today was a full day. This morning, after helping Michail with his morning routine before the caregiver arrived at 6am, I began my day in the garden. I gave the veggies a good drink, and enjoyed the morning's cool air. Next I prepared our breakfast, which was a hearty raw cereal with banana milk.







Cereal
1/2 C. raw, old fashioned oats, ground to flour consistancy
1/2 C. almonds, ground to almost flour consistancy
1 diced Granny Smith apple (or coarsely chopped in blender is faster!)
1/2 C. unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 T. ground flax seed
1/2 C. raisins
1 t. cinnamon

Grind oats and nuts in an electric coffee grinder - works great! Combine all ingredients.

-----------------
Banana Milk
1 banana
1 C. water
1 t. pure vanilla extract
handful almonds

Throw all ingredients in blender, blend on High until smooth. Milk will be thick. Add more water if desired to thin.

Mix into cereal and enjoy. This keeps in the fridge as well - it just gets thicker as the liquid absorbs. We ran errands today and took the rest along - it was a great snack + filler food!


By 7am, my husband was up and ready to start the morning. He made some phone calls, and then we sat down to eat - double time. We spent some time in prayer, and read the scriptures as we ate our breakfast! This morning we were reading in the book of 1 John. It was so awesome what we discovered! We underlined many verses that took on new meaning this morning!  1 John 3:22 was one that we had to stop and say "wow".

And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

What are God's commandments? In the Bible, remember that God made a covenant with His people Israel. He showed them how to live holy, set apart lives, to reflect His image. Yahweh gave them commandments on Mt. Sinai, and laid out explicitly how to walk in His ways.  He showed them the blessings of obedience, and the consequences/curses of disobedience. He said to "Be holy as I am holy"(Lev.11:44).

I was so astounded by the simplicity of this verse this morning. As the children of the Most High, He will give us whatever we ask, as we are faithful to be obedient to the covenant that He made with us.

Another verse, 1 John 3:24 siad this:

Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

In John 15, Yeshua said to "Abide in Me.." By keeping His commandments, we are abiding in Him, and He is abiding in us. (Abide - "to remain as one")


After we had our breakfast, we headed out to have a nice 1/2-hour walk in the air that had grown rather muggy and warm already by 9am. On our way home we stopped at the grocery store! We made it home in enough time to get cleaned up and get ready to head out the door for my doctor appointment. Today I had a 6-month follow up appointment with my oncologist here in London. I felt like we were running late, but, as Michail always likes to say, we are always "right on schedule".  We arrived at the appointment with 1 minute to spare :)
As I always feel when I enter the Cancer Clinic, I again had the sensing that I don't belong here. God has healed me of cancer, and yet in a strange way, I feel a link with all the people that fill the chairs of the waiting room. Bald heads, head scarves, frail, elderly people. In my heart is a cry, and a desire to help them all. I want to tell them all that there is hope..that cancer does not have to be a death sentence.  As I waited for the doctor, I had a lingering hope in my heart. I know my healing has been real. I knew there would be a good report today. Soon I will celebrate 2 years of being cancer free. Praise Yahweh! He has done it.

After the appointment, our day continued to race on, but ended in a quiet Shabbat dinner...just the two of us with our candles lit, and our hearts grateful for our Father and His bountiful supply in our lives.



Learning to walk

This verse has inspired me this week.  I have been meditating on it for a few days since it popped out to me while reading.
Psalm 32:8
    "I will instruct and teach you in this way that you are to go; I will give you counsel; my eyes will be watching you."

What is this way that I am to go?   I believe that scripture interprets scripture.  "Followers of the Way" was the title given to early converts to Messianic Judaism in the book of Acts (22:4). 
"I persecuted to death the followers of this Way, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison."  -Paul
These believers were Jews or former Gentiles who chose to place their trust in Yeshua as their Messiah (Savior, Anointed One). 

In my understanding ( I have so much more to learn!), I believe that this Way started in the beginning of the scriptures where Yahweh gave instruction (or the Torah) to His people Israel.  Written clearly in the Torah (the first five books of the scriptures) is the way that Yahweh would have His people to walk.  I have been learning so much lately how the Torah is a revelation or representation of God's character. 
"For I am Yahweh your God; therefore, consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy..." Leviticus 11:44
When He says to be holy as I am holy, He has already shown His people how.  He gave instruction on how to dress, how to behave, how to grow crops, how to eat, how to be pure and holy before Him, etc. I feel like I am seeing with new eyes, and I am so excited to get to know the God of Avraham, Yitzak, and Ya'acov in a deeper, richer way than I have ever known. This God of Israel is the same God today as He was in the desert with the children of Israel. He does not change.  His ways do not change.  His commandments to His people, whether Jews or grafted-in former Gentiles, do not change.
"But because I, Yahweh, do not change, you sons of Ya'akov will not be destroyed. Malachi 3:6
 I am learning how full and rich my life can really be as I follow God in obedience, and walk in the example of Yeshua my Messiah. 


Michail and I are approaching our first year wedding anniversary on August 2, and I almost can't believe it! The time has really flown by, and we have had quite a year of learning and growing together.  I have learned so much about Michail and grown more accustomed to his needs and how to adjust to the many changes in life relating to being married to a dependent but very independent husband.  We have faced many challenges together this first year, including an operation for removing my wisdom teeth, putting together the necessary paperwork to begin the process of my immigration to Canada, facing financial hurdles (and learning to trust God more!), making big decisions together, and much more.
I cannot express how blessed we have been this year. God has over, above and beyond exceeded our expectations as we have traveled on this journey together so far.  Michail and I have learned the importance of keeping our relationship priority, and even above that, protecting our personal and mutual relationship with God.  We have come to experience in a greater way the need for more of God's Spirit in our lives. The Spirit is what empowers us to do God's will, and be obedient to Him.  Together we have sought God's face, and cried out on behalf of our families and many friends in need.  As we pray, we are drawn closer to God's heart, and we begin more and more to share His burdens, His desires. 

I am looking ahead with joy to all that our Father has in store for us, though at the same time with sobriety, as I know the days are evil.  I want to be on my guard and not to be found lacking when times get hard, as I know they will.  I want to be always ready to give an answer to those who ask me a reason for the hope that is in me.

sometimes I cry

Two nights ago was tough.

I was in the middle of preparing a late supper. I turned on my computer because Michail and Dominique were going to watch 'Robin Hood' while I was getting supper ready. Once online, I found a Skype message from a friend in Moldova.

She simply said, "Hi Mel, did you already hear the sad news?"

Immediately in my heart I knew what that meant, though I wanted to believe that it was some other sad news...I frantically searched facebook...and it didn't take long to confirm the sinking in my heart. My dear friend Dana had passed away after fighting leukemia for just under a year. She would have turned 28 on March 19.

At first I didn't know how to react. It was so hard to hear this. I am a former cancer fighter, and I believe that Yahweh has healed me. I no longer say that 'I have cancer'. I used to have cancer. I am healed and whole. But, last night when I heard this really hard news, I began to ask my Father, "why?". Why was my life preserved, and my friend's life taken from this earth? I had to come to the conclusion that God has yet a plan for my life, and apparently His plan for Dana was finished. I cried. I really cried. It could have been me! Dana was the same age as me.

I didn't cry so much for my loss, but for the loss of those dearest to her that she has left behind.

I rejoice that she is no longer in pain, and yet sorrow with Eugen her husband, her family, and so many friends and lives that she has touched. She touched mine in a special way.

I first met Dana in Moldova at the airport - the first friendly face that I met as she and another OM (Operation Mobilisation) team member waited to pick me up. Dana was so very friendly, and so helpful. This was my second time on Moldovan soil to join an OM team, and yet this time I came alone, anticipating 3 months without the presence of any other American teammates.

Over the course of the first day or so in Moldova, I met with Dana several times to make all the right connections. She and Eugen, her husband set me up with a cell phone I could use after I had joined a local ministry team in Rezina. She was so much fun to be around. I remember one evening when myself and several others were invited over to Dana and Eugen's house for supper and games afterward. We had so much fun. Dana really made me feel welcome in Moldova, and was an awesome translator!Far above the practical help, Dana became a true friend to me, and even after the 3 months had expired in Moldova, we continued stay in contact over facebook. She was such a sweet friend when I was facing cancer.

Cancer became a huge road block that kept me from returning to Moldova for a 2 year term as I had begun to plan for. If I recall correctly, Dana sent several messages to my parents telling of the Moldovan team praying for me. It meant so much.

Cancer is scary, and it seems to speak a death sentence over most. But, I have learned through what I faced, that God is bigger than cancer. I am also reminded that death has no victory over those who are in Messiah Yeshua, even if their body is taken from this earth!

"So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through Adonai Yeshua Ha Mashiach." 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Dana Ciumac has gotten the victory! Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Dana was always smiling with a really big smile. I imagine how huge her smile was when she met her Savior face to face. What absolute joy she must be experiencing right now. Please remember Eugen, Dana's husband in prayer. I can't imagine what he is facing right now as half of himself is no longer by his side. May the Father grant him an extra measure of grace as he faces each day.