This is the day which the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118.24.

Looking back since our last update a couple of months ago, life has
been busy and time has passed quickly… they say the older we get the
faster time goes… The calendar tells us it is the 1st day of
Spring next week and now that we have ‘sprung forward’ here in North
America into Daylight Saving Time (DST) it certainly seems that Winter
may be on the way out, although we still have at least a foot of snow
on the ground and we woke this morning here in Boston to a covering of
fresh snow!! The weather forecasters promise more on Wednesday, both
here and at home. But although long, extremely cold and a more than
average amount of snow (a total of over 60 inches) we have had some
bright sunny days and Noel and Charlotte enjoyed a half day skiing and
tubing during the school break at our local ski hill and we had fun
playing in the snow with both girls when school was closed because of
the snow. We also got lots of exercise clearing our drive and sidewalk
many times!

Our drive to Boston yesterday was in brilliant sunshine and with the
snow on the ground and the frozen lakes the scenery was very
beautiful. We are blessed to be staying yet again at the ACS Hope
Lodge. Today’s appointment at the Dana Farber with Dr. S went well.
During the last 2 months Noel has experienced some recurrence of the
mild GVHD, not helped, I am sure, by a very lengthy sinus cold which
his immune system found hard to shake off.

Today’s blood work was stable with acceptable if not perfect levels.
Dr. S made some slight adjustments to his drugs and was still very
pleased with Noel’s continuing great progress. The blessing of this
was brought home by meeting up in the waiting area with a couple we
have often chatted to in the past. She, since we last saw them, has
been told her cancer has returned and she has been hospitalized with a
debilitating recurrence of GVHD. We cannot be grateful enough that
Noel’s progress since his transplant has been so good. Most sadly, in
the past few weeks, we have had news of several friends and others we
know closely who are newly in the battle; of other friends and family
members of friends whose battle with cancer continues to be a
challenge or, sadly, the fight has been lost. Our prayers are with
them all.

We are also reminded that here in the USA the ongoing work of the
American Cancer Society is so crucially important. Support is needed
for research to find cure. Support is needed in so many different ways
for patients and families going through the battle. Although by no
means unique, we are a family who know some of the challenges cancer
brings with it. So, we will again this year be participating in the
Relay for Life fund raising event being held at Greenwich, NY. Along
with other members of our team, HEARTS OF HOPE, we hope to raise more
funds for the American Cancer Society than the $2,000 the team raised
last year. We would ask you to consider helping us in this and to
visit our Relay for Life web pages and make a donation. Charlotte, our
cancer survivor granddaughter, is also raising funds as part of the
team so a donation to her page would be a huge encouragement to her
and her effort for Hearts of Hope this year.

For Charlotte, go to: http://tinyurl.com/lh79plo

For Meryl, see: http://tinyurl.com/n8v7aqj

Our families on both sides of the Atlantic are doing well,
grandchildren Eve and Will both celebrated their birthdays in February
in style – they both had Chicken Pox, but are now well again.
Charlotte and Lucy are both doing great and keeping us ever busy.

Now a word from Noel about what he has been doing on the ministry front.

“Meryl has already mentioned about the ‘Granny and Poppa Daycare’ we
enjoy twice or three days each week, and the lovely half day Charlotte
and I spent skiing and tubing. We love this close contact we have with
her and Lucy, even though we are usually quite tired at the end of
each day!

“I have also been busy editing and compiling the Leaders and
Participants guides we are preparing to support the Welcome Home
Initiative DVDs which have been made for each healing and teaching
session. We hope these guides will be ready to use on the weekend
conference at the end of May at Virginia Beach to train and equip WHI
retreat organizers. It has been difficult and time consuming to make
progress on these guides and we feel we need to speed up getting them
ready for publication.

“I’ve been quite busy keeping in touch with several Chaplains and
other Combat Veterans through all forms of social media, phone calls
and face to face meetings. By nature this is a discrete ministry and
one cannot say much for reasons of confidentiality. Suffice to say
many are blessed to have a shoulder to lean on or a listening ear.

“Next, I was blessed and privileged to talk about my faith and the
Welcome Home Initiative at an interfaith breakfast meeting in
mid-February which was well received.

“Finally, last week, I was invited to form part of the prayer and
planning team of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy Diocese preparing a
Welcome Home ministry on behalf of the Anglican Church in North
America (ACNA). All good progress in advancing the Kingdom of God
within the military environment.”

Thank you and God bless you for continuing to take this journey with
us. It will be 3 years on April 1st since Noel was rushed to the ER
and the journey began and 2 years in June since his transplant. Your
faithful support, prayers and love have made a world of difference to
us both. Please continue to be in contact with us and keep us updated
with your news and prayer needs so that we can give thanks and pray
for you.

Noel’s next appointment here at the Dana Farber. Is scheduled in 2
months time for Monday May 12th. At this time he will receive more of
the childhood immunizations his ‘baby’ immune system needs.

Give thanks to The Lord, for He is good!
His love and mercy endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16 :34

Time flies, it is already mid January… I hope your Christmas
season was as blessed as ours was with family and friends. We
celebrate the season with JESUS as the REASON right up to January 6th
and the Feast of the Epiphany. Thinking how sad to see Christmas trees
discarded on the curb side on what we call Boxing Day, a day we try to
always host a traditional English Christmas afternoon tea party. For
those on Facebook, you may have seen photos of the food!!! But the new
year is here and the winter weather has sadly wrought havoc all across
the country. We have had very cold temperatures and quite a lot of
snow. We hope you are all keeping free from the winter ills and
chills.

We were in Boston last week for Noel’s appointment with Dr Soiffer at
the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. We had had to delay for a week
because a long time friend died suddenly 2 days before Christmas and
we wanted to be able to attend the memorial service and support his
family.

The weather last week was kind and on both travel days to and from
Boston it was cold but dry and sunny driving east (going) and west
(coming back) through hill country called The Berkshires… even in the
winter the countryside is very beautiful… Snow on the ground and
frozen lakes. We were blessed to stay at Hope Lodge again and
blessed by a volunteer group who came in and cooked a very delicious
evening meal on Wednesday for everyone staying there.

The results of the many routine tests (pulmonary, vascular, heart,
blood, bone marrow, kidney, liver) Noel had at his last visit were all
normal and present no cause for concern or need any deeper
investigation. We are very grateful for all this as the body can
sometimes react differently after a transplant, so we are very happy
all is functioning well 19 months later. PTL! His blood work stays
about the same has it has been for some time – acceptably ‘normal’
White cell counts are good and in the normal range, with red cells and
platelets still being lower than normal but of no great concern to the
Specialist. Noel’s overall general health is good. All his medications
remain the same apart from Dr S taking him off one drug (Fluconazole)
which he had been taking since the transplant to prevent fungal type
infections. We trust he will now be able to ward of any infections
himself. If you notice mushrooms growing out of his ears you will know
his immune system needs attention!

Noel still gets times when he is very tired exacerbated by a common
cold he has been fighting this past week. But we continue to try and
keep fit with our walking when we can and have now also joined a
Silver Sneakers water fitness class. This week will be the first
session – I just hope the water is warm!

So, over all at this 19 month point past the transplant Dr Soiffer is
very pleased and life is going well. Noel’s bone marrow is now 100%
donor and not showing any abnormal cells. All Noel’s old diseased bone
marrow is gone!! PTL again! Progress is being made and Noel does not
have to return for another check up for 2 months (lengthened from 6
weeks), so the next appointment is in early March.

Meanwhile, Noel is laying plans and preparing and organizing for
ministry for this year, for example, we plan to attend a military
ministry conference in the area we used to live. It takes place
towards the end of February and will give us a chance to see many old
friends, visit our ‘home’ church (which supports and ‘sends’ us out as
missionaries with ACCTS (www.accts.org), and, we hope and pray, meet
Noel’s donor for the first time. We are also grateful that Noel’s
commissioning as a Lay Chaplain by the Anglican Church in North
America (ACNA) seems to have given added value and endorsement to his
ministry calling to encourage military people, especially chaplains
and veterans around the world that God is on their doorstep and wants
to make them whole in Christ (Luke 10:9. The Message). Please pray for
a wonderful visit to the Hampton Roads area and also for Noel as he
speaks to a multi-faith group in Saratoga Springs on February 13th
about the role of prayer in spiritual healing.

Our lives seem to always be busy… never getting to the end of the ‘to
do’ lists… which of course is a good thing – no time to get
bored!

Charlotte and Lucy keep us on our toes and they are great fun. It is
real privilege to live so close to them and share in their lives
almost daily. We miss having such closeness with our other
grandchildren, Eve and Will, in England. But we are still able to stay
well connected through Skype, FaceTime, the phone and email. So,
either side of the ‘pond’, both families are doing well keeping busy
with work and school.

Our very best wishes and prayers for a blessed 2014 to you all. We
were grateful for the many Christmas greetings, letters and cards we
received. Thank you all for you ongoing concern, love, encouragement,
support and prayers. We are truly blessed by you all.

Our prayer requests are that Noel’s progress continues to go really
well. We are very aware that not everyone who has a stem cell
transplant does as well as Noel has done. And we hope that the change
in his health insurance coverage will not add extra financial costs to
us. The previous policy was abruptly ended at the end of last year and
he has now had to take out a different one with different coverage,
making Boston ‘out of network’. Health insurance is very complicated.
I think the health insurance companies only have their profits in
mind, not us the patients!!! I am sure some of you feel the same
way… But thankfully we do have cover.

Please stay in touch. Keep us updated with your news. God Bless you.

Glens Falls, December 18th. 18 months post Transplant.

‘Sing to The Lord for he has done glorious things, let it be known to all the World’ — Isaiah 12:5

‘Today , a Savior has been born, He is Christ The Lord’ — Luke 2:11

Life has been busy for us this past couple of months… And no news from us is actually good news… We have traveled to Ottawa, Canada and to Birmingham, Alabama (see notes on this from Noel later in this post ). We have been busy with grandparent duties with the girls and trying to exercise more as life returns almost to normal. It is now 18 months since Noel had his stem cell transplant and life was put on hold. Praise the Lord that He has brought us through the difficult times.

Noel’s appointment last month was moved from our regular Wednesday to Monday so we could be home for Thanksgiving with the family and enjoy our traditional meal together.

The appointment was actually many appointments that kept us at the Dana Farber Cancer Clinic for almost 12 hours… A long day.. It was because Noel had to have a lot of different but routine tests..to make sure his progress is good.. which it is… Dr S is pleased… although there has been little change in his blood counts. He decided not to change any thing so Noel’s drug regime stays the same. He feels good. Has times when he needs to rest. But I think we all need that! So at Thanksgiving as everyday we had so much to give thanks for. We know we are blessed. Noel’s next appointment is on Monday December 30th, so this year, unlike last year, we are at home for Christmas.

We have been busy carrying out ministry activities with ACCTS, By His Wounds (BHW) and with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) since our last update.

We had a lovely weekend in Ottawa, Canada in early November. We became members of their Military Christian Fellowship (MCF) when we lived at CFB Suffield, Alberta, from 1987-89 when Noel was the senior infantry officer at a high intensity British Army war training unit. We had been to several annual MCF meetings before so it was very nice to see several old friends and make some new ones. Although the meeting was short on numbers, the prayer and planning for the coming year and strategic planning for the future was extremely important. Thank God for a successful meeting and safe driving, especially a snowy 4 hour drive home.

The following weekend, we flew to Birmingham, Alabama to attend an ACNA Lay Chaplain Academy. We felt very strongly led to go. It was an intensive but excellent weekend, culminating in Noel being commissioned by the ACNA Bishop to the (US) Armed Forces, a good friend and colleague in ministry, along with three or four others. So, now he can be addressed as “Chaplain” and has a special ‘brothers collar’ to go with it! Please pray for discernment about when to wear the collar and use the title, so it enhances and gives added value to the ongoing ministry with ACCTS and BHW. Holding this commission should enhance the credibility of the ministry to Chaplains and combat (mostly) Veterans nationally and internationally.

Unfortunately the 15th Welcome Home Initiative, the next day after leaving Alabama, had to be cancelled. Several Veterans withdrew their registrations in the three days preceding the retreat, leaving too small a group. Nevertheless, we were present at the conference center in case anyone came for the public ‘Welcome Home’ service. A young National Guardsman not long back from Afghanistan did come. He is on full time active duty and we had a good chat with him and prayed over him. Pray this young Soldier will gather a few of his friends together and ask us to start a weekly group using the WHI DVDs and the Combat Trauma Healing Manual.

Other ministry activities carry on, especially one-to-one fellowship, mainly through social media email and phone calls. Activities included Noel and another WHI team member having a display table at a Veteran’s peer-to-peer gathering at a local college. We pray some seeds of healing were sown and, watered by the Holy Spirit, will produce abundant fruit (healed and changed lives) in the future. Noel was also involved in regular Board meetings of two ministries near and dear to his heart – By His Wounds and the Olive Branch International – both of which were successful.

We are very blessed and grateful to be able to minister the love and healing power of Jesus to Chaplains and Veterans and would value your prayers for its solid and successful growth.

Traditionally at Christmas people send out news letters. And we all catch up on the comings and goings of everyone’s lives and families, and marvel at how fast the years seems to pass. I think we have kept everyone well updated this year… at least we have tried, through our updates online. So will not repeat old news…

Dec 20, 1970 — Meryl and Noel Wedding Day

One news worthy item is, amazingly Noel and I celebrate our 43rd Wedding anniversary on Friday 20th December. Life has been an adventure. We are so glad we have had each other to travel it’s ups and downs together.

We hope you all have a very blessed and happy Christmas. And remember Jesus is the reason for the season. He is our greatest gift.

Thank you all again for your love, support and prayers, all your messages of encouragement, phone calls and visits… God has so greatly blessed us through you all. We give Him thanks and praise. Please continue to keep in touch with us. I will continue to update this page about every 6 weeks after Noel’s appointments.

God bless you!

Hope Lodge, Boston
Wednesday October 23rd 2013
16-months past stem cell transplant

“Don’t fret or worry, instead of worrying, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, everything will come together for good.” — Philippians 4 : 6-7; (The Message)

Returning home after Noel’s appointment 3 weeks ago, we drove the long way through Vermont enjoying the wonders of Gods creation, the season of Autumn. What amazing colors everywhere. A camera cannot capture the variation of the leaves and the brilliance of them on sunny days or even on dull days they are amazing.

Back home again life has been very busy: Spending time in Pennsylvania at the ACCTS staff meetings! Hosting friends in our home and grandparent duties along with my quilting retreat (one of 3 a year I like to attend). Along with all the travel and busy days we have also been trying to keep up our walking and have done 4 miles on a number of days. But all this seemed by last weekend to have taken a toll on Noel. He was feeling very tired and just not himself. So for the first time doubts about his healing started to creep in. Had he reached the limit? But today our minds were put at ease. Whilst taking his morning shower, Noel heard an almost audible voice clear and loud, “do not limit me in any way, shape or form at all.” At DFCI, Dr Soiffer was pleased that Noel’s red and white blood counts were within the normal range. His platelets still low but steady. His liver levels are also back to normal. His kidney ‘count’ is a little high but less so than 3 weeks ago and still not a great concern. Dr Soiffer reassured us that everything is great. He is happy with Noel’s progress and explained to us that although the future remains unknown, things look good. He stressed continuing to just take everyday as it comes. Noel’s medications will continue at the same level for now. Dr S does not expect to see Noel being off any of them until next year, sometime around the 2 year mark. But he may have to be on some longer, maybe long term, even though the aim is to eventually stop taking them altogether Dr S also told us that, unlike many cancer patients who reach a day when a line is drawn under their treatment and recovery and they are told they do not need to be seen or have tests anymore, Noel will remain on the ‘books’ at the Dana Farber for the rest of his life with checks ups along the way. As everyone who has a transplant is different they can not predict the future. But we are happy they intend to keep an eye on Noel into the future. We are so grateful to God for the amazing care and concern every one at Dana-Farber has always shown to Noel. We feel blessed by Noel being treated there.

Dr Soiffer was happy that the side effects of the GVHD are much less since the steroid was increased. Although GVHD is still evident in Noel’s mouth, he has not had the horrible sores for a couple of weeks now, so Dr S said to return to see him in 5 or 6 weeks when Noel will be due for more immunizations, an echocardiogram and a pulmonary function test. These are routine at this stage of recovery, so to fit in with our busy schedule in November we have booked to see him again on November 23rd. This is a Monday, so we will be home in time for Thanksgiving with the family in Glens Falls. Supposing things go to plan, our next appointment after that will be in January 2014, meaning this year we will be home for Christmas.

I will now let Noel write a short ministry update:

• Just 3 days after getting home from the last Boston visit, we drove nearly 500 miles to the Officers’ Christian Fellowship (OCF) Eastern retreat center at White Sulphur Springs, near Bedford, south central Pennsylvania. It was here on our first ever visit in 1989 that we felt called to prayerfully dedicate our lives before the Lord to serve him all the days of our lives by proclaiming the kingdom of God and healing the sick (Luke 9:2 and 10) with the armed forces of the world.We have ministered ever since then with ACCTS carrying out this commission in several different ways. This year’s excellent and most enjoyable staff meeting near enough marked our 19th year with ACCTS as full time missionaries. Hearing reports from around the world, meeting old friends, enjoying the Fall leaves and weather of the Allegheny Mountains and hearing some most challenging talks on true Christian stewardship by Gary Hoag, a noted and much sought after speaker, all combined to make the meeting a memorable one.
• During the last 3 weeks we have been able to interact face to face with several Chaplains, including a Canadian Army friend and his wife. There has been much mutual encouragement in these conversations and times of prayer. We have also connected with other Chaplains by phone and social media. Most of our Chaplain friends are themselves Veterans who have served in combat areas, but we have also continued to interact with other Veterans on a regular basis. Also we have continued to prepare for the upcoming Welcome Home Initiative retreat (November 18-20. See www.byhiswoundsministry.org). Noel is preparing a workbook for the Veterans who come and Meryl has been gathering beautiful hand made quilts to give to them.
• Noel has been advising and helping a Cru Military Staff Member get an Alpha course going at the Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Now in its 4th week, the course is going well and the 8 or so who come are enjoying the fellowship and discussion time, even though they have only 1hour for each session. Please keep praying for deep spiritual transformation in the souls of those who come.
• In the coming month we will go to Ottawa, Canada the weekend of Nov 9/10 to attend the annual meeting of the Canadian Military Christian Fellowship. We are still members from our time in Alberta at CFB Suffield/BATUS from 1987-89. It is a 4 hour drive each way from home.
• We fly to Birmingham, Alabama to attend a Commissioned Lay Chaplains training weekend on Nov 15-17. All being well, and God confirming it, Noel will be commissioned as a Lay Chaplain in the Anglican Church in North America for ministry with the armed forces. We feel being commissioned is the right thing to do and will further enhance our ministry with ACCTS.
• November 18-20 sees the next (18th) Welcome Home Initiative at Longfellow’s Inn and Conference Center, Saratoga Springs. Please pray for full attendance and for the peace of the Lord to come powerfully into the hearts and souls of all those attending. They so much need relief and healing from suffering and trauma caused through combat operations.
• We also ask for your consistent prayers for plans for the next 14 months or so. We plan to take part in a major military ministry training event which happens every 10 years. Called Global Interaction, it is in South Africa in early December 2014. This will include Military Christians from well over 100 countries from all around the world. The trip also involves a strategic prayer and planning meeting for key military ministry staff, listening to God and discerning the future direction of military ministry around the globe.

That’s a summary of what we are involved in with the ACCTS ministry now Noel is working full time again! No retirement in sight here!

News from our family here and in the UK is all good. All 4 grandchildren are healthy and doing well at school and preschool. Their parents are always busy but give time to their families to enjoy days out together at the weekends. The Fall is a great time for farm and countryside visits. Plans are now being made for the UK family to visit the USA next summer. We are all greatly excited at the prospect of our family being all together in the same place and our 4 grandchildren spending time together getting to know each other.

We are always grateful to you all for continuing to follow our journey. We are blessed by your prayers, support, messages and visits. You make a huge difference in our lives. Thank you so much!

Please continue to pray for us and our children and grandchildren. Pray for safe travel for us all, for good health during the coming winter days and lots of excellent quality family time.

Our prayers for you all continue so please update us on your needs. We love staying in contact, even if we are not always good at replying. We do read all the messages you send, even if we have ‘senior moments’ remembering all the details!

God richly bless you at this season of Thanksgiving.

‘Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honor and Power and Might be to our God forever and ever’ — Rev.7:12

It now seems a long time ago that we were about to fly to the UK for our long awaited trip… We had a very blessed and wonderful time. We spent over 2 weeks with our family in the north of England — Charles, Sarah and Evelyn, age 5, and William, age 3. Our fear that after a 2 year gap the children would be shy of us was immediately dispelled with the smiles and welcome hugs they gave us and we soon fell right back into place as Granny and Poppa… We spent a happy week at the seaside with them and another fun filled week back in their home area. The weather was good, fine and warm. The time passed way too fast and it was hard to say goodbye.

We then began our travel south, staying in the Midlands. We saw good friends in Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield and family in Birmingham and the Cotswolds. Never enough time with everyone but great time none the less.

Next, we continued on to stay in the Cambridge area, spending a few happy days with Meryl’s brother, Tony, and sister in law, Rita. We spent a precious time with their daughter, Meryl’s niece, and her husband and daughter… A lovely but too short stay.

Going on to the London area, we stayed both with Noel’s sister, Joycelin, and her husband Bill, along with spending a day with their daughters Amanda and Penny and their children. Also staying with Noel’s brother, Julian, and his wife, Ann. This included dinner together with Noel’s nephew, Dominic, and his family. It was a busy but fun filled visit.

The blessings of the trip are way too many to list… We are grateful for our family and friends and their generosity on so many levels to us. But a few highlights were the time spent with each friend and family member which was very special including the chance for Noel and his brother and sister to reconnect with cousins they had only ever seen twice before in over 60 years! We all had a great day together. Noel spent a great afternoon with his brother watching Arsenal’s first game of the new soccer season, the first match they had been to together for over 50 years.

We returned to the USA one day late on August 21st due to a technical fault with our plane on the London to Amsterdam leg of the journey. This caused us to miss our connection to Boston but thanks to KLM we spent a very comfortable night in a hotel and flew the next morning. Acting for us, Toby was able to rearrange Noel’s appointments from Wednesday to Friday and we finally arrived home safe and sound very late Friday evening… Since then our feet have not touched the ground as we have been back in to the swing of our busy everyday life… And being Granny and Poppa to Charlotte and Lucy… They and their mom and dad have also had a busy summer…

One activity they did every Saturday afternoon during July and August was to hold a Lemonade Stand on our driveway… To raise money for the American Cancer Society… to pay it forward for the help and encouragement our family has received and to teach Charlotte, as a cancer survivor herself, the importance of helping others. They have raised over $500! Wonderful!

Noel did really well for the whole trip… He was able to pace himself and his energy levels stayed good… he did have some sore mouth issues and a slight head cold but did not let either spoil his enjoyment.

His appointment at the Dana-Farber on Friday went well… His blood work had stayed stable showing not much difference either way. Dr Soiffer continues to be happy with him and has again reduced by a little the drugs he is on in an effort to in the long term get him off all the drugs. Since Noel’s progress continues to be good he has now been moved to an appointment every 6 weeks…

We realize how blessed we both are. We give great praise for the wonderful summer we have had and for our families. We do not take Noel’s health and recovery for granted, we have met and know many others who are struggling in many ways with their health. We simply try to be prayerful healing encouragers, helping and serving others.

Thank you for you love, encouragement, support and faithfulness to us, please continue to keep us in your prayers…

• for Noel to continue to be healthy, he still has some immune issues.
• for our ever increasingly busy lives….no retirement here!
• for our family on both sides of the Atlantic;
  both our son’s increasing busy work lives;
  for our daughters in law as they juggle work and motherhood;
  for all four grandchildren who next week begin new school years…
  for health and safety for them all.
• for Noel’s ministry and the funds he needs to carry out the travel he hopes to be able to do. Ministry income has fallen by $500 each month this year, which immediately limits what Noel thinks the Lord is calling him to do: but we remain convinced that God supplies the resources necessary, for example, and specifically, $2000 estimated, needed for travel and subsistence for visits for the sake of Chaplains and Veterans (healing of trauma) to southern Pennsylvania and south east Virginia in October. Noel is so wanting to be back into traveling for his ministry again.

Our next regular update will be after Noel’s next appointment on October 2nd 2013.

We remember you all in our prayers do please stay in touch and let us have your own updates for prayer. God Bless you!

Hope Lodge, Boston. July 15th 2013

“This is the day The Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” Psalm 118:24.

We continue to give thanks and to rejoice as Noel continues to be doing so very well. His Doctors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute here in Boston are very pleased with his continued good progress.

Today, Noel’s blood work and other levels, although not yet ‘normal’, are remaining stable and he is feeling good. He is able to cope with the the level of discomfort from the GVHD and drug side effects… although will be glad when those change for the better. His energy levels are high as long as he paces himself… otherwise fatigue hits him like a wall. We are both extending ourselves with our walking routines and building up strength and fitness.

Today the Doctor took him off one of the immune suppressant drugs that he has been on ever since the transplant. This is a good sign and hopefully will help his immune system to be able to better fight off any germs he may encounter. Amy, Dr. Soiffer’s Nurse Practitioner, kept all the other drugs the same as before. So he has a pharmacy of drugs to take with us tomorrow on our flight to the UK. Hopefully the letter she gave him to take on the plane along with the drugs will satisfy any questions the security people might have.

She also lifted a couple of restrictions. He has not been allowed to drink any alcohol since his transplant but she said he could now sample a Pint of British Beer! But only one glass and no more than twice a week! She also said he could go into the swimming pool but to shower well immediately after getting out. She also reminded him that he must wear his face mask for the whole duration of the airplane flights. That recycled air on the plane is really not healthy, certainly for anyone with a weak immune system, regardless of what the airlines say.

We fly tomorrow (Tuesday 16th) evening from here in Boston to Newcastle upon Tyne, in the north east of England, via Amsterdam in The Netherlands. We will be staying very close to Charles, Sarah, Eve and Will in a self catering cottage for a few days before we all move to Seahouses, a small seaside town about 50 miles further north on the east coast. We will be there for a week, weather permitting, enjoying the sand and rock pools and hunting for shells and fossils and no doubt enjoying an ice-cream or two. It is also close to Holy Island aka Lindisfarne (*). We will then spend a second week back again near to where the family live enjoying day trips with them to local places of interest.

(*) [Christianity came to the north of England during the Roman times, then almost disappeared but was established again by St. Aidan in 635 AD, who built a rudimentary monastery at Holy Island.]

We know the time with the family will pass far too quickly and on August 4th we will travel by train south to stay with friends in Lichfield, near Birmingham for a few days before going on by car to spend time with my brother and his family who all live in the Cambridge area. We will then move to London where we will divide the rest of our time between staying with Noel’s sister, seeing all her family; and staying with Noel’s brother and seeing all his family.

So it is going to be a busy time but a happy time. We fly back to Boston on August 20th from London via Amsterdam, where will be check in to Hope Lodge, be at the DFCI on the 21st for Noel’s appointment and travel home to Glens Falls on the 22nd.

Please pray for our travels, by planes, trains and road – for us both to stay healthy; and for the family, Toby, JoAnn, Charlotte and Lucy, back here as they juggle Charlotte and Lucy’s day care arrangements between their own work schedules and the other grandparents work schedules, with the occasional help from a friend. We have recently taken care of the girls 3 days each week.

Thank you yet again for your faithfulness in continuing this journey with us. Your messages, notes, calls and visits and continued support are a huge blessing and encouragement to us – it would be a much harder road to travel without you all. We hope as you are there for us we are here for others with support and encouragement – sharing God’s love for us all.

Despite rumours to the contrary, we have not retired (haven’t yet found any mention of that word in the Bible!), nor has Noel’s illness caused us to cease the ministry he coordinates through ACCTS (www.accts.org). So, the ministry outreach to Chaplains and Veterans continues. In the past two weeks, Noel has been able to meet separately with three Veterans involved in the Welcome Home Initiative, talk to a senior National Guard Chaplain, take part in two Chaplain teleconference phone calls and minister personally to an Army Chaplain. Noel has been busy encouraging and linking up with other Chaplains and Veterans through Facebook; and has begun working with another Veteran to possibly bring the Alpha course to a Wounded Warriors healing group at a large Army base. All of these folk deeply appreciate the love, comfort, compassion and prayer that Noel brings to their relationships. They often say that it brings healing and Good News, giving them ‘strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow’. Meanwhile please pray about our ministry donation income which has fallen about $700 per month, or nearly 30%, over each of the last 5 months for reasons we know not – none of our donors have indicated any changes in their support arrangements, so we are puzzled as well as challenged by this! By the way, we are always open to the Lord bringing new donors to our team, however small they think their donation is, to complement the 30 or so current (and mostly longstanding donors we already have). Talk to us if the Lord is leading you in this direction.

We pray the Lord’s blessing on you all.

‘See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up: do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.’ Isaiah 43 :19

We give praise and thanks for the new thing the Lord has and is doing… From a very bleak diagnosis just over 2 years ago to now seeing Noel regaining his strength and his body returning to good health along with his enthusiasm for life and having a bright future to now look forward to.

Noel travelled by himself to Boston last week for his Dana-Farber appointment on Monday 17th June. I stayed home to be able to provide daycare for Charlotte and Lucy as their other grandparents were unable to help that day. It felt odd for both of us but we looked at it as yet another move forward… Noel feeling confident to be there with out me and for me to feel confident that he was able to do so.

His blood work was much the same as it has been for the last few weeks… Some numbers need to be better but thankfully none are any worse… So stable is a way to describe them… A reduction in the steroids and the magnesium was the only change in his medications and we pray this will go smoothly with no ill effects. He has still some evidence of GVHD but he is able to manage and cope with it.

We are still eating healthy and walking and exercising… and are both feeling good.

Noel is gradually returning to more involvement with people and his ministry… which is brilliant. In addition to ministering to Chaplains and Veterans (including some still on active duty) with ACCTS (www.accts.org), this past week has seen him take part in a videoconference Board meeting of Olive Branch International (www.olivebranchinternationalonline.com) and a prayer and planning meeting for Rev. Nigel Mumford’s new ministry, By His Wounds, Inc (www.byhiswoundsministry.org). Noel is also a Board member of this exciting new thrust in the healing ministry which will include future Welcome Home Christ-focused spiritual retreats.

We would encourage you to read up about each of these co-operative ministries bringing the Good News and healing to needy men and women, especially those within the military communities of the world. Each is greatly in need of your continued prayers and practical and financial support.

This past week we saw Charlotte graduate from Kindergarten… How fast the year has gone… First Grade starts on September 4th.

Our big news is that the Doctor’s have given Noel permission to travel by air and to visit the UK so long as he wears a face mask in the airplane – recycled air is not always germ free! So we will drive to Boston on July 14 the for his next appointment on Monday 15th, leaving our car with friends, and fly to England on the 16th… This is our first visit for 2 years… and we are excited.

The first 2 weeks will be spent with our son Charles, and Sarah, Evelyn and William locally in their area just outside Newcastle in the northeast of England and on holiday with them at seaside on the east coast. The rest of the time we will be visiting friends in the Midlands and family in Cambridge and London… We will fly back to Boston on August 20th for Noel’s appointment at the Dana Farber on the 21st and return home on the 22nd… Please pray for safe and smooth travel to and from and in the UK. Pray that we both stay healthy, that Noel does not pick up any infections and that he continues to do well on his road to recovery.

We are so grateful to the Lord ‘s provisions for us. We once again can not thank you all enough for supporting us in so many different ways on this continuing journey… We feel so encouraged and very blessed.

God bless you all, enjoy the summer. Stay safe and be well!

Today we celebrate Noel Dawes 1st Birthday… yes, he is now officially one year old… ( and getting all those childhood shots) his bone marrow / stem cell transplant that has brought him new life was one year ago today…

A year ago he had just gone through 4 days of very aggressive Chemotherapy to ‘kill’ his own bone marrow , the place in your body where all the blood cells and platelets are made, ready to receive the donated stem cells from a stranger… the past year has had difficult days, painful days described by the Doctors as like a ride on a roller coaster and a walk on a tight rope… But we thank God that Noel has made it through… still on the journey to full recovery but this evening we will go out for dinner, our first meal in a restaurant for over a year to our favorite place… The Pepper Mill Family Diner… for the Senior Special!

We are also grateful to everyone who has stood with us and walked alongside us… and of course to the young man who donated his cells to bring life to a stranger… we hope one day to know who he is and to thank him personally.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOEL. ♥