Well... I was going to post last night but, at the time when I was going to write Ramona woke up....it's been a long time since I had seen her as nauseous as she was these last few days...
I was going post this morning too, but in the middle of talking to nurses and trying to get the meds Ramona needs and getting to school on time...it just didn't happen.
Ramona didn't have a good night at all. Stomach cramps kept her up quite a while . We appreciate all the prayers that are happening. Somehow the spiritual battles intensify when you're physically beaten up. Jesus' promises of healing are no less true right now than they were two weeks ago in Redding.

Although Ramona is not feeling good, she's feeling a little better this afternoon. She's actually starting to want to eat a bit.

Ramona was eating some angel soup this afternoon. Thanks for the soup Melissa. Here is the story she emailed to me about the soup:

So I pulled up to my garage last Thursday afternoon, after a grocery shopping spree with Katrina. A group of people were standing in the empty lot beside the garage. I felt a little bit uncomfortable with it, but figured I would just pull in and close the door, and all would be well. I proceded to do just that, but as I was driving in, a 30ish year old native guy from the group, sauntered up behind the car, and just stood there. I sat in the car, pretty sure it would be really rude to close the door in his face. So I waited a few seconds, hoping he'd leave, but finally I just got out of the car and went to talk to him. He held out a bag of groceries that he wanted me to have, to which I replied, 'I think you need them more than I do, but thanks!'...to which he responded, 'NO, take them.' ....to which I replied, 'No, seriously, I just bought a TON of groceries. You keep them.' ... At that point, he practically shoved the bag into my hand, determined I would take them. So, there I stood with a bag of groceries (mostly canned goods), and my car FULL of groceries, and he walked away. I closed the door, and put the bag down, thinking that if there was a bomb waiting to go off, better in the garage than in the house, and 'moved' into my house, forgetting about the incident. I went out again later on, and when I got back home, I took the bag inside, and went on to other things yet again. When I finally went through the donation, slowly at first, I started catching on to a theme...beans, diced tomatoes, more beans, tomato soup, a second tin of diced tomatoes, more beans (a chili version), corn, and another tin of tomato soup...Absolutely tin for tin (plus several random ones, namely condensed consomme soup and a tin of chick peas, as well as a small box of pasta) the exact ingredients I needed for a chili soup I had thought of making for Earl & Ramona, the night before!!!!!! I just stood there, as it was beginning to soak in. There were several other neat things...The recipe my Mom had sent me just a few weeks earlier, called for a tin of tomato sauce, but my Mom's revised version said 'or tomato soup'. According to the recipe, I was short a tin of corn, but I had put in less last time I had made it. And then the beans, as well as the soups, were ALL random brands, none of them matching up, obviously not a bag of stuff this guy had gone out to buy just for me. And No, the stuff was not expired. I had to wonder, did I meet an angel??? A native angel...in my backyard?? Cause the groceries were definitely sent by God! Hope you guys enjoy the 'Angel Soup!' Needless to say, I won't ever make it again without being reminded of you, and of my great big, PERSONAL GOD!!!!!
melissa


Later,
Earl

Just a note that we're home. Ramona has slept a large portion of the last day and a half. She really doesn't feel good when she wakes up, so, for now, all rest seems like a really good thing.
-Earl

Well...back to the old St. B kiosks here again.
Ramona is upstairs either sleeping or having the chemo pushed in. The chemo plan is a huge answer to prayer. The whole regime has pretty much changed. What used to be a 5 day plan is now a three day plan. The chemo used to run 19-20 hours a day, now it runs about 7 hours a day. The plan for next round (should it be needed) would be to have the chemo as an outpatient and come into cancer care for three days in a row to get the chemo. What an amazing improvement. Prayer answered.
We're still kind of in the process of getting Ramona's pain under control. The last few nights haven't been a lot of fun. The sleep that happens is kind of a chemical sleep....
Anyway, we expect to be out of here by Saturday afternoon/evening.
Thank you for believing with us,
Earl

As I'm scanning back and seeing the last time we posted was eight days ago I realize I'd have to sit here forever to properly fill everyone in on what's been happening in the last two weeks. The experience in Redding continued to get better the days following our return. We absorbed so much in so few days that it's taking a while to soak in.
Ramona's been having more pain, as it seems that the tumors haven't yet realized they aren't welcomed in her body. It was almost...weird...last week as we spent a lot of time awake in the night praying...and look back on those pain filled nights as.......fun isn't the right word...maybe powerful is a better word.
Within...I would say the last 3-4 days-ish, Ramona's pain has significantly increased and mobility has decreased. The left leg tumor is as big as I have ever seen it. Lung tumors are now causing constant pain again.
Yesterday, I went to Cancer care and told them we needed to do some chemo. So, tonight we are heading back to St. B, to begin what is chemo round number 17.
This is obviously not a fun day. Ramona has told herself countless times that "this is my last round of chemo ever".
Many people are praying for us all the time and thank you. When I asked Ramona what to write she said to "beg people to pray more".
....I'm really searching for my encouraging thought of the day here...
Ramona has been without chemo now for two months. As we looked back on these two months, they are probably the most fun we've had since we've been married.
There are two things that have changed.
1. We go to Starbucks together atleast once a week.
2. We're starting to see that God likes to hang around with us too.
Thank you for your prayers,
Earl

We're back safely in Manitoba......I have no idea how to start writing. We just got back from one of the most amazing weekends ever. Although Ramona's healing didn't happen as we were hoping, there is still....such an incredibly momentum that comes from this weekend. People were healed all around us...people were prophetically "reading our mail"...just such an incredible atmosphere of faith. Jesus is everywhere but such a large collection of Spirit filled people is unbelievable. Thanks Jake and Lillie for hosting us and pouring into us for the weekend....I don't feel like I can do justice to portraying what all happened...in fact Ramona and I just spent a bunch of time this evening writing together just trying to collect our minds on everything that happened.
In addition to all this, Ramona had an appointment with Dr. Wong this morning. In general, the tumors have doubled in size since early December and Ramona is dealing with pain, especially in the night. The medical options available continue to be temporary at best.
Thanks so much for praying....
Earl

So what should I say? It feels like so much has happened in the last while that I don't know where to start.

Thursday night I was really cold and had chills; Friday morning I had a super bad headache and in the evening I also was really cold with chills; Saturday morning I had a fever of 38.8 and by 3:00ish we were in emergency. I knew that with the open wound on my leg and with the way I was feeling I had to get things checked out. We were out of there within a few hours, but now having to go to a clinic daily for IV antibiotics. So, since then we've been traveling to get my antibiotics done. On Monday the doctor at the IV clinic told me to go through emergency to get an ultrasound done. This was to make sure that there wasn't an abcess and that the lump was dying tumor instead. So after 3 medical appointments on Monday, we went to emerg around 8 in the evening. They couldn't do an ultrasound then, but I hung around in emerg until 1 in the morning and had a CT done of my lungs to make sure there was no blood clot. Tuesday at 9 I was back at St. B for my ultrasound. Since then I've had all kinds of appointments. All in all-I have an infection on my right leg that I am on antibiotics for. Everything else is "okay".

On Sunday, Earl & I were at Beyond like usual and someone came up to me and made a comment that suggested just a little bit of doubt for my healing on earth. I tried to immediately push it out of my mind but Satan kept trying to make me doubt. So I prayed about it and asked God to confirm my healing by having someone come up to me and somehow in their comments say that I would be healed. I thanked Him that He would do it and left it at that. At the end of the service we were getting ready to go and literally less than a minute before we were going to leave our seats, a friend came and chatted with me and almost immediately stated that I would be healed! Thank you Jesus! I don't think she has a clue how much her chat with me meant!

This is what I read in my devotions yesterday. It's an excerpt by Bill Johnson from the book, "When Heaven Invades Earth".
"...I must passionately desire life-changing encounters with God, over and over again. I must cry out day and night for them..and be specific. I must be willing to travel to get what I need. If God is moving somewhere else more than where I live, I must go! If He is using someone more than He is using me, I must humbly go to them and ask them to pray for me with the laying on of hands.
Some may ask, "Why can't God touch me where I am?" He can. But He usually moves in ways that emphasize our need for others, rather than adding to our independence. Wise men have always been willing to travel."

.....and this is where Ramona quit writing, leaving me to explain the significance of what she read.

For the last few months it feels like we've been learning at break-neck speed just a little bit of who God is and what He's doing and His healing power etc...etc.. We were also introduced to the ministry of Bill Johnson and some of the things going on in Redding, California. I wrote an email to someone out there saying that when the time is right, we'll come.
....and, now the tickets are booked for this weekend. We fly to Redding tomorrow morning.
It was a neat affirmation to Ramona to read that section from her book. Sometimes it feels like you need to fight for peace.
We're in the middle of an incredible battle and we appreciate your prayers a lot, especially this weekend.
I really can't sum up the thoughts as we are about to go to a place where the people actually seem to live their purpose "out of intimacy with God, to destroy the works of the devil" There seems to be incredible sensitivity to the Holy Spirit there. We continue to trust God for healing and are expecting amazing things.
I think I'll just leave it at that for now.
Sleep well,
Earl