|
WE
CAN ALL BE ANGELS HERE ON EARTH
by Faye Dietiker
"And
the peace of God that transcends all understanding shall dwell in
the hearts and minds of those who love the Lord"
(Philippians 4:7)
"We can all be angels here on earth"
is the motto of the Breast Friends Sisters "Angel Club".
When I look back on my life I can see
many times that God touched my life through earthly angels.
When I was 6 years old and in the
hospital with polio and a rare blood disease God sent 12 men to give
blood and pray for me. After 6 weeks I was well enough to go home.
I believe God used the founder of
Calvary Rehabilitation Center in Phoenix, AZ. as one of his angels.
My dad drank for 30 years but when he met Barney Sweringa, he
reconnected with the Lord and lived sober until his death 23 years
later.
I know that God used my mom as an
earthly angel. Mom had a hard life but never lost her faith. At the
end she had Alzheimer's disease and leukemia and was in a morphine
induced coma but a few days before she died she was able to point to
a corner in her room and in a very clear voice tell us how she saw
the beautiful lights and knew she was going home.
Her faith turned my husband, Don and
I back to the Lord. We both wanted the peace that He had given her.
God also used Rick and Linda Ayers as
earthly angels, they had been inviting us to church and after my mom
died we went with them. Their persistence was faith in action, and
in March of 1997, we joined Knott Avenue Christian Church in
Anaheim, CA.
In January of 1998 I had surgery for
breast cancer. It was very aggressive and by March it had traveled
to my neck. My prognosis was poor so I was given very high dose
chemo, every other week, for 18 weeks and 45 radiation treatments.
During all this time God surrounded our family with prayer warriors
and angels who were available for whatever we needed. I have been in
remission for 3 years now; Praise the Lord!
The Christian women I met going
through treatment all had favorite Bible verses that helped them get
through tough procedures and bad days. My verse was Philippians 4:7
"And the peace of God that transcends all
understanding shall dwell in the hearts and minds of those who love
the Lord". My friend Valerie's was "Be still and know that I
am God" and Judi's is "I can do all things
through God who strengthens me". We all loved Jeremiah 29:11,
"I know what plans I have for you, plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".
During my treatment Christian music
played a big part in my healing. When I was first diagnosed my song
was "He knows my Name", after chemo it was "Show me Your way" and
now it is "I will never be the same again".
After my treatment was finished I
became a mentor to women who were newly
diagnosed with breast cancer. This was the start of what the Lord
had laid on my heart all of the times I was singing "Show me Your
Way".
One of the women I mentored, Valerie
Doane, and myself started a group called Breast Friends Sisters
"Angel Club". We raise money to financially and spiritually assist
women going through breast cancer treatment. We started with 6
"Angels" giving $20 a month and we now have 90 "Angels" who give $20
a month. 100% of the Angel money goes to women in treatment for
food, medicine, transportation, hospice costs, etc.
The Lord leads me to women who need
help spiritually, I pray with women in the chemo room and comfort
those who are getting closer to going home to be
with the Lord. A month ago I prayed for the Lord to give me a Bible
verse that would be of comfort to women who were dying in fear. He
opened my bible to II Corinthians 4:16-18, "Therefore
we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly
we are being renewed day by day, for our light and momentary
troubles are achieving for us a glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for
what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal". God
lets us know that all of our earthly turmoil and pain will fade away
because Heaven was never meant to be here, it is there.
I give God all glory for the success
of our "Angel Club" and thank and praise him for the breast cancer
because it strengthened my walk and gave me an opportunity to put my
faith into action. I truly believe that "We can all be angels here
on earth", we just need to ask the Lord to show us his way.
Faye Dietiker
www.breastcancerangels.org
Write to Faye through the above
website address
or through:
Ron@fridaystudy.org
(And pray for this woman of God)
Friday Study Ministries
www.fridaystudy.org
|