To all of you who are praying and supporting us so faithfully:

You mean so much to us! We pray that God will richly bless you for all your gifts of love, be it time, finances, prayers… we feel flattered and humbled by your selfless and ongoing support.

Knowing that you’re with us in this desperate wait for Stephen’s healing I want to tell you a story about another healing.

  About three years ago, after struggling with some interesting health problems, mainly non-existent iron levels and food sensitivities (I felt sick every time I ate), my doctor diagnosed me with Celiac Disease. It’s an allergy to Gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye and various other grains, and seems to find its way into most store-bought grocery items, including ice cream and potato products, places where you really wouldn’t expect it. Basically it means that, as long as you eat products that contain Gluten, you will have health problems, including increased risk for cancer. In other words: Since Gluten is found in just about everything food is off the menu!

  There are Gluten-free products, of course, but like any specialty item they are very expensive (over $ 6.00 for a small loaf of bread) and they really are not all that tasty, compared to regular foods. In my opinion most of that stuff is a no-bother. Unless you bake your own, which still does not compare and it means fussing with a lot of specialty flours and ingredients, which is a pain in the butt.

  If you’ve been reading my blog entries you might have noticed that I’m not necessarily one to suffer quietly; I really do try to humbly accept the things that God lets pass my way, but at some point or other I usually blow it and I make my opinion known, especially to God.

  In this case, whenever I did complain I usually used the phrase: I can’t eat the donuts. (Not that I’m all that crazy about donuts, it was just my way of expressing the fact that I couldn’t have all the good stuff).

  About a year ago I had been complaining again. I was reading a book at the time, (another one I highly recommend: “Can you hear me” by Brad Jersak, it’s all about hearing God) and this book suggests to ask God certain questions. I was cooking one night, but I wanted to hang out with God, so I chose one of the lighter questions: “If you could play a game with me, what would it be?”

  I wasn’t even finished asking the question before I had my answer:

  “Pass the Dutchie!”

  “Pass the Dutchie” had been a No. 1 hit in the German Top Ten in the seventies, or eighties. No one here seems to have heard of it, but in Europe it was quite big. Sung by a group of black kids with accents I didn’t understand many of the words, I knew it had to do with a game and with food, and back then I always envisioned it to have something to do with a large, black kettle of stew.

  “What the heck is a Dutchie? Why on Earth do you want to play ‘Pass the Dutchie’?”

  It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I finally had the brilliant idea to look it up in the dictionary.

  A dutchie is a donut!

  Interesting! So—what exactly does that mean? Am I healed then? Will I be healed in the future?

  I continued my Gluten-free diet, not entirely certain what to do. A couple months later I complained again.

  “Receive your healing!” God said.

  I still wasn’t sure what that meant. How do I receive healing? It’s not like a physical item that I can somehow reach out and pick up. How do you receive something you have no control over?

  It was another month later, still on my diet, that I mentioned it again.

  “Receive your healing!” God said.

  I gave up! I simply started eating! Anything! Everything!

  Try to stay away from food for two years—I was in heaven! I ate pasta!!!!!

  I ate real bread! The only thing I didn’t eat was a donut, somehow. I had a Timbit once, but other than that I just either didn’t feel like it, or else I didn’t make it to the donut shop. . .

  It was another three months later when I finally woke up one morning and said to God: “I want a donut for breakfast!”

  And then to Stephen: “I want a donut for breakfast! We gotta go to Tim’s!”

  Stephen was agreeable, but we didn’t have to go!

  I had my donut delivered to the door! One of the guys working on our renovation (making the house wheelchair accessible) brought a whole box full of donuts! It sat on top of the freezer when I got up that morning!

  I’ve been eating Gluten for almost a year now; I haven’t had any symptoms,

Praise the Lord, hallelujah, amen!!

  I gotta go now, I suddenly have noodles on my brains, I’ll catch you next time!

  Is God amazing, or is God amazing?