Stones of Remembrance

By Liz Dunsdon

There is a bell that hangs on the wall in the chemo room. Patients get to ring this bell when all their rounds of chemo are completed. They ring the bell with such glee and joy. Chemo is finished, and life can carry on. I hate that bell. I know that sounds foolish, but I really, really, really hate that bell. The doctors told me the second time my breast cancer returned that it had metastasized to my bones and lymph system and so it was incurable. I will never get to ring it unless God chooses to do a miracle. Instead I sit in the chemo room and stare at the bell and smile when others ring it. Some days I want to take the bell and throw it out the closest window, and other times it takes all I have to not go up and ring it and ring it some more. I am not sure if I would be ringing it in hope or defiance. Such foolishness, but I hate hearing that bell ring. I smile, cheer, and clap when someone else rings the bell, but inside I hurt. The bell makes me angry, and I sit and ask God why. Why not me? Why? I am sure that everyone can relate to something in their life they have wanted to do so badly but cant. It may be a foolish desire, but it is part of who we are.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512787788

Liz Dunsdon

Author Liz Dunsdon shares her fascinating story of how God is greater than any sickness or hopelessness. She shares her struggles with cancer and how God has always led her from brokenness to joy and peace. She wishes to share Stones of Remembrance to encourage the reader to never forget that God loves you and always walks with you on whatever journey you are on. It is her hope that this book will show how God is greater than anything that we might have to face in life. God’s love and strength fights on for us when we call out to him. God wants every person to triumph over difficulties. You may be changed but carry on your journey with God by your side.

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Copyright © 2017 Liz Dunsdon.

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Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8777-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8776-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8778-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017907637

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/19/2017

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

CHAPTER 2 First Cancer

CHAPTER 3 Waiting

CHAPTER 4 Unstoppable People

CHAPTER 5 Why Remember?

CHAPTER 6 Calming the Storms

CHAPTER 7 Golden Thread

CHAPTER 8 The Storm

CHAPTER 9 Fears and Doubts

CHAPTER 10 The Bell

CHAPTER 11 Friends and Encouragers

CHAPTER 12 Courage

CHAPTER 13 Brokenness is not the Destination

CHAPTER 14 Giants and Journeys

CHAPTER 15 Looking to the Future

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

The size of a challenge should never be measured by what we have to offer. It will never be enough. Furthermore, provision is God’s responsibility, not ours. We are merely called to commit what we have—even if it’s no more than a sack lunch.

—CHARLES R. SWINDOLL

O n a recent holiday to St. Anthony, Newfoundland, I learned about the life of Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, who lived there in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was an amazing man who affected the lives of the destitute fishermen living along the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland. Grenfell was a young doctor in England when he came to know Christ after hearing Dwight L. Moody speak. He felt God was calling him to join the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen. He traveled to Newfoundland and Labrador to help provide medical and spiritual care to the fishermen and their families. He practiced medicine all along this barren coast.

Life was tough, to say the least, but Grenfell worked tirelessly to improve the quality of people’s lives. He built hospitals, started schools and orphanages, wrote books, and helped set up a series of outpost nursing stations. He helped communities start gardens to fight the scurvy and beriberi he encountered among the coastal fisherman and their families. He helped the fishermen start their own fishery and cannery so they would receive better returns on their work. He brought in artists to teach the women how to create beautiful rugs and clothing to sell to a larger market; he also used these artists as a way to tell them about God’s love. He was a remarkable man. One story tells of how he set off in a blizzard in his kayak because medical help was needed in an outpost about ten kilometers away. His kayak sank, and he spent several days and nights floating on an ice floe before he was finally found. Grenfell influenced the lives of many people for their own good. His story is a testimony of what one person with God can accomplish. Amazing!

It is so easy to compare our lives with someone like Grenfell and come up short. I am amazed whenever I encounter or read about people like Grenfell, but I also feel a sense of my own inadequacies. God continues to remind me that I may feel like an ordinary person, but I am loved by an extraordinary God who dwells in me. God in me, living in and through me, is more important than my strengths, abilities, or limitations. I am slowly learning that my strength, peace, and limited wisdom come from the day-to-day consistency of entwining my life with Jesus. It is not how much a person accomplishes in this life as set out by the world’s standards, but it is knowing God and fulfilling the purpose He created us for.

With this in mind, I finally sat down to write this book, which I have felt God urging me to do. My reason for writing is not to pour out my sad journey with cancer but to share how God loves to bless us in our brokenness and give us hope and new life in the midst of our struggles. I want to share how God works mightily on our behalf when we call out to Him. May God bless the words I have written. May they be an encouragement and a challenge to live your life in the hope that only comes from God. May you reflect on the blessings showered on you by the God who walks with you through the storm. Be thankful, and never stop believing that you are constantly loved by an extraordinary God who will never leave or forsake you. Let your heart be awed by His goodness. God may not fix your negative situations, but He promises to walk beside you to help you find a new hope and new life so you can carry on with living in confidence and purpose.

I hope this book will help and encourage you in whatever trials you are facing. There are so many people who face tremendous challenges, so I keep asking myself, What could I possibly say that would help? At times I was torn about whether to write this book, but as Jeremiah 20:9 (NIV) says, "But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." I want to shout out to the world that God is good. He is alive, and He sees me, knows all about me, and has wonderful plans for my life—just as He has for yours.

This is one of the verses given to me when I started to write: Open wide your mouth and I will fill it (Psalm 81:10b NIV). My constant prayer as I write is to ask God to fill my mouth with words that will encourage others to go beyond the scars and brokenness to see the beauty God wants to work in willing lives. He wants to work with you and me to create beauty in our lives in spite of the scars and ashes. His plans are to bring us a hope and a future if we are committed to allowing Him to work in and through us.

Luke tells the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem shortly before He was crucified. The crowds clamored around Jesus in celebration. Luke 19:37–40 (NIV) says, When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’ ‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’ I like the picture of even the rocks crying out to tell of God’s miracles and glory. If the rocks can speak, then I also need to share what God continues to do for me.

The Holy Spirit fills me with words that I cannot hold inside anymore. May you see what an extraordinary God can do in and through a very ordinary woman and know that He wants to do this and so much more in your life because He loves you.

Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

—Matthew 19:26

I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;

he heard my cry for mercy.

Because he turned his ear to me,

I will call on him as long as I live.

The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came over me;

I was overcome by distress and sorrow.

Then I called on the name of the LORD:

LORD, save me!

The LORD is gracious and righteous;

our God is full of compassion.

The LORD protects the unwary;

when I was brought low, he saved me.

Return to your rest, my soul,

for the LORD has been good to you.

—Psalm 116:1–7 NIV

However, as it is written: What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—the things God has prepared for those who love him.

—2 Corinthians 2:9 NIV

CHAPTER 2

First Cancer

The world has changed and it’s going to keep changing, but God never changes; so we are safe when we cling to Him.

—CHARLES R. SWINDOLL

C ancer, like most struggles, has a quiet way of sneaking up on you and catching you unaware. It is not something you can prepare for ahead of time. If I see something coming down the road, I like to get ready so I am not taken off guard. I did not see cancer coming, and it initially knocked me flat on my face. I was not ready to deal with cancer. I was a forty-eight-year-old wife and mother of three teenage daughters who were pushing their boundaries to the limit and beyond. I worked as a teacher, and I felt like I was running a full-time taxi service for all our daughters’ sporting and social events. I was too busy for breast cancer. I did not have the time or energy to deal with it. I had some very serious talks with God, asking Him if He was aware of what was going on. It sounds quite ridiculous now looking back on my attitude and thought processes, but they were what they were.

I could not understand how God thought I could handle any more. I would quote His word and ask for God to get rid of the cancer; I would ask Him to let me get on with my all-consuming life. Each time I prayed, I would hear the words from Psalm 46:10 (NIV): He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted.’ I felt He was constantly telling me to be still and just trust Him. This was very difficult, since I felt so busy and pulled in all directions to do all that was expected of me—or at least to do all I expected of myself. I was just barely keeping my head above the water, and now cancer? The be still was exactly what I needed to learn, but it was not an easy or fast transition from marathon swimmer to just staying afloat by the grace of God. God slowly showed me how to slow down, stay focused on Him, rest in His presence, and let Him carry the load. I struggled to give control of my life and my loved ones into His hands and leave them there. I found it difficult to give God control over in my little corner of the world. I slowly learned and was amazed that everything could carry on just fine without me. Not easy. Jesus tells us in John 16:33 (NIV), I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. Why should I be surprised or expect my life to be easy or different from anyone else’s life.

A few years before I encountered cancer, a lady in our church had gotten cancer, and I had watched her battle this disease. Actually, both she and her young daughter were both battling cancer at the same time. I finally concluded I could never handle something