3am wake-up

We had a good evening yesterday – Angela and I enjoyed bible study at a house in Jumeirah while Nathan peacefully slept on a couch in the corner …

We were home by about 10 and Angela and I were asleep just after 11.

Around 3am this morning though I woke up to hear Nathan repeating the request for what must’ve been the tenth time to Angela: “Please Mommy, may I have some sweeties … Please Mommy, may I have some sweeties”

I then heard Angela, in a rather subconscious state reply “uuuh” which Nathan must’ve taken as Yes, and off he toddled to find some sweeties somewhere in the kitchen …

I nudged Angela awake and together we headed off to find Nathan in the kitchen, and letting him have the promised sweeties, but nothing more, and then we put him back to bed, but I just find it so cute how he was asking for permission, even though neither Angela nor I would’ve known any better had he simply woken up and raided the cupboard without asking … Makes me wonder how many other evenings Nathan’s been asking Angela, or myself things and we’ve been agreeing in our sleep :-)

The Meaning of Peace

There was once a competition offering a prize to the artist who could paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The judge looked at all the pictures, but there were only two that he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for the peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The second picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the judge looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest…. a perfect picture of peace.

The winner was the artist who painted the second picture.

“Because,” explained the judge, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

~Author Unknown~

It’s that time of year …

Yesterday Dad and Ma returned to South Africa after close on three months with us all here in Dubai. It wasn’t easy to say good-bye – Nathan in particular was very sad and kept saying “But I don’t want them to go!” – He’s such a loving little boy and Ang and I realise anew every day what a blessing he is to us …

Considering we’d missed church due to the timing of Dad and Ma’s flight we spent the rest of the day together as a family, just relaxing at home … Sometime in the afternoon Nathan starting singing “jiggle-bells” so Ang’ and I thought it a good idea to pack out the Christmas Tree. If nothing else it may fill some of the “extra space” we suddenly had :-)

As always, something that worked just fine when we boxed it up last year didn’t work once unwrapped – Our set of white tree-lights has a wiring problem, but the coloured ones were ok, and we managed to hang all the other decorations. And and I had a little sad moment as we put the last decoration, the Angel, on the top of the tree.

We let Nathan setup the ornament tree – He was most impressed that he had his own tree to “setup” and we think he did a great job *wink*

During this week we’ll start getting our Christmas cards going … Can you believe it’s that time of year already?

Yours in Him

Roy, Angela and Nathan

RSL?

Are you a Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime? Pay attention to what you
read. After you read this, you will know the reason it was sent to
you!

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When
you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each
person.

REASON:
When someone is in your life for a REASON. . . It is usually to meet a
need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a
difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you
physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend,
and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then,
without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this
person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire
fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been
answered. And now it is time to move on.

SEASON:
When people come into your life for a SEASON it is because your turn
has come to share, grow, or learn. They bring you an experience of
peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never
done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it!
It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME:
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must
build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is
to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned
to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said
that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant. Thank you for being
a part of my life.
Stop here and just SMILE.
Work like you don’t need the money.
Love like you’ve never been hurt.
And dance like no one is watching.

~Author Unknown~

Eulogy to Rachel

(As read at the UCCD Memorial service for Rachel this morning)

If there’s one thing we’ve learnt through all of this, it’s that God changes our plans into His plans very quickly.

We planned to have another baby. We were sure that the time was right and that Nathan would enjoy a friend as they grew. We started thinking of all kinds of things we would be able to do as a family – especially when the kids got older.

Things didn’t quite work out the way we planned. The pregnancy was filled with complications: the placenta was tearing away from the uterus, it was also low-lying. The amniotic fluid was not at the correct level, there was premature labour, bed rest for 7 weeks… and of course during this time we found out that the baby may be sick. NOT what we’d planned.

They had to take Rachel out a week early because the placenta was calcifying. After she was born she was taken straight to neonatal ICU. She was sick and we weren’t sure how serious things were – but they didn’t look good.

After about two weeks though we did eventually take her home with us. To us she was perfect! Only cried when she was hungry or needed a new diaper. Nathan loved her and just wanted to make sure she had her soother. She went back to the hospital a couple times and sometimes it looked so serious, we weren’t sure she’d make it. But she did!

We were even able to bring her home to Dubai! She had regular appointments with the doctors. She started to do so well and to us it seemed as if the doctors were becoming more or less satisfied with her condition.

It was just when we thought that the worst was over and she’d get better that we were told there was nothing more they could do for our baby. She would die.

It felt like the kind of thing that happens in the movies – or to other people. NOT to us! We were upset that something like this would happen to us – to our baby. And, what would we tell Nathan?!

But God carried us though it all. Obviously some days were harder than others, but we could see God’s presence. We saw (and still see) the way He helped us explain it all to Nathan in a way that he could understand. We saw the way God helped us spend endless hours at the hospital looking after our little girl, praying with and for her, watching her suffer – sometimes so terribly.

We saw God’s presence in Rachel. When we thought she was really suffering she was always ready with a smile for us.

The last 2 days were the hardest. She couldn’t smile, she cried all the time. Only wanted to be held and it seemed as though she had to will herself to take each breath.

Although we loved her very much all we could pray was that God would take her home! That He would end the suffering. We know she’s in Heaven and praising the Lord! How blessed is she!!!!

She suffered a lot on this earth and experienced pain like no person should – but she was spared the harsh realities of life that all of us are faced with in day to day life.

Our little lamb is safe in Heaven, praising God.
What more could we ask for?

Memorial Leaflet Handout
Memorial Slide Presentation – Images of Rachel (careful, big 16MB download)

Rachel’s Burial

This morning we buried Rachel’s body. We had a private graveside ceremony at the Dubai Christian Cemetery (near Al Wasl Hospital) with just close family and very close friends. It took three days to clear the paperwork to bury her body.

We spent the rest of day enjoying a loverly meal with some close friends and then simply sat on the beach and experienced God’s love, grace and care for us.

(P.S. The photo was added on the 12th Nov, after the memorial service when we had some flowers to cover the bare mount)

Memorial Service

We’re not too sure when “the paperwork” will be complete and we’ll have Rachel’s body for the burial, but we’ve been able to set the Memorial Service date for Friday 12th November.

The service will follow after the UCCD morning worship service at the DECC facilities (Jebel Ali), which means it’ll probably start at 11:30am.

We invite all who’s lives have been touched by Rachel’s life to attend the service.

Yours in Him

Roy, Angela, Nathan, Dad and Ma.

Rachel’s gone to be with Our Lord

This morning, at 11:17 Rachel peacefully went to be with Our Lord – We will all miss her, and her cute little smiles and giggles … Those penetrating stares where you felt she’s looking deep inside your heart …

We are happy though, as we know she has traded her pain for praise, and trust God is enjoying her more than we ever could.

Yours in Him

Roy, Angela, Nathan, Dad and Ma.

MCOD

Rachel Update

Rachel has been very peaceful the last two days. She’s been sleeping alot. She does however not like sleeping in her cot, and Angela (or whoever else is nearby) needs to hold her for her to be confortable (i.e. not cry)

They tapped her again today and she seems to be in very little pain or discomfort – The only thing she cries for/about other than being held is her bottle, which she hasn’t been getting due to the “tube-feeding” – She gets a sip of water every now and then which she really seems to enjoy.

We continue to pray that Our Lord will give her grace and keep her without pain.

Yours in Him

Roy, Angela, Nathan, Rachel, Dad and Ma

Sheikh Zayed dies

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, president and founder of the United Arab Emirates, died last night after many years of poor health – He was about 90.

Sheikh Zayed’s son, Crown Prince Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, will automatically take over as ruler of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.

Under the UAE constitution, Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, will act as president until the federal council, which represents rulers of the seven emirates, meets within 30 days to elect a new president.

The Supreme Courts have declared 40 days of morning – Government departments will be closed for 8 days and private companies for 3.

Pulmonary edema

The results of yesterdays tests have come through – Angela met with the doctors this morning and Rachel’s medical outlook is rather bleak. Rachel has Pulmonary edema, which basically means fluid accumulating and swelling in her lungs. Further, as her spleen and liver continue to expand, along with the ascites (i.e. fluid build-up in her abdomen) the area in her little body for her lungs and heart is about half what it should be, making things a bit more complicated as well.

Rachel is on medication for the pain and Angela said she’s been restful and sleeping all morning, which is something we’re very happy about.

Please pray for us all during what seems to be the last stages of Rachel journey here on earth as she starts towards a much long longer one … an eternal one, full of promise, praise, joy, and Our Father watching over her.

Yours in Him

Roy, Angela, Nathan, Rachel, Dad and Ma

Another Quick update

Just spoke with Ang’ again – As we were told earlier Angela has had a busy morning. They took a chest x-ray of Rachel, and also some of the phlegm to test in an attempt to identify the virus.

Rachel had some physio to loosen her chest as well and at the moment is sleeping, rather soundly.

We’re hoping to get the results of the chest x-ray and phlegm sample by this evening

Quick Update

Just spoke with Ang’ (who had a rather broken night of sleep)

She spoke with a doctor already and later today they’ll take a chest x-ray of Rachel as well as some tests on the extract (i.e. phlegm) – They may even do some physio to try loosen up her chest.