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Friday, March 2, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Memorial date,time & location
Today we were able to secure a date and time for Mom’s memorial celebration.
March 17, 2012
11:00 am
Centralia Community Church of God
3320 Borst Avenue
Centralia, WA 98531
(360) 736-7606
After we are able to get her obituary printed in the local paper, we will post a copy of it on the blog for those friends and relatives that are far away.
Your continued prayers for Dad and the rest of our family is coveted as we wait upon the Lord even in the knowledge that we may not know His plan for taking Mom home while on this side of heaven. Over the next couple of weeks leading up to the memorial, please carefully consider sharing a favorite memory, trait, or thought about Mom’s life as it intersected your own. We will be providing stationary at the memorial for you to write these down, and plan to keep them for Ladeva’s grandchildren as a reminder of who their Grandmother really is.
Please continue to check in for updated information.
For all that loved Ladeva, we love you, and acknowledge your loss as well. God bless you and provide you peace and comfort in this difficult time as well.
Blessings-
Troy and family
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Angels rejoice!
It is impossible to sum up the human experience in a few paragraphs. Perhaps a great philosopher could construct an eloquent summary, but when it comes to my Mother, they would fall short.
Today, around 2:10pm, the Saints and Angels rejoiced louder than ever when Jesus entered the heavenly realm hand in hand with Ladeva Ann Dahlin.
After four years of fighting cancer with dignity, style and grace, Mom once and for all won the battle and was rewarded by her Heavenly Father with a new body, free of ailments and began leaping and singing His praises. There are no regrets for all the pain that the last four years have brought, as out of this pain was born an even greater sense of thankfulness and dependence on a Sovereign God, that has poured out His mercies and lavished us with love and unity.
Last night, we sat around Mom’s bed as a family and shared in the most beautiful time of telling touching stories, quoting scriptures, signing hymns, and loving on each other and Mom. Though she was non-responsive, she was able to hear everything that was said. The evening was filled with loving and kind words, laughter, some tears, but mostly Praise. Her grandson Kale, played his guitar and sang a song to his grandmother that was a special treasure, not just to her but blessed us all.
At the moment of her passing, Dad was holding her hand, and he did not let go until the Bride-Groom Christ came and took her hand. Though we will always have a part of her in and with us, she is now His to have and hold from this day forward, for better, in richer, in health, for eternity. We rejoice in the sound assurance that we will one day be together with her again. Though we have sadness, it is not defeat, though tears we have joy, though loneliness a Comforter is with us. We will fight against the enemy, to overcome with the Spirit of God making a way for us in the long days ahead.
Please continue to pray, especially for my Dad, as he puts one foot in front of the other in faith. We will continue to communicate through this blog with information about memorial services, and other thoughts, trials, prayers, and joys. We will read the responses daily to Dad to bolster his faith, and bring him peace.
God Bless you for your kindness, prayer, and support.
“…we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”-2 Corinthians 5:8
Blessings-
Troy and family
Today, around 2:10pm, the Saints and Angels rejoiced louder than ever when Jesus entered the heavenly realm hand in hand with Ladeva Ann Dahlin.
After four years of fighting cancer with dignity, style and grace, Mom once and for all won the battle and was rewarded by her Heavenly Father with a new body, free of ailments and began leaping and singing His praises. There are no regrets for all the pain that the last four years have brought, as out of this pain was born an even greater sense of thankfulness and dependence on a Sovereign God, that has poured out His mercies and lavished us with love and unity.
Last night, we sat around Mom’s bed as a family and shared in the most beautiful time of telling touching stories, quoting scriptures, signing hymns, and loving on each other and Mom. Though she was non-responsive, she was able to hear everything that was said. The evening was filled with loving and kind words, laughter, some tears, but mostly Praise. Her grandson Kale, played his guitar and sang a song to his grandmother that was a special treasure, not just to her but blessed us all.
At the moment of her passing, Dad was holding her hand, and he did not let go until the Bride-Groom Christ came and took her hand. Though we will always have a part of her in and with us, she is now His to have and hold from this day forward, for better, in richer, in health, for eternity. We rejoice in the sound assurance that we will one day be together with her again. Though we have sadness, it is not defeat, though tears we have joy, though loneliness a Comforter is with us. We will fight against the enemy, to overcome with the Spirit of God making a way for us in the long days ahead.
Please continue to pray, especially for my Dad, as he puts one foot in front of the other in faith. We will continue to communicate through this blog with information about memorial services, and other thoughts, trials, prayers, and joys. We will read the responses daily to Dad to bolster his faith, and bring him peace.
God Bless you for your kindness, prayer, and support.
“…we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”-2 Corinthians 5:8
Blessings-
Troy and family
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
"Love"
Love is a strange and wonderful gift that the Lord has given to us. It makes suffering more intense, but also allows joy to overcome the pain. Love can cause people to do things that are hard to fathom for others, except to those that share in it.
Love causes a woman to enter a crowded room and within minutes, identify the person that needs a friend, kind word, something to eat, or is lonely and is compelled to go to that person and share with them out of what they have. Over the course of my life, I have witnessed my Mother do this time and time again. She feeds the hungry, gives clothes to those that are exposed, visit’s the sick, and speaks to those that most of us would rather walk past. Like light through a crystal refracting around the room, the light of Christ has shined through her in directions that perhaps even she is unaware of.
Love causes a woman to fight cancer for years, endure surgeries, take chemo and radiation, with grace, dignity, and style. All the while, she comforts those that come to visit her, and shares from what she has. She fights and persists with the power that can only come from the Lord, and gives thanks through all she has to deal with.
Love causes a woman who struggles for breath, to make sure that her grandson Cameron has had enough to eat today. To ask her husband if he would be more comfortable in a chair rather than kneeling over her bedside. To raise her hands to praise Jesus Christ (and require assistance from her daughter to hold her hands up) and give thanks for His goodness and mercy.
Love causes you to read this blog, to pray for Ladeva and Warren, to cry, and to celebrate her life and its impact on yours. To reply to this posting with a special memory that you have of Mom, a scripture to uplift her, or just a word of encouragement.
Love causes a child to protect his Mother, by asking that no more visitors come to the house and allow Dad to spent these sacred moments together. As we move through the hours ahead, our hearts are selfishly saddened, and also overjoyed because of the legacy that this beautiful woman has passed on to us all, including you.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Love causes a woman to enter a crowded room and within minutes, identify the person that needs a friend, kind word, something to eat, or is lonely and is compelled to go to that person and share with them out of what they have. Over the course of my life, I have witnessed my Mother do this time and time again. She feeds the hungry, gives clothes to those that are exposed, visit’s the sick, and speaks to those that most of us would rather walk past. Like light through a crystal refracting around the room, the light of Christ has shined through her in directions that perhaps even she is unaware of.
Love causes a woman to fight cancer for years, endure surgeries, take chemo and radiation, with grace, dignity, and style. All the while, she comforts those that come to visit her, and shares from what she has. She fights and persists with the power that can only come from the Lord, and gives thanks through all she has to deal with.
Love causes a woman who struggles for breath, to make sure that her grandson Cameron has had enough to eat today. To ask her husband if he would be more comfortable in a chair rather than kneeling over her bedside. To raise her hands to praise Jesus Christ (and require assistance from her daughter to hold her hands up) and give thanks for His goodness and mercy.
Love causes you to read this blog, to pray for Ladeva and Warren, to cry, and to celebrate her life and its impact on yours. To reply to this posting with a special memory that you have of Mom, a scripture to uplift her, or just a word of encouragement.
Love causes a child to protect his Mother, by asking that no more visitors come to the house and allow Dad to spent these sacred moments together. As we move through the hours ahead, our hearts are selfishly saddened, and also overjoyed because of the legacy that this beautiful woman has passed on to us all, including you.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
-1 Corinthians 13:13
God bless you today. We love you.
God bless you today. We love you.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Unchartered Waters
Since our last post, God has been hard at work demonstrating His love and mercy upon Mom and Dad. Facing the diagnosis that time was short, plans quickly started to fall into place to make some dreams come true. On March 1st of this year, Mom and Dad will celebrate their 49th Anniversary. A big dream of theirs for the past several years was that on their 50th, that all of their children and grandchildren would celebrate with them in Hawaii. Given the circumstances, this just had to happen one way or the other.
On February 3rd, all 15 of us arrived in Kona on the big island. We spent 5 nights and 6 days in paradise as a family creating precious memories. Though there were many wonderful experiences, the top few far surpassed any "tourist" attraction, as they had eternal value.
On Sunday morning, we attended Living Stones Church for service. We were seated in the outdoor section next to the ocean, and worshipped our Living God with His beautiful creation surrounding us. We were blessed to take communion together as a family and meet some islanders that prayed with us after the service, as though we were a part of their own church family. It was a tremendous blessing.
Monday morning, we attended a worship service at YWAM (Youth With A Mission), University of the Nations in Kona. Nearly a thousand young people worshipping together and raising their voices in praise. Again, we had a wonderful time of prayer together as a family. We were able to see the campus and hear about much of the work that goes on there. What a blessing this place is in a dark world.
That evening we returned to YWAM for a Prayer/Worship service. The room that we met in was packed with nearly 200 young people who sang, prayed, sang, prayed, sang (you get the idea). Two and a half hours passed in no time, as we could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the place just as real as anything else in the room. A number of the young people and their leaders came over and began to pray for Mom and Dad. Soon, there was a large number of people gathered around in prayer that was palpable. The Lord's hand was in that room and on Mom and Dad, along with the rest of the family. A special "thank you" to our friends Craig Kline and Greg & JoLynn Murphy for taking time to make special preparations for us to visit YWAM, and be among God's people away from home.
All too soon, we had to return home to balmy western Washington. Mom and Dad following a few days later. They had to return 3 days early as Mom was struggling to breath and her machine to provide oxygen was not working correctly. Since returning, we have continued to meet one obstacle after another. Doctor's visits have been full of news we did not want to hear, a visit to the ER followed by the decision to initiate hospice care to best care for mom.
We have entered a new place of uncharted waters for our family, but still trust and wait upon the Lord.
We have been so blessed over the past four years of strife to have each of you supporting our family in prayer and sharing your love with Mom and Dad. We ask you to continue to pray fervently on their behalf, and we will try to do a better job of communicating to you through this blog.
With the outpouring of love that Mom and Dad are experiencing, we have had a great number of visitors over the past few days. Mom loves to see each of you when she can, the sheer volume of people coming to visit is vast. She has asked that anyone who wants to see her has access. We respectfully ask that if you come to visit, that you keep your visits short, as talking is very taxing for Mom and she doesn't want to miss anything so she winds up exhausted and fighting for air. I hope that you will understand that you are welcome and that your visits are appreciated greatly, but someone has to be the bad guy on her behalf to protect her, and I drew the short straw. We love you, we appreciate you, we ask for your continued covering through prayer, and hope to keep you better informed as we move forward in the days ahead.
In our weakness, His strength is perfected.
Troy
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
An unexpected report.....
John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Mom and Dad had felt confident about receiveing a good report yesterday from the cancer doctor. Mom is feeling good, and had no reason to think that there was anything amiss.
The Doctor's report showed that both lungs had tumors on them, 20 in all. There were two treatment options. 1) Medications could be administered that had the potential of extending her life, but the side-effects would be significant sickness. 2) No medication. This would allow Mom to feel good for a while without the side-effects of the medication. The Doctor stated that in their medical opinion, Mom was told that she could expect about a year to live.
After the initial shock of this news, Mom and Dad have made some decisions about how they will move forward from this moment.
1) God is still on the throne. Only God knows how many days each of us has left. He is in control and His will is perfect.
2) No matter how many days remain, live each one as the precious gift that it is! Love intensely, laugh often, Live for the Glory of God.
3) Give thanks for the blessings of family and friends. Spend quality time with them and make memories.
4) Enjoy all that life has to offer without dwelling on the struggles that come their way.
5) Speak boldly of the Eternal Life offered through Jesus Christ to those whom do not know Him as Savior.
To each of you who have been reading the blog over the past few years, we thank you for your outpouring of love and support. The Bible says that "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ". Mom and Dad will endure and will continue to fight the fight, not with a spirit of fear, but of strength and power, and sound mind. Your continued support will be cherished and a source of strength.
This story is not over. All of these things have happened so that the Glory of God may be revealed.
All our love,
Troy & Family
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
A post from Mom 11/22/11
I've been wanting to write something and let you know that all is going
well with me. I have been feeling good and enjoying doing normal things again.
I have been on several mini trips in the last couple months. I got to go to
Donna's with Edna and her daughter,my neice, Dayla. It was good to see Donna up and doing things, and see her hair coming in again!
well with me. I have been feeling good and enjoying doing normal things again.
I have been on several mini trips in the last couple months. I got to go to
Donna's with Edna and her daughter,my neice, Dayla. It was good to see Donna up and doing things, and see her hair coming in again!
Warren and I have made it to
Ocean Shores, and just recently went to Depoe Bay for a couple days. Our class
is planning a 50th reunion this summer. Karen Johnson and Nancy Suyat, Shirley
Beaber, Liz Powell, and Sandy Macomber came and we had our first planning
meeting here. It was fun to get together with them.In 2013, Warren and
I will celebrate our 50th anniversary! We are looking ahead, and planning a
trip to go to Hawaii to celebrate. Fifty years has sure gone by fast! It makes
you realize how short our lives really are, and how important it is to live it
well. It makes me think of one of my favorite Bible verses which says: " The
only thing that matters is expressing your faith through love." Gal.
5:6
Ocean Shores, and just recently went to Depoe Bay for a couple days. Our class
is planning a 50th reunion this summer. Karen Johnson and Nancy Suyat, Shirley
Beaber, Liz Powell, and Sandy Macomber came and we had our first planning
meeting here. It was fun to get together with them.In 2013, Warren and
I will celebrate our 50th anniversary! We are looking ahead, and planning a
trip to go to Hawaii to celebrate. Fifty years has sure gone by fast! It makes
you realize how short our lives really are, and how important it is to live it
well. It makes me think of one of my favorite Bible verses which says: " The
only thing that matters is expressing your faith through love." Gal.
5:6
I go back to Seattle on Monday, the 28th, for more testing, and we
will stay in Seattle as I have to see the Oncologist first thing on Tuesday.
I'm hoping and praying for a good report. I feel like it will be a positive
check up. I am so glad that I have a personal relationship with my God. I
don't know how anyone faces what I have been through without him. That is the
difference between religion, which is something you do over and over like taking
a shower, brushing your teeth religiously. Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus through His spirit living inside of you, comforting, strengthening, and teaching you. I am not looking forward to this check up, but I'm not afraid to go.We will have some of our kids for Thanksgiving. Our children and grands come every other year for Thanksgiving to keep it even with the other side of their family. Brian's mom and Dad will be gone this year, so we get to have Kim and Brian, Brittain and Paris. Also Warren's mom, brother, Gary sister, Sherry, and her special guy Tom will be here. We always look forward to our family days. I
want to wish you all a most wonderful Thanksgiving. We are thankful that you
are a part of our lives. Love Ladeva
will stay in Seattle as I have to see the Oncologist first thing on Tuesday.
I'm hoping and praying for a good report. I feel like it will be a positive
check up. I am so glad that I have a personal relationship with my God. I
don't know how anyone faces what I have been through without him. That is the
difference between religion, which is something you do over and over like taking
a shower, brushing your teeth religiously. Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus through His spirit living inside of you, comforting, strengthening, and teaching you. I am not looking forward to this check up, but I'm not afraid to go.We will have some of our kids for Thanksgiving. Our children and grands come every other year for Thanksgiving to keep it even with the other side of their family. Brian's mom and Dad will be gone this year, so we get to have Kim and Brian, Brittain and Paris. Also Warren's mom, brother, Gary sister, Sherry, and her special guy Tom will be here. We always look forward to our family days. I
want to wish you all a most wonderful Thanksgiving. We are thankful that you
are a part of our lives. Love Ladeva
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