My book “The Grapes Are Worth It” is available on Kindle
Authors Brendan and Angela Mc Cauley
It tells the story of how God helped us in our struggles to raise our fourteen children.
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How to Access my New Book, The Grapes are Worth It.
If you look up my husband’s website, as above, you will find my book The Grapes are Worth there. I wrote the bare bones of my story and Brendan who is a gifted writer, added the flesh.
it is a testimony of how God helped my husband Brendan and myself in our life together and how He helped us raise fourteen children.
God rewarded my Faith in Him. I believe in what His Word, the Bible says. John”s gospel says The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. This is Jesus who was born, lived in a family like us, healed and delivered anyone who came to him, and died a cruel death on the Cross.
I availed of this historical fact. Jesus body did not stay in the grave. And he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans’ v 4
When I believed in Jesus I received the blessings He won for me by His death on the cross. Forgiveness of sins, healing of diseases, deliverance from demons, and restoration of relationships and the promise of eternal life.
Our marriage would have ended because of our life style of rebellion. I turned to God because I wanted my marriage to survive and raise my two children. God turned my life around from cursing to blessing. Deuteronomy 28. Leviticus 26
Recognise. Daily Prompt.
Dont I recognise youI” said the doctor to my husband. ” I have seen you before.” My husband just looked at him. Brendan was asked to come join me in the waiting room in the accident and emergency department of the local hospital. The doctor had just examined me. My daughter who is a doctor and my husband thought from my symptoms I must have cancer. They were anxious to hear the doctor’s opinion of my condition.
“Are you the man with the big family?” Brendan wanted to know how I was and not be questioned on another subject.
” I know now. Did you write books for India? There are two books of yours in my mother’s home in Kerala, India. There is a photo of your big family on the front.”
Brendan was perplexed.
Now to the matter of my condition. He discovered a firm mass in my bowel when he examined me. He didn’t mention cancer, but said he would refer me for further tests to the cancer unit in Belfast and request immediate attention. I got an appointment to see a specialist in two weeks time. There is usually a longer waiting time. We got favour because the doctor recognised Brendan.
We left the hospital resigned that I had some serious condition. We went home to tell our family that mummy wasn’t well. I had always been healthy. The only time I was in hospital was to have my children. I felt numb. My husband felt numb. We were weak and began to think of what the future would hold for us. I felt I was dying. I had no strength.
Brendan began to reflect on meeting the India doctor earlier in the hospital. Before the doctor told Brendan any bad news, he reminded Brendan of the books he had written for India. Brendan and I had sacrificed our time and finances to write two books for a Christian ministry, “Christ for India.” The Lord was speaking to his heart and saying “I am here with you in your day of trouble. I remember your sacrifice for the poor.”
Psalm 91 gives me a promise from God’s Word, I will be with you in trouble and deliver you out of it.
Psalm 41 says, he who has regard for the poor The Lord will raise him up from his sick bed.”
Psalm 112 says The man who fears the Lord will have no fear of bad news.
In my day of trouble and weakness God reassured us of his care. He is faithful to keep his promises. Thus began my journey through cancer. Four months later I believed I was healed of fourth stage cancer.
It was good the doctor was on duty that day. He did recognise Brendan, the man with the big family.
Cancer Healed
I have experienced malignant cancer healed completely. The effect of cancer was reversed and the tumour disappeared. I am cured through the power of Jesus.
Today is the fourth anniversary of me going to the doctor with symptoms of colon cancer. It was confirmed weeks later after I had a colonoscopy. The Oncologist Nurse told me I had malignant cancer.
The definition of malignant according to the Marriam-Webster dictionary is
medical : very serious and dangerous : tending or likely to grow and spread in a rapid and uncontrolled way that can cause death
I was stunned. Everyone thought the inevitable.
I had an MRI scan and a CT scan taken later. All the results of these procedures were considered by the Oncologist team in the City Hospital in Northern Ireland. This hospital is well known for the care of cancer patients.
I looked at the photos taken of the cancer. I saw the reddish growth. The scans showed I had a 9cm tumor in the lower part of my bowel. I had fourth stage cancer. The doctors treat the patient hoping to extend life but they do not offer a cure.
The head doctor told me his team had discussed my case. They decided the best way to treat me was to have five weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This was just to reduce the tumor. I would have an operation to remove the tumor and the part of my bowel which was affected. I would have an ileostomy fitted.
I was very sad and depressed. My family and others began to pray for me.
In the past I had prayed for people to be healed. I believed in Jesus who when he was on earth cured those who were ill, Luke 9 v 11 NIV. He is the only one who offers a cure. I was too weak to pray for myself.
I went through radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment. I did not have any side effects of burning, nausea or hair loss. The doctor called me to have an operation six weeks later. I believed I the cancer healed completely. The doctors were annoyed with me. They said treatment does not cure cancer. You need an operation! The head doctor examined me and confirmed there was no tumor. He gave me a letter saying so.
Four years on I remain healed of cancer and I am restored to health and strength, more than before. I believe cancer will not come back.
It is by faith in Jesus I am healed and remain healed.
Nahum 1 v 9 “Trouble will not come a second time.”
I give glory to God for his tender mercies to me.
My book Staying Alive is the story of the cancer healed.
How my Plans were Directed by the Inspiration of a Hymn
The day before I was due to travel to Jerusalem, I awoke singing the hymn, “Nearer my God to Thee.” I had not been singing this hymn or heard it for a very long time. I only knew a few verses. I sang them over and over before I got out of bed.
I looked up the internet to find out all the words. The hymn was written by Sarah Adams in the Nineteenth century and inspired by Genesis 28 v 11 to 19
“So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it…”
Here are the words.
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Chorus: Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Though like a wanderer, the sun gone down.
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Chorus
There let the way appear steps unto heav’n;
All that Thou sendest me in mercy giv’n;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee,
Chorus
Then with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Chorus
Or if on joyful wing, cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
Chorus
I Iistened to the hymn being sung on u tube. I was enjoying this early morning praise, when I was rudely interrupted by the door bell. My neighbour came to tell me our car was just stolen from the car park, in broad daylight. I let my husband deal with it.
Police were contacted. The thief had entered our home through the back door, stole the keys from the kitchen and started the car. All this happened while I was upstairs listening to the hymn! I thought to myself, “Something good is going to come out of this.”
Next day we left for Israel. We were meeting friends there. They wanted to see the historical sites in the old City of Jerusalem.
One morning Brendan was reading from a book about Jacob having a dream in Bethel. I said “I want to go to Bethel.”
That morning I had been reading in the bible from Exodus 20 v 24
“Build altars in the places where I remind you who I am, and I will come and bless you there.” Jacob had built an altar to God at Bethel after he had the dream.
So I said “I think we should go there.” A week later we all agreed to go to Bethel. We hired a Taxi. We drove thirty kilometres north. We came to the city of Ramallah. Bethel was three miles from there. Our driver took us to the site when Jacob had his dream.
It was wonderful to look out over the land of Israel from the spot where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived so long ago.
The house with the domed roof is the site of Jacob’s dream.
“Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants. ” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord. (Genesis 12:7, 8 NLT)
Photo taken from inside the domed building.
We went down to the site where it is said to be the place where Jacob had his dream. That was a special moment for us all. I believe we were blessed by God there, just as I read from the bible a week earlier. Many are the plans of a man but God directs his path. I believe we were directed by God to go to Bethel. Three things happened to lead us, Bethel mentioned in the Hymn, Brendan reading about it in his book and my reading from the bible. Let everything be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses.
We return home tomorrow. We will look for a new car!
Do you Believe you will ever write a Book
Some years ago I was travelling home from America. My family had send me on a holiday for my birthday. I was sitting beside a lady who was writing on a small computer. She was making notes for a book she was writing. I was returning home to a houseful of children to be reared and there would certainly be no time for writing. Have you watched the film “Cheaper by the dozen?” The mother of the children wrote a book! I wondered if I would ever write a book. The only writing I was doing was jotting down notes about my daily readings from the bible. My husband called them “My Rewrites.” He teased me saying “Are you going to rewrite the bible.”
Ten years on, I was on my way home from Canada to Ireland. What was I doing? I was writing notes for my blog. I would never have dreamed that I would be doing this. With the quick advancement of technology over these last years one does not have to make reams of notes in books with a pen. I can do much writing on my i Pad. One can e mail, send pictures, take pictures, blog, all with the press of a button. Brendan bought it for me on my last birthday. As I sit to write, memories come flooding back to me. The Holy Spirit brings things to mind.
I have resisted writing before. I resisted thinking back to the past. I did not have good memories. I resisted writing letters to anyone because I wanted only to write if I had some good news to tell. I did not have the peace, confidence or courage before. God promises he will make a way when there is no way.
I have resisted anyone loving me. I have resisted showing love. I was embarrassed at first when I visited Canada. Waitresses in the cafes were friendly and smiling. People talked about having fun. A husband would call his wife honey. A wife would call her husband sweetie. I was embarrassed. I have never called my husband sweetie in my life.
Maybe the Irish are too numb from pain to express genuine love. It can be embarrassing to hug someone you don’t know. We can be sharp to tear someone down with our tongues. I want to speak kindly and be pleasant to others. Very often we don’t say anything and retreat into silence because of fear of being rediculled or someone retorting in anger because they don’t agree with your opinion.
There is a saying that goes if you can’t say anything good don’t say anything at all. Perhaps trust is broken and one cannot be open again. One puts up the defences to protect ones heart from wounding.
But God has healed my heart and mind of past traumas. “Perfect love casts out fear.” I can now look back and remember the good. A friend has come back into my life this last week. As we talked she remembered good times when we met together with our children. More restoration and healing for me.
There is a Psalm that describes how I feel.
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. (Psalm 126:1-6 NIV)
Unto us a Child is Born
We all loved Nora. Then one day Shann and Brendan started praying for another baby. They said, Mummy we want a baby brother as well. They thought babies just come to order. They had childlike faith. Eighteen months later Aaron was born.
Aaron was a beautiful baby. The scripture says, Moses was a beautiful baby. When Moses was born Pharoah had the midwives kill all the male Israelite children because he feared the nation of Israel would grow too strong. But when Moses’ mum saw that Moses was a beautiful boy she defied Pharoah’s decree and hid the child and kept him alive. No abortion for Aaron.
The Mary Rankin, in Coleraine was an old style maternity home where you could have your baby and your GP would attend. It was staffed by caring midwives. It didn’t have the clinical atmosphere of a hospital. It was only a five minute walk from our home, over the bridge across the river Bann.
When my labour increased I packed my bag and Brendan and I walked over to the home. Labour continued throughout the night. Aaron was in no hurry. It was time to have my baby when the night shift had to change. Instead of leaving the night nurses stayed on to see the new baby. The new staff were in the labour ward as well. The doctor was also iin attendance when the baby arrived. The circus had come to town.
Brendan and I had been sharing our faith in Jesus with the night nurses. At this stage of our journey we were also both baptised in the Holy Spirit. We both spoke in toungues. When I’d have a pain I would begin to pray in the Holy Spirit as long as the pain lasted. I believed Jesus would help me through my labour without it being unbearable.
It was like a prayer meeting in the delivery room with six nurses watching and the doctor pacing the floor. At one point the nurse helping me said “Angela lift up your leg,” and just then a massive labour pain kicked in and I yelled at the top of my voice, “Lift up The Lord,” and Brendan and I started loudly speaking in toungues. Aaron was born in revival. A healthy ten pounds ten ounces boy was born with no complications on April the eleventh near Easter time. I later met two of the nurses who attended that revival who told me they became pregnant shortly afterwards.
This morning in Zante there was a little boy in a high chair at breakfast. He reminded me of Aaron. He was calling “Abba, Abba” to his daddy. God wants us to call him Abba – Daddy. There is no other God who wants us to call him a child’s first word to his father.
We now had four children, two under two years old. We bought a big pram, an old fashioned type, that could hold one baby at the top and one at the bottom and a week’s shopping underneath. It was a bit like a stagecoach. The pram was the only vehicle we owned. I took my babies out in the pram for walks, shopping or to visit friends. All recreation was within walking distance.
One day I went to visit one of the well-off ladies from the prayer group. Her husband was a business man and they lived in a posh end of town. I was half way up her driveway with my pramful of life when the husband put his head out the window and roared “My wife is not at home.” He obviously wanted to keep us well away from his big house. I can still feel the sting of those words.
I took all my children to church. I carried the youngest baby in a sling tucked close to me so if the child cried I could breast feed the baby discreetly, or so I thought. One day a man complained that “I should not be feeding the baby in church.” I was discouraged. One man did not want me visiting his wife and another complaining about me feeding my baby in church. Then I read the scripture in Joel 2:16 about calling the nursing mothers and the infants at their breast into the solemn assembly. God did not disapprove of my breastfeeding in church and I would feed a whole lot more before it was all over.
Growing up my son Aaron was not like the rich man shouting out the window for the poor to go away. Aaron excelled at sports and athletics but he was not proud. His circle of friends always included the weak and rejected. He really loved all classes of people.
Now Aaron has a son of his own also called Aaron, as well as two wonderful little girls, Sara Joye and Eilish. He is married to Marta from Slovakia. Brendan and I now travel to her country and share about how God has healed me. Aaron and Marta inspired us to translate my book Staying Alive into Slovakian. To date 5,000 copies are distributed in Slovakia.. Through this Slovakian connection we now have also translated the book into Italian. Seems like we are publishing our books into the language of the spouses of those children in the stagecoach pram.
Way to go. Pressing on!
Healed of Cancer. Angela McCauley 