So I am starting this particular blog like no other. For it's this morning that I really don't know what to say. I just know that I need to write.
It's been a very hard few weeks in the DIPG community. And even as I type this, I feel like these words leave my mouth way too often.
These three beauties have so much in common. They are all girls that loved color, fun, and giggles. They all lived in Florida. And now, they all are healed in the arms of Jesus after a long, treacherous battle with DIPG.
Really only those who have loved a DIPG child and been by their bedside can know the horrors of the disease. It's very nature is brutal, stealing away all signs of innocence and bringing about merciless madness.
And yet I find that these little bodies whch must endure such a thing, continue on, fighting hard for every little smile.
We said good bye to Lillian Grace and Emma last week. And now we say good bye to beautiful Keira, all friends, all fighters, and now all together again.
I'll say it, though it needs not to be said: I hate cancer.
We said good bye to Lillian Grace and Emma last week. And now we say good bye to beautiful Keira, all friends, all fighters, and now all together again.
I'll say it, though it needs not to be said: I hate cancer.
With each loss, the scar that begins to heal is ripped open to expose a bloody wound. The death of Molly is brought up to the very surface and I am reminded how hard those last days were.
The only good that I can see out of any of it is that because I loved and lost Molly, I can empathize with these families like no other. Not a group I really wish to be a part of, however, I understand. Therefore my hug perhaps, means more. My words maybe won't be wrong. My look is not pity, but understanding.
Sigh.
I teach my 5th grade girls Sunday School class that God has a special purpose for each of their lives but they must be willing to ask God what that purpose is and then follow His direction when He makes it clear. Molly's purpose shows up in my class to this day as her story allows me to lead a visitor to the Savior saving arms and I thank God again for giving Molly to a family that was willing to share her battle knowing God was leading every step of the way. You needed our prayers and we needed Molly's story. Hard as it is, I do see that part of God's purpose for you, and maybe even the most important work He's called you to do, is to share the empathy and hugs and understanding with other families in a way no one else can. Yes, it will tear open your own wound you try so desperately to heal but when those families see your willingness to bleed again to be there for them it shows love in action and gives these families hope that this valley, through which they must walk, is not going to be without someone willing to walk alongside who really understands. We were willing to trust Jesus as our Savior because He bled and died and rose again to give us the hope of eternal life. We look at the cross and see love in action and that hope helps us remember that "we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses" so we can "run with patience the race that is set before us" and we are encouraged to walk through life's valleys because we know we do not walk alone. Praying for you today and all the families whose lives have been touched by this hideous cancer. You are all winners in my opinion--not for your achievements but for your character.
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