Feelings Lately - Be A Match
I will just get right "to it." Lately, I have been feeling....sad. I actually have been a little torn. Why, you ask? Well, I know this lady. She is incredible. She loves the Lord and loves people with her entire self. She has been battling a disease called Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS..for those familiar, it is also what Robin Roberts has) for quite some time now. It is doing yucky things to her body and the medications/treatments she has taken have done yucky things to her. You know what it hasn't done? It has not touched her joy! It has not shaken her faith in our Jesus! It has not allowed her to give up on the promises that God has given to her (and us) in His Word.
You see, things are not looking good right now for my friend. That is what the doctors are saying to her. That is what we, as humans, are saying. But the truth is that things are about to be wonderful for her...more wonderful than we can ever imagine.
My heart is broken. I am so incredibly sad. When I think about walking into our church building and not seeing her smiling face and her hugging my neck and saying, "I love you, baby." My heart just can't take it. She has been such a prominent figure in shaping my six year old little girl's faith as her first Sunday school teacher when Rachel really understood who Christ is. She has pulled me aside when I was at my lowest and asked me what was wrong. She has baked more strawberry cakes for me than I can count and she has loved me no matter what I have had going on. She loves me....that is one thing I never doubted about this friend.
I have worked in the medical field long enough. I know why medically it makes sense to stop all of her treatments. I know why spiritually she will be so much better but you know what? It doesn't make it hurt any less. It hurts. It stinks. I am selfish. I want her here. But...
Ultimately, God placed me on this earth to be faithful and obedient to Him. If I am to do that, my desires must be in line with His. His Will is perfect. His plan is good. I may not understand it but I have to trust it.
What my friend has is treatable but patients with this condition must get a bone marrow transplant. Many people that my friend know and love have gone through the process of getting their cheeks swabbed to see get on the donor list in honor of my friend. What she said back when all of this started was that she hoped that if her life could not be saved through this, that maybe a child or someone else would be saved because of everyone being placed on the donor list.
I have a friend who has two children with rare genetic diseases that also require bone marrow transplants. Her little girl is 2 and has had her transplant. She is healthy and beautiful and thriving. Her little boy is just a little over a year old and has had some challenges with his journey. He did have a donor match early on but that donor has recently backed out. You can read about that here. I have followed this friend for a long time and this news was just devastating for them. Please go read about her precious family on the two links that I have just provided. Will and Kate are the kids' names and the family is precious. But...Will needs a bone marrow donor in order to live. He is 13 months old and his family is facing the hardest thing a parent will ever face.
If you have never considered being a bone marrow donor or you are not sure what the process is, it is very simple. You register at www.marrow.org. Then they send you a kit in the mail. You send it back and you are on the registry to save someone's life. That website also has information about what donating entails. Please consider at least being informed and reading about it. Then IF YOU ARE SERIOUS about donating for ANYONE IN NEED like Kate or Will or other friend, go to the website and register.
Please keep this family in your prayers as well as my church family and the family of my friend as we all prepare for the inevitable. My friend is at peace with her decision and hospice is being discussed. While we grieve this, I recognize that sometimes God calls people to these circumstances to show others how to go through it with grace. That, my friend certainly has.
You see, things are not looking good right now for my friend. That is what the doctors are saying to her. That is what we, as humans, are saying. But the truth is that things are about to be wonderful for her...more wonderful than we can ever imagine.
My heart is broken. I am so incredibly sad. When I think about walking into our church building and not seeing her smiling face and her hugging my neck and saying, "I love you, baby." My heart just can't take it. She has been such a prominent figure in shaping my six year old little girl's faith as her first Sunday school teacher when Rachel really understood who Christ is. She has pulled me aside when I was at my lowest and asked me what was wrong. She has baked more strawberry cakes for me than I can count and she has loved me no matter what I have had going on. She loves me....that is one thing I never doubted about this friend.
I have worked in the medical field long enough. I know why medically it makes sense to stop all of her treatments. I know why spiritually she will be so much better but you know what? It doesn't make it hurt any less. It hurts. It stinks. I am selfish. I want her here. But...
Ultimately, God placed me on this earth to be faithful and obedient to Him. If I am to do that, my desires must be in line with His. His Will is perfect. His plan is good. I may not understand it but I have to trust it.
What my friend has is treatable but patients with this condition must get a bone marrow transplant. Many people that my friend know and love have gone through the process of getting their cheeks swabbed to see get on the donor list in honor of my friend. What she said back when all of this started was that she hoped that if her life could not be saved through this, that maybe a child or someone else would be saved because of everyone being placed on the donor list.
I have a friend who has two children with rare genetic diseases that also require bone marrow transplants. Her little girl is 2 and has had her transplant. She is healthy and beautiful and thriving. Her little boy is just a little over a year old and has had some challenges with his journey. He did have a donor match early on but that donor has recently backed out. You can read about that here. I have followed this friend for a long time and this news was just devastating for them. Please go read about her precious family on the two links that I have just provided. Will and Kate are the kids' names and the family is precious. But...Will needs a bone marrow donor in order to live. He is 13 months old and his family is facing the hardest thing a parent will ever face.
If you have never considered being a bone marrow donor or you are not sure what the process is, it is very simple. You register at www.marrow.org. Then they send you a kit in the mail. You send it back and you are on the registry to save someone's life. That website also has information about what donating entails. Please consider at least being informed and reading about it. Then IF YOU ARE SERIOUS about donating for ANYONE IN NEED like Kate or Will or other friend, go to the website and register.
Please keep this family in your prayers as well as my church family and the family of my friend as we all prepare for the inevitable. My friend is at peace with her decision and hospice is being discussed. While we grieve this, I recognize that sometimes God calls people to these circumstances to show others how to go through it with grace. That, my friend certainly has.
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