One Sick Boy

As many of you know, I've been following the lives of several sick children for the past year. It all started with a little girl named Rebekah (link to her page on the side) who was fighting a rare form of cancer. She is 3 years old, and already a cancer survivor. While following the awful experiences of her life, and praying and crying for her family daily last summer, I came across little Maggie May's story. She was a little doll of a girl fighting a rare form of leukemia, and sadly succumbed to the disease last fall. (Joy, aka RubyG, has also been following these amazing kids.) And through both of those incredible families, I learned about Joshua and Oliver, little boys fighting cancer and leukemia as well.

If and when you ever feel like you are having a bad day, reading the stories of these kids and what their parents are enduring, will change your perspective on your life in a heartbeat. Recently, I've been reading the completely normal frustrations of both Joshua and Rebekah's mothers, as their children have ended their cancer treatments, and have started to become "normal" kids again. Having prayed so much for these little ones in the past year, I felt truly happy hearing that Rebekah can play pranks on her baby sister now.

I recently found out about 2 new children, and I just had to share them with you. The first one is Asher. He's a little preemie, born only 20 weeks into pregnancy. His twin brother, Jacob, passed away after only 7 weeks of life. While Asher is getting stronger each day, his life is still very fragile. You can learn more about him, here .

And just today I learned about a darling little boy named Colton. About a month ago he started suffering debilitating tremors (not seizures). The doctors are unsure of what is happening to him. He can't sleep, eat, speak, or do anything else really, on his own. His family can't leave his bedside. His story is very sad, and at times hard to read. I think they thing that has drawn me to him the most is that he looks just like my nephews. I hope you'll take the time to read his story as well. Colton's page

Some of you have asked me what the point is in reading these Caring Bridge sites. I don't know the families, and will most likely never meet them. What good is it doing them for a stranger to read their story? I think first and foremost the answer is just moral support. I think a mother stuck at a bedside of a very sick child with little to no contact with the outside world must find some solace and support and will to go on when she sees that 1,000 people read the story of her son's illness today. And how much more it must mean to the mother who has buried her 7 week old son when a complete stranger tells her she admires her strength and prays for her daily. Beyond all of that, is the amazing strength I get from reading the stories these families share. While I have never met Joshua's mother, Mrs. Brenneman has become one of my personal heroes. She runs a busy home with 4 other children, and her husband is a minister. While some people would give in to "poor poor pitiful me" she instead leaves amazing words of wisdom on her son's website almost daily. I am sure that if I met this woman I would simply stand in awe of her love and strength and ability to see good in the world around her.

I hope you'll visit these websites and learn more about these kids. They do deserve all the love, prayer, and support the world can offer. (And so do their incredible families!)