Recently, I was given the opportunity to share with the women's leadership team at our church. When they had asked me, I immediately had these verses come to mind:
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. 19 So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.
I keep finding myself....surprised. As if somewhere down inside of me, I was believing that because Elijah has cancer, that we wouldn't have the same normal stuff like root canals, or sickness, or car trouble. But these verses were a good reminder for me....life keeps going! I need to adjust my expectations a bit....and not be quite so surprised.
Our van is in the shop getting fixed, and fortunately Ben had Wednesday and Thursday off since he is scheduled to work the weekend. He was going to stay home with the kids while I took Elijah down to CHLA. Four of the kids are stuffed up, two of them are coughing, and I hadn't been feeling well either. About an hour or so before I left for CHLA, it hit me. I was sick. I wasn't sure I could do it all by myself.
My mom was so kind to step in last minute and watch the kids for us. Ben and I drove her car down to LA. When we arrived at the hospital, Elijah's prosthetic had turned kinda funny, so his "eye" was pointed downward. After several tries, I finally got it reoriented.
Off to his blood draw. She did a great job-she got it on the first poke.
Our appointment with the oncologist was at 4pm, so we had time to grab a bite to eat at the hospital while we waited. Unfortunately, I still wasn't feeling well, so I couldn't eat much. We finally decided to check in for our appointment at about 3:30pm.
They were running behind, so we weren't seen until about 5pm or so. (Waiting is so much easier when you have a friend with you!)
Elijah is neutropenic. That means that his counts are pretty low. And it also means we have to be very, very careful. Any fever would mean going to the hospital right away.
As we knew, his genetic testing results confirm the germline mutation, so he will need an MRI every 6 months to make sure no tumors develop in the brain.
They will repeat the blood draw next week to make sure his counts are going up.
We headed home and were anxious to see all the kids. About 5 miles from my mom's.....we got a flat tire.
Ben got right to work changing it out (my hero!!!!), but then we discovered that the spare was low on air also. We made it to the gas station, put money in the machine....but no air. The gas station attendant worked on trying to figure out the problem for a few minutes before finally allowing us to use their main compressor in the back.
We got the kids and got everyone back home and in bed.
Today was long...and unexpected. But by God's grace...we were not surprised. We were able to have a really good laugh together about the tire fiasco. And we were able to be thankful. Because my mom was willing to watch the kids, Ben was able to be at a very important appointment with me, and even though I didn't feel well, it gave Ben and I some much needed opportunities to chat and hang out together. He's my best friend!! And he sure can change a tire! :)
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