One year ago today, on December 12, 2020, our youngest daughter was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The news was devastating, our daughter has been through more medical issues than most people see in a lifetime, and that was before leukemia came into our lives. But the diagnosis gave us answers to a lot of medical questions that were lingering and began us on a planned course of treatment.
We had no idea what the treatment was going to look like. We had witnessed others suffering from cancer, but never had dealt with it on a personal level. Because of various risk factors for our daughter, the majority of her treatments were inpatient. In total we spent well over 180 days in the hospital this past year. How we had the energy for it all… we didn’t. We simply did what we could for our daughter and relied on God to strengthen us through it all.
Its hard to say that we had perfect peace in the situation at every moment. We knew that God was in control, and that He did not desire evil for our lives, but walking by faith is harder than just talking the talk. We came to understand that God had allowed this to come into our lives, and He was the only one who could get us through. The one passage that I kept thinking back to more than any other was that in John 9, when Jesus answered the disciples questioning saying that the man’s blindness was not because of his sin, nor his parents, but was allowed that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
The difficulties of the past year are almost impossible to communicate unless you have been through it before. But God has been good through it all. He has protected our daughter in ways that we were not even aware of at the time. He has answered prayers and allowed her to be healed. And while she is not done with all of the treatment, she is in remission. We have seen God’s faithfulness as He has been with us every step of the way. And we have seen opportunities to share His love with others that we never would have had.
Last Christmas was spent in the hospital. This Christmas we will be home together as a family, and thankful for the provisions that God has supplied. May all glory be to Him who loves and cares for us eternally.
