No-Mo-Kemo!

Kids enjoying the No-Mo-Kemo par-tay!

So, three and a half years ago (November 29 will be 4 years), my dear fried Lisa had a tremendous shock. She and her husband Denny were expecting their fourth child in less than a month when their youngest son, James complained of a sore arm. Being that James was, at the time, the youngest and that Thomas and Avery, his older brother and sister, can be pretty rowdy, Lisa thought, "hmm ... better take him to the doctor. He might have a fracture or something." So to the doctor they went. But the day did not go as she had thought. Instead of a diagnosis of broken arm, they got the diagnosis of cancer. James, who was just about to turn 3, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblasitc Leukemia. (Read more about his diagnosis and treatment here).

Lisa and I had known each other for several years, as we'd attended church together. But it wasn't until I was married and a mom that we had an opportunity to really get to know one another when we did a Beth Moore Bible Study with some other sweet girls from church. James and Dylan were buddies in Sunday School.

Over the months following James' diagnosis, I saw first-hand God's grace through Lisa and her family, as well as our church family. Despite James' sickness, she (super-pregnant!) and Denny always had a smile and an unfailing confidence in God's healing power. They knew that God had brought them to just the right doctors who knew just the things to say and do, not only to heal James but to reassure his parents and siblings. And our church family rallied. I remember distinctly that via e-mail we asked Lisa, "What can we do?" and she sent a reply with a list of chores: Sweep the back porch, disinfect the house, need help picking up Thomas and Avery ... All of the things that as a mom and wife she was doing everyday had been put on hold during this time of hospital visits, chemo and the birth of Baby Amber that December. I'm sure that all of the responsibilities of motherhood and wife-dom seemed overwhelming and sometimes not very important in the face of this life-altering disease. Such a scary word: Cancer.

God's response to Lisa and Denny's faithfulness was awe-inspiring. From the love showered on their family by the community at large to the love their family showed in return ... and finally, James' healing ... On Friday, July 17, this community of family and friends was together to celebrate the end of James' chemo and his remission at James' No-Mo-Kemo Party at Lisa's parents' home. We got there on Friday evening to a crowd of friends, neighbors, relatives ... and the kids! Oh, boy. James with his blonde surfer hair (just a little too long over his collar - oh, so handsome!) and his brother and sisters, running through grass, swinging, sliding, eating delicious foods ... healthy and happy.

It is often hard from day-to-day to remember that God is not only all-knowing and all-powerful, but that He is also all-loving. On our worst days, He loves us more than we could ever dream ... and when we fall down and forget to believe, He waits patiently for us to seek His forgiveness and all-sheltering love. Through the last four years, I have watched Lisa and Denny keep-on-keeping on, but not of their own strength or will - but because they new the love and peace that comes from knowing their Heavenly Father. Knowing them as I do, I have no doubts that were the story to have ended any other way, they would still be seeking God's will in the midst of the storm ... but for James, the story is just beginning - he's six years old with the world ahead of him and the Lord ready to carry him ...

from Lisa's last post on James' CaringBridge journal:

In Exodus 15:26, God introduces Himself, "I am the Lord, who heals you." This word heal means to mend by stitching, to repair thouroughly, to make whole. I ask for prayer for the children and their parents who are still struggling on earth with leukemia. I know that God will still heal them in His way NO MATTER WHAT happens to their physical bodies.