Victimized

Today was just like any other day most recently. We got up, I went to work, Jenny and Lincoln went to clinic and Emma got to go see her friend Barbra. Today would have been like any other day most recently except for one thing....


Let me go back to last week when I was scrolling through Facebook and came across the name of another young boy with cancer. This boys Facebook page was Team Ethan, which happens to be the name of my nephew and a guy I worked with. I took a quick look and discovered that he was at OHSU/Doernbecher's children's hospital oncology unit, the same place we were with Lincoln. He was from Oregon so I started to follow his story. As the week went on I noticed something was wrong. This boy was in the hospital again After he had been in remission. That's not good. I started reading all the comments about prayer and support and the number of people who liked his page began to rise rapidly. In one week he went from just under 9000 to 15,000 people who were following. Then I read how bad his condition had become and that is when my heart started breaking for him and his family.....

My son is sleeping so peacefully tonight by my side...

But Ethan's family will spent the night without their son....

I realize that I have a lot more attention than I did before on Facebook and my blogs, but I never want that kind of attention. I never want people to 'like' my page because my son is dying. I only want people to forget Lincoln ever had cancer because he grew up and became a normal boy. I only want people to know he had cancer because he was willing to tell people that God healed him through answered prayers and professional men and women in the medical field. I do not want my family to become victims of this deadly disease and I will not let them.

If there's one thing I'm sure of today, it is that we will not be victimized by the horror that is cancer, but we will choose to let cancer die. Even though cancer tried to win today, it failed as Ethan took off on angels wings and was freed from pain and suffering. Although his body remains, he finds comfort in the arms of Jesus, who himself suffered in death until the day he was raised, and now lives Forever awaiting us all.

Cancer is the victim of it's own destruction.

Children are special to God and he won't leave them in pain. This is what I believe:

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16 NIV)

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all." He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." (Mark 9:35-37 NIV)