What a lovely sound, not the sound of the bell itself, but what it signifies. The end of cancer treatment. On Tuesday Joshua had the privilege of ringing the 'ringing out bell' and signing his name on the board to show that his treatment is finished. It's been a roller coaster of a ride, but we are so proud of how he handled the treatment and got through to the other side. Of course we are not quite done yet, and we have months if not years of scans and x-rays and blood tests to come; hair to grow back; blood levels to normalise, energy to get back, strength to return, but we have come a long way.
Do I understand why this happened? Not really. Mostly I have come to terms with this, although I have moments of still asking why this happened to Joshua. There are little griefs; like realising that he will not be able to get any academic awards next week at school, when in past years he has swept the board. Also, just having a kid that looks like a 'cancer kid'
Early on in this, God gave me a few verses for Joshua. One was in Exodus 14:4 which says, "I have planned this in order to display my glory". I have no idea how this will play out but I pray that this will be so. Later on it talks about how the Lord opened up a path for the Israelite's, so that they were able to walk through the water on dry ground. I feel that God opened up a path for Joshua and he was able to walk through his chemo treatment. Joshua's consultant said that he has never had a patient go through the chemo schedule that Joshua has gone through without any infections, transfusions or other complications. For me, that has God's hand written all over it. The final verse in Chapter 15 says, "...for I am the LORD who heals you". Amen.
For those of you who read this blog and don't have a faith, I so encourage you to investigate. I don't know what you think about it all, maybe you think it's OK for me if that's my thing or it's an emotional crutch to help me through hard times. Faith is complicated, I don't have all the answers and I certainly have a lot of questions and a lot of things I don't understand. One thing I am sure about though, is that there is God out there who loves me and cares for me. We can have sucky days, months or even years in this life, but to all of us God offers the gift of eternal life that will be beyond our wildest imaginings! Don't miss out.
So thrilled for Joshua to be able to go home. Praying that you all quickly adjust to being back in Cairns as a whole family. God has used this situation for His glory and I am so proud of how all of you have coped, as you've trusted in God through very trying circumstances.
ReplyDeletePraising God with you. I'm sure the bells are ringing in heaven too!!
ReplyDeleteLoads of love to you all.
This is so cool.
ReplyDeleteLost for words.
Praise the Lord! In the past months we have been lead to pray that the doctors would be baffled by the way Josh traveled through his treatment and that the only conclusion they could draw was that Josh's healing was the blessing of God. In all of the uncertainty of the past months we have prayed that God would use this terrible journey to create opportunities for all of you to share your faith and point others to the love, joy, peace, hope and help that can be found only in Christ. I believe that God is only just beginning to open up those opportunities. The journey continues ... Praise the Lord!
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