News...

I know I haven't shared many details here lately, and I love that you guys still showered the situation with prayers and kind thoughts anyway. And although it's not really my story to share, I just need to give God some praise, and you can't fully appreciate His goodness unless I tell you a bit more.

To keep a long story relatively short, my best friend's little boy, Landon, had been complaining of pain in his leg, and after a trip to the ER and an x-ray, the doctors found a lesion on his pelvic bone. A subsequent MRI led the doctors to believe that he either had osteomyelitis (a bone infection) or a tumor there. Bloodwork has essentially ruled out infection, so the doctors did a biopsy. Additionally, because the doctors believed that it was a malignant tumor based upon Landon's symptoms and the placement of the lesion, they went ahead and did a PET scan while they were waiting for the results of the biopsy.

To understand why those closest to the situation have been particularly devastated, you'd need to know that my best friend's precious mother passed away from cancer a little less than four years ago. As you can imagine, it was very, very hard news to swallow for a family that had already fought this battle once before... and lost. And as has probably been evident from my recent posts, I have had a really hard time giving my hope a chance to float up.

But God has continued to draw me close throughout the past week, reminding me that He hasn't walked away from this storm. In fact, He's been sitting in my boat with me, and I've just been waiting for the seas to calm. Rather than fear the worst, I finally allowed myself within the past few days to have faith in His power to work wonders.

And, although, the coast is still far from clear because we still don't have the biopsy results and know that there may still be difficult times ahead, the doctor delivered some wonderful news yesterday. The PET scan was clear, which means that if it is cancer, it's contained to Landon's pelvic bone and has not spread to any other part of his body. It may seem crazy that we can still rejoice in this even though the doctor has already suggested that it is likely cancer, but for a family who knows what metastasis can mean, this is huge.

So, although I don't know what the future holds, I do know that I'm not afraid to believe that God can work wonders. I'm not afraid to ask the Lord for a miraculous work in this sweet little boy and to trust in His goodness. Thanks again for all of your kind thoughts and prayers. I have been passing them along to Lauren, and I know that she and her family, as well as I, appreciate them more than you can know.