The Date That Taught Me the Most Important Lesson

February 27, 2017 

By 2 a.m. on that fateful morning, Matt was finally settled into room S612 at Boone Hospital and the pain meds were kicking in. He had been in excruciating pain for more than a week so I found some relief in seeing his suffering ease, if only for a few hours.

We already knew Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia was what our doctor feared, but it wasn’t until 9:30 that morning that the results of a bone marrow biopsy taken bedside confirmed it. 

Here’s what I wrote about that day in our Caring Bridge journal:

“There is so much I could say but I really don’t know where to start. We are all vacillating between shock, sadness, hope and exhaustion. Matthew is handling everything with amazing grace and I am in awe of his strength. ...We are trusting that God has big plans for Matt and in THIS being a part of his story.”

Fast forward to February 27, 2020.

It started with prayers of thanksgiving early in the morning hours when sleep started leaving me to confront the realities of the day. I tried to stay in the present and thanked God for Matt’s recovery, for his continued remission, for the people we’ve met along the way, for all the ways people loved us and showed up for us. 

Beyond that, I thanked God for his faithfulness. His Words and promises had proven true - and not just because He answered our prayers for healing - but because He’s using the experience to heal brokenness we didn’t even know we had. 

As the morning of this February 27th progressed, I spoke with Matt on the phone and our recollections of the past three years left me emotional. Matt was heading to a career fair and then on to class. But shortly before noon, he started blowing up our family text string with sheer joy and excitement! He had just received an email, dated February 27, notifying him that he has been accepted into Truman State University’s Master’s of Education in English program. He was now one step closer to his dream of teaching becoming a reality. 

Isn’t it ironic how one February 27th held so much fear and sadness as the world we knew flipped upside down and all we could do was hold on for dear life and pray to God to be with us? And then this February 27th, God reminded us with this love note that He isn’t just the God of the past; but the God of the future - a future in which “He will be faithful to complete the work He has begun in us.”