What To Do If You're Suffering

After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10

Three years ago I was settling in with my word for the year: JOY!

I felt a calling to savor this stage of life. We had our faith and our family. We had health and wealth. There was no reason to postpone joy any longer.

And then, in a blink of an eye, the word leukemia, robbed us of our innocence and tried desperately to steal our joy.

Through the months of my son’s chemotherapy and those 50 nights in the hospital, one thing that ALWAYS, ALWAYS brought me joy were these boys in these pictures. This pack had spent their high school years running cross country courses, playing basketball in the driveway and studying God’s word in our basement.

In the midst of all the pain and suffering, they were there. Really there. They showed up in ways that touched the depths of my soul and brought me JOY. (They even shaved their heads when Matt lost his hair!)

I’m not sure how Matt’s cancer changed them - as individuals or as a group. But what I do know is that they have something special. This week several of them were able to escape the Missouri winter and spend it Florida. Each day as I prayed for them, I thanked God for their role in Matt’s restoration. God has undoubtedly used them to strengthen and restore Matt, and in the process, I see that He has transformed them all.

And that will forever bring me joy.