Will It Get Easier?

 I have about fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes before I have to kick it into high gear and get 4 children loaded into the car. One will go to my friend's house in Staunton. Two will stay with another friend here at the house. And one will come with Rick and I to UVA for an MRI. I bet you can guess which one is the lucky one to get to go to the hospital. Yep, Andrew. He will travel with us to the familiar place he knows for his first MRI scan. This is a base scan to not only see how his internal scars are healing but also to see what the "base number" of cancer cells will be to compare all the other scans to in the future.  This shouldn't be a "big deal" right? His last physical with the oncologist showed everything looking great. Andrew is behaving normally and the doctors have no concern that anything has changed.  But for us as a family today reminds us that so much has changed.
 This week has been a week of celebration and anxiety. We celebrated the resurrection of Jesus on Easter. We celebrated the hope we have now that death has been defeated and the hope that we have for eternal life with God. The kids all talked about the pain and suffering Jesus had to through before He died and how awful the people were to Him. We made "Tomb Cookies" and cheered as the story was told that Jesus was ALIVE. We also have had an underlying anxiousness as we remain in this world waiting for the return of Christ. A return that will wipe away pain, tears, and sickness. We face another doctor, another scan, another phone call that lets us know we are in the clear. The nervousness shows its ugly head in short tempers, busyness to keep distance from people, exhaustion, sleeplessness, and fear. The kids have asked several times how long we will be at the hospital and if Andrew will be coming home. Andrew has shed a few tears knowing his siblings get to stay with friends and play and he has to go back to the hospital. I have prayed for him as he doesn't have his central line anymore so he will have to have an IV placed in his arm again. All these things that little ones shouldn't have to go through. We do this by faith...trusting that God has placed amazing doctors, nurses, and caretakers in our path to take care of our Andrew. Trusting that this scan will come back fine and we can continue on into spring with our little ones full of life. We are reminded of the brokenness of this world and the trials we go through, but we also have the hope that this isn't the end of the story.
 Please pray for us today. Pray for our little ones that will be away from us and their caregivers. Pray for Andrew...that he will be brave with the IV and the procedure. Pray for the doctors, nurses, and all the caregivers that will be back with him for a few hours. And pray for Andrew's parents...that we will be strong for him and full of faith to believe that God is in control.
 One more cute story. The kids were doing puzzles nicely today as I was cleaning up the kitchen. Madi was doing a puzzle with different vehicles on it. One was an ambulance. She talked about the medical label on it and how this truck took care of sick people. We talked about how thankful we are to have things like this to help people get well. Andrew sat listening intently and then piped up, "Hey Mommy? Guess what? I am home now. I am home." I got tears in my eyes because I know he was declaring that he was not sick anymore and didn't have to stay at the hospital. He was home where he wanted to be. I know the road that we have in store for us for at least another 2 years. We will hold our breath with each scan and wonder if it might take a turn for the worst. But we will keep reminding ourselves of the God we serve and praying that God will continue to bring Andrew home!