Our Kids Are Awesome!

Well, she did it! This week Katie did a very brave thing that is hallmarked by many chemotherapy patients, she shaved her head. And I must say along with our kids, I love it! I think she looks amazing. She pulls it off beautifully. It doesn’t hurt that she is a natural beauty anyways. It was actually a fun day, we all took turns in the chair. Katie’s sister, Rachel is a cosmetologist so we all had our chance to get a new hairdo. Sammy our 7 year old shaved his head with mom, almost too eagerly. He then vowed that he would “not grow his hair back until mom can”. He’s a good boy.

Spencer bleached part of his hair, Jimmy dyed it pink (but it didn’t last), Jenna and Mariah put pink in their hair and Ephraim ran away :). I sat in the chair and said go ahead and shave it off, but I think Katie opted for wanting to look at me instead, so I received my normal conservative seminary teacher haircut. When it was Katie’s turn, we all took an opportunity to shave a portion of her head, I’m sure it was a surreal moment for her, but I think it was a welcome change from watching her hair fall out every day.

She received her 2nd chemo treatment last Monday, as it seems to follow the pattern, this is the hard week for her. This time we were more prepared and familiar with the signs of her symptoms, so we were able to stay on top of her medications and monitor her food and water intake to better stave off dehydration. Even though it was a very tough week, she was able to avoid any hospital visits this time. This next week we are expecting to see her pull out of the bad symptoms and get her energy back up. It is a constant roller coaster ride.

Throughout this whole experience, we have really been concerned about our kids. We are blessed to have 6 children ranging between the ages of 13 and 2 years old, and we are constantly concerned with how they are reacting to the changing environment at home. I have been amazed to see how they are responding to this challenge. I see them showing acts of kindness towards their mother every day. I love how tender they can be towards her. They also can be typical whiny, hard to deal with kiddos! But the tender moments far outweigh the tough ones, not necessarily in frequency but in impact. We also love it when friends and neighbors have reached out to serve our kids during this whole experience and focus on their needs. We recently had an experience that touched my heart and showed me that God is continually reaching out to bless our family through others.. About a half hour after we cut Katie’s hair, there was a knock on our door, I opened the door to find a very large box blocking the person carrying it. It ended up being carried by an amazing couple that lives in our neighborhood, they came in and set the box down and tenderly told us how much they loved our family. They then told us that they have wanted to serve our family, but humbly told us “we can’t cook well” they continued, “so we thought that this would be something your family could use”. We opened the box and found it stuffed full of every amazing children’s snack found in the grocery store. Fruit roll-ups, Granola bars, lunchables, gold fish crackers… you name it. I thanked them and found it hard to express to them how much that really meant to us. And especially how incredible it was to receive that in the wake of a hard moment, it allowed our kids to be distracted from a hard moment and find some joy.

We continue to love and appreciate everyone who reaches out. It continues to teach us how to serve people better. A hero of mine is a man named Chris Williams who years ago lost his wife and two children in an accident with a drunk driver. From his experience he once said “I’m grateful that God allows tragedy and trials to occur in our lives, Not because they are easy or because they are desired, but because they help us love.” We continue to see that characteristic increase in our family every day.