Friday, December 21, 2012

Come, Jesus, Come!

Friends,

Right before Thanksgiving Jen and I discussed taking the month of December off of blogging. It's been over a year of her and I writing together and it has really been fun. Writing has helped us both process the thoughts in our heads; it gave us a moment to pause and think about our feelings and beliefs.

During the week of Thanksgiving Jen found a lump in her breast. She immediately called the doctor because of the history of breast cancer in her family. We were hoping it was just a blocked milk duct but, after a whirlwind of appointments, found that it was cancer.

Everything happened very fast and of course the fact that she's at the end of a pregnancy had an impact on the decisions her, Levi, and her doctors had to make.

A couple of weeks ago she had a lumpectomy, putting off a mastectomy until the summer, once baby was born and chemotherapy was complete. The surgeon found that even though the tumor was small and in an early stage, it was fast-growing and there were precancerous cells left behind. She needed that mastectomy ASAP.

The baby will be born early, some time early January, followed by surgery and then chemo.

To say this is overwhelming is putting it mildly. There is so much to think about, and with four little ones three and under it is going to be an exhausting year. Both sets of parents will be coming to help. I plan to go out the last week of January. I know her church family is going to love them with meals and help. It's a time for Jen and Levi to receive.

In an e-mail Jen wrote to close friends and family she said:

Please pray for the obvious, that I will be cancer-free. That means a lot of things have to go right, but basically we just need me to be healthy. Of course as a mom my burden is the impact on my family. I know this will put extra pressure on Levi (who already gets bombarded every evening with 3 boys who are obsessed with his every move!), who never complains but already carries so much weight in our home. Our parents have generously offered to stop their lives and stay with us for some of these crazier periods, so we're beyond grateful for that. Unfortunately many of you know more than I do about what's ahead of me since you or your loved ones have gone through cancer with all its baggage. You especially will know how to pray.

Please pray for Jen and her family. This season of Advent is a time preparing for our Lord to come. June was born Christmas Eve three years ago and I followed the path of Mary and felt her anticipation of His coming. This year Jen's cancer has brought me to a new place of desiring Jesus to come. Not just anticipating Him, but truly wishing He would show up and bring us Home. It's a longing I've never truly grasped before. Please pray with me for Jesus to come in this situation and heal our Jen.

Love to you and yours,

Ann

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