Cade The Warrior

Hospital stays are so useful in reminding me why normal life is so stinking awesome. Good coffee, time with Chad before and after kids wake up or go to sleep, making meals, having to do laundry, etc.  We got discharged last Tuesday night (OF COURSE it was on a fasting Tuesday)and our hearts are still pretty happy about it. Cade is doing SO well! We even woke up to him spreading out a long line of triscuits on the ground at 6 am, so you know he’s back in action. We are incredibly thankful. We begin another 5 day this Monday, so we have a few prayer points, and a quick video devotional because it is Tuesday and we love our fasting Tuesdays around here. 1. Please pray Cade would enjoy his time swimming, running and playing this week and would be able to be as all boy as possible. 2. Please pray his kidney and bladder and body would be prepared for this reduced dose of chemo next week. Pray the reduction in the dose results in less blood transfusions, less platelette transfusio...

It's fasting Tuesday again! I am expectant for God to move in our hearts, and in yours. He "longs to be gracious to us, and rises to show us compassion," (Isaiah 30:18) and He is always willing and eager to hang out. He is the best friend! Life has been a whirlwind for the past 13 days while Cade has been inpatient for neutropenia. His white blood cell count is taking longer to recover, and while his energy and enthusiasm are uninhibited, we can't go home until his bone marrow shows us he is recovering. In the past two weeks, my sister and my cousin came to help, and that was a huge blessing. I keep coming back to the idea that God makes a way in the wilderness, and opens up pools of water there that keep our hearts sustained. It's still the wilderness and the desert, but there is a way for us! We are thankful. We are still expecting to start a five day chemo this next Tuesday after Memorial Day but that will all depend on his counts this Friday. The good ...

Happy fasting Tuesday! Above is a video devotional for this week, not specifically an update or with details about Cade, but more just thoughts we (I) have had recently. I hope these random thoughts can encourage you in some small way in whatever is on your plate personally. We have officially completed Week 21 of chemo. We are on the downhill slide and we could not be more excited about it. This week Cade is currently inpatient waiting on his counts to rise. His spirits are up, his stomach feels good, and he is getting a little antsy in a hospital room. My sister and cousin came in town to help with the girls, and it has been a very encouraging week, filled (for me at least) with a lot of laughter. That is such a gift! We are hoping Cade will be discharged in the next few days. We are anticipating that his next 5 day chemo will be delayed until the week after next, and I am looking so forward to a week of having him home without any chemo. Here are some practical prayer poin...

Thank you so much for praying and fasting with us today. I always look forward to Tuesdays now. There is something so amazing about praying with purpose and focus, and needing God MORE than I need food, comfort, instagram, etc. Above is a video devo on some thoughts that hopefully will be encouraging (if you can get past my sunglasses, shirt, face, hair etc.). My pride would like to retape a video where I actually look nice, but I figure if any of you did stop by I would probably look very similar to that- and we would just sit outside and share some of these thoughts together. So, bear with me. Our hope is to post a video devo every Tuesday, and hopefully give a little more form and function to the idea of fasting. If you're anything like me, you can find about 1 million reasons why you shouldn't, can't or won't fast. But I am learning the great reward in pressing in and pressing past my own body for a brief 24 hours. I hope you join in and fast for your own things...

Below is a video update Chad and I made. First, we are SO thankful for every person who has adopted us into their prayer life. As we head into the second half of treatment, we have been feeling an invitation to step up our faith, our hope, and our expectation in the next 18 weeks. We would love for you to be part of that journey with us. Thank you so much for the ways you encourage and pray for our family.  Tuesday Fasting:  Early on in treatment we asked people to fast on Thursdays with us for Cade, as most of his treatments were actually scheduled on Thursdays. After scans, however, we actually switched to an oncologist closer to our house and now most of Cade's chemos will be delivered on Monday and Tuesdays (unless they are five day chemos). We are asking people to join in fasting in whatever capacity you can, whether its breakfast and lunch that day, social media, or TV. In ways that still are so mysterious to me, fasting does a million things in...

Cade successfully managed to handle a big chemo group without getting a fever, and we are thankful! We have had two weeks of a quick chemo, and this Monday we go in for another five day group. We are praying that God is already "priming the pump" of Cade's body to receive whatever it needs from this group. Here are some of our specific prayer requests: 1. Protection over his kidney and bladder: We are doing an additional test this week to try and determine the correct dosage for one of the chemos for his kidney. Please pray the dosing is perfect for his body. Please also pray that any bleeding in his bladder post chemo or during chemo is stopped, and that any bladder irritation is healed. 2. No nausea or vomiting during or after chemo: We are thinking some of the vomiting we experienced after this chemo group is caused by an abundance of stomach acid, so we are trying preventive measures like antacids. Please pray he does not get sick in the week following treatmen...

We go in for treatment tomorrow early, and I wanted to post some specific prayer requests. The past week Eden had spring break and Cade's treatment was delayed a week because of his long inpatient stay and high fevers, so we got gifted with normalcy. I AM SO THANKFUL. In a very real way, this season has made my ability to taste and experience gratitude to increase by the thousands. I feel like my cup is overflowing. I love how the Lord is faithful in every week, and I love how much pleasure He takes in filling our hearts. Chad and I got to go on a day date this weekend to a much-cooler-than-we-are brunch place, and while waited for a table we wandered upstairs in the building to an open couch. We were talking about the weeks ahead and my heart started to feel all the same trepidation. I'm not less fearful, I just am getting faster at uprooting fear. But as I started down that rabbit hole, I looked up and realized we were sitting in front of a closed restaurant with the name  ...