A year for overcoming
What started as a carepage aimed at keeping friends and family updated on Charlotte shortly after diagnosis has evolved. I didn’t even write on this page for the first few weeks. A friend of ours would write updates after receiving a text from me. Soon, I began to take over and write daily and weekly updates. Things were happening so fast. And we realized that we weren’t only creating a space to provide facts about how Charlotte was doing, but we were helping to create a community we would soon call our “village” in which love took root and people from all over would join one another (unbeknownst to each other) in prayer for our girl and our family. Many people have told me their lives have been changed for the better in various ways all because of Charlotte. And although the intention of this page is centered around our girl, the spirit of it is broader now. How many other people have we asked you to pray for with the wondering that maybe somehow our village we have amassed on this journey is taking ahold of that invisible string I’ve writren about and that all these prayers really do leave a visible mark in this world.
In a matter of just a few days into the new year (it’s only January 3?!) the following has happened
-One of our village members who has loved and supported and prayed for our Charlotte, has just learned that her husbands cancer has returned. They have limited options and are currently sorting through best course of action. They have a 5 year old little boy. They have fought this cancer for over 4 years. This will be his 3rd reoccurrence. They are devastated and hurting and they need prayers for clarity and strength and peace.
-Yesterday, my newest nephew was unexpectedly born 2 months early and is in the NICU while my brother and his wife begin to balance hospital life and home with their other 4 year old. The baby and mom are doing really well but babies born that early likely require many weeks in the NICU before they can come home. Little Ari is strong and seems to be adjusting well but I am praying for his continued progress and for patience during this sudden transition for my brother Tim, his wife Esther, and their other son Evan.
-Neal, aka Poppy, who has been home slowly recovering from a 2 time hospital stay over Christmas is having some additional complications now. In just the last couple days, his recovery has gotten complicated and they can really use our prayers as they figure out the best course of action to help him start to feel better and get better.
-Today one of my good friends has asked me to add her husband to our growing village prayer list as he is having a reoccurrence of some health issues that has suddenly taken a drastic turn for the worse and the doctors seem to currently have limited options to help him. His sight and profession and quality of life are at stake. She has asked us to lift them up as they combat a disease that is not well known and hence has limited treatment options.
-Today, another friend asked us to pray for her father who is having many tests and biopsies to determine course of action for his disease which is unclear and presenting as cancer, potentially requiring a Stem Cell Transplant like Charlotte had.
-Yesterday, a member of my community’s prayer group, had reached out to ask me for any suggestions I could think of to help her good friend who has just brought her 2 year old home on hospice care. She asked what else she could do as she feels so helpless. So somewhere nearby is a mother whom I do not know, with a 2 year old losing their battle to a cancer I do not know, and I have no answer. Whatever can create time for them to spend whatever precious time is left: meals, money, whatever can care for day to day things so they can focus on their child?
So many prayers.
I will not use this space, Charlotte’s carepage, to generate prayer lists. But what kind of power must have grown here in this space for people to feel a sense of comfort and safety to even ask for our prayers. Several of the people I’ve written about above have asked US, specifically Charlotte’s village, to pray for the ones they love because the hour has come where a tide needs to turn perhaps, or because they are hoping to feel the power and be granted grace. I don’t have answers. I don’t have power. I have familiarity with the feeling of helplessness. I have personal experience with the strong need to believe in the power of prayer amid my growing faith that yes there is a God. Brian and I have 3 children who have been gifted to us and who continue to shine Gods Grace into our own lives every single day. I want to share anything we’ve been gifted. And if somehow this space here that you are reading, which was initially created out of a place of desperation and then somehow transformed into a miraculous and inspirational account of a broader journey, can somehow help another person in any way big or small, then it is my honor to help propogate. I don’t question the invisible string, I just help pass it along.
2019 has started with a heavy heart for me with some worries about several people we care about. The last several years were years of overcoming for Charlotte and I do not see her slowing down. Maybe you can all join me and Brian in some prayers for these other special people I have written about above and for anyone in this world who could use a year of overcoming. May God help them be bold or patient, fierce or calm, resolute or flexible, brave or humbled. Whatever the challenge may be, may God help us overcome. Even if the outcome is not what we can understand. As always, thank you for caring for, praying for, our Charlotte and for anyone else in this amazing village she’s generated.
In a matter of just a few days into the new year (it’s only January 3?!) the following has happened
-One of our village members who has loved and supported and prayed for our Charlotte, has just learned that her husbands cancer has returned. They have limited options and are currently sorting through best course of action. They have a 5 year old little boy. They have fought this cancer for over 4 years. This will be his 3rd reoccurrence. They are devastated and hurting and they need prayers for clarity and strength and peace.
-Yesterday, my newest nephew was unexpectedly born 2 months early and is in the NICU while my brother and his wife begin to balance hospital life and home with their other 4 year old. The baby and mom are doing really well but babies born that early likely require many weeks in the NICU before they can come home. Little Ari is strong and seems to be adjusting well but I am praying for his continued progress and for patience during this sudden transition for my brother Tim, his wife Esther, and their other son Evan.
-Neal, aka Poppy, who has been home slowly recovering from a 2 time hospital stay over Christmas is having some additional complications now. In just the last couple days, his recovery has gotten complicated and they can really use our prayers as they figure out the best course of action to help him start to feel better and get better.
-Today one of my good friends has asked me to add her husband to our growing village prayer list as he is having a reoccurrence of some health issues that has suddenly taken a drastic turn for the worse and the doctors seem to currently have limited options to help him. His sight and profession and quality of life are at stake. She has asked us to lift them up as they combat a disease that is not well known and hence has limited treatment options.
-Today, another friend asked us to pray for her father who is having many tests and biopsies to determine course of action for his disease which is unclear and presenting as cancer, potentially requiring a Stem Cell Transplant like Charlotte had.
-Yesterday, a member of my community’s prayer group, had reached out to ask me for any suggestions I could think of to help her good friend who has just brought her 2 year old home on hospice care. She asked what else she could do as she feels so helpless. So somewhere nearby is a mother whom I do not know, with a 2 year old losing their battle to a cancer I do not know, and I have no answer. Whatever can create time for them to spend whatever precious time is left: meals, money, whatever can care for day to day things so they can focus on their child?
So many prayers.
I will not use this space, Charlotte’s carepage, to generate prayer lists. But what kind of power must have grown here in this space for people to feel a sense of comfort and safety to even ask for our prayers. Several of the people I’ve written about above have asked US, specifically Charlotte’s village, to pray for the ones they love because the hour has come where a tide needs to turn perhaps, or because they are hoping to feel the power and be granted grace. I don’t have answers. I don’t have power. I have familiarity with the feeling of helplessness. I have personal experience with the strong need to believe in the power of prayer amid my growing faith that yes there is a God. Brian and I have 3 children who have been gifted to us and who continue to shine Gods Grace into our own lives every single day. I want to share anything we’ve been gifted. And if somehow this space here that you are reading, which was initially created out of a place of desperation and then somehow transformed into a miraculous and inspirational account of a broader journey, can somehow help another person in any way big or small, then it is my honor to help propogate. I don’t question the invisible string, I just help pass it along.
2019 has started with a heavy heart for me with some worries about several people we care about. The last several years were years of overcoming for Charlotte and I do not see her slowing down. Maybe you can all join me and Brian in some prayers for these other special people I have written about above and for anyone in this world who could use a year of overcoming. May God help them be bold or patient, fierce or calm, resolute or flexible, brave or humbled. Whatever the challenge may be, may God help us overcome. Even if the outcome is not what we can understand. As always, thank you for caring for, praying for, our Charlotte and for anyone else in this amazing village she’s generated.
Oh dear, yes, we join you, so beautifully expressed Jenn! "May God help them be bold or patient, fierce or calm, resolute or flexible, brave or humbled. Whatever the challenge may be, may God help us overcome. Even if the outcome is not what we can understand." Prayers on the way...
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