Joel's Journey: Father's Day Evening.....

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Father's Day Evening.....

Mmmmmmmm...... Bodacious sure tasted good!!!! We fixed ribeye steaks with a side of mixed sauted' green beans, red potatoes, onions and squash, for Terry this evening. It was neat that the beef and all the veggies came off our land, and Anna made a special dessert, what a blessing to be together. This morning we were encouraged as we spent time with other believers around the scripture. Caleb and Daniel shared at one point the influence that Terry has been to them and how he has been an example to them of how they want to lead in their own families. I was very touched with their sincere words and how there heart is towards their father. It is only by the grace of the Lord that we are able to see our children walk in the truth. We also got some volley ball in too. We sure missed Joel, it is extra painful as we celebrate what Terry means on this special day and we are not all able to be together.

I hope your day was as special as ours!!

Cindy

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: So special! Happy Father's Day, Terry! One of the first things my brother told me about your family was how loving and tenderly you took care of your family. And I fought tears repeatedly as I watched you a few weeks ago interact with your children and call them "precious," among other sweet things. It made me miss my husband for my children. It blesses me to see another man raise his children with tender affection! Happy Father's Day!; June 16, 2008 at 1:14 PM

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Joel's Story

Joel, our 11th of 13 and a twin of Josiah, at age 3 was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer, on December 6th, 2006. Joel had three perfect years of health and he and Josiah celebrated their 3rd birthday Sept. 13th, 2006. The first of Oct. Joel started having unexplained fevers for a few days and would return to active play. After the fourth round of fevers we took him to our family Dr. which they said his iron was low, so we treated that for a few weeks and took him back only to have his hemo. showing lower than before. We were referred to a hematologists and saw him a few weeks with blood checks twice a week. At a visit on Dec. 4th we showed the Dr. the bumps, (which were tumors but we did not know at the time) on Joel's head and he was very concerned and we were told we needed to admit him immediately and start extensive tests the following day. Joel went through rigorous testing and then the dreaded results were given. Joel was at a stage IV the most extensive stage, but we were hopeful that the Lord would use the means of Chemotherapy treatments to restore Joel's body. Joel endured 8 1/2 days in the hospital, came home for Christmas, and returned for his second round of chemo Jan. 3, 2007. Joel had a seizure that night after midnight and went into a coma due to a tumor bleeding in his head area and causing his brain to swell. After tests the following days, the Dr. declared Joel "brain dead" and took us to court to force us to take Joel off life support, as we did not agree with the medical field's definition of death. Our family sought to stand with the scripture, "life is in the blood,"and until Joel's heart quit beating naturally, he was living. We were making arrangements to bring him home and on January 23, 2007 his little heart stopped beating and he went to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. Our lives are changed forever. God is faithful in the midst of this trial and we look with great hope to be with him someday.