Joel's Journey: Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends and remember those that are enjoying the wonders of eternity!!! We have so much to give thanks for!! I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you for keeping up with our family! It was this time in 2006 that our journey was beginning with Joel. We stayed home and did not travel to Houston because of the fevers Joel was experiencing! Our hearts were heavy with the "unknown" at this time 5 years a go. To even consider that his time on earth, his little story was coming to its end as Dec approached and Jan neared and we had no idea what lie ahead, I still grieve! I can hardly sit in church and hear a sermon like I heard last Sunday on God's Providence and hold back tears of grief, yet tears of hope and joy that all went according to God's divine plan for Joel! So today I am thankful for Plans, plans that are carried out in LOVE to each of us! I am thankful for Joel's life, for the time we had with him on this earth. I look forward to the day when "time" will turn into "forever!!"

So thank you for all you have done for and with our family via this blog, it was Joel's blog and I continue to pray that his little life will always be a light for hope!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Cindy

4 comments:

Daniel and Jaynee Lockwood and Family said...: Happy Thanksgiving, Morris Family!
Thinking of you all this morning and thinking of Joel, too. God is so faithful and so good!; November 24, 2011 at 9:06 AM
sarah b said...: Happy thanksgiving! So thankful for your example of faith and trust in God through little Joel's life and death. God bless you!!; November 24, 2011 at 10:08 AM
-stephanie- said...: Amen!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Have a blessed day.; November 24, 2011 at 12:22 PM
Marie said...: Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family !!! So thankful to have found your blog and that you so graciously have shared Joel's story.; November 25, 2011 at 6:01 AM

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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.