I know everyone is really busy today with family and getting ready for Christmas, but I felt I needed to write down what I am feeling inside. I have said all along that this blog is therapeutic for me and informational for you. Today is a day that I am writing this for me and just inviting you to see if you’d like.
Every Christmas since the boys were very little, I have made a slideshow of that year’s photos of the boys for my and Holly’s parents. It is a priceless gift that takes many hours to produce and I love doing it. We usually supply the DVD to them along with a package of tissues because they always get emotional seeing them. With everything going on this year, I got a late start and just finished them this morning. I was going to post it on here, but I will post the video after both sets of grandparents get to see theirs.
Obviously, there was a whole section that was done about our journey with Caleb. I talked with Joshua and told him once again the focus would be mostly on Caleb. He is such an awesome boy. His primary love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation, and while his brother has gotten so much attention, he has been so awesome. We go above and beyond in making sure he is not neglected, but even when he is, he is perfectly fine. He is so amazing and inspiring to me.
While making the video, I got my first chance since this all began to go back and see the photos along the way as our journey has unfolded. There was one thing that really stuck out to me. In almost every photo – even when his hair was falling out – Caleb has a smile on his face. That really hit me. This kid is simply awesome. We complain about so much and look at all the bad things in the world so often, and here is a kid who has been through events that are painful, unpleasant, and have threatened to take his life. Yet he still had a smile on his face the whole way. We have tried to be so strong and be a rock for him, and I am seeing how much he has been a rock for us. I wonder if I could have kept the same smile through what he’s been through. He is an inspiration to me in his attitude and his faith. There’s not an ounce of doubt in him as to what God has done in him.
I have mentioned on here about his cousin that has been through a similar type of bone cancer. The news we got this week continues to be grim. Please remember my cousins in your prayers. The fight has made him weary over the years and his will to live is low. Also, if you have kids, make sure you take time to appreciate them this Christmas season and shower them with love and not gifts only. You never realize how much you take your children’s health for granted until it is threatened. Be thankful. Love one another. And have a Merry Christmas!
Today’s verse – “And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” Luke 2:16-20 NKJV