Kelsey's life celebration service

My apologies for the issues with the streaming video. There was an issue with copyrighted material in the slideshow before the service. Here is a link to the celebration service from July 11, 2014 at 1:30 pm: http://goo.gl/OekDT1. Here is a link the to the pre-service slideshow - some fun photos of Kelsey: http://goo.gl/NxMS6e.

Celebration of Kelsey's Life

The Celebration Service for Kelsey will be at 1:30 pm CDT on Friday, July 11 at Edmond First Baptist Church in Edmond, OK. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and the many ways you continue to show love to our family.

If you haven't seen Kelsey's obituary, here is a link: http://goo.gl/2H1Fao.

Also, I know that many of you have asked about ways to give in memory of Kelsey. Memorials to help with ongoing integrative cancer research may be given online at www.reo-foundation.org. If you would like to give toward Alexa's 529 Plan, you can do so here: http://goo.gl/sfbCr4. The invitation code is OKKyhLdZt.

No more cancer!

At 4:00 pm on Saturday, July 5, Kelsey Louise Scoggins Kennedy won the battle with cancer. She is now dancing in glory, where cancer is no longer a concern. No more C > c (Christ > cancer) in heaven, just C – who she will be eternally praising! We celebrate her life. The eight plus years I have had the pleasure of being her husband passed quickly. It is a crazy mixture of emotions. Sadness for those of us left behind, exhilaration that she has no more pain. She can now dance, run, and ride a bike. She will never have a concern of recurrence or spread of disease. She will be able to hold our two children who went before us that we never had a chance to hold. I can imagine the sweet reunion she had with her friend Melinda who proceeded her to heaven.

I will share one of the hymns that we sang which was very poignant to me (they all were) after Kelsey had gone to be with Jesus – Because He Lives:

God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

And then one day, I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain;
And then, as death gives way to vict'ry,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

All wonderful verses, but two and three are especially touching to me – Alexa does face uncertain days, but she can face tomorrow because Jesus lives. Kelsey fought life’s final war with pain – and death did give way to victory for her.

Final thing to share, as we close out the first chapter of Kelsey’s life – a neat illustration which was written in a pamphlet about the final days of life:

“I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, ‘There, she is gone!’

‘Gone where?’

Gone from sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear the load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: ‘There, she is gone!’ there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: ‘Here she comes!’

And that is dying.”

-- Henry Van Dyke

The only correction is that we know exactly Who the voice was who welcomed her into glory, the same one who said, “It is finished” as he gave up His life on the cross, the same one who said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Please pray for our family. Pray for Alexa. Pray that we will continue to glorify God in a small percentage of the way that Kelsey did with her life. I love all of her warriors – some of you who I have never even met and may never meet this side of eternity. You sustained us, you encouraged us, you blessed us. Your stories of how Kelsey blessed each of you has been amazing over the past several days. Kelsey’s book is already written – we just have to put it all together!

The road home

We are still at the hospital with Kelsey. She seems to be standing at the doorway of this life and the next. Seems strangely appropriate to be writing this post on Independence Day. I am not sure how soon it will be, but without a miracle, Kelsey will be declaring her independence, through the blood of Jesus Christ. Her independence of sin, sickness, sorrow and death. From the first biopsy results we learned this was a nasty cancer, now, Kelsey has the opportunity to be completely cancer free. No worries of recurrence, no lingering pain from nerve damage, no reduced functionality in her right arm, no pain in her hips from some crazy alignment issues (probably due to a combination of the stereotactic treatment as well as favoring her right leg when the tumor was growing there), no trouble breathing, no more fluid on her lungs, no more confusion about where she is or what day it is. And, oh, the rapture of being in the presence of Jesus and hearing “well done, my good and faithful servant.”


Here is Kelsey with her armor on. Yesterday morning (July 3), she decided it was time to put her shirt on. As she was putting it on, she stated that anyone who wore the shirt would need to be ready to share about the love of Christ with others. Several nurses who have worked with us either have, or will soon have, their own shirt to wear. A lot has changed since that time. Yesterday she was still very coherent, continuing to encourage people who came to visit her and thanking her nurses. Yesterday evening, her speech began to slip a bit. I had the impossible task of talking with Alexa about the reality of the situation. Unless God does a miracle, the next time we go to our house, Mommy is not going to ever walk through the door again. No more cheerful Kelsey smile, no more new touches around the house, no more beautiful outfits picked out by mommy, no more fun adventures with mommy, the list continues. Telling your daughter who is four years old the one who is the dearest to her on earth is going to be with Jesus is heartbreaking. This world is not our home and I feel that more acutely than ever. I do not want pity, I do not want those knowing glances, I do not say this for any other reason than I continue to covet your prayers.

The battle is not over, but the end appears to be drawing nearer. After the most recent nurse shift change at 7:00 this morning (when she once again thanked her nurse for all her help), she has not really spoken or even attempted to speak. She has rarely opened her eyes and even when she does, I am not sure that she is seeing this world each time – in the times of clarity, it has been a privilege to read the encouraging testimonies of how Kelsey has touched so many lives on the Praying for Kelsey Facebook group. Whether God takes Kelsey home, or heals her, we will figure out a way to get all of the posts together. It will either be a start to the book, or perhaps the main content of her book should God choose to take her home. Another example of Kelsey still being Kelsey, last night she offered to pay our nurse to stay with her throughout the whole night. Kelsey loves Brenda – one of the many special nurses we have had during this stay at the hospital. We told her that Brenda’s other patients may not appreciate not having a nurse to help them out throughout the night. Now, we are listening to songs playing on Kelsey’s Pandora station – which she seeded with Chris Rice.

Prayer requests

-- Pray that Kelsey would have no fear, but would be filled with the knowledge of the deep love of her Savior, and that He will either heal her or call her home. Pray we will be able to manage her pain, so that she is not needlessly suffering.

-- Please pray for my sweet daughter, Alexa. Pray this will be a chapter in her book which will make her a strong follower of you. Please pray for protection against this being used by the evil one to keep Alexa from being everything she can be for the kingdom. Please pray that she will come to know Christ soon, perhaps even out of this painful time.

For those of you who may not be in the Praying for Kelsey Facebook group, but are following the blog, here is a slightly modified version of the prayer I posted there:

Now, Lord, if her work on earth is done, please take her quickly (but not before she has brought You the maximum amount of glory she can bring by being present here on earth). What a joy to know that she will be able to fully use her hand (I anticipate her enjoying shooting a perfected jump shot and throwing an even more perfect spiral than she threw before surgery), she will have no more pain or tears, she can dance with you in heaven, she can hold our two dear children who we never got to hold in this life, and will be able to speak with You and praise You clearly! If her work is not yet done, and You choose to let her tarry awhile longer in her hospital bed, fill her with a real sense of your presence and love and cast out any fears or doubts that may assail her. While the opportunity is there, I do continue to petition your throne for your total, complete earthly healing! Thank you for all of your saints who have come around us and thank you Jesus that you ARE so much greater and more powerful than cancer! Amen

God’s love for Kelsey

“Now a man was sick, Lazarus, from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent a message to Him: ‘Lord, the one You love is sick.’” – John 11:1-3

I read a devotional a few days ago which brought me to tears – it was based on the previous passage of Scripture. The devotional went in depth into the nature of God’s love and how Mary and Martha did not appeal to Lazarus’ good deeds, the number of children he had (we don’t even know if he did have children), or the ways he would be able to bless others if he was healed, they appealed to Jesus’ love for Lazarus. The devotional is beautifully written (if you’d like to read it, here is the link: http://goo.gl/EAbclA), but I walked away realizing that I can make this same appeal to God about Kelsey, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” And oh, how great his love for Kelsey is. Because of God’s love, He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay for the wrong things that Kelsey has done in life and provide for her to come to salvation. Because of God’s love, He is preparing a place in heaven for her. Because of His love, He enabled her to choose to make Jesus the Lord of her life, acknowledging that she did not measure up to God’s standard and needed to rely on the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. Because of God’s love, she, like Jesus, will be raised to life in heaven. It is an extravagant love, which means before time began, God had a plan about how He would draw Kelsey to Himself.

I love Kelsey, Alexa loves her mommy, Kelsey’s family loves her, all of her warriors love her, but all of our love for her combined does not add up to God’s love for her. Can I trust His love for her? As I continually plead with God for her healing, I know that every action God takes toward her is motivated out of His love. Thank you all for joining in petitioning God, because, “the one He loves is sick.” Can I trust His love for her?

If you’d like to get a warrior T-shirt, we are planning to place another order tomorrow morning. You can visit http://thekennedycrew.com/t-shirts/ if you’d like to get one.

Two very special girls, who are incredibly dear to my heart! Check out the colorful and special necklace that Rylen (Alexa’s cousin) and Alexa made for Kelsey.

By way of a brief update, the meeting with Dr. Keefer was a challenging one for Kelsey to hear on Monday. He shared with her that the nutrition IV would not be helpful for her. He said if he had even a glimmer of hope that it would be beneficial for her, that he would start it for her immediately. He has seen patients at a similar stage who have requested the IV nutrition and it really made no difference at all (other than it adds to the already constant monitoring). It is always hard to hear that in the world’s eyes there is no hope. Since then, Kelsey has managed to eat about half of a Krispy Kreme donut, 1/3 of a McDonald’s cheeseburger, and some cheese sticks from Stars & Stripes.

We continue to covet your prayers:

-- Pray for good rest for Kelsey, for minimal pain, for wonderful times of alertness, for strength, for the ability to enjoy some more tasty foods if they sound good.

-- Pray for continued special times with family and friends. Thanks to all who have come by.

-- Pray we can continue to bring God glory. We had a hymn singing session with several gals from our church in Norman this evening. The nurse came in and said that they had received several calls from other people on the floor who said it was so encouraging to hear the singing. Whether Kelsey’s days are many (as we pray), or few, that each moment she lives would bring Him glory.

-- Pray for Kelsey’s complete and total earthly healing.

“Lord, the one who you love is sick.” You do what is best for her out of your great love, but my heart pleads for You to bless her with a full healing of her body here on earth!