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!