Warriors unite!

"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." - Psalm 5:1-3 (KJV)

What a journey it has been since that April day in 2013 when the orthopedic surgeon Kelsey had visited due to a very small lump in her right forearm mentioned that she may have cancer. He thought it would be unusual for it to be in her arm. It certainly was (statistically speaking) unusual for cancer to be there. The following year and almost three months has continued in that "unusual" trend. Going from amputation of her right arm being a real possibility to learning that the cancer had spread which made amputation no longer the chosen path. Multiple MRIs, CT scans, x-Rays and PET scans. Biopsies, tumor removals and stereotactic radiation. Now, we sit in a hospital with Kelsey, who between her pain medicine has many moments of being herself, welcoming people, apologizing that she hasn't gotten up to shower, sharing funny stories, singing songs and loving on Alexa. But she also has a lot of pain. The cancer in her right lung has continued to grow. It appears there may be a spot on her liver. It may also have spread to her lymph nodes on her right side. From the world's standpoint, from the standpoint of the experts, there would appear to be "no hope". (Feel free to refer back to my blog entry a few days back - Breathing a little easier - to read the quote near the end of the post for some context.)

But, as we have seen throughout this journey, the world is not God and the experts are not God (and we are so thankful on both of those counts). And, we always have hope! So now, our dear warriors, it is time for us to bring Kelsey once more before the throne of God. Please join me in continuing to pray for her complete earthly healing. With the intensity of her pain, if God does not will to heal her, it is selfish for us to cling to her here on this earth.

I thank you for your prayers, for the texts and phone calls, for the abundance of food, for offers to help in whatever way possible. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for your prayers. They are what sustain all of us in the darkest hours. They allow us to continue to trust God when our flesh screams out that He is not trustworthy. Here are some very specific ways to pray:

-- Complete and total healing of Kelsey's body. No more cancer.

-- Nutrition. Kelsey does get weaker and weaker each day due to an insufficient calorie intake. I am planning to speak with the doctor about this later this morning (along with Kelsey) to emphasize that we want to make sure she is getting nutrition (and are okay with possible risks of IV nutrition or a feeding tube). There are so many benefits to having nutrition, but if we continue the current course of just getting the liquids she needs, the outcome is pretty certain. Pray the conversation goes well and we can figure out how to get additional nutrition for her.

-- No more fluid in Kelsey’s lungs. Breathing easier.

-- Special times together. Whether God wills to heal Kelsey or not, pray we can look back on these days with a clear picture of God's hand in all of it.

-- For Alexa. My heart aches for my beautiful daughter. She knows not everything is right, that something is different about this time in the hospital. I have talked with her and let her know that mommy is very sick and that we need to be praying that God would heal her. But, she is four years old. She doesn't truly grasp the severity of the situation. Please pray she can have special moments with Kelsey

-- Wisdom. Oh how we all need this in so many ways. Treatment now, potential future treatment, speaking about hard subjects, dealing with doctors, and the list goes on. We need God's wisdom.

-- For God to be glorified. Pray we can be a light to those around us here. There is not much hope for many people here on this floor. Pray we can continue to be an oasis of hope and that even in the midst of this dark time that God would use it to bring others to Himself.

GOD IS IN CONTROL! What truth in these words, even in times of pain and sorrow! Thank you all for continuing to be a part of this wonderful team of prayer warriors. And, if you need your official "armor", the T-shirts have arrived! Here is Alexa providing some wonderful modeling.

If you would like to get one of these t-shirts, you can find them at http://thekennedycrew.com/t-shirts/. The front has C > c, the back says:

Christ > cancer
I'm a warrior in the fight for Kelsey Kennedy.
"This is what the Lord says to you, ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.'" - 2 Chronicles 20:15