Happy Easter

It seems like every day this week has been Easter, Grace has received Easter baskets from several generous organizations including super-deluxe baskets from the Wells Fargo and Lily Bumpus groups. There have been two Easter parties here at the hospital...neither that Grace was able to attend because she wasn't feeling up to it, but her brother got in on some of the fun.

She's on her last day of steroids which some of you will remember are heinous. They make her hungry for salty foods (she ONLY wants mac-and-cheese from the box which her daddy has been making and bringing to her) and is very moody. Grace is super tired too, from the steroids and also from the fact that we are literally up every hour for treatment or vitals or to use the bathroom (they're pumping her with fluids so her kidneys won't be damaged by the chemo). One of the meds they have her on makes her susceptible to pink eye, so she was up every four hours to get eye drops, so yes...she's very tired. It's 9:00am right now and she's already gone back to bed for a catnap.

Overall all though, this is going much better than I anticipated. I was so scared knowing what toxic medicines she'd be on and reading all the side effects made me feel sick. But she's such a fighter, and our God has been so gracious to allow her to come through this time without feeling too horrible. Not great, and very tired and uncomfortable, but certainly not what I dreaded. And the fact that her brother gets to spend a lot of time with us now that flu season is over, is medicine to my heart.

Today we'll be here while her daddy and brother go to church for Easter sunday. Tonight we'll be celebrating together as a family and eating Mac-n-cheese for Easter dinner. But I'm so thankful that we'll get to be together and that Grace is overall doing fairly well.

And I'm also thankful today that our prayers are being heard by God because of what Jesus did this day two thousand years ago. It's not wishful thinking or positive thoughts to a great unknown or cosmic void, but our prayers are heard by a tender hearted and attentive God. He says he listens carefully to us because He cares for us, each of us, as individuals. We matter to Him.

And when life is hard, it's the cross I look to. It reminds me that God doesn't make empty promises, only empty tombs.