Pure Joy in the Midst of Trial

The past few weeks have been such a blessing for Markus and our family! With the surgery coming up the medical team decided against a round of chemotherapy this week. It was better that Markus went into the surgery as strong as possible and with good blood counts. Markus’ graduation was a joyous event but he was quite exhausted by the time the festivities were over. Since then, his strength has come back and he’s been able to do quite a few things while anticipating the upcoming surgery. Markus is apprehensive, but also eager to get the surgery done and behind him. In his mind it is just another thing towards getting well again, so the sooner it can happen the better.

One of our favourite family camping spots is Monck Park on Nicola Lake. Because the summer is going to be about Markus’ cancer we had already decided a few months ago that camping was going to have to be postponed this year. But that didn’t stop us from heading to Monck Park for the day on Canada Day! It was so good to just spend the day with Markus and his three brothers. We packed lunch and dinner and had a fantastic 12 hours together!

A few days later, on July 4^th, we received the call we’d been waiting for – Kaitlyn and Reuben had their baby! Mateo, which means, “gift from God,” has been exactly that for our family. Markus is an uncle, we are grandparents, God is good! It’s so neat to see how the exciting news of a birth can impact so many lives so quickly. When Jennifer took Markus to BC Children’s for an MRI and some blood work earlier this week they couldn’t wait to share the news with the nurses and Dr. Rassekh. Spending so much time there they all get to know us pretty well and they were so excited for us that we had this blessing in the midst of Markus’ cancer journey. What a gift indeed!

We have shared on this blog many times how overwhelmed we are with the generosity of others and again this week we were beneficiaries of this generosity. Markus’ mentor has a condo on the shores of Skaha Lake in Okanagan Falls and he has offered it to us several times both before and after Markus’ diagnosis. When the doctors gave us the green light to be away from BC Children’s for a few days (as long as we were within an hour of a hospital), we called the Baars and this past week we were able to spend two days there with Markus, Kayden, and Aaron. Because of Markus’ central line he isn’t able to immerse in the water, but he did enjoy zipping around the lake on the jet. It was a short trip with more memories made.

The greatest gift one can ever receive is salvation is Jesus. We are so thankful to God that he sent this gift into the world so that all those who call on him will be saved (Romans 10:13). We are also thankful that we have a merciful God who presents us with moments of joy while we journey through hardship and trials on this side of eternity. God is near us and will not forsake us!

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)