Sad

I worked one summer for Mad Science of Dallas. The guy who was incharge of the workers had a son towards the end of that summer. The boy's name is Thomas.
Thomas was diagnosed at 5mos with a brain tumor. He is now about 2 1/2 and they can't do anything about it. He went through chemo and surgeries, but in November they discovered that it came back again and that's all.
I keep updated on his plight via his mother's posts. If you want to read it yourself look at the list of blogs I read. It's called Thomas Bickle.
Thomas isn't doing very well. He spends most of his days on the couch because his med dose is so high to combat the pain, it knocks him out. I cannot imagine what his mother Sarah and father Scott are going through. How can you watch your child, your baby child, die? How do you watch and know that they aren't going to get better. Just at the start of their lives, that's all they get. His site doesn't make me weepy like another one I read called Noah Steven. I think Thomas's blog will make me weepy soon enough. I just try not to think about it too much. When I check on Thomas's blog at night I am so thankful that my little angel is sleeping in his crib, happy, healthy, alive. I guess reading their blogs gives me perspective in a way. I read it to update myself and to pray for them. I pray for strength for the family, for peace, for understanding between Sarah and Scott because loosing a child has got to be the hardest thing ever. I can't imagine what I would do if anything ever happened to Knox. Children aren't supposed to die.
When Sydney Thweatt died, I was mad. I think everyone was. (She went to the school where I taught and fought a couragous battle against leukemia for over a year. She passed away Sept. 2007 at the age of 8). Sydney had such peace about the whole ordeal, but I don't think that stopped anyone from being angry when they heard the news that she was dying and then died a few days later. We dedicated the yearbook to her. The school planted a tree in her honor to remember this faithful little girl. At the tree dedication, and on the yearbook dedication we used this verse:

Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on His law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

I think the only way we can get through these heartaches is to follow the Psalm. Plant our roots in the Lord. We reap what we sow. Sow God's word in our lives and heart, and we will reap in knowledge, peace, and understanding of God's plan for us and for those around us. Ironically the sermon today was on that.

Anyhow, if you get a moment, pray for the Bickles and Thomas that they are able to see God through this awful time; pray for Noah Steven and his family, that his mother continues to come to peace about his death; pray for the Thweatts that they continue strong in their faith after loosing their daughter. And if you want to cry, read their blogs. If you want to find a reason to be thankful in your current situation, read their blogs. And remember, God does give us things bigger than we can handle, but that is when we need to turn to him to let Jesus help us bear our cross.