Sunshine & Rain

So we all know FOOTBALL is BIG in Texas! What we didn’t know is how early it starts, how truly disciplined these kids are, and how fun it is to watch them play! For the month of September, the Bengals’ players wore yellow laces and the Widlkats’ cheerleaders wore hair ribbons and they used their venue to educate and show support for Jake, and especially for Childhood Cancer Awareness. Yesterday they honored Jake at their junior football game. It was also their homecoming so there was lots of excitement with mums, and families walking together thru the big Bengal Tiger blowup, and the WildKats cheerleaders dancing at halftime… it was all so FUN! And my friend and Bible Study sister, Ashley, brought her family to hang out and support Jake too! At halftime, our family was brought out and they presented Jake with a ball signed by all the players and coaches, and his own Bengals jersey. Then the coach brought all of the players in, to huddle around Jake, and pray over the game. I had tears! I wish I had video of

this part as it was something we’ve never experienced and it was so moving to have all these young boys repeat their team prayer with Jake at the center. We stayed and watched most of the game and enjoyed just being outside! A very BIG thank you to my amazing, childhood friend, Danielle, and the Bengals & WildKats for such a memorable day! She and all the parents worked so hard to schedule, and reschedule, and reschedule again, to make this all happen (rain!). It’s a day our family will always remember! Unfortunately, I took a fall a little later while holding Jake and we ended up in the ER. I tripped and we went down on the concrete, with Jake hitting

Prayer Huddle w/Jake at the Center

the back of his head, and me landing on top of him. It was so scary! All is OK but because his platelets are a constant struggle with weekly infusions, we had to get him checked out. It took us forever because the ER wanted to do blood work and we didn’t feel there was any reason for a CBC when were not in for fever or sickness, we just needed a CT. Then they came back with, “without knowing where his levels are, we’ll have to keep him 24 hours for observation”. What????? All because we asked them to use his CBC from Thursday to get a gage of his counts. Every time his port is accessed, there is risk for infection and we haven’t had the best experience with the ER accesses. And even the nurse didn’t understand the orders and agreed that there wasn’t a need for this information. We asked to speak to the on-call Onc Doc from the 9th floor but they wouldn’t come down so we held our ground. And to Jake’s relief, there were no pokes yesterday. The next two weeks will be full of tests, scans and pokes so we were trying to limit any needles that weren’t necessary. In fact Jake has a CBC, transfusion, and bone marrow aspiration TOMORROW. With that in mind, I ask prayers over this. Sedation is never fun and we are praying that his bone marrow comes back with less disease. And while asking for prayer, please. please pray for our friends, The Jenkins. Their daughter, Jaquelyn, walked through Heaven’s gates yesterday. For her, there are no more pokes, pains, worries or hospitals. Our families came together during the NFL/MLB photo shoot and she was actually at TCH the first time we came in for treatment with Jake. While we were caught up in the emotions of all of the “firsts”, she was sitting to the side and smiling back and forth with him. Over the past year, we’ve been in clinic together and Jaquelyn’s sweet, shy, beautiful smile would catch Jake’s attention and he’d flirt back with sheepish grins, growing bigger and bigger. She was the oldest of five, just fifteen and so beautiful – please pray for her family. These are days where the sunshine and the rain meet in the middle and you wonder why things happen the way they do. Truth is, we have to trust in our faith, that that there is a purpose for everything and everyone. Jaquelyn’s smile was a ray of sunshine for Jake and yesterday she met the Son, but today, it feels a little like the rain. This song makes me think of Jaquelyn… He Is With Us song by Love and the Outcome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6mEQS2fsWE Rest, smile, and fly high, beautiful Jaquelyn.

“This place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you.” – Haftz “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:20