This week has brought a lot of excitement!  We had an awesome fellowship with some church friends that ended in full bellies, happy mommas and daddies, and worn out babies.  The next day brought church, and then a movie honoring our Heavenly Father.   Several hundred brothers and sisters in Christ gathered for the the movie Courageous!  Our church rented out the theater for an evening of fun, encouragement, laughs and a few tears.  It was good family time.  Something we were in desperate need of.  Thank you, Lord.  You always do know best!

This brings me to another exciting adventure! Charity!  We received a letter in the mail this week informing us of the first annual Nephcure walk (www.nephcure.org/walk) was this month.  Due to the fact that this is near and dear to my heart, (one of the hearts that walks around outside my chest), I signed up to walk.  Then I created a team and began hunting for donations.  www.nephcure.org is the only non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cause and a cure for this debilitating disease, so I'm in!

I began thinking about what I felt when we got the diagnosis, and all of the fear and questions I had.  I had to immediately praise God!  Our case is an abnormal one.  Our son has been in remission for almost a year now.  He has only relapsed one time, the average is four times per year.  To put it simply, we are amazingly, overwhelmingly blessed!!

If I did not have to endure the heartache and fear of that trial, I know that I would not be where I am today in my faith.  I would not know what it is like to truly be held in the arms of my Savior while the world around me seemed to be crumbling.  I would not have met the amazing doctors and nurses that bless our lives.  I would not know the depth of God's love, as I know it today.  I know it is still unfathomably greater than I now know it to be, but I got a deeper taste, that only left me seeking more!

That night, my heart broke, and my insides were turned inside out (quite literally) as helplessness washed over me.  There was nothing I could do for my baby.  A pain and emotion, I then did not welcome, much less see as beneficial.   But GOD...those two words together are powerful!  But God showed me that the amount of love I felt at that moment for my own child, was nothing compared to His agape love for me.  His love for my son.  His son!  This journey has taught me that my children are not my own.  They are His.  It was a hard
thing to understand at first, but I praise God for it today!  I had to trust that even though there was literally nothing I could do, there was nothing He couldn't do!  Our promised five day stay in the hospital was surprisingly only two!  There was no need for dialysis or any biopsies.  Just a need for us to allow, and trust, God to work.  He did!

I can't help but think of the families out there effected by Nephrotic Syndrome or FSGS.  Many of them, less fortunate.  This is why I want to do this!  I want the babies that can't live life with out the necessary evil of steroids, or those that have to be on dialysis to be able to live a somewhat normal life!  I don't want parents to live life waiting for the next shoe to drop.  I want them to see that there is hope in Jesus!  There is peace that only He can provide!

So, do I think it sucks that my son has to endure this?  That we have to go through this? Some days.  Yes.   Then I remember all of the blessings that God has given us because of it, and I have to say, no! I would not be the person I am today, if I had not suffered.  If I wasn't made to fall onto my face, and land in the arms of my Savior, I would not know Him as I do today.  Faithful.  Strong.  Powerful. I am humbled at His mercy.  I rejoice in His love!