Cloud by day, fire by night

6-18-15

Thank you so much once again for all your heartfelt prayers for Ella Joy! This week, she got a spinal tap and her Vincristine chemo push. We were so thankful to hear that her blood counts are looking good! Her chemo drugs had been reduced since there were a couple of months her ANC was too low for chemo. Lowering the dosage seemed to help with allowing her ANC to increase! A gargantuan thank you is in store to Kelsey for not only driving us to RMH on Wed, but also watching over Asaph at Luries on Thursday while Ella Joy got her spinal tap and chemo. We love Kelsey, and she is a rockstar! Our next visit to clinic will be on Thursday July 16^th. Please pray with us that Ella Joy’s blood counts will continue to look good, and that she would not have any complications. One thing my APN mentioned to me is that the more Ella Joy is able to be consistent and take her chemo meds, the better chances she has so that the cancer will never come back. There were definitely a couple of scary months at the beginning of maintenance when she was off chemo for a long period of time, and also these last couple of months when her counts were not high enough for chemo, it gave us a scare. We are so thankful she is back on track, and we want to store up even more prayers for the rest of her chemo treatment, that she would be able to continue her chemotherapy until the end. At first, I was a little nervous that her chemo meds were reduced two different times, but now I am just thankful that her ANC is high enough to even take her chemo meds at all!

I remember when I first became Christian I wanted to find anything on television that would be a good influence on me. I remember watching a couple episodes of Fire by Nite. I am not even sure what was in those shows I watched, but I remembered that it helped spark more of a desire to live for Him, and just as a little light or flame helps us see in the darkest night … reading the Bible, singing praises, and praying helped me in my youth group years to yearn for more of Jesus. As Ella Joy continues her chemo treatment, my prayer for her is that she would never give up trusting in the Lord, reading her Bible, singing praises and praying to Him.

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.” – Deuteronomy 31:8

I must say, He truly has been our pillar of cloud by day, and our fire by night.

“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day” – Exodus 13:21

There has never been a day since Ella Joy was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer that we did not see God’s hand at work through the countless prayers that were lifted up and the amazing friends He provided to give us help and comfort at one of the hardest times of our lives.

Please pray that especially next year when 2016 rolls around, when Ella Joy is finished with her chemotherapy treatment, that we would not be nervous or scared that there will no longer be chemo meds to rely on. Instead, please pray that we would continue in prayer, asking Him to protect her body for ZERO and NEGATIVE so the cancer would be gone forever, never to come back.

For now, as she continues her daily chemo meds, we are just so thankful to God that her ANC is once again looking good! This past school year, Ella Joy finished her half-day kindergarten! Praise the Lord she only had to miss school once a month! Please pray that God would give her supernatural strength and protection as she enters first grade for this upcoming school year. Thank you so much for your faithful prayers!