thankful

Perhaps it's strange to think about being thankful when your 3 year old son has just been diagnosed with cancer, but in the last 6 days, Pete and I have had so many moments of finding ourselves so incredibly thankful not only to God but to the whole army of family and friends that we have surrounding us. A few things in particular:

• For the nurse practitioner at our pediatrician's office who decided to get the blood tests ordered on Ethan when all I had taken him in for was an extra long runny nose. We are so incredibly grateful that we were able to discover Ethan's leukemia before he began really suffering from any symptoms. 
• For chemo. That sounds strange, especially since the mention of chemo in my children would have been the scariest thought I could have ever fathomed or imagined prior to this week. But today I am thankful for chemo, because it can save my boy's life. 
• For Ethan's hair. I have been meaning for at least the last few weeks to buzz it and give him a hair cut but each day I would forget or we wouldn't get to it, etc. Now, I am SO thankful that his hair wasn't cut so that I can enjoy it for the next couple weeks before it takes a hiatus for a while.
• For a wonderful team of doctors and nurses here at Children's that truly care about Ethan and want the best treatment for him. 
• For the army of family and friends that have surrounded us and truly carried us through these last 5 days. From food, to support, to prayer, to gathering things to Target runs, to cleaning our house, to taking care of our sweet Eloise - you name it, it's been done, and done well. 
• For prayer that we have literally felt sustaining us through this entire week. It is incredible to know how many people are praying for us and for Ethan and Eloise. This was especially true during his sedation on Monday where we literally did not know what the outcome would be - even in the fear/despair/depth of that time there was a sustaining peace that cannot be attributed to anything else but God and the army of prayer warriors on their knees on our behalf. 
• For Eloise's care team. She has been been cared for so well and it has been such a huge blessing to know that my daughter is being being loved so very well during this abrupt life transition that has also changed her entire life too.
• For Ethan's continued joy. This has been one of the biggest prayers on my heart - that his delightful disposition and joyful spirit would remain steadfast. Yesterday, despite having received chemo the night before, my boy was belting out all of the songs that he knows with the same gusto that he normally does. Please pray that this would continue to be so.