Sorry for 10 days of radio silence… We went into that week thinking we’d welcome our baby sometime Tuesday night and be back home by Thursday, but as you’ll remember, Finley wasn’t even born until Thursday! So by the time we finally got home after being paroled for good behavior, it was Saturday afternoon! It’s true what they say: time moves differently on the inside. Since then, we’ve been at home recuperating and adjusting. In some ways, it’s familiar doing the baby things and managing the unruly queue of sisters impatiently waiting their turns to hold Finley. I’ll say this: the whole infant routine was a lot easier at 26 than it is at 36, but it’s nice having so many capable (even if not always willing) helpers this time around. We got some great pictures taken, thanks to our good friend Caroline, which we’re excited to share with you all! It was so good to be back home with all our girls; our family was finally whole again (and a little bigger, too).
Kara’s chemo port surgery went smoothly and without incident. She also had a mammogram and ultrasound last week, and will be getting the PET-CT scan this week. The combination of those scans will paint the full picture that we need to be able to make any kind of decisions regarding treatment (although the protocol is pretty established, so I don’t think much will change). From what we understand, this scan is the big one. This will be the one that tells us what stage the cancer is in, if the cancer has spread, and if so, to what extent. Please pray with us specifically that there will be no spread to other parts of her body!
Having just come home from the hospital, we stayed home from church the next day for the first time in a very long time. Riley asked, “Are we sinning since we aren’t going to church?” This was an interesting question… After the initial chuckles subsided, I realized we had to give her some kind of answer. How do we explain that no, of course it’s not sin, but it’s not normally a good practice either? It prompted a very good conversation with our kids about the role of the church body, and the importance of gathering together as a normal rhythm in our lives. I’m not going to try to speculate what an acceptable absence rate is, but if I can be permitted to challenge us all, I would like to make a statement here on the issue. If you skip church and nobody blinks, or the question, “are we going to church today” is being asked, you skip too much. Get your butts in church! You may roll your eyes at that; of course the pastor is going to say you should be in church. But no, I’m saying that because we have learned a valuable lesson lately. In this time of difficulty for our family, the outpouring of support from afar has been such an encouragement, but who were the first people to show up at our door with meals and hugs and shoulders to cry on, and who took on all of our responsibilities? It was our local church family. You see, these life-giving relationships are cultivated over time through a lot of normal, and during the exceptional, they are always the first to celebrate or mourn with us. “Do not forsake the assembling of believers, as is the habit of some.” And do not despise the ordinary means of grace! Thank God for the incredible blessing He has given us through His family, the church!