The Fast Right Hook

My friend, Lauren, looks at me sometimes and says, "Life is just rude." (Lauren knows whereof she speaks: check out her blog to see what I mean.) She is so right. We are going along our merry way, thinking we have some semblance of control over what the days will hold, when suddenly, a fast right hook catches us unawares and knocks "life as we know it" right out the window.

Meet Cary. Cary and I went to college together and then ran into each other "by chance" when we both joined the local MOPS group a decade later.

The little girl is her daughter, Mary Brooks. Isn't she cute?

Somehow, they seem like an old married couple here.

She is so determined to keep up with the big kids.

This is her son. Harrison is 4, and he and Flash just get each other.

It was a little foolish of us to expect two 4 year old boys
to respect the stillness of nature.

Geronimo!

As you might be able to see from the first picture, Cary is pregnant. 14 days ago, during the routine ultrasound, she and her husband, Clay, received terrifying news. Little Baby Boy (LBB) has a tumor on his heart. It is not obstructing blood flow in any way, but let us agree that this is not the news a mother is expecting when she went in to find out whether the nursery should be pink or blue.

The news did not improve. Clay and Cary were sat down to have it gently explained to them that there is a good chance that this tumor is indicative of a disease called Tuberous Sclerosis. This is a genetic disease in which hard, encapsulated tumors grow all the body, both inside and out - on the brain, lungs, heart, kidneys, and especially on the eyes and skin. As you can imagine (but wouldn't want to), those tumors then cause a host of other developmental issues, potentially including mental retardation, autism, seizures, etc. There is no known cure -- each tumor is handled as an individual case.

I am posting all of this because - well, because Cary and Clay could use our prayers. Because life is rude and sharing the brunt of the rudeness can make the load a little easier to carry. Because it's so easy to get caught up in the silly daily bickering and fussing at one another and to forget that tomorrow is not promised. Because Cary flows between waves of grief and complete peace and because it has been a privilege to see her life marked by God's grace in the midst of this living nightmare.

I will be posting the news of their journey with Little Baby Boy as it unfolds. Pray for healing. Pray for mercy. Pray for peace. Pray for strength. Pray for grace. And don't let small things fool you into thinking they are big things. A fast right hook might be in the near future.