This article first appeared in The Informer Magazine, Winter 2014.
Winter 2014
When my daughter was born with mysterious spots, I had a lot of questions. What does this mean for my daughter? Will I be apart from my 8-year-old son? How will this affect my family? Will I still be able to homeschool? Two and a half months later, the oncologists at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis diagnosed my daughter with Congenital Acute Myeloid Leukemia with Leukemia Cutis, a diagnosis too big for any tiny baby. In the first days of our hospital stay, the Lord comforted me with Psalm 9:9-10. The Lord reminded me that He is my strength in difficult times and that He can be trusted; I just needed to follow His lead.
God’s first leading was for me to adjust my curriculum. My son was just months into his school year when we headed to Riley Hospital for Children for my daughter’s chemotherapy treatments. We were using the Bob Jones University DVDs at the time. With the many interruptions during the day in my daughter’s hospital room, keeping track of multiple DVD cases, books, and workbooks became too overwhelming. I needed a curriculum that better fit our needs while in the hospital, and Alpha Omega’s LIFEPACs were perfect for us. This curriculum provided the structure and content needed for my son with the flexibility of working at our pace. Sometimes we had 10 minutes in the hospital room before the nurse came back or 20 minutes in a waiting area while my daughter had a procedure done. Keeping track of one booklet per subject was more manageable for me.
God’s second leading was for me to see that this new environment was a wonderful place for my son to learn and grow. Spiritually, my son was able to see first-hand God working on our family’s behalf. Countless times we saw God directly intervene when even doctors said the situation was impossible. Academically, my son kept on track with his grade-level schooling and got additional training in the medical field. During one of our month-long hospital stays, one of the student doctors took special interest to teach my son all about DNA and how it was affecting his sister’s body. While my daughter was in ICU, my son was asked by Child Life Services to participate in a taping for the Riley Bingo TV show that transmitted every afternoon to the patients’ rooms. Through this department, many siblings are given special projects, toys, and learning opportunities. Siblings are also allowed to participate in programs for patients such as music therapy, art therapy, and craft time.
Thirdly, God’s leading through my daughter’s leukemia journey gave us the opportunity to display a homeschooling family in the midst of a crisis. I remember a conversation I had with one of my daughter’s nurses. She explained that walking into our room, there was a sense of calm and peace. I knew this was God’s strength being displayed in our words, actions, and attitudes. God provided for every need we had whether it was a place close by for my son to stay overnight (Ronald McDonald House across the street with my husband), or being able to continue homeschooling during my daughter’s chemotherapy treatments at the hospital, or finding a respiratory assistance machine at just the exact time my daughter needed one. In great detail, we saw God handle every situation for us.
My daughter continues to be in remission, and she has not had any treatments for her leukemia for six years. She is doing well and is about to start first grade. If I had a choice to erase this experience from our lives, I would not. God was so awesome in His working on our behalf. I do not say this because my daughter survived; I say this because I saw God loving us and providing for us in a way that I never would have understood apart from this experience.
If you are facing a crisis, take hope in Jesus Christ. He can be your strength, your comfort, and your guide, if you will let Him. As I learned to humbly ask God to use us during each hospital stay, I saw God doing just that. If your circumstances seem impossible, I want to encourage you today to submit to God’s will. Ask Him what your mission is through this situation. If you want to homeschool but the way looks difficult, ask God to show you how to use your challenge to enhance your homeschooling. Make adjustments as needed. You may not completely understand what God is doing by allowing your crisis, but stay calm and peaceful. Take courage knowing that the God who loves you more than you can comprehend is working His good and His best for you and for your family. What you are facing may look overwhelming, but with God, all things are possible.
Melissa Mosley and her two children live in Indiana. She has homeschooled for 10 years. Having experienced God’s amazing grace through her daughter’s leukemia journey, Melissa wants others to know God can be trusted in even the small things of daily life.