Scattered...

I went to a Ladies meeting at church last night. The speaker was a father in our church who has gone through an unimaginable situation and I want to share it with you.

Abel is a six year old little boy who was found to have a tumor in his belly when he was about 18 mo old. One day he was walking, laughing, and doing things a normal 18mo old does and the next he was in the hospital suffering and fighting for his life. He went in for surgery to repair what was thought to be a Wilm's tumor (which has a 95% survival rate) when things went terribly wrong. The tumor turned out to be a neuroblastoma, which has a 30% survival rate. And worse than this, during the surgery Abel's heart stopped. It took some time, along with extraordinary measures to get his heart beating again; therefore, Abel lost a substantial amount of oxygen to brain. Following the surgery, Abel's parents were told that even if he survived the cancer, he would never talk, he would never walk, feed himself, sit up, or even laugh or smile. He went St. Jude's in Memphis and underwent intensive chemotherapy and radiation. Today, Abel has been cancer free for 4 years but he is completely dependent for all care. The doctors however were wrong on one thing though. Abel has a joy that most of us have lost. He can smile and he can laugh! He loves music and repetitive noises :). Abel, along with his parents and two younger brothers are moving to Philadelphia in May so that Abel can attend the best school in the country for him to reach his maximum abilities.

As Abel's dad was telling their story and showing pictures/videos of Abel before all this happened, of his time in the hospitals, and of Abel today, my heart broke for this family. I couldn't help but think of my perfectly healthy 17mo old and how life can change in an instant. It doesn't make sense that people would have to suffer in such a way, especially an innocent little boy. But Abel's family has the most amazing testament of faith. You may think that this story would be one where the family was just so faithful throughout and never questioned anything but this is the neat part. Abel's dad talked of how our God scatters and used numerous examples in scripture of where this happened. Abel's parents were destroyed spiritually. I mean honestly how could they not be. They said how even their smallest prayers were'nt being answered. They felt so alone and wondered if God was even there. But after much prayer, diving into scripture, and encouragement from our church, this family is now using their story to share with others how they overcame such sorrow. Abel's dad went on to now say that yes our God scatters, but he also gathers. It was amazing for me personally to hear how they were absolutely broken yet their faith was miraculously restored. They took a situation that I cannot even fathom and turned it into a testimony to others.

Please pray for Abel and his family and for the lives that they will continue to touch through their story.