Tuesdays Unwrapped

I had one of those moments this week.  I was at church on Wednesday night helping with Ben's nursery class.  Honestly, I was really tired and kind of wished I was at home getting the kids ready for bed instead of being at church.  I know, it sounds awful to admit.  It had been a long day with stress at work. 

I finally made it to class and was talking to Ben's teacher, Lisa.  Lisa has a little girl Ben's age in the class, too.  I started talking to her and she said she'd had a stressful day as well.  I asked her what was going on.  She told me about her cousin's little girl (who was the same age as our little ones) who was in surgery at that very moment having a kidney removed because of a large tumor that was attached to it.  Needless to say, I forgot all about my "stressful" day.  She was waiting on a text to let her know how everything went in the surgery. There she and I sat with our happy, healthy one-year-olds and we were kind of speechless.  I think neither one of us could talk about it without going into tears.  All I could say is that it's a mother's worst nightmare come true.  Lisa said it's the kind of news that takes you to your knees.  I know what she means.  She said she had seen her cousin's little girl the previous weekend and she looked healthy and happy.  The little girl's mother was giving her a bath and noticed an unusual knot on her back, and when they took her to the doctor they found the tumor.  All of these events happened in less than a week.

At the end of class Lisa received a text to let her know that the surgery was successful and everything was going fine.  The last update this week has been that the cancer is in Stage 1 and treatable and I think the family is pleased with the results considering the situation.  If you remember, please pray for Aubrey.

All week I've thought about that family and that little girl.  In times where I feel stressed and overwhelmed, I look at my healthy, happy boys,  and I am just a little more grateful.  It was such a reminder to be grateful for the things that we sometimes take for granted like good health.  I always hate to use someone's suffering to get perspective in my own life, but this experience did that for me. 

I'm sharing this week at Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky.