Well, today she needs you more than ever.
If you have been one of the thousands following her story, you know that her tests and scans for the tumor in her brain, were not great in December. Not the news they were hoping after rounds and rounds of chemo and not the healing many of us were praying for. Not great, but not without hope. While her tumor has shown no new growth, it is still very present and in a very detrimental part of her brain, wrapped around her brain stem. Devastating to her parents, to her family and to the many who have been on their knees for her.
And yet, with no where else to turn and no one who knew what to do, God has answered their cries for wisdom and led Aaron and Holly to a treatment decision.
The surgery they had hoped to perform at this point is just too risky. Kate's Mom and Dad spent weeks in a very difficult place, trying to choose the best option for Kate and what they are facing today, this moment, is it.
Yesterday Kate entered the hospital for an incredibly taxing treatment. Starting today, she will be getting a year's worth of chemo in just 6 days. There are so many prayer requests for her, please visit her caring bridge sight or website to see them all. Because her body will be stripped of so many cells, in a few days (or weeks?) she will undergo a stem cell procedure with healthy stems that were harvested before to rescue her. It will be a very grueling ordeal and will require around 6 weeks of isolation. For a six year old. Who has a brain tumor. Can you imagine?? She walked into a room yesterday that she is unable to leave until at least the middle or the end of March. No visitors. No outings. Nothing but treatment and sickness and a little girl who is trying to process this new "life."
As you can imagine, Kate and her whole family need our prayers. Not only does this affect Kate greatly, but obviously Holly and Aaron's lives have been turned upside down as well as their other children, Olivia and Will.
Will you join me in praying for the McRae's over these coming weeks?? Now more than ever, they need faithful prayer warriors to stand with them and help shoulder this burden. They are begging for intercessors who will petition the Lord on Kate's behalf. I don't know what that means to you, but I can tell you that it would mean the world to them. God's heart is stirred when His people pray. And we do it not because He is our genie or because we hope that our "good prayers" will earn us something, but simply because He is worthy. He longs for us to communicate with Him. To lay our requests at His feet and to utter the deepest desires of our hearts. To recognize His authority and His perfect plan and to help us surrender to it. In prayer we worship Him, we meditate on the truth of His word, and we ask Him to show us how to pray, to burden our hearts with the things that burden His. The Lord may never choose to heal Kate on this side of Heaven. His ways are not our ways and that may be His will. But it doesn't mean we don't believe that He won't or that He couldn't. It doesn't mean that we don't continue to ask Him to do the impossible or to heal her completely. But it does mean that we ask with open hands, knowing that whatever He chooses to allow, it is His will. And it is for Kate's good. God doesn't ask us to solve the world's problems, He just asks us to trust Him and believe Him. He will do what He's going to do, but our obedience to Him matters.
So if you are led, will you join me?
And while you're at it, will you also pray for my friend Steph, Kate's aunt and Holly's sister? She moved in with them last summer, when all this went down and she has become a third parent in this situation. An extension of Holly and Aaron for Oliva and Will, when they can't be home. As you can imgaine, she is an invaluable blessing to them. She'll probably kill me for this, but I know this is also very draining for her, a marathon that she's been called to. And if you asked her, she would tell you that she couldn't imagine being anywhere else but here. She loves the kids and they love her.
Thank you for reading this. Please pray with us. You can find all of Kate's info at her website:
4 comments:
I've been following their story and will continue to pray. They write so honestly about their pain and fear but their faith shines through and is inspiring.
This was a beautiful post and thank you for writing it. I've been following along and praying every day for that sweet girl. It breaks my heart what they are going through and enduring. I just cannot imagine and I have a six year old blondie of a daughter too, hits so close to home for me. All we can do is pray and hope that He hears them enough to completely heal this sweet princess.
Thank you so much for sharing this story. I'm lifting up Kate in prayer and am moved beyond words of what she is going through.
So hard. Can't imagine having such a sick little one.
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