Hayes was discharged last Thursday from the hospital and we have been home for four glorious, beautiful normal days. We are still in isolation, hoping to keep everyone well. Joel and I have decided that we will pull close into home ourselves until we are through the flu and cold season. It is just safer that way. With all the other kids coming and going, I stay as vigilant as I can about all the germs. 

Oh how beautiful normal feels. It is sacred, really. Life is lived in the normal and cancer steals that in every way. When you have experienced the loss, the return is more beautiful, more sacred, more glorious. Hayes and I return to Duke for clinic this week and hope to return home quickly to the very wonderful care of the Mission Pediatric Oncology group. We would be blessed beyond measure to savor the holidays together as a family at home. 

I have been humbled by the faith of a young man. His prayers are heartfelt offerings of gratitude. He reminds me often of the beauty around us. He sees, I mean REALLY sees, the dusky blue of the mountain ridges, the sun shimmering off the water of the lake, and the cool, fresh air of an afternoon walk. He thinks often of his friends at Duke and prays for their health and recovery.

I hope today you can really see the beauty around you - that you stop to notice the sun and the woodsy smell of the Christmas tree and experience the gift of this holy season.