Hi Guys,

As we sang the worship song "How Great Is Our God" last Sunday in church, I was thinking how wonderful it was to sing this classic powerful song. Well today we sing it again!

Thank you for prayers today. Preston did amazing, we were at the hospital at 7am and he didn't go under until 10:30. He did an amazing job being content with worship music, playing cards, coloring reading books etc. He didn't ask for food at all. His stomach did get sensitive to the drink he had to have ,so it took longer to consume. We were told he had to finish or we will put a tube in nose to finish it while awake. I simply told Preston this, as he remembers having the tube in his nose last December and he worked hard and his absolute best and got the drink done. I continue to be amazed how much he has grown in this year from 4 to 5 years old and his understanding to all of this. God has given him incredible strength, peace and understanding through all of this. The nurses and staff love when they are assigned to Preston because he is such a delight to care for they say. What a gift ! God continues to give Eric and I amazing wisdom to love him through this as his parents. 

The day was longer than planned because Preston kept waking from the anesthesia, they had to give more a few times. He was back with doctors from 1030-230pm. It was wonderful to see him after that! He did an amazing job. 

This evening, we got the best news! The doctor called and said the scan was clear NO CANCER CELLS.  PRAISE GOD PRAISE GOD PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME! As we heard such words, Eric and I burst into tears of joy. When we told the kids they screamed for joy and just hugged each other. 
What an incredible moment and what a gift today from the Lord.

As we arrived at Children Mercy this morning the Christmas lights were up. I was remembering seeing them up a year ago as we began this journey and here we are a year later, filled with Gods strength and presence from the journey of the year. A year ago I remember us receiving the call confirming it was in fact cancer, we knew that was highly likely but we still prayed for a miracle that it wasn't. I burst into tears then as the confirmation of cancer had become our reality. Now a year later, our son is considered to be in remission as of today and we burst into tears again AMEN!. If someone would have told us this would be in our future, I would not have known how our hearts would handle something so hard. I don't know why God answers prayers in the way he does but we are not called to know why, we are called to trust him to be with us in ALL things. The good, and the hard. What I do know is that his promise of being with us in all things when we SURRENDER it to him, the power in how he works within hard things is beyond our understanding and only through him can we be equipped to endure such things. This is what we have seen him do this year!

Our hearts cannot express the thankfulness we feel in having our son in remission. The thankfulness for the prayer, support in many ways and the way God has been so faithful to our family. He hears our hearts cry out and he is right there. We just have to have palms open to him, we could never do any of this in our own strength. All glory is to HIM  and HIM alone! 

Thank you for the incredible encouraging words. The body of Christ is so beautiful and we have seen this first hand, the way God designed us to be woven together and express his love to one another. 

Next Steps:

*Preston will have his port removed on 12.9
*We will be in post treatment plan for the next year, which will include monthly exams and scans every 3 months. They will monitor him close in the first year, this is highest chance of it coming back.
* We stop chemo and meds. May take 6-12months to clear his body of side effects. We also don't fully know the long term impact of treatment, time will tell and we will take in strides and pray over this.

Please pray for these things and thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts. 
Blessings to you all this season with your families. Time with family is such a gift, enjoy!

In HIS love,
Margo