"My grace is sufficient.."

This was written by Paul about a problem he had asked the Lord to relieve him of 3 times.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Lord never relieved Paul of this problem he had in his life. It appears He will not be relieving Greg of his brain cancer this side of heaven either. (Unless He chooses to give us a miracle!) It was just about 2 years ago that Greg started feeling his symptoms of brain cancer while we were in Mexico. At that time we felt our world was crumbling. However, God has blessed us with 2 of the most precious years of our lives. We have grown closer to each other as a family and closer to the Lord. We have a new sense of what it means to truly rely on God and what faith looks like. We are not angry at God nor are we questioning Him. His ways are perfect

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Over that past few weeks, we have seen Greg's health begin to deteriorate. We thought it was probably due to side effects from the strong dose of chemo he was getting. However, yesterday when we went for his 3rd dose of chemo our doctor decided it was best to give him an MRI first to see what was going on with his big ole noggin. Unfortunately, one of the drugs was causing a brain bleed and that is why his health had gone downhill. Greg can no longer receive this treatment. Sadly, we have just exhausted all of our options. We are now to the point of just enjoying whatever time God will give us together on earth. We know you all have a lot of questions and honestly there are no answers. Only God knows how long he has and only God knows when or how any of us will go. I am so grateful to Him that He is allowing us to enjoy these days before we have to say, "See you in Heaven."

We cannot thank Dr. Sumrall and Ann Elrod and their team enough. They have made this journey more than bearable. We love them and feel blessed to call them friends. We also need to thank our company and church. They have both stood by us and supported us in ways that no one could ever imagine. The list of thank yous could go on, but you all know who you are. We are grateful to each one of you for loving us through this journey. It isn't over, but it is near. Please know we will need your love and prayers now more than ever.

With love,
Greg, Missy, Jerod, Alex and Annie

Here are some highlights of the past 2 years.

God is good all the time. We love you all!

Jesus Calms A Storm

Mark 4:35-41English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Calms a Storm

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

I will be as transparent as I possibly can here. This past few week has been tough. We have seen over the past month that Greg's left hand has become extremely weak. The past few weeks his arm has become weak as well. He doesn't have much strength and has struggled greatly with simple tasks, as you can imagine. Now recently he has lost some of the strength in his left leg. Because of this, we knew that the outcome of today's MRI may not be favorable. We were right in our thinking. Today's MRI showed that the tumor was growing. 

Cue the stormy weather music and the crashing waves...the storm was swirling all around us as we sat in the doctor's office and heard this news. However, in the midst of this news, there was a calm. This calm comes from a peace only Jesus can give. As the story points out Jesus has control over everything including Greg's medical condition. The Lord never promised us we would never face storms in our life, he just promises to be with us when we face them. Deuteronomy 31:8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." He is the only one who knows what is truly going on with Greg's brain. He is the only one who knows the outcome. We are at peace knowing that He is in control of our boat.

Our sweet Dr (who's knowledge we have complete trust in) decided to change the course of treatment today. Greg will no longer be receiving immunotherapy. He will now be receiving an intensive chemotherapy treatment where they mix 3 chemos together and attack the tumor from different angles so to speak. Our prayer is that Greg will handle this treatment well with little to no side effects, that this treatment can help to restore the strength in his left side and destroy the tumor. 

Please also pray for our family as we all go through lots of transition. Jerod and Alex will be going off to LU and Annie and I will be starting 8th grade! (maybe I will learn something this time!) And of course, Greg will be fighting the good fight! We love you all! 

Greg, Missy, Jerod, Alex and Annie