Back to School

It’s been hard not to be emotional today. A year ago, Michael’s body was battling and slowly losing to leukemia, although at the time, we did not know it. A year ago, we had no idea that in a matter of just a few weeks, our lives would change forever. For reasons that I cannot fully share on this platform, a year ago at this time, I was already operating in survival mode and dealing with intense personal grief. A year ago, this coming Sunday, I shared with my congregation a major trial that my family and I were going through. And having no clue what was coming, I preached a message on Isaiah 40:31: “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Time after time, over the course of the last year, I have seen God renew our strength. Time after time, he has provided for our needs. Time after time, He has brought the right person and the right time to help or encourage us. It is only by His grace that Michael’s cancer has not torn my marriage or my family apart. The stress that a child’s cancer diagnosis places on a marriage, and the upheaval that it causes a family are very, very real. It is only by God’s grace that I am still a pastor. I cannot tell you how many times over the last year I have been overwhelmed by the needs of my family and my inability to adequately meet the needs of my church family. And yet I have watched God’s people, literally all over the world, bathe me and my family in prayer. I have watched His people pick up the balls that I was dropping. He has surrounded us with both a church family and a Christian school family that have cared for us well and have repeatedly relieved the burdens that were too heavy for us to carry.

This past year, I have watched Michael go from 89 pounds to a robust (for him) 130. I have watched as his immune system has been repeatedly destroyed only to see his body fight back and rebuild. Michael doesn’t talk much about how his cancer has affected him, but I have watched him handle it like a champ. To this day, I have yet to hear him complain.

Today marks a milestone that, to be honest, I didn’t know when Michael was first diagnosed that we would ever see. And I say that because it is a milestone that not every leukemia patient gets to see. As I write this, Michael is at school in person for the first time since January 29, 2025, when I pulled him out of school to take him to the emergency room. Michael is easing back into school, just taking a couple of classes in person while the rest remain online. But for him to go from having virtually no immune system and having virtually no contact with those outside his family to the point where his immune system is strong enough for him to be sitting in a classroom with his classmates is massive and cause for celebration!

We had planned on Michael going back to school on this past Monday, but God had other plans. On Saturday, Michaell began complaining of a sore throat and a stuffy nose. We kept him home from church on Sunday, and he seemed to perk up some that afternoon. On Monday, Michael woke up with a fever of 100.8. We are under instructions from Michaels doctors at Mott to take him to the Emergency Room for any fever over 100.4. By the time I got him to the ER, his fever had spiked to 103.1. Michael and I ended up spending most of the day in the ER and discovered that he had Covid.

Apart from him getting pancreatitis that was chemo induced in the spring, this is the first time that Michael has had any type of secondary infection since his leukemia diagnosis. On Monday afternoon, Michael was released to go and recover at home. Michael slept most of the time in the ER, and all afternoon and evening on Monday. His fever broke Tuesday morning, and he has been fever free ever since. While he still has some congestion and a cough, he is feeling much better. We know his energy is back because he is starting to tease and pick at his siblings!

Michael was supposed to have chemo on Thursday, but that has been put off for a week while his body recovers from Covid. In the meantime, we continue to take one day at a time and celebrate each milestone.