A Cow Man
April 8, 2004
12:33 PM
Hi everyone. I hope you week has gone well! Happy Easter to everyone...
Just wanted to pass along a quick update. Chad has completed 3 of 20 of the high dose interferon treatments. He'll go today, again with Mom, and I'll take him tomorrow for his final treatment this week...I think they need a break from one another. ;) Monday night he did really well, but Tuesday was rough...
So that's that so far. I'll pass along another update next week. Pray that he'll be able to make it to church Easter Sunday! And of course for spiritual and physical healing, strength, and peace. Pray that the interferon will be effective. And, again, pray that blessings will be realized through our suffering. God continues to lead me to amazing Scriptures I believe shed a little light on what He is trying to accomplish here, so I ask you not only to pray for life...but abundant life that can only be found in Him.
Once again, thanks for all the support, concern food, cards, calls, emails, hugs and love, but most of all...for your prayers. All I can say is God has surrounded us with truly amazing people. My dad always says that one way God loves us is through others. Count yourselves among them.
Marti
Easter. I love it. It's so bight and warm (hopefully) and open-toe shoe friendly. And the only time of year you can go crazy with pastels and it's completely okay. My kinda time of year! Oh...and Cadbury eggs. Praise the Lord for those babies! I'm 33 and still get an Easter basket by they way. If you think that's pathetic, talk to my mother...
I also, of course, mostly love Easter because of it's life-altering significance, not only to all Christians, but to my family. In Easter of 2006, 2 years after this email was written, my entire family would vacation together in Charleston...just before Chad's brain tumor showed itself on Easter Monday. It was the last time that the Sullivan 5 was...well, just the Sullivan 5. It was the last time I saw Chad get to just be himself on this Earth. Can I tell you a quick story? It's just a funny...
The day Chad and Brooke left Charleston was Easter Monday 2006. It had been an amazing family weekend. We ate oysters and played on the beach and stayed up way too late. Easter morning we went to to church at FBC Charleston which is just about as Old South as it gets. There was more seersucker than you could shake a stick at, and I'm proud to tell you our boys were among them! The next morning we woke up and went down to King St. for some shopping and lunch before Chad and Brooke hit the road. I remember that lunch so clearly because we spotted Andie McDowell, the actress, as we were sitting down to eat. (She's a beautiful women, but not nearly as perfect as those Loreal commercials would have us believe. I'm just saying. Not to belittle her, but just to let the rest of us girls know we look pretty good, too! Airbrushing. It's a bad thing.) Anywho...I remember the quirkiest little thing Chad said that day that just makes me smile and sigh every time I think on it. Brooke, we call her Princess Two-Legs, she will only eat fish or animals that walk on 2 legs...ie, poultry...but no four-legged animals at all. She, because of this, opted for a turkey burger. An excellent choice paired with some sweet potato fries. Chad, on the other hand, an all-American type of guy, doesn't discriminate against the number of legs his food originally had. A "cow man," if you will. And that's exactly what he told the waitress he wanted. "A COW burger, please." (dramatic pause) "Moo."
It was a moment. Chad Sullivan, ladies and gentleman.
Anyway...back to my original points...
Easter, to me, is the anniversary of the death of not just my Savior, but of my family as I had always known it. As I've shared with you before, I miss the Sullivan 5 that died that Easter Monday night. I now, however, have the opportunity to embrace the new life that has come out of that death. In all death in Christ there comes new life, and I celebrate that today and in this season. I see the prayer request in the above entry...and I'm moved. They were all answered, every single one over time, in one way or another. It wasn't always the manner in which I envisioned...but He was showing off all along. I have this bad habit (if you can imagine) of trying to envision and figure out what God is doing and "help Him along," if you will. Just to call a spade a spade, I manipulate and get in His way. I have had such a conviction on my heart about this the last few years. God does not need my help...He simply wants me to trust and obey 24 hours at a time. There, I find the peace and the wonder of my God.
"...again, pray that blessings will be realized through our suffering."
That line, written 6 years ago, is the prayer that birthed my life's passion. And I manipulated nothing to realize it. It formed right before my eyes as I trusted my Savior and waited patiently. And you know what else? I really love that it all went down for the Sullivan 5 on Easter. Ours truly is a story of life out of death...
Yes He did...Ephraim.
Moo.
12:33 PM
Hi everyone. I hope you week has gone well! Happy Easter to everyone...
Just wanted to pass along a quick update. Chad has completed 3 of 20 of the high dose interferon treatments. He'll go today, again with Mom, and I'll take him tomorrow for his final treatment this week...I think they need a break from one another. ;) Monday night he did really well, but Tuesday was rough...
So that's that so far. I'll pass along another update next week. Pray that he'll be able to make it to church Easter Sunday! And of course for spiritual and physical healing, strength, and peace. Pray that the interferon will be effective. And, again, pray that blessings will be realized through our suffering. God continues to lead me to amazing Scriptures I believe shed a little light on what He is trying to accomplish here, so I ask you not only to pray for life...but abundant life that can only be found in Him.
Once again, thanks for all the support, concern food, cards, calls, emails, hugs and love, but most of all...for your prayers. All I can say is God has surrounded us with truly amazing people. My dad always says that one way God loves us is through others. Count yourselves among them.
Marti
Easter. I love it. It's so bight and warm (hopefully) and open-toe shoe friendly. And the only time of year you can go crazy with pastels and it's completely okay. My kinda time of year! Oh...and Cadbury eggs. Praise the Lord for those babies! I'm 33 and still get an Easter basket by they way. If you think that's pathetic, talk to my mother...
I also, of course, mostly love Easter because of it's life-altering significance, not only to all Christians, but to my family. In Easter of 2006, 2 years after this email was written, my entire family would vacation together in Charleston...just before Chad's brain tumor showed itself on Easter Monday. It was the last time that the Sullivan 5 was...well, just the Sullivan 5. It was the last time I saw Chad get to just be himself on this Earth. Can I tell you a quick story? It's just a funny...
The day Chad and Brooke left Charleston was Easter Monday 2006. It had been an amazing family weekend. We ate oysters and played on the beach and stayed up way too late. Easter morning we went to to church at FBC Charleston which is just about as Old South as it gets. There was more seersucker than you could shake a stick at, and I'm proud to tell you our boys were among them! The next morning we woke up and went down to King St. for some shopping and lunch before Chad and Brooke hit the road. I remember that lunch so clearly because we spotted Andie McDowell, the actress, as we were sitting down to eat. (She's a beautiful women, but not nearly as perfect as those Loreal commercials would have us believe. I'm just saying. Not to belittle her, but just to let the rest of us girls know we look pretty good, too! Airbrushing. It's a bad thing.) Anywho...I remember the quirkiest little thing Chad said that day that just makes me smile and sigh every time I think on it. Brooke, we call her Princess Two-Legs, she will only eat fish or animals that walk on 2 legs...ie, poultry...but no four-legged animals at all. She, because of this, opted for a turkey burger. An excellent choice paired with some sweet potato fries. Chad, on the other hand, an all-American type of guy, doesn't discriminate against the number of legs his food originally had. A "cow man," if you will. And that's exactly what he told the waitress he wanted. "A COW burger, please." (dramatic pause) "Moo."
It was a moment. Chad Sullivan, ladies and gentleman.
Anyway...back to my original points...
Easter, to me, is the anniversary of the death of not just my Savior, but of my family as I had always known it. As I've shared with you before, I miss the Sullivan 5 that died that Easter Monday night. I now, however, have the opportunity to embrace the new life that has come out of that death. In all death in Christ there comes new life, and I celebrate that today and in this season. I see the prayer request in the above entry...and I'm moved. They were all answered, every single one over time, in one way or another. It wasn't always the manner in which I envisioned...but He was showing off all along. I have this bad habit (if you can imagine) of trying to envision and figure out what God is doing and "help Him along," if you will. Just to call a spade a spade, I manipulate and get in His way. I have had such a conviction on my heart about this the last few years. God does not need my help...He simply wants me to trust and obey 24 hours at a time. There, I find the peace and the wonder of my God.
"...again, pray that blessings will be realized through our suffering."
That line, written 6 years ago, is the prayer that birthed my life's passion. And I manipulated nothing to realize it. It formed right before my eyes as I trusted my Savior and waited patiently. And you know what else? I really love that it all went down for the Sullivan 5 on Easter. Ours truly is a story of life out of death...
Yes He did...Ephraim.
Moo.
Marti, I love this post. That is our Chad...Moo. His spirit is one-of-a-kind! While each time I read The Road to Ephraim a tear or 10 threaten to roll down my cheek, I always end up grinning and finding my own memory of Chad that I haven't thought about in years as well as a spiritual uplift. Thank you for what you do. I know it is hard to relive and reengage with the tough journey that Chad and your family went through and still go through. Please know it makes a difference and shows us all how God works through His "earth angels" everyday. You and Chad are definitely a part of His army. I will continue to pray for you and your family. Keep doing what you are doing...it is working.
ReplyDeleteFruitful affliction, this is my plea as well. You are such an amazing encourager. There are not enough thank you's! Through all of the sorrow and trials surrounding me, just seeing your cup always sharing with everyone else's is just a blessing. Thank you.
ReplyDelete