Our Journey Forward: Wednesday, June 1, 2011

In the Book of Mormon, there is a record of a family who traveled from the Tower of Babel to the American continent. The family of Jared soon received their first glimpse of a vast, stormy ocean, having been required of the Lord to crawl into some mysterious air-tight vessels they were promised would carry them safely to a better place. As they gazed into the deep, moving water, they breathed the unfamiliar sea salt and felt the ice cold water lap at their feet. "What will become of our family?" "Can we do this thing that God requires of us?"

These were the questions we asked as our family stood on the edge of a new journey in February 2011. Before Cathi was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, we saw the waves of an unfamiliar storm brewing and felt the fear of anticipation. When the cancer was certain, our family was required to wade into the cold water, crawl into a mysterious vessel and trust the Lord would be in charge.

The family of Jared was given stones touched by the finger of the Lord that provided light inside their vessels "that they might not cross the great waters in darkness......and it came to pass that...(they) set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God. And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind. And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind. And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters. And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind. And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord. And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water." Read the rest: http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/ether/6?lang=eng

This blog is the captain's log of our family's journey. It will serve to keep all of you updated on Cathi's condition but also be a place where I can express the lessons we are learning so that it might be a source of strength for others who are going through difficult challenges. We are certainly not unique in this regard. I hope to continue trusting in the light we have been given and to lead our family when we are encompassed by the dark ocean or tossed by its waves. We sincerely seek for your faith in asking the Lord to calm the water, give strength beyond our own and lead all of us of us to a better place.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Half Way There & Church Family

Cathi has now endured three of the six rounds of chemo she is scheduled for...so she almost has MOST of this behind her. The week of chemo has become almost routine...Tuesday she receives the chemo drugs and feels great; Wednesday she goes back and receives an injection to boost her white blood cell count and feels okay; Thursday she's in bed sleeping solid and also feels a lot of aching in her chest from the white blood cell production; Friday she's still tired but not as much; Saturday she starts getting back to her normal self. We've noticed that with each round, she's a little more wiped out and might have an extra symptom (this last time, she developed some mouth sores)...but for the most part, it's routine. She doesn't talk about it much, but I think looking ahead at having to continually repeat this "routine" is a little emotionally taxing. But if you're a kid in the Van Leuven family right now, you're basically seeing a happy, engaged, fun Mom.

Meanwhile, life goes on...last week, I stepped up into the laundry room from the garage and felt a familiar, painful ZAP down my back and legs. I crawled into bed for a few days and swallowed steroids and pain killer. I'm doing great now, but it was pretty weird with both Cathi and I confined to the sick bed together. I am SO grateful for our church and the people in it. The first day of my confinement, one of our church members took Cathi for her chemo (and a different church member took her back for her injection the following day). I texted another church member and asked if she could pick up medicine from the pharmacy for me...20 minutes later, it was done. I called another church member and asked if he would go by my office and pick up my laptop so I could work at home. He finished an important meeting he had and immediately made the trip to my office and not only delivered my laptop to me, but (with another church member) gave me a Priesthood blessing that speeded up my recovery. On Thursday, we didn't have one but TWO meals delivered...both delicious! We count ourselves very blessed to be part of such a wonderful "family" of friends who truly care about each other and serve people around them (both in and out of our church).

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