It is so hard to believe that there is this unseen battle going on inside of Ela’s body.

Leslee, my parents, and I spent the whole day with her and she acted…well, quiet delightfully actually! We went to the Bible Museum in Washington DC to watch a play: “Joseph: God Meant it for Good,” which was a nice little field trip and a good celebration of my dad’s birthday.

Ela did excellent, she stayed in her seat throughout the whole play, she asked Leslee some questions to make sure she understood what all was going on, and she was very expressive during some scenes! When she saw Joseph’s brothers mistreating him before being sold to the band of Ishmaelites, she couldn’t help holding her hand up to her cheek and exclaiming: “That’s not going to make God happy!”

She definitely does not give a “my-heart-is-fighting-rejection” vibe at all. We’re very thankful for this. We know the Lord is sustaining her little body through medication and through His own power (Col. 1:17) and we pray that this continues to be the case for many many more years to come.

The big news for tonight is that her upcoming Daratumumab treatment is paid for. Nothing but God’s “goodness and mercy” following us (Ps. 23:6) and blessing our socks off once again…thank you Lord. The estimate for 1 of the 16 treatments that Ela will be getting is somewhere between 7K–10K. You read at the last update that insurance was not about to approve this treatment and that has not changed…what has changed is the heart of a few people at CHOP (Prov. 21:1). The doctors are so set on Ela receiving this treatment that they convinced a financial team to pay for treatment…so again…we’re talking some 112K–160K after all 16 treatments are done, which is wild to think about since this is quite a bit more than all the funds the Lord has raised for us through COTA. Can’t help but thinking about a passage I taught through sometime last year.

Haggai 2:6–8 (ESV) — 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts.

We worry about these financial things but it truly is a silly thing to do when we consider that the Lord of hosts is not hurting in the financial department.

Thank you for praying for us and with us. God has answered our prayers for wisdom regarding whether or not we should go with this more intense treatment and he answered our prayers for it to be approved by insurance. The answer for the last prayer request was, of course, “no”…the thing is that God knew that what we needed was the funding…He obviously does not need an insurance company’s “approval” if He wants Ela to receive this treatment. There’s some perspective for you!

We continue to covet your prayers…we have bad days and good days. Leslee and I are loving each other and our kids through this, we’re leaning on our church and loved ones, we’re trusting the Lord but you know how it is…some days we take our eyes off of Jesus and the trials seem bigger than they are. I leave you with a portion of Scripture that has been comforting to me this last week.

Psalm 107:19–21 (ESV) — 19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. 21 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!