Seeing Jesus at Disney World (Urgent Prayer Request)

Guess where we are?

Thanks to all of you who left encouraging comments on my last Beauty & the Beast chapter. All of them were great but this one really stuck out: "You must continue for the revenge of the nerds!"  How can I say "no" to the primal scream of a fellow nerd? I also found additional inspiration at a show I saw yesterday. 

Can you guess where we are? That's right - the "happiest place on earth" - Disney World! (By the way, for being the "happiest place on earth" there sure a lot of grumpy kids around here!) Anyways, watching "Beauty & the Beast" again at Hollywood Studios reminded me of why I started this series in the first place. So the final chapter will be coming soon - and I don't think you'll be disappointed. =)

Okay, there's another more important reason why I'm mentioning why I'm in Orlando right now. I don't typically like to publicly announce when I'm out of town (we'll be home very soon) but I've just got to share this "God story" and make an important prayer request.

Back around November of last year (about 2 months before the cancer hit) we had planned a family vacation to Disney World for mid-April. Everything was booked but obviously after the cancer hit in January - the kids not only had to deal with the fact that mom was very sick, but I also had to tell them we could not go to Disney World any longer. Kim's chemo treatments were going to extend through May and with me taking unpaid leave through August (which my company graciously agreed to) it probably wasn't financially prudent to re-schedule it either. 

Well, as many of you know not only have we asked you to pray for Kim - but for our two young friends Andrew and Connor who both desperately needed bone marrow transplants. We did not even know who Connor was until a few weeks after Kim's diagnosis and we used this blog to tell his story and get people to register and got to meet him and his family shortly thereafter. 

Well, as many of you know by the grace of God and after 5+ years of searching Connor found a match in early March. A few days after the awesome news I get an email from Connor's mom Steph telling us that they had booked a timeshare in Orlando in early June:

...since we will be in BMT [bone marrow transplant] and we either have to use it or lose it.  We would love it if you and your family could use the time share....It is Connor's absolute favorite place in the world....I hope you will think about it and we really hope that you will be able to go.  It would make us happy to picture you and your family there in June. We could help arrange the entire trip for you as well.  I can make all the arrangements - I love doing that stuff.  

When I got this email my jaw dropped to the floor. We had only met Connor's parents a few weeks earlier and they were kind enough to think of us and make such a generous gift along with covering all our Disney Park tickets! The funny thing is Steph knew nothing about my previous cancellation of our April trip (due to chemo) and here she was offering this to us in June  - which just happened to be the exact month doctors permitted Kim to begin traveling. I literally felt like Job. God was restoring everything we had lost before the cancer and more!

I know Steph is going to hate me for putting all this out on the blog and originally I had no intention of doing this but I'm sharing all this now for ONE reason. Connor needs your prayer. It's been over 25 days since his bone marrow transplant and it does not look like the grafting process has even begun yet which has the doctors concerned. They will be getting test results later today (Tues) to see whether the donor cells are grafting and so this is a pivotal juncture for Connor and family. Please go to his blog HERE for more specifics and please bless them as they have blessed us. And as always, please lift up Andrew who is still in ICU along with others in the Prayer Requests tab HERE - but today especially I am asking for special prayers for Connor. Thanks so much everyone. 

In His Grace,

Peter & Kim