Breast Cancer Walk

Saturday was a beautiful day and we were lucky enough to spend it downtown doing the Race for a Cure. Although we were not racing we all got together to walk the 5K. The three of us walked with my dad, mom, sister, cousin, and cousin's girlfriend. It was a ton of fun walking together and enjoying the scenery of Chicago on a gorgeous Fall day. This was Tyler's first time doing the walk and as you can tell, he really got into the spirit of the event. Caleb was also a first time "stroller" and he pretty much slept the entire way.

It is really an awesome experience to do the walk. All around, you see people with various shirts and signs dedicated to all sorts of people. In some cases, you see signs where people are walking in memory of a loved one who lost the battle of breast cancer. When we were lining up to go, we saw a woman walking with her dog and she mentioned that she was walking in memory of her mother who just recently passed away. Along the walk, one of us noticed a sign of someone who was walking in memory of her best friend who just passed away within the last few weeks. It's heartbreaking to see the people who are walking in memory of a loved one, but also encouraging to know that they are making the most of a terrible loss and honoring someone else's life.

We are SO blessed to have walked in celebration, and not in memory, of my mom who had breast cancer 2 years ago. The lump was found completely by chance during surgery. If she hadn't had the surgery, there's no telling whether a mammogram would've detected it. The entire situation is one of those where we are completely reminded of God's awesome power and control over EVERYTHING! In one of my favorite all time verses, Jeremiah 29:11, it says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". In this case especially, the verse rings true. God had planned this to happen exactly the way it did. He knew the outcome of it long before my mom was ever even diagnosed. We are just eternally grateful that the outcome turned out the way it did and my mom was given a future that gave her more years here on Earth to be with us!