Today is the first day of school over here, and this year it is especially special!
So, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing is one of my favorite hymns, and as a kid I liked the "Ebenezer" line because I thought it was funny. You know, Scrooge and all. (If you're not familiar with the hymn, here's a link to a Mumford & Sons cover of it, which is pretty awesome.)
The second verse begins "Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by thy help I'm come," and it references I Samuel 7. In that passage, God gives the Israelites a victory over the Philistines and Samuel sets up a stone to commemorate the victory and names it Ebenezer, or "stone of help", saying "Thus far the Lord has helped us."
A few years ago I read this blog post, and I loved that the author (Amanda) used the same language to describe making it through a difficult patch (her baby's first few months). She figuratively "raised her Ebenezer" to recognize God's help through that time, and their deliverance safely through that trial. (I definitely could have written the same thing after Will's first few months!)
(That gang sign Anna is making is supposed to be a "K".)
Anyway, rewind with me to just about five years ago. The day that John was diagnosed with cancer, we went home and went directly to the computer to look up all details on his prognosis. The first site we went to (not WebMD!) listed the five-year-survival rate of Stage III rectal cancer as 55%. We were in shock when we realized that John's chances of being alive for Anna's first day of kindergarten might be only slightly better than a coin-toss.
(Anna getting a hug and some encouragement from her preschool teacher, Mrs. Hoffman.)
(Anna and her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Epps.)
Fast forward five years to today...
...and the survival rate around here is 100%.
I wish that I'd known I'd be taking these pictures five years ago, but I am so, so, so thankful that Anna got to hug her daddy's neck before heading off to kindergarten.
So here we are today...
...raising our Ebenezer. :-)
10 comments:
What a great milestone for your family to remember on this day! It makes me cry (but happy tears) thinking about the positive blessings - so much to be grateful for! Praying for many more blessings to come :-)
Aunt Cindy, Uncle Shawn & Olivia
Anna - Love the new hair cut! Uncle Shawn & Aunt Cindy
Will - Love the cool blue sneakers! Uncle Shawn & Aunt Cindy
Wow! I didn't know about your husband's bout of cancer. That diagnosis must have turned your world upside down....and it must have made moments like these even sweeter. So glad to see you all happy and healthy (and starting school!)
I have been thinking so much about the approach of the 5 year anniversary...so this post just put me in a puddle of tears of thankfulness. So many blessings in the last 5 years.
Hugs to all of you.
mama
Such a precious post, Angie! So thankful for that 100%.
Amen. Love all these photos. Can't wait to hear about Anna's first week.
And Will's =).
Tears! Such beautiful perspective on a special day. Love your sweet family!
I haven't checked in here in a while.... this was so touching and so well said!! Praise God!!
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