This week has been hard.

My warrior child who virtually never cries was in a fetal position of pain this week with silent tears streaming in a steady flow down her face.

Rebecca’s scar tissue growth from where she was stitched together during her transplant surgery is causing a partial blockage in her intestines. This blockage resulted in a full-on obstruction that had to be resolved immediately. The process of that resolution creates a perfect storm of pain every time liquid or food passes through her compromised system.

Therefore, Rebecca has lost almost 10 pounds in a little over a week. Yes, 10 pounds.

This is not a new problem, we discovered her scarring blockage this past summer. But it is deep in her intestines, and impossible to reach endoscopically without a specific tool that no one in the city of San Antonio possesses. So far, the surgeons we have met have hesitated preforming major surgery necessary to remove the scar tissue because they fear that, in Rebecca’s tenuous state, her recovery will be extensive, and the procedure could potentially worsen her current situation to the point she may lose even more portions of her intestines than she has already lost.

On top of her post-transplant complications, we are approximately 3 procedures behind from Rebecca’s growing scoliosis and severe osteoporosis state. Yet after December’s hospitalization and inflammatory set-back, every procedure is on hold until her immune system calms. And this scar-tissue problem is certainly not helping to calm Rebecca’s system….

Bless.

One of Rebecca’s doctors expressed concern over her current situation and suggested our Zoo event for Rebecca’s Wish charity in March might be too stressful on Rebecca. He did not want Rebecca to feel the pressure of hosting a fundraiser for others in need.

My child’s answer to this doctor’s fear was quick, clear, and concise, “I look forward to this fundraiser more than anything else. Helping these children keeps me going. It gives me purpose. Please do not take this away from me.”

The doctor just stared at Rebecca without response. Who has words for such a bold and courageous statement?

“Because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope”, Romans 5:3-4.

My child’s suffering is not in vain, it has remarkable, life-altering meaning.  And that meaning provides Rebecca great hope.

Rebecca’s Wish and all that it embodies gives Rebecca a purpose in life – a charge – a calling.

Suffering is no longer the enemy, living a meaningless life is.

What if we all found our purpose through pain? What if we stopped thinking of our own current misery and redirect that all-consuming effort into helping others in need?

How different would our lives look? How different would the world look?

My daughter will host her Zoo event on March 30 with abundant hope and abundant joy. And while the Lord gives Rebecca Taylor breath on this earth, she will help every child she possibly can who is suffering from this cruel disease.

And Rebecca will continue to live an unexpectedly miraculous life filled with divine meaning despite her position of pain.

Thank you Lord.

Love to each and every one of you,

Christyn