The Lighthouse

Come on over, come on down

Come on in to the Lighthouse...

My time this last week at the Lighthouse Family Retreat in Watercolor, FL was just beyond words. It was such an amazing time to serve these 9, wonderful families who had a child who has cancer. One of the families even had a dad who had a brain tumor, and just as they were getting through that treatment, they found out that their 4-year-old daughter had Wilm's Tumor, a cancer in the kidneys. How do families manage such a traumatic, life-changing event?
The Lighthouse Family Retreat provides a place of refuge for families who have become disconnected and overwhelmed by the way cancer has affected them. I learned this week that cancer doesn't just affect the person with the diagnosis; it affects every member of the family...from the relationship between Mom and Dad, to the teenage siblings of the sick child.

Kids react to cancer differently than adults. Grown-ups tend to automatically view this disease as a life sentence. But kids are resilient. One of our moms told me that when her 10-year-old daughter found out she had osteosarcoma (bone cancer), she just looked at her mom and said, "Okay, what do we do next?" Some of the kids are back in treatment for a second round because they have relapsed. The kids' attitudes towards life really left me in awe and in silent recognition that every day counts and I really don't have a lot to complain about!
For many of our families this week, it was the first time Mom and Dad had been on a date or done anything without their children. And kids got to be kids...playing in the pool, at the beach, making Haunted Houses, and watching movies. We had a great time connecting with the kids while Eleanor and Buck Barber facilitated the group for parents each morning during a time called Flip Flop. It was here that parents were able to share their family's story with each other and encourage and support one another. Though our families were from all over the US...Texas, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida and Georgia...connections of the heart were made forever.

Thank you for all of you who supported me in this endeavor, and the families would tell you the same thing. One mom has already blogged on her son's site that this was the first time in a long while that she's been able to really relax...her housework/laundry and cooking was done for her and she was really able to let go and enjoy her husband and children. I think that is just SO awesome. Jesus is in the business of connecting people and caring for them, and the families were really able to see that this week.

I hope you enjoy some of the pictures!