Hope

Tonight, after an ordinary sort of day, I helped Mackenna through her bedtime routine and then tucked her in for the night.  We did all the usual stuff…ate the last minute snacks, said the things: “yes you have to go to bed now…no you can’t stay up later…it is already later…you can do whatever you are asking to do tomorrow.”  

We checked blood sugar…brushed teeth…then settled in for a story…

(Sidenote: That book…I canNOT read it without tears, sometimes big ugly tears.  That being said, if you have kids or grandkids, you need this book in your library…and no, they are not paying me to say that.)

So we did all the stuff, read the stories, prayed, hugged, kissed, tucked…

Today was no different for us.  But there is a mama in Utah who didn’t get to tuck her little girl into bed tonight.  She didn’t get to convince her baby girl that it was time for bed…didn’t get to pick out her jammies or read her stories.  That mama’s name is Jamie Terry, and one month ago today she tucked her five boys into bed at night, but not her little girl.  You see, little Kycie Terry suffered incredible complications after being misdiagnosed with the flu back in January.  It wasn’t the flu; it was type 1 diabetes.  Because it wasn’t recognized and treated, it ultimately led to brain damage.  Kycie fought a courageous fight for six months, but on July 11th she passed away in her daddy’s arms.

The Terry family and their sweet Kycie have been followed on facebook by over 56,000 people.  The type 1 diabetes community has watched, prayed, and hoped for a miracle for little Kycie.  While we typically educate and advocate to clear up misconceptions and fight for a cure, we have rallied together around a fresh cause…to bring awareness to the symptoms of type 1, so that it doesn’t go un-diagnosed, so that we don’t lose precious lives to something so treatable.

It broke our hearts when Kycie did not get the miracle we were all praying for.  I never met Kycie, but shed a fair amount of tears when I learned she had passed.  While we didn’t get the miracle we were hoping for, Kycie’s story has saved many lives!  The last time I read on her Kisses for Kycie facebook page (here), I think the number of kids correctly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes because of HER story was near 20!  Her story is still circulating and she is still saving lives…miracles, every one of them!  Kycie was just 5 years old when she left this earth for heaven, but her impact was huge!

Kycie’s story challenges me to have an impact beyond correct diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.  Will I still try to educate anyone who will read or listen?  Yep!  Will I still flood your facebook feed with lists of the symptoms of type 1?  You betcha.  But as much as you may learn from me about type 1 diabetes, what I really want you to learn is that while I HOPE we can get to a place of correct diagnosis every single time…and while I HOPE that Mackenna and the millions of t1d warriors out there see a cure this side of heaven…the hope that gets me through devastating news is not in doctors or cures.

My hope is in Jesus Christ.  That he came to save me from this wretched world and all the hard, confusing, painful, ugly things in it.  He came and gave his life, paying the penalty for my sin, so that one day I can be with him in heaven.  He loves me THAT MUCH!  And he loves YOU that much!  This life is SO short, and while I will always hope for things to be easier, for people to feel better, for diseases to be cured, I also know that this life of disease and pain is just a little while.  “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14)

I want to make an impact that lasts for eternity.  Kycie Terry loved Jesus.  When she passed away in her daddy’s arms, she was swept up into her Father’s arms in heaven.  Because Kycie’s hope was in Jesus Christ.  Where does your hope lie?