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We are getting ready to participate in JDRF’s One Walk at Mall of America in just two days. A couple weeks ago, I shared a bit about our first experience at the walk in 2014. (You can read about it here.) Today, I want to share a little bit about our experience last year.
February 2015. Mackenna was 6 years old and at that time had been living with type 1 diabetes for 21 months. Twenty one months of finger pokes and pump site changes, feeling crummy when her blood sugar was high and feeling crummy when her blood sugar was low. Twenty one months of doing the hard things of diabetes. And while she was such a champ about it all, I was starting to get real tired of it all. Being a nurse 24/7 was not a part of my plan for my life and I’d much rather get a good night’s rest than set my alarm for 2 am to poke my daughter’s finger. To top things off, about a month before the walk, Justin was laid off from his job. With the job loss, our health insurance benefits ceased immediately. A chronic illness and no health insurance? Hello, stress! A job loss was also not a part of the plan I had in mind.
When it came time to work on our tshirt design for the JDRF walk in 2015, the Bible verse was an easy choice. I had recently completed a Bible study at our church that focused on 1st and 2nd Peter and when I read this particular verse, the words seemed to fly off the pages straight into my heart:
“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.” 1 Peter 1:6
I’ve written about this verse before, in fact it’s what inspired the name of this blog. And for 2015, it became my heart’s anthem. It contains three distinct parts: a fact, a hope, and a command.
Fact: You must endure many trials. It doesn’t say you might endure trials, or that you may possibly endure trials. You must. Trials are a part of life that no one escapes.
Hope: The trials are for a little while, and there is wonderful joy ahead. These unavoidable trials are temporary, but the unimaginable joy of eternity with Jesus is ahead for those who believe!
Command: Be truly glad.
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I am a crier. I cry at parades and musicals. Sometimes commercials. Almost always while singing songs of worship. I cry happy tears, overwhelmed tears, devestated tears, that’s-hilarious tears…I cry all the tears.
I cried tears of sadness upon entering the mall for the walk in 2015 because (just as it did the year before), it’s a huge reminder of the trial: my daughter has an incurable disease. That’s why we are here in the first place.
And then we walked down the hallway and saw a group of our favorite people waiting for us. All wearing purple unicorn tshirts and smiles. All people who have chosen to walk with us, not just at the fundraiser, but to walk alongside us as we journey through the trials of diabetes. And I cried humble tears of pure joy for the love that our people have poured into us.
And then I stole a moment with my girl and I whispered to her that her team had raised $6,000 to help find her a cure. And I cried humble tears of gratitude. Because we were a month into a season without income or insurance and therefore, we personally contributed $0 to JDRF in 2015.
Two days from now, we’ll walk down the same hallway and meet our favorite people. They’ll be wearing gray shirts this year, but the same loving smiles.
And I’ll be wearing waterproof mascara with my gray tshirt, because we’re 33 months into diabetes and it’s still hard. And the walk will be a reminder that there still is no cure for type 1 diabetes. And because it will always be humbling to see our army of love gathered to support our brave girl. And because…(I can’t even type this without tears)…we are on track to raise $7,000 this year. (Ok, cue the tears.) And for that, I am truly glad!
If you’d like to be a part of Team Mackenna’s Joy, visit our team’s donation page here.
(With the exception of the very first image, all pictures on this page were taken with a cell phone. If you’re interested in seeing more of my photography, please check out these posts here.)
