Going Back to Maryland

(Note: Please read entry "Call For Help" if you have not already done so. Thanks to all who have already replied. What awesome friends and extended family Donna has!!)

This entry is a little bit different. This is Donna's blog, so I apologize for writing a personal type of entry, but this is something I wanted to share with all of you.

It's a sad day for me...it's time for me to leave North Carolina and return to Maryland. My week with Donna went entirely too fast. I am not ready to leave, but I know I have to.

I might get into big trouble for this, but God laid it on my heart to share with all of you something I came across while here.

I was straightening up the desk in the caregiver apartment. There was a leather book laying there. I opened it in the center and immediately recognized my daughter's handwriting. As I scanned the writing, I realized it was a journal she apparently wrote and then sent to Donna the first time Donna was diagnosed with leukemia. I know I probably should have closed the book but a few words on the page I opened to caught my eye so I read. It gave me so much encouragement that I wanted to share it all with you. Here's the entry I read and became my theme throughout the week:


"One of my favorite songs recently is called My Savior, My God. The first line is:

I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned;
I only know at His right hand
Stands one who is my Savior


"Ever since I heard that it's become one of my favorite song quotes. It reminds me that only God in His infinite wisdom knows why you have leukemia. We may never know--we don't have to know His plan in order to be the types of people the world needs us to be. We just have to remember that in the happy times, the sad times, the days you feel good, the days you feel icky, the days we miss you, the days you miss us, when you're weak, and when you're strong, the chorus of that song should be our anthem:

My Savior loves
My Savior lives
My Savior's always there for me.
My God He was
My God He is
My God He's always going be."


She ended the entry with a prayer that became my prayer the remainder of this week:

"Our Savior, Our God,
Thank you for being all of these things, always there, loving us through the storms. My Aunt Donna is so special to me. I want to lift her up to you. Give her strength when she needs it. Guide all of the doctors and nurses taking care of her. Remind all of us that You have a plan! ~Amen~"