Over and over (and over) again when my ship has been sinking, God has used regular real-life human beings to rescue me and my family.  Not angels nor magicians nor miracle workers.  Just people.  Not people with millions of dollars or loads of resources.  Every day people with jobs and deadlines and mortgages and debt and stuff to get done in their own lives.

Maybe you call it empathy.  Maybe generosity.

But when we stop looking at our own stack of problems for a few minutes, an afternoon, the length of time it takes to read a blog post, and we place ourselves inside the pain or the suffering – The Heavy – of anyone other than ourselves, we step away changed.  And then we share from whatever we have.  Just a little here and a little there.  And the collective kindness of a lot of people adds up to enough kindness to change the future of another person, or an entire family.  (I know this is completely true because we have been the recipient of that collective kindness before.)

This is my friend Jacob.  

Jacob is married to April and they have two daughters, Jovie and Zoe, and are expecting their third.  Jacob wears trendy shoes and his car is named Gandalf the Grey and he’s a witty guy who works hard and serves his co-workers and clients well.  Jacob loves his family.  He’s a regular guy living a regular life, you know.  Like all of us.

Jacob and April’s three year old daughter Jovie was just diagnosed with Stage IV Glioblastoma.  That’s a tumor in Jovie’s brain.  There isn’t any surgery that can fix it.

There’s a whole lot of unknown.  And fear.

I wish there were different words I could type.

Last week their family felt that life was moving forward in one direction.  This week, they probably feel like time is standing still.  Or crashing around them.  I don’t know really.  

I know that these are my friends.  And that they need help.

Jacob and April are gathering their arms around their people.  Their people are gathering their arms around Jacob and April and the girls.

There is hope.  I have to believe there is hope.

But I can’t understand the whys and the what ifs and the bad news and the hurt and the black hole of unknown.

I do know that there’s this simple, practical way that we can reach across the world into the lives of this hurting family.  It actually doesn’t feel like much probably, but I know it’s bigger than it seems.

Family friends have created a GoFundMe page for Jovie and her family.

It’s a big deal to not have to add financial concerns to the gigantic question marks Jacob and his family are facing right now.  This weekend’s pizza money or shopping trip cash or whatever might seem small, but it’s truly all the little hands reaching out to help that carry the biggest loads.

You can click below to donate and to read more about Jovie.

(Thank you, friends.)

Joy for Jovie.

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