I have no control over my tears. You would be mistaken if you believed there was no hope for our children and teenagers today.
The ONE and ONLY reason we put up this sign that says “Sorry, there is no candy. A child who is battling cancer. See you the next year! The reason we said “Have fun!” in our yard today was so that children wouldn’t rush to our front door and be let down (our neighborhood usually gets 300-400 kids).
Tonight, I glanced at the footage from the camera that is attached to our doorbell, and I observed that there were children pausing to read the sign. T.j. Thomas and I have just returned in from the great outdoors where we discovered this.
The photo doesn’t do it credit at all; there is a LOT of it, and even some of the delicious stuff.
Seriously… If the parents of anybody who did this read this, PLEASE convey to them how much it means to both us and the children that we are helping that they did this. On the finest sugar night of the year, children demonstrated a great deal of love and charity by freely and generously sharing their candy with people they did not know. So great!
WOW, I can’t believe how many people have responded and shared this! I would want to express my gratitude to everyone for their prayers and nice thoughts. We worship a powerful and reliable God, and we cling to the promise found in Romans 8:28, which states, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (And we know that) “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Cancer in children is a terrible ordeal that no family should ever have to go through, but there is a lot of love, hope, and support out there. These are two incredible organizations that we are aware of and are so grateful for; please consider supporting them monetarily if you feel moved to do so.
The following are a some of the responses that people have left on Facebook in response to this post:
“As someone who is battling cancer themselves, I think this is absolutely stunning and I want to wish all of you the very best of luck. I have just begun my chemotherapy, and I will be praying for all of you. — Camdan Turner
“I really like this. When opposed to Halloween of the previous year, this Halloween was a very different experience for my children. Last year, we had to spend Halloween in our daughter’s cancer clinic, and the boys didn’t really get to do much of anything because their sister was unable to leave the facility. Since that time, she has entered a period of remission and has been working on restoring her strength. This year, she was finally able to attend for a little while, and she had a wonderful time. Taking all necessary safety measures, as expected. I hope that the same good fortune finds you and your loved ones in the next year. – JC Oaks
“Oh my goodness, your article made me cry first thing this morning. As a mother who has battled cancer, I fully get the significance of this. Your courageous battle against cancer is in our thoughts and prayers. May God bless you and your family. — Jeniffer Denney
“Congratulations to the parents of those children for teaching their children what is really important in life, and kudos to the youngsters who were thoughtful, kind, polite, and compassionate enough to share their sweets. A spirit of cooperation, concern, and affection for one another. In this upside-down world that we are living in, it is extremely heartening to read about and see acts of compassion such as those described in these tales and hear about them. Keep up the excellent job and never stop praising and rewarding them for their positive conduct. That would be Dawn Acevedo.
Even while we will never be able to completely “pay back” what the kids’ compassion and affection meant to us the year before, we do hope that they enjoyed the labyrinth and the candy tonight!