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this is me with my friend jess, whose son alex has leukemia -- that's him in the next picture. matt and i stopped in at the hospital for a visit while we were down in their neck of the woods this past weekend (kids are not allowed, since his immune system is essentially zero). i had to borrow his picture from their website because he was not well enough to talk with us yesterday. so, we visited with jess and sam in a nearby lounge while alex slept. i cannot express the emotions that flooded over me when we walked into his room -- it is one thing to read news over the internet and email, but it is quite another to put yourself right there face to face with the pain. i have so many thoughts regarding the whole thing that i just don't think i can blog about right now... perhaps one of these days i will find the right words, but for now suffice it to say there are more questions than answers.

if you would like to pray for this family, here are a few specific requests: -minimized side effects to the chemo (esp. nausea) -white blood cell count to go up quickly -the cancer to go into remission so that a bone marrow transplant is possible -wisdom for jess & sam as they make decisions regarding alex's care -grace for all as they walk through this day by day, moment by moment