CIA Story – Divine Appointment at Egleston

I have thought a lot of how to wrap up our CIA project. I could tell you about dollar amounts that were raised, the number of bags of donations we had dropped off, how incredibly full those bags were with the most amazing goodies for the kids, but there is a story that captures the very heart of CIA that took place on Monday when we delivered the bags to Egleston. It is a bit long, but worth telling.

Monday is the day we planned to deliver the bags. My contact person for doing this could not meet us at the hospital then; so I was a bit nervous about how the process was going to go. This was mostly because when I had contacted the hospital about our CIA project, I spoke with them about a much smaller donation, thinking it was going to be my small group plus a few. I knew Egelston had no idea how much stuff we were actually bringing.

The plan was to leave at 9am, deliver the bags, visit our doctors, and head home around noon. I don’t know why I plan because I know it never really turns out as I intend! We left about 9:45am, still had to pick up a few things before getting to the hospital. Abbi was fussy, Liam was testing boundaries, parking was horendous when we got there, and Abbi finally lost it once we got into the hospital. We did not actually make to the clinic until around noon.

Chaos is the best way I know to describe the day thus far, and I was thinking sanity would soon be lost! We took the baked goods up to the the doctors and nurses first before unloading all the bags. When we walked into the clinic waiting room, it was not packed like usual; only one mom and son were waiting to go back to clinic before being admitted to the in-patient side for chemo.

The receptionists immediately came to hug Liam and visit with him. Anyone that works at the clinic literally watched him grow up, and everyone there loves seeing a success story return for a visit. The saying “it takes a village to raise a child” has been so true in our lives, and the AFLAC team is part of our villgae. I remember sitting in the waiting room longing for my child to be the success story. Although my heart ached that he wasn’t there yet, I loved seeing success stories return because it reminded me that kids do survive this, they do live, and I have reason to hope my child will one day be a cancer survivor.

So we caught up for a bit, passed around hugs, dropped off the baked goods which they were grateful for, and coodinated the drop off of the bags. As we left to go get the bags, I noticed that the mother in the waiting room was staring at us with that same longing stare I once had. I felt like I was looking in a mirror. It’s crazy how fast you can be brought back to moments you never wanted to remember.

My heart stopped, and in the midst of all this chaos, time paused. Before she ever uttered a word, I knew what she was going to ask, “are you a success story?”.  Her face and words will forever be etched into my mind. I wanted to lose it, cry, hug her, and let her cry too, but I also remember not wanting to scare Liam with my tears and axiety. I didn’t want to cause her to breakdown in front of her son. I simply smiled and said, “Yes, we are! He was born with cancer, and has been in remission for almost 4 years. I remember being where you are; kids do make it…there are success stories!”

Her eyes began to tear up, but she had a hopeful smile on her face as she quietly said, “Thank you.”

We left to get the bags, and I was pretty shaken and speechless inside. In the midst of all this chaos, God had planned a divine appointment. In fact, I would go as far to say that He orchestrated the chaos for that very moment. Had we been on time as I planned, I doubt my path would have ever crossed with this mother who clearly needed some hope. When we brought back up the bags, I gave her one of the boy bags. She was so appreciative, and said, “I guess you know it’s things like this that make the hospital stays more enjoyable.”

Before we left she asked me if this was through our church, and we had a chance to share with her about 12 Stone and CIA. It was brief, but I have no doubt a seed was planted for the Kingdom of God. We may not be the people who get to bring in that harvest, but there is no harvest if there are no seeds.

I thought back to a verse we had before starting our CIA project.. Luke 22:31 – “…when you come back, strengthen the brothers.” I am sure many families and children will be blessed and encouraged with the bags donated and put together, but that mom in the waiting is the very essence of this project. 12Stone friends and family “strengthened the brothers” that day!

-Lauren