mikestrong

We have found that a lot of Carter's friends match up with our family.  He has about 10 friends that have either a brother that is Jared's age (and they are friends) or Claire's age (friends also) and one matches up exactly.  The Wengers.  By coincidence, Allen and I graduated high school with the mom of this family.  The Dad's job is to manage a large sports ministry at their church and we have played endless seasons of soccer and basketball through this league.  And because of the friendships, our kids are always on the Wengers team and Mike, the dad, is always the coach.  A few months ago Mike was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and immediately went to Vanderbilt to start aggressive chemo treatment. We have been saddened and humbled  to have a friend, coach and mentor go through something so awful.  It really hit home to see a family just like ours having to go through this.  I keep thinking, it could just have easily been us. We have been blessed to have had several opportunities to serve this family in need.  

One small thing Carter did...notice Carter's hair in the first picture.  Those who know Carter know that he likes his hair.  He has "good" hair.  But when he heard that several men and boys were going to shave their heads the day before Mike was to find out if the first round of chemo worked; he was in.  There were about 30 people that ended up shaving their heads, in that their were about 10-15 teenage boys who wanted to show love for their coach and friend.  The next day at high school they all wore their MIKESTRONG shirts.  And it worked, Mike's first round worked.  And so has his second.  He is about to start this third to get ready for a stem cell transplant.  He is not out of the woods, and we continue to pray for him and his family.  This experience of knowing them and serving  them  as a family has been a good thing for us.  A common bond we have.