The First Light of the Fifth Day

One of my favorite scenes in the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy is when Gandalf arrives at the end of The Two Towers. In fact, that’s one of my favorite scenes of all time. The Uruk-hai have broken through the gates of Helm’s Deep and there appears to be no way out for the men, women, and children of Rohan. Aragorn convinces King Théoden to ride one last time, all the while remembering what Gandalf had said: “Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth day, at dawn look to the east.” Aragorn, King Théoden, and the rest of their company ride into the midst of the Uruk-hai army, charging toward their apparent doom. Yet, just when all hope seems lost, Gandalf, Éomer, and the Rohirrim appear to turn the tide.

To this day, 22 years later, that scene still gives me goose bumps. We are moved when we see representations of someone showing up to rescue us when all hope was seemingly lost. We are moved because that is the story of salvation, that Jesus showed up for us when all hope was seemingly lost. He rescued us and he continues to show up like Gandalf on the first light of the fifth day.

Once we knew that Alycia was going to go on disability, I started worrying about how we would cover our expenses. In California, disability covers 60% of your income, which is great. However, even though we don’t live a lavish lifestyle by any stretch of the imagination, losing 40% of Alycia’s salary would have been challenging. In a moment much like Gandalf showing up at Helm’s Deep, God showed up in a very unexpected way. Alycia found out that she’ll receive 60% of her salary from state disability and her work disability will cover the other 40%. While on disability, Alycia will receive her full salary and won’t have to worry about rushing back to work. She wants to get back to work as soon as she can, but at least now we know she’ll be able to wait until she’s ready. She won’t be forced to go back too soon because of our finances.

That was great news to receive at the beginning of last week because, at the end of the week, we found out when Alycia would start her treatment. Alycia’s treatment will start on Thursday, August 1. The first session will last five hours, after that they will last three hours. After so much waiting at the beginning of this journey, the pace has really picked up this month. Alycia’s surgery, from which she is recovering very well, was less than a month ago, and now she’s beginning her treatment.

One of the challenging aspects of her treatment is not really knowing how she will respond. She has been told to expect something like a roller coaster with her health. She’s been told that she’ll be at her best the day before treatment and feel progressively worse until she bottoms out about halfway through the cycle. At that point she’ll start to feel better until she peaks the day before her next treatment. Again, that’s what she’s been told she can expect, but we won’t really know until we’re in it.

Again, a lot of you have been asking how you can help. And again, right now we’re not entirely sure. Once we see how Alycia responds to her treatment, we’ll have a better idea of how you can support us. We have already felt so loved and supported by all of you who have been checking in on us, sending messages, and keeping us in your prayers.

Here are some ways you can pray for us:

• Pray that Alycia’s treatment effectively eliminates the cancer from her body.
• Pray that Alycia wouldn’t be too negatively impacted by her treatment.
• Pray for Clara and Josiah as they are getting ready to go back to school soon. I’m sure it will be challenging for them as they see the toll the treatment takes on Alycia’s body.
• Pray that all of the disability between the state and the school gets figured out.

Again, thank you for walking with us on this unexpected journey. Aragorn didn’t have to face the Uruk-hai alone, and we know that we aren’t facing this alone either.