One evening in June 2018, our family sat down for family worship. It was Mason's turn to pray that night, but he didn't want to. When we asked why he didn't want to pray, Mason said, "Because I don't think God hears me." Wow! That is a profound thought from a six-year-old. How were we supposed to respond to that? During the conversation, Brian asked Mason to pick ONE THING to pray about, to which Mason answered, "I want to pray for the brother or sister I'm supposed to have." After adopting Mason in 2012, we anxiously awaited our next placement. At this point, we had been waiting for six months, and apparently, Mason felt God wasn't holding up His end of the deal.

Brian sat with Mason, and they read Psalm 77:1 together, "I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me." Then, we bowed our heads and prayed together, with Mason praying for his brother or sister. It was a short and simple prayer, but as C.H. Spurgeon once said, "Short prayers are long enough." 

And then it happened. Within an hour of Mason's prayer, the phone rang. The caseworker on the other end of the line told us they had a four-day-old baby boy who needed a home. Within three hours, a precious baby boy named Greyson arrived at our front door, his new home. He was the perfect addition to our family.

The Battle Begins

On Friday, July 19, 2019, Greyson had a routine doctor's appointment. He had some bloodwork done because of some recent high fevers. Karla's phone rang right before we left town to head back home. It was the doctor's office. They told us something was wrong and that we needed to get Greyson to the emergency room as soon as possible. 

We had an official diagnosis the next day:  B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Greyson began the grueling process of chemotherapy and steroids. The days turned into weeks, and the reality of the future began to sink in. Cancer would be an exhausting and debilitating grind. The hospital would effectively become our home. The next few months were as expected: Grueling, exhausting, and a debilitating grind.

During this process, we felt the Lord prompting us to speak with Greyson's biological mother about adoption. We spoke with her over breakfast, presented our case, and asked her if she would pray about the decision. The next day, she called us and agreed to sign over her parental rights, allowing us to adopt Greyson. This was an act of love in every aspect. Love motivated Greyson's biological mother to sign over her rights…crazy even. It was love that motivated us to adopt Greyson, a child with cancer…crazy even. But love motivates people to do crazy things. 

Celebration and Sorrow

Two months later, in November 2019, the adoption was finalized, and Greyson was officially a "Veal." In November 2019, we also received the news that Greyson was in remission! It was an AWESOME month, but also a TERRIFYING month. We knew that Greyson had a specific genetic mutation that came with a high risk of relapse. But we rejoiced that after a long four months of chemo, Greyson was in remission. But the battle was far from over.

In March 2020, the world shut down from COVID-19. We were vigilant in protecting Greyson from COVID-19 or any other viruses he could catch as chemo killed off his immune system. In December 2020, we received devastating news. Greyson woke up with a fever. A temperature of 101.5 or higher meant automatic hospital admission, so we packed our things up, expecting a 3-4 day hospital stay for a virus. We were blindsided as our worst fears were realized: Greyson's cancer had returned, and it had returned with a vengeance. For over a month, we watched our two-year-old fight for his life while the effects of heavy and hard-hitting chemo took their toll on his little body. 

By January 2021, it was evident that the heavy and hard-hitting chemo had not been effective. So, we began to process the reality that we were out of options.   Then, we received a phone call from Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. They offered a new immunotherapy treatment called "CAR-T Cell Therapy." CAR-T offered a very high chance of getting him in remission and ready for a bone marrow transplant and possibly even be a cure for him. We jumped at the opportunity, doing everything we could to give Greyson every chance possible. Our rationale was simple: Pray as if his healing depended on God and work as if his healing depended on us. We locked in with prayer and loaded up for battle. It was time to fight with all we had. 

Greyson's Temporary Home

This new treatment required us to move temporarily to Kansas City. So, In March 2021, we loaded up a U-Haul and drove two hours west. As we walked into the apartment that would be our home for the next few months, Greyson looked around and happily said, "New home!" 

There it was… "new home." We didn't know how impactful those two little words would be to our family when he said them. But we will never forget them. The following month was war. We prayed and fought and watched Greyson fight, but we soon found out that CAR-T Cell Therapy had failed…we were out of options. His cancer was too aggressive. The reality set in that our son, Greyson, would not survive this battle with leukemia. We were broken, scared, confused, and trying to be strong.

 A few days before Greyson died, he woke up at midnight and told Karla he was afraid. "Ma! Scared!" he whispered. When she asked him why, he pointed to the corner of his room and said, "Door." The confusing part was that there was no door where he was pointing. There was a couch, a wall, and a window, but no door. The next day, Karla told the hospice doctor what Greyson had said. We thought that perhaps he was hallucinating since he was on some heavy pain medicine at that time. The doctor knowingly looked at Karla and told her that many of her patients had seen a door, a gate, or an entrance of some kind when they were close to death. Ah! Of course! Now, it made sense. Jesus said, "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. (John 10:9).  

The door that had frightened Greyson was the door that would eternally heal him. Later that day, we told him he didn't need to be scared if he saw the door again because Jesus was on the other side of it. We told him he wouldn't be sick anymore and that he'd have a "new home." 

Greyson listened intently as we spoke. Karla, being the loving mother she is, asked Greyson if he was still scared.   He replied with his two-year-old words, "No, not scared." Karla then asked him if he was ready to go to his "new home." Again, Greyson thought about it and bluntly said, "No."  

He Didn't Lose the Battle

A few days later, Greyson's battle with cancer was over, and his eternal life with Jesus in heaven had begun.

The morning he passed away, Karla held him tight as he was breathing his last, and I (Brian) grabbed his hand. With a lump in my throat and a puddle of tears on the floor, I somehow managed to say, "It's okay, buddy. Go to Jesus. Go to your new home." And with that, he breathed his last. 

We have no doubt that Greyson is now in his new home in heaven with Jesus. And we can't wait to see him again. But until then, we recognize that God has given us a story to tell.   He has placed a burden deep in our hearts to help as many families and kids navigating the world of pediatric illness as possible in memory of our son Greyson.  

Our ministry exists to relieve the burdens of families who walk with their children as they face the challenges of pediatric illness together. We provide financial help, emotional support, and prayer. We minister to families in Jesus' name to the glory of God!

Will you help us? We need prayer partners, story sharers, and financial partners to come beside us. In other words, it will take each of us to empower families and help them embrace hope as they walk through a major medical diagnosis with their child. Click the "partner with GFG Ministries" tab for more information about HOW YOU can be a part of our mission.