Hometown Madison - January & February 2016

“Yet I am always with you, you hold me by my right
hand. YOU guide me with your counsel, and
afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I
in heaven but YOU? And earth has nothing I desire
but YOU. My flesh and my heart may fail, but GOD
is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
–Psalm 73:23-26
Those weeks were difficult for Campbell
and for his family. Jill went through all range
of emotions, including anger and helplessness.
“I don’t understand why these kids get
cancer, fight so hard and then lose the fight.
I think it is something I may always struggle
with (another question for that day when I
get to Heaven). I want more than anything
else in this world for my child to beat this
cancer. I know the odds are stacked against
him and there is literally nothing that neither
I nor David can do to change that. I want to
control the outcome. I want to control how
he responds to chemo. I want to control
every last part of it, and I can’t. I simply have
to let it go, lay it down at my Savior’s feet and
remember that Campbell is not mine. He is
only a gift to love and nurture and point him
to the One who loves him more than I do.
What a tall order, but what a gift we’ve been
given. More than anything else in this world,
I want him to know God, to know Christ as
we do, a loving Savior that died so that we
might live. But really, isn’t that what life is all
about for all of us?”
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have
peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take
heart! I have overcome the world.” –John 16:33
By mid September, Campbell was fading.
“I’ve cried many tears in the past few days,
knowing that Campbell is one day closer to
being HOME. He sat up in bed last night
and I was talking to him as he was drinking
his apple juice. I asked him if he was tired, he
nodded yes. I asked him if he was ready to go
home and he said yes. I then asked him if he
was ready to see Jesus. He nodded yes. I
hugged him tight and told him, not much
longer, and then told him that Jesus would
take care of him and told him to wait for us.
No one prepares you for this…there are
no classes, no book to walk you through
watching your child fight cancer and then
watching the cancer take over their body. I
don’t think there is any possible way to write
a book about it or tell someone how to do it.
You do it by experience and it’s an experience
I wish we never had. David and I look at each
other some days and feel like we are living in
this alternate universe or something. It’s just
a strange life we have these days. I think we
just go through the motions, just trying to
get through the day. There have been good
moments during the day with Campbell and
I cherish those. They are becoming few and
far between though. He’s tired and has slept
most of today. He’s on oxygen around the
clock and we have tried to keep him as
comfortable as possible with medication.
He knows he is loved so very much and we
kiss him and tell him that as much as we can.
I think what is scary to me is not having him
physically here to kiss and to touch. That’s
what scares me and it’s something I have
struggled with and have asked God many
times during the day to give me comfort and
peace in that.”
As difficult as the journey was, there were
blessings scattered all along the way for both
Campbell and his family. Several people with
the MSU alumni flew the family back and
forth to Starkville on Aug 25th so that
Campbell could be a Bulldog for a day.
“We are grateful to so many people,” wrote
Jill, “from the athletic department at MSU
(the basketball team, the baseball team, the
football team, Coach Mullen, Dak Prescott
and Scott Strickland), to Allison Muirhead
and John David Smith that captured so
many memories for us that day.” The
Make-A-Wish Foundation in Mississippi
helped with that, as well as granting
Campbell’s wish to go to Disney World.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we
are wasting away yet inwardly we are being renewed
day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs
them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on
what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what
is unseen is eternal.” –2 Corinthians 4:16-18
On September 18, 2015, just 11 days shy
of his sixth birthday, Campbell Grady Dale
passed away. “We are heartbroken and
feeling an emptiness in our hearts because
our precious Campbell is no longer here with
us. We are rejoicing that he is now with his
Savior, the one that loves him more than we
can fathom or imagine. Oh to witness that
sweet, precious reunion when he ran into his
Daddy’s arms and to look upon HIS glorious
face and hear HIM say, “Well done my good
and faithful servant. Now come and rest.”
We look forward to the day when we will be
reunited and we can worship our Father
together at HIS feet.”
“I am the Lord who comforts HIS people and will
have compassion on HIS afflicted ones. You can
transcend your troubles because I am both powerful
and compassionate.” –Jesus Today by Sarah Young
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and
the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who
is to come, the Almighty.” –Revelations 1:8 n
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