I found these words written on a friend’s Go Fund Me page. Simple, yet tragic words written about a sweet little boy who was beginning the fight for his life!
“June 1, 2018 -Today, Chasity & Justin tragically found out that their 17-month-old son, Asher, has leukemia.”
Asher was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML. During his treatment he fought fevers, pain, nausea, face paralysis, and struggling to walk. He had 5 lumbar punctures in first 14 days. By the end of the first month he had endured a bone marrow aspiration, chemo, and a central line placed surgically. Before the first 45 days had ended, he had broken his Broviac and needed a repair. Next, he contacted C-Diff, bacterial infections, and started using a feeding tube. He went into septic shock and moved to the PICU. He endured CT Scans, another round of Bacterial Strep, and by November He was declared “Cancer Free”.
In March of 2020, after more facial paralysis, they discovered a lemon sized brain tumor. After surgery to remove it, he began his battle again. This time he had EKGs, Echocardiogram, eGFR testing kidney function, and an MRI to check spots on brain. He had 12 targeted proton radiation treatments and more chemo. Next, he had an anaphylactic shock reaction to a preservative in one of his infusions. Asher received many treatments for AML, eventually they sent him to Bone Marrow Transplant. This procedure takes your body to the brink of death, killing off everything in hopes of placing new healthy bone marrow in. Once it grafts your body is now filled with ‘New Life’. No longer filled with the old cancer cells, you are reborn healthy!
The Bible talks of a very similar rebirth in John 3:3-6.
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God … Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Do you realize that without being ‘reborn’ that we have a heart that is not sick with sin and trespasses, it is actually dead? It is stony, cold, and dead… The heart we need is a heart that is made of flesh – ALIVE!
(We are talking of spiritual things, not physical.)
Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
To be holy and acceptable, our bodies (or lives) must be changed. We will never be saved by being ‘good people’. We will never be saved by being moral people. Salvation comes only through repentance and CHANGE. You can not repent without changing your life.
What you do, shows what you believe? Do you want to take Jesus seriously, living a life committed to HIM? Are you willing to take the scriptures seriously? Is it even possible to do one without the other? No, it is not! Either we live what we say we believe, or we do not really believe it.
Now that might seem harsh, even offensive to some, but the gospel itself is offensive because it confronts what we truly think of ourselves. Either we believe we are sinners in need of Jesus OR we believe we are just fine without any need for change.
Ephesians 4: 17-24 “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
<<<<< they do not understand because their hearts are hard (dead stony hard!)
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
<<<<This is the REPENT part.
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
<<<<This is the CHANGE part.
This is my hope for each of you… As you make a decision to follow Christ, you repent, live for him by turning away from the old life, I pray you are RENEWED just like Asher was renewed by the new stem cells. If you have already made that decision, PRAISE God. I’m glad we are part of the family of GOD.
One last note…Fighting cancer is expensive. Millie’s Insurance claims were a mere $750,000 dollars in 2019 (6 months), but in 2020 (6 months) they topped $1,528,000 dollars. Yes, you read right, to treat her for 1 year it costs over $2,250,000 dollars!!! We praise GOD for good insurance. Many of our friends do not have that to fall back on. They experience so many financial needs while in the fight.
To anyone wanting to help the Ladd family financially, there are 3 options: 1) the GoFundMe account at https://www.gofundme.com/justin-chasity-amp-asher-ladd... , 2) mailing a check payable to First Baptist Church with a notation of Ladd Family to PO Box 637, Okarche, OK 73762, or 3) mailing a check payable to Ladd Family Benefit Account to First Bank of Okarche, PO Box 155, Okarche, OK 73762. Thank you to all for continued prayers and support. This wonderful family has been a part of our lives in Okarche for a few years now. They have been a blessing to us in the way they live their lives to honor the Lord. And now, they are exhibiting their faith and trust in the Lord during this difficult time. Continuing to pray for the whole family and trusting in God's plans. #Ashersarmy
Chasity Ladd
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