What do you sing when your child is sick?
What song do you sing when the unthinkable is close to reality?
“You don't go into being a mother thinking you're going to have to have conversations with your 12-year-old about whether she's ready to meet Jesus,” K-LOVE listener Amy said. “We had several of those.”
Amy was seven months pregnant with her third child when her pediatrician diagnosed her oldest with a disease that had no cure. Amy’s daughter, Bethany, went from thinking about algebra and English homework to living full-time in the children’s hospital.
“I describe pulmonary hypertension to people as if the heart and lungs are fighting against each other,” Amy said. “But one is working super hard to compensate for the other one not doing well, and so eventually, they both give out.”
Amy, her husband, Edward, and her mom took shifts daily making the hour-long drive from their home to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital so someone was always with Bethany.
“There was lots of driving back and forth, with endless alone time in the car, and K-LOVE always played in my car,” Amy said. “For me, music just really sinks a little bit deeper. It always seemed like in those drives it was just the right music, whether I needed to cry or whether I needed to rejoice. Through singing and weeping I just knew that God was watching over and taking care of Bethany.”
There was one song that seemed to stand out above the rest – MercyMe’s “Even If.” Anyone singing the words to that gripping song knows how it feels to be seized by its lyrics – especially a parent begging God to spare their child’s life.
I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt
Would all go away if You'd just say the word
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
With a port in her chest and on an intense, round-the-clock medical regimen, Bethany was finally able to rejoin her family at home after what felt like an endless time in the children’s ICU, and she was able to be there for the birth of her younger brother at the end of December.
Pulmonary hypertension was such an unknown disorder that figuring out the right medication was difficult and sometimes dangerous.
“We almost lost her a couple of times because of trying to transition medications,” Amy said. “I personally watched her bottom out twice while I was with her and had to stand there and think, ‘I'm losing my daughter.’”
Doctors tried valiantly to manage the condition for a year and a half, but soon, there was only one thing left to try.
“She was on the maximum dose for her age and body size, when the doctors said, ‘The medicine is not doing anything anymore. Our next and only option is a lung transplant,’” Amy said.
Waiting for a suitable lung to become available can take two years or longer. Bethany didn’t have that kind of time.
“At the end of August, she was 15 and went on the transplant list,” Amy said. “And Sept. 10, less than two weeks later, we got a call that we had a match for her. God was moving in that. Bethany ended up being the second lung transplant at Cincinnati Children's, and currently she is their oldest living recipient for Cincinnati Children's.”
After years of tests, questions and uncertainty, God performed a miracle in Bethany’s life: She recovered from her transplant and is currently in college studying design.
“It helped her see there was a story and a plan for her beyond just being the sick kid that got new lungs,” Amy said. “God has plans for her. Now, she is part of the creative team at our church, and it’s great to watch her thrive.
“When people hear about Bethany and our journey, my husband and I tell people it’s just God's grace and love for us. That even in our darkest moments, there is hope. And that we can be fearful, but we can bring it to Him and He can surround us with peace. No matter what, you can always trust in Him and His timing.”
K-LOVE is there for parents, just like Amy and Edward, and children like Bethany, little sister Abigail and little brother Caleb in every season of life. That’s the beauty of God working through the ministry to speak through a message from a DJ or that just-right song.
“K-LOVE always plays in my car. My kids know that it does not go off K-LOVE,” Amy said. “That has produced lots of great memories of kids in the back seat singing their hearts out.”
