The Powell’s

Ben, Becky and Ethan Powell- an amazing family. Ben and Becky are probably one of the most faithful and encouraging couple’s I’ve ever seen. And I’ve never even met them personally. I stumbled upon their blog about a year ago. It was April, 2007 when I first read their story. They had been at St. Jude’s hospital for 2 months because Ethan was diagnosed with Leukemia at only 2 months old. Ethan was only 6 weeks older than Brody, so I could relate to them in that way. Every day I would read updates on Ethan and I would read how strong Ben and Becky were. I was amazed that in a matter of months they had 5+ MILLION readers of their blog. They had over 5 million prayer warriors for their little boy. Family, friends, and perfect strangers like me who became so incredibly involved in an indirect way. I prayed for Ethan and I prayed for strength for Ben and Becky. I could not imagine giving up everything I had and moving into a hospital to be with my son who was only given a 15% chance at life. I’d do it in a heartbeat if it were one of my boys, but I can’t even begin to imagine what they went through.

After 14 months of fighting on April 5, 2008, Ethan passed away. When I first read that update, my heart broke for this family. It’s amazing to me how my heart can ache for a family I don’t even know personally. This little boy was everything to them and so many people were praying and hoping for a miracle. Ethan is in a better place now, and he’s free of pain. I hope Ben and Becky know just how many lives Ethan’s story touched. And I hope they know that they are an inspiration to so many people. They have an amazing faith. I admired how they never posted without mentioning one of the other kids at St. Jude. They were not selfish people. The day Ethan passed away, they immediately asked their prayer warriors to pray for another critical child, one of “Ethan’s friends”. I can’t imagine living a day without one of my children, and my heart breaks for them and the pain they must be going through.

Ben and Becky, if you ever stumble upon this, please know that you are an inspiration and you’ve made me re-examine my faith. Your strength is amazing and I thank you for touching my life with Ethan’s story.