As I sat in chapel on Wednesday, I went through singing songs, halfway paying attention and fighting the lunch craving thoughts that I know we have all faced at one time or another. But as Ben Langford came up on stage, his little girl in his arms, I was immediately locked in to what he had to say. As he spoke about his family’s experience with the Make-A-Wish foundation and their trip to Disney World, I began to reflect back on a trip that my own family went on very early in my life.
In April of 1996, my older sister, Chelsea, was diagnosed with leukemia about a month before her sixth birthday. As a family, we found ourselves the beneficiaries of a trip to Disney World in December of that year. I was just three years old at the time and didn’t fully comprehend why we got to go on the trip, but I could not wait to meet Mickey Mouse. We stayed at the Give Kids The World Village, and experienced the world of Disney in a way that one can only dream of.
On the edge of my seat in Hardeman, listening to the story of the Langford family, I couldn’t help but smile and feel a connection with them, because we’ve been in those same shoes. Make-A-Wish is, without a doubt, capturing the words of Jesus in Matthew 19, and I could not be any happier with the Heartland Conference’s decision to raise money for them.
As for my sister, she is now 23 years old, married, and teaching an autism classroom in our hometown of Norman, Okla. This coming October will be 16 years off treatment, and she remains cancer-free today.
“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’” –Matthew 19:14
Chase Kuwitzky is a sophomore at Oklahoma Christian University
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