When I learned in ’97 that baby number two was on the way, my first thought was, “How in the world could I ever possibly love another child the way I do my little girl? This kid coming into the world is going to get slighted.”
Yep. I was pretty dumb in those days.
Jordan Anthony Ways was born in the summer of ’98, and his grand entrance immediately made my fears seem just as dumb as they actually were. Love is a funny thing. Our capacity is never diminished, never exhausted.
Like all four of our children, Jordan was special. He was an early walker and talker, athletic, smart (really smart), and had a small group of really good friends. He loved math, movies, music, and dancing. He’s truly one of a kind.
In early 2015, Jordan found a lump in his armpit that was later determined to be cancer. It was stage IV, and it was one that kids generally don’t survive when discovered that late. He was 15.
When the doctor gave us the news, my first concern was that should I have to go to my son’s funeral instead of him going to mine, I wanted him to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior. If Jordan beat cancer and lived to be 100 and then died and went to hell, what’s the point? But if through his cancer journey, he developed a personal relationship with Jesus and my son and hero beat me to heaven, I could live with that. I would hate to say goodbye (or rather, see you later) but I could live with that.
I’m happy to report that in May of 2018, Jordan understood and appropriated the Gospel message through faith. I asked him, “Jordan, if you were to die today and stand before God and He asked you why He should let you into heaven, what would you say?” He answered, “Well, I know now that I’m not good enough to earn my way there, but I’m going to heaven because Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. That’s why I’m going.”
Wow. Now this kid isn’t just my son, but he’s my brother in Christ.
In November of 2018 with two different cancers on board (his original tissue cancer and treatment-induced leukemia) my buddy beat me to heaven. Jordan and cancer battled to a draw, but ultimately, Jordan won. He’s more alive now than he ever was, and the cancer is no more.
About a month before Jordan died, I asked him if there was anything special he wanted us to do with his cremains. He paused and finally answered, “Might be kind of cool to get shot out into space.”
Jordan was quirky that way.
The kid didn’t ask for much, so to finally honor one of the few things he actually requested, here we are!
