Gibbs Draws Inspiration From Grandson's Fight

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"I KNOW YOU ARE NOT OLD ENOUGH TO READ BUT MOMMY AND DADDY CAN HELP," one from January says. A recent post reads: "I LOVE your new hair!!"

Since the ordeal began last January, 3,100 messages have been left for Taylor. The most touching words, though, are penned by his mother.

"His threshold for frustration, pain, annoying siblings, etc. is quite small," Melissa writes to readers in a holiday greeting. "But I remember what it was like doing the long runs of steroids and I rejoice in such minor inconveniences."

She adds: "In a bizarre way, I miss the intensity of the early days after diagnosis, when I needed nothing but my Bible and my husband and family. Nothing crowded out prayer time and Bible study. There was no room for petty arguments. Every conversation dripped with significance. Watching a sitcom would have seemed ridiculous. For that brief season, the "fat" was trimmed out of our lives and what was left, was awesome."

Along the path of Taylor's recovery, the Gibbses met other families whose children were suffering from one form of cancer or another -- including the family of an 11-year-old boy named Nate, who passed away earlier this year.

"We're in there, and there were kids that don't make it," J.D. said. "Your faith keeps you going but it doesn't give you relief from the real world."

Gibbs, who had met Nate and many other ill children, said Taylor's ordeal made "Pat and I realize all the kids who don't get the care he did. It made us want to do something more about it. Every time I see Taylor, I think that."

Gibbs paused, adding, "It's hard to believe a little 3-year-old can be an inspiration, but he has been to us."

To those praying for her son, Melissa writes: "Enjoy your holiday and count your blessings. Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. I have seen death this year like never before and many grieving parents need our prayers. Most prayed just as fervently as we did for our son, and yet they have an empty chair at the table."

"Taylor is alive now, not because our prayers were better or because God loves him more, but because that was His unexplainable, mysterious, sovereign will."