Amos Ross Updates

Dear Friends,

Today is Amos’s last day of radiation treatment at Duke. We are relieved, grateful, surprised (already?!), and ready to be done, home, together, and not at the hospital. I say that as the one who has been at home for the majority of the last six weeks but I can still confidently say- IT IS TIME. The last few weeks have held a mixture of disgruntled endurance as we’ve all pushed to ride out our various roles in these final days of treatment. Amos has continued to be a champ, never complaining and always willing to do what is needed. Will has walked with him through all the day to day with diligence and attention to the many details of Amos’s care. I’m so grateful for them both! Duke has also been just incredible to work with. We are so very grateful to all the practitioners who have cared for Amos so well these past six weeks! Here’s a much anticipated photo of Amos this morning- ringing the bell with his radiation team. Such a gift.

It’s difficult to sum up these past few months of 2025. They have held so much that we never expected including some of the hardest and best days of our lives. A roller coaster of emotions for sure. The common thread through it all has been the Lord’s careful and loving hand guiding us, reminding us of his presence with us, and graciously providing what we need. The book of Job has made memorable appearances these last ten years starting with a sermon series at our church in Cambridge in the midst of which Amos was first diagnosed. Job popped up again in various ways this spring – an ominous sign (surely not!) or a comforting reminder that even in the midst of difficult suffering, the Lord sees and knows and cares for our griefs and pain. He is Lord over the deepest sufferings we face in this life and his understanding surpasses our own.

Truth be told, Job is a difficult character and book of the Bible to wrestle with. So many unanswered questions. So much grief. So little explanation!! Our church is reading through Paul Tripps Everyday Gospel devotional this year and May/June has found us back in the book of Job. I love yesterday’s reading which points out that we are after a “sturdy joy – the kind that does not rise or fall with our circumstances”. Tripp says it’s the kind of joy that is ours when what we want most matches what God wants most for us. This is challenging since we know what we want most- health, comfort, ease, peace, etc. isn’t always what God allows. These good things are right to desire and yet we find ourselves once again needing to surrender them to the Lord.

Job 38-41 is a beautiful litany of God declaring who he is to a likely bewildered Job. God declares his might and awesome knowledge of all living things. His creative power and loving rule come into clear focus as the beauty of his works in creation are set before Job unapologetically. We are reminded that God holds all the powers of good and evil in his hands. He tells the tides when to come no further and causes the dawn to know its place. This same God holds our time and our troubles in his hands. As we come to the end of treatment for Amos, we know this is not the end of the struggle. There is still much to pray for – continued protection, complete healing, clear scans ahead – and yet for now we can rest in knowing that the one who made Amos watches over him.

So what’s next? Please continue to pray for Amos. He will likely feel the latent effects of radiation in these coming weeks and maybe months. We aren’t sure what that will look like but hope it’s mainly fatigue. There will be follow-up appointments and an MRI in early July. We will continue to post here to keep you updated and ask for specific prayer.

Thank you for praying for us and with us these past months. We are immensely grateful for the ways you all have cared for our family in various and significant ways. Thank you for the meals, the help with kids, the notes of encouragement, gifts, and more.

And now….we are off to the beach for some much needed rest and time together. Happy Summer and many blessings to you all!