The Rumleys settled into a life of traveling to Emory in Atlanta and South Georgia Medical Center’s Pearlman Cancer Center in Valdosta. They worried about what to tell Seth, who was 4 years old. They slowly explained to him what was happening. Through prayer, they showed Seth a way to have faith in a positive outcome. But they prepared him for the worst by explaining the often fatal consequences of cancer.

“We took it slow. We didn’t want him to be exposed to too much because he was so young,” Will says.

Meanwhile, family and friends offered non-stop support and encouragement to the Rumleys. Westside Baptist Church and other churches offered prayers for Wendy’s recovery.

“There was such a wonderful response to Wendy,” Will says. “She was on the prayer requests of many churches, the cards and gifts and support we received. We can’t thank everyone enough.”

Community support and prayers buoyed them through the long months of radiation and chemotherapy. Still, there were moments of doubt. People would tell them stories of illnesses being miraculously healed with one trip to a church altar. These stories left the Rumleys wondering why such a thing had not happened for Wendy. Had their faith been wanting?

Yet, through these tests and so many others endured, the Rumleys’ faith developed into a faith of persistence, a faith made strong by a slow process of recovery rather than an instant miracle.

“I think maybe if it had happened all at once, if I’d been cured just like that, I may not have appreciated it,” Wendy says. “I may have taken it for granted.”

Instead, she counts it as a blessing. Reaching the year anniversary following the initial prognosis was a celebration. Gradually, the cancer went into remission. Doctors believe the tumor is still there but it has shown no signs of growth.

Doctors warned the Rumleys that they should not have any more children. Pregnancy often accelerates the growth of cancer cells, they told the Rumleys. Wendy and Will planned to follow doctor’s orders. Wendy’s pregnancy in 2005 was unplanned.

It also scared her. Throughout her battle with cancer, she worried about leaving Seth without a mother at an early age. Now, she worried she might leave two children behind.

Not having the baby, though, the Rumleys say, was not an option.

“If the Lord wanted us to have this baby, we were going to have this baby,” Will says.

On Dec. 27, Ian Jeffrey Rumley was born, with both mother and baby well and fine. They call their second son Ian, which Will says means, “God is gracious.”