Thursday afternoon, lying on the floor of my daughter’s bedroom, I tried to be still and quiet so the wiggling child in the bed nearby would settle down for a nap, all the while my heart was breaking for a local family that I do not know.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as the words of a mother, a strong, faith-filled mother, scrolled past on my phone.

“Of course I want her here with me and our family for a lifetime, that’s my selfish wishes, but I don’t want my baby to have to endure this forever,” her mother wrote on the Facebook page created to help communicate Aiden Taunton’s status with the thousands who are cheering and praying for her and her family.

The post continues, “We ask that you continue praying for Aiden to not suffer and that we can fill her time with joy and laughter. Pray that as her parents we can be strong for her and for our other two children that are going through this.”

The post on “Prayers for Aiden” was among the worst imaginable for the literally thousands of people following Aiden’s battle to overcome the monster inside her.

Her family wrote that after 14 months of fighting, they felt they had no good options ahead and were simply going to let the 4-year-old live out the rest of her days in as much peace as they could provide.

The Taunton family of Monterey has become well known by area residents from all walks of life because of an unfair, sinister and devastating form of cancer inside their daughter’s tiny body.

The community has supported the family’s medical war with a series of fundraisers aimed at helping reduce the financial burden on the family.

Aiden Taunton has been through more medical procedures already in her short life than most of us see in a lifetime.

Her father, Collin, has called the brain tumor, “the monster,” which is fitting because it’s a horrible, horrible problem.

Collin and his wife Megan have literally gone through hell and back already, and more is to come.

Doctors refer to Aiden’s problem as DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma). It is a truly evil form of cancer that only targets children. It’s a rapidly growing tumor that strikes approximately 300 children each year.

Megan is a pillar of faith in God. From my perspective, she’s a pillar made of the strongest steel imaginable.

Most of us could not handle what she and her husband and little Aiden are going through. But at every turn Megan points to the Bible as her strength. She is an inspiration to many of us who will, thank God, never have to face what she’s facing.

The family has repeatedly traveled to England for experimental treatments in which chemotherapy drugs were injected directly into the tumor.

The experimental treatments initially showed signs of improvement.

Then, last week, the family reported that the tumor had returned and doctors suggested they knew of little more they could try.

It’s difficult to imagine why such a horrible thing could happen to such an innocent child. But, as her family points out, God has a purpose in all things, though we may not understand that purpose, it’s still there.

In Aiden’s case, the diminutive little girl has captured the hearts of thousands across our region. Perhaps through her story and her family’s brave battle for hope, unpinned by their great faith in the Lord, other people will turn toward God and seek answers to their own problems.

If that occurs, Aiden will quietly do what many Christians never do — bring people to Christ.

The family’s incredible faith is both amazing and inspiring.

Her mother’s faith remains tattooed — literally — on her wrist: “2 Corinthians 4” a reference to a chapter in Paul’s second letter to the early Christians in Corinth.

God’s words through Paul’s hand continue to inspire today.

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Please take a moment today to pray for little Aiden and her family.
Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.