Country singer Joey Feek, who is under hospice care due to the final stages of cervical cancer, was able to celebrate an an "incredible" Christmas with her family by the grace of God, her husband, Rory Feek, has revealed.
"In early November, Christmas seemed still so far away," wrote Rory, 49, on his blog This Life I Live on Monday. "And the prognosis was clear that there was a good chance Joey wasn't going to be with us then and that this Christmas was going to be a difficult one to get through."
As reported by the Gospel Herald, the couple and their children -- Indiana, 22 months, and Rory's adult children from a previous relationship, Heidi and Hopie -- relocated from their farmhouse in Pottsville, Tennessee, to Joey's childhood home in Alexandria, Indiana in October as her health continued to deteriorate.
Uncertain of what the future held, the family decided to celebrate Christmas early this month, but held onto the hope that Joey would live to see another Christmas day.
In his blog post, Rory explained that their faith reminded him of The Gruffalo, little Indiana's favorite book, in which the main character survives by making up a story about a mythical creature.
"So like the mouse in Indy's story, we all began to 'make up' our own Gruffalo," wrote Rory. "Ours was the belief that it was going to be a wonderful, magical Christmas. We didn't really believe it - down deep inside we knew we knew better - but still we told ourselves and each other that it was going to be great."
God miraculously answered the family's prayers: "Christmas had come and Joey was not only here with us, but she was doing well and we all had an amazing day together," shared Rory. The day was full of holiday festivities, including homemade cookies, colorful pajamas, the unwrapping of presents, and a large family dinner.
"Sometimes believing is seeing," he continued. "And so as the New Year approaches, we will continue to believe and trust that what is waiting on the other side of the deep, dark wood is something even better and more beautiful than our minds can even imagine."
Joey, 40, was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, and her husband since has been documenting their journey on social media and their website.
Earlier in December, the Feeks expressed their hope that Joey will continue to feel well throughout the month of February to enjoy their album release, their daughter's birthday and the 2016 Grammy Awards.
Also in December, the Feeks discovered they received their first Grammy Award nomination for best country duo/group performance for their song, "If I Needed You."
"[I] woke my bride up this morning with a baby in my arms and the news that our version of "If I Needed You" was nominated for a Grammy. As her excitement and tears flowed into mine, she said, 'How can that be?'" Rory wrote on Facebook at the time, explaining that
the nomination surprised the musical pair, because their song "received no radio airplay...no press... no critical acclaim."
"God is so good," he said of the Grammy development. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
