And is watching your sick child die some long miserable death compensation for some kind of jolly afterlife?
You know, my little sister was diagnosed with a brain tumour two years ago, and the only thing that kept me going during that long month of her dying right in front of me was knowing that she would go to a better place, to be with our grandparents, and that when I die (which hopefully won't happen for a while) that I would be with her. I think that God isn't the one who causes all this suffering- He's the one who helps us through the suffering. Nobody knows what Heaven is like, but I think it will be a beautiful place devoid of pain. And that's where I want to go.
God didn't answer my prayers to save Isobel, but He has answered my prayers for many other things. I don't claim to know everything about God, or why things happen, but I have faith, which helps me through hard times.
Sorry for all that depressing philisophical stuff- I'm just stating my beliefs. Not trying to convert anyone or anything like that, I just want to explain why I believe in certain things.