Prayers for Matty!

There's a precious 2 year old little boy who needs our prayers- his name is Matthew. He is fighting leukemia and has been going through chemotherapy.  Please pray for him.  It would be greatly appreciated by his family.  I don't know them personally, but they are special to my younger sister.  My heart goes out to this family and as I pray for healing for Matty and for comfort for them, I hold on to my own children just a little bit tighter.

Blessings,
Jen

Important: Donor and Prayers Needed!

Recently I was contacted by a fellow blogger who asked me to spread the word about a young girl named Haley.  Haley has been diagnosed with a very rare disease named MDS or Myelodysplasia. This disease is recognized as a "pre-leukemia" and a bone marrow transplant is needed.

With a bone marrow transplant there is about a 80% chance of recovery. The doctors have advised her parents that a transplant is needed as soon as possible - hopefully by this June. HLA typing has determined there are no matches within the family. The preliminary search for a match within the marrow data base shows there may be one potential match. There are many more tests that need to be done to determine if in fact this potential is a match and if this person is still available.

Things that we can do to help Haley- pray,spread the word, and get tested to see if we are a match.  For more information- visit here. I couldn't imagine this being my own child and what her parents must be going through.

Bone Marrow Testing Kits Available- information here. (It's free to get tested.)

Thank you!
Jen

Early Christmas for Noah

Recently, I came across a post on Facebook about a little boy who has been battling cancer for years. It is so sad to think about a child having to deal with such an illness and my heart goes out to the parents as well. I can't even imagine my child having cancer or losing a child to cancer. So when I came across the story of a little boy named Noah from Michigan who probably won't make it for Christmas, it touched my heart.

He is really sick, but I still hold out hope for a miracle. I pray that this isn't God's will and that his will is to heal. My little girls asked me if God will heal him. How difficult to explain that it may be this little boys time to go to heaven.

Because of his health, his parents decided to celebrate Christmas early. My hope is that you will join my family and thousands of others around the nation in sending a Christmas card to Noah. My daughters made handmade Christmas cards with words of encouragement and attached their photos.

Click below to watch a news report about him and his family.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/21525126/

If you'd like to send a Christmas card, please try to do so as soon as possible, because his time may be short.

Send cards to: Noah Biorkman, 1141 Fountain View Circle, South Lyon, MI 48178

Blessings,
Jen

Ruby's Story

What can we learn from Ruby Bridges? Courage, bravery, compassion, peacefulness, forgiveness, faith and so much more. This beautiful story written by Robert Coles is based on the real life experiences of six year old Ruby during the 1960's. Sunshine is so touched by this story that she has been discussing it with the family daily. Ruby's story is so powerful; I feel blessed to revisit it and share it with my own children. My favorite part of the story is when Ruby stops in the middle of the angry mob of people and prays for them.

Read more from the School Library Journal:

Ruby Bridges was the first African American child to attend an all-white elementary school in New Orleans in 1960. Coles tells the brief story of her daily walk past furious white adults, her time alone with her teacher in an otherwise empty classroom because white parents kept their children home, and the dramatic moment when she prays in front of the furious crowd for God to forgive them. An afterword explains that later in the school year, parents slowly began to send their children back to school and eventually the crowd dispersed. Although neither the text nor the realistic watercolors are notable, children will find the story of Ruby's courage and steadfastness inspiring. It has a strong religious element with a scene of Ruby's family in church, as well as the dramatic picture of Ruby praying, which will please readers who find too few references to religion in their books.-Kathleen Odean, Moses Brown School, Providence, RI

Listen to this inspiring song by Lori McKenna: Ruby's Shoes

Many blessings,

Jen