Look What I Have Given You

It was Sunday morning during the worship service.

We were singing the tried and true Christmas carols and I was lost in the joy of worship. 

Suddenly little arms wrapped around my waist and my helmeted Little Girl pressed into me singing her version of the carols. 

I looked down as she clung to me, singing, worshipping. 

I looked over at Aaron who was diligently trying to sing the words. I peeked further at John who caught my eye and grinned at me.

Both boys in their very ugly sweaters.

Little girl in her 'ugly' dress.

It was one of those moments.

The reality of how blessed I am.

From the outside our world seems insane. 

And most days I would concur.

But on Sunday, for a few moments, I saw my three littles as the gifts they are. 

Precious.

A sweet moment. A God moment.

A whisper to my heart. Look what I have given you.

I came home after church and saw a bag hanging on our porch swing.

I thought maybe one of the kids put it there. Probably Mary. Filled with junk toys. 

Or trash.

I sighed as I went to get it. 

It's always something, right?

Mom's job is never done.

It wasn't junk. It wasn't filled with trash. 

It was homemade bread.

From our neighbor.

And an envelope.

With money inside.

Money to be divided between Preslley and a child of my choice on Reece's Rainbow.

I stood there so deeply surprised, blessed, encouraged.

Another God moment.

I had no idea my neighbor even read our blog.

She didn't just read it - she was moved to do something.

And the Lord whispered again.

A reminder. A word of encouragement.

Through a kind neighbor wanting to make a difference.

I put half the money in Preslley's account.

And I picked the babe at the very bottom of the tree, Amelia, and gave her the other half. 

And I whispered a thank you.

And a prayer for two little babes who need families.

In our insanity - He whispers His presence.

Look what I have given you!

Emmanuel.

God with us.

It's what Christmas is all about.

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I shared this on Facebook but am sharing it here too...

Here is Ben singing, Behold the Lamb

If you feel moved to action - There are 74 babes who have not reached their 1,000 goal on the MACC tree.

CLICK HERE to go see them.

Pray, give, advocate, adopt.

Thank you!

Not Just Preslley

 This morning I went to the MACC Tree to see how my boy was doing.

He has 755.00 in his grant account. 

Go Go Preslley - He still needs 245.00 to read the $1,000 goal. Thank you to each of you who have given to help him get to his goal!!

But the saddest....

He is on the wrong part of the tree. 

He needs to be at the TOP under MY FAMILY FOUND ME!

Five babes are up there this year.

The rest - all the faces - they need Mamas and Papas.

Go look.

Go see.

Don't turn away.

Yes. I know. They all have some kind of special need or another.

But scary words do not define a child.

They do not define Preslley.

And they do not define the rest of those babes.

Even if you can't adopt... go look.

Find a babe. Donate a bit to help them.

Find a babe. Share their face on social media.

Find a babe. Pray for them.

Find a babe. Tell your friends in church about him or her.

Find a babe. Talk to your spouse. Your kids. 

Consider!

Just consider.

Not just Preslley is on that tree.

And all but five need someone to love them best of all.

MACC 2020

A Relentless Beast

Last night Mary had two status episodes. Twice we were ripped out of our sleep to alarms and a seizing child. They are heart-stopping, brain shocking events. 

We are torn between trying to get to her, pulling rescue meds and shutting the stupid alarms off. 

The watch she wears is connected to an iPad which triggers the alert. The alert is sent to our house phone and our cell phones. 

Everything goes off. Everything. 

And nothing will stop until you respond to each one. 

And if you don't respond fast enough - they go off again. 

And if you forget to remove the watch from her seizing arm - the alarm will trigger again. 

That happened last night. 

Many times. 

By the time we have her stabilized, rescue meds in her - we are both in full-on post alarm traumatic syndrome. All we can do is just stare at each other.

This morning I am a mental wreck. Exhausted. 

She's been doing so much better during the day. If not for nights like last night we would be throwing parties on how well her day seizures are going.

Nights like last night are vivid reminders that our little girl suffers from a beast that is relentless. It body slams her to the ground just when we think we have it tamed.

Why am I sharing this?

Because my MACC pick this year is a little boy who has epilepsy.

He takes meds all the time to keep his beast tamed.

I have no idea if those meds work or not.

He has speech issues.

He has orthopedic issues.

He has other issues.

He has NO ONE fighting for him. NO ONE getting up and rescuing him in the night. NO ONE caring for him. 

He is one little boy among so many out there but HE MATTERS.

He hasn't reached his $1,000 goal. We are still $405.00 short.

But more importantly - he doesn't have a family.

YES. Epilepsy can be scary. It can traumatize. It can cause sleepless nights and post traumatic stress syndrome.

But... Mary would not have survived.

Not over there. Not the way her epilepsy was progressing.

I am sharing Preslley with you because that little boy is battling the relentless beast alone.

Alone.

I don't know his prognosis.

I just know that right now he needs us to share him far and wide so that somewhere out there a Mama and Papa will see him and will stop long enough to hear the Holy Spirit whisper - He's yours.

Go.

Go.

Please share.

Please give so that money is not a factor in the decision.

Please please please pray for Preslley.