love endures. {an opportunity to help someone else}

While Lincoln was taking a late afternoon nap today, I sat at the dining room table in awe of the sights, sounds, and smells that surrounded me. Naomi kept tiptoeing in wearing her favorite Rapunzel dress. [Mind you, that was probably her fourth change of the day, and she only had been home for a few hours. That girl can change like a boss. Drainage tube hanging from her has nothing on her ability to strip down.] And I listened to her toddler voice with the missing "Ls" and slurred sentences. I pretty much want to video everything that comes out of her mouth because her voice needs to be boxed up and savored. I overheard Andrew playing a princess game with Audrey, vibrations of joy came straight from her. I looked at my counter and it was filled with cookies from the afternoon. While we were at the hospital with Naomi to get a dye injection earlier in the day, my sister and friend decorated cookies with the kids. Like no big deal. We will pick your kids up from school, take them to get special decorating stuff at the store, bake cookies with them, and make memories. My refrigerator is full of food, none of which I have bought. I can't remember the last time I went the grocery store. We filled up our gas tank with a gift card from someone. We have a huge box sitting on our counter for Naomi, surely filled with sweet pink things. The smell of homemade chicken pot pie and pomegranate blueberry vinaigrette filled the air enough that I had to stop typing and go eat. Because, YUM. I haven't made dinner for the last 14 days. We received multiple cards of encouragement in the mail today both from strangers and friends.

Every blessing. Every time I say thank you it just doesn't seem sufficient for what we are receiving. God is using each person to create this safety net for us. It's like saying, just fall, we will catch you. Your burden is ours.

That's exactly what God has been telling me the whole time. My burden is His. He gave His son. For me. For you.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Pierced.
Crushed.
Wounds.

Instead of feeling such emotions of turmoil these last two weeks, we have felt an abundance of love, hope, joy, peace, and faith. Through it all.

Love never gives us, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through all circumstances. 1 Corinthians 13:7

You guys, we had meals set up for a month and a half. People were ready to come mow our lawn every week. To do unfinished projects at our house. To hire a cleaning person to come deep clean. Provide us with a deep freezer for meals. I can't even wrap my head around how amazing people are and what can happen in such a short amount of time when love is the focus. Most of these blessings we are kindly turning down, as we are ready to move on from this short-lived journey with childhood cancer. But we are incredibly thankful for each blessing that comes in. God worked a miracle in our Naomi and all we are doing now is follow-up protocol testing. She will continue to have follow-ups, probably for the rest of her life. But, it is all worth it to bring glory to Him, the One who saves. I was brought to the feet of Jesus and I don't want to leave.

I know so many people just want to bless Naomi and our family and bring a smile our way. Let me tell you, we are smiling and choosing joy. God is good. Thank you so very much for all the love we have received in the last 14 days. We are truly blown away. We have everything we need and more. But I'd like to throw something out here. I have a friend named Bridgette Boswell who I met on the Internet. [Crazy Internet people getting to know other crazy Internet people. Go figure.] She has no idea that I'm writing about her. (Hi Bridgette if you are reading this!) But her family has been on my heart recently.  Her and her husband have two boys (one of which they adopted) and they are currently trying to bring home their girl, sweet Edna to her forever family. They are in the waiting period right now. And I was just thinking, how cool would it be for her adoption fundraiser to be met while they wait?! So here's the deal, if you have felt it on your heart to help Naomi and want to bless our family, I'm asking that you consider blessing The Boswell family in honor of Naomi. Bridgette's blog, Stitches of Love, has a PayPal fundraiser account attached on the right hand side (just click on the blog title and it will direct you to her page). We have experienced first hand what a difference it can make when people come together to shower a family in love with prayer and monetary gifts.

Here's a little video to learn more about this fellow Indiana family, the Boswell's and their journey with adoption. [They have this video up on their blog and I thought I would share. They are pretty dag'on cute.]

Link to Blog for Donations: Stitches of Love