35 Wishes...........A Plan is Born!

Well, yesterday was one of the most amazing days I've had in a long time! This is going to be a long blog...get some coffee!

Okay, when Sarah was born, as most of you already know, she had heart problems. Over the period of her first year of life, she had four heart surgeries. After her recovery and getting better, we got home and I stayed with her and did not return to work for quite some time. During that time, I felt the overwhelming burden to do something for others in the same situation that our family had been in. Armed with my camera and some friends, I decided to go to the Ronald McDonald House and host a family portrait day in which I took portraits of all of the families and their children, both well & sick. I met some of the most amazing people through this mission and felt like God truly opened my eyes to a love of helping others through my experiences.

Before Sarah, anything I did for others was out of a feeling of just "doing my part". I didn't have a sense of urgency like I did after Sarah came along. My entire life, I've had that gut feeling that there is something out there that I am SUPPOSED to be doing but I've thought many times that the feeling just hasn't hit me just right. I've done lots of things with the talents I've been blessed with to try to bless others but STILL, I feel like I'm missing the boat somewhere.

So many times, I've been told..."You are so talented". It's sometimes a burden to me because I don't feel like I am always using my talent to absolutely be a blessing to someone else and even if I am ............I know there is some huge thing I've not seen yet! Something BIG that God has for me to do. I have always had the gut feeling that I am supposed to change lives in a BIG way. A bunch of lives. I have felt called to children with heart problems since Sarah's birth and our journey with her.

It is allllllll coming together now! My "Big Thing" happened yesterday!

In September, I bought an outfit for Sarah that was handmade by a woman named "Keri" on http://www.etsy.com/. Her storefront is called chasingbirdies . She makes amazing clothing! Absolutely adorable things! After receiving the outfit, I decided it would be what Sarah wore to her cardiologist appointment in October. I always let her wear a special outfit that day and she always looks extra cute for those appointments. It's like her big day in the city! :) She loves it!

Well, AT her appointment, I'm sure most of you read the blog about her not wanting to wear her hospital gown. So, I contacted Keri to see if she could get a pattern for hospital gowns and she said yes! I was so excited about that! Then, Keri emailed me and asked me if other children may be interested in one, too and how this may be a good ministry for us. I immediately had that WOW feeling!

I thought..........well, I can't sew, but I can find a way to help make this happen!

35 Wishes .....a plan is born....

So, I talked to Keri yesterday afternoon and we have a plan of action! She and some of her friends are going to make 35 hospital gowns for the children who will be in the hospital at TCH on the heart recovery floor on Christmas Day! AND, we are gathering other items to include in gifts for 35 children in the 35 rooms of that floor! Hence, the name....35 Wishes. Everyone who has heard of this since yesterday is 'on board' with helping! Even Jason can't wait to help! He's going to design the cards for us to put with each gift!

This is such a God thing! When we got on the phone, we had never spoken before. I had only bought a few things from her on etsy and we had chatted back and forth via email through their site. When I asked for her phone number....I called and she answered the phone with excitement in her voice! We could not talk fast enough! It was like we had both been waiting SO long for something big and we had found each other and we knew we were going to be unstoppable together! During our hour long conversation, we laughed, CRIED, everything! We are going to meet sometime in the next week or so and sit down and REALLY brainstorm about what we can do further....past Christmas....how we can grow and REALLY change lives! She and I talked about our husbands, too! Turns out....she tells me her husband works in the construction industry....I said...."Really?......mine too! What does your husband do?" She replies...."He's a branch manager for a rental company." ............so I ask..."WHAT rental company?" She says............"United Rentals,......have you heard of it?"! Well, yes.....my HUSBAND is a sales rep for united rentals!!!!!!!!!!! We both start screaming and laughing! It's hilarious!~ So funny!

A few "funny" coincidences we discovered that will make us a great team!....

*We are both Christians!

*She's only been sewing for a little less than 2 months.

*I was her first customer!

*Our husbands work for the same company!

*She lives an hour away from me! (and etsy is a worldwide website and I didn't even realize she was in the Dallas area until AFTER I ordered!)

*She does not like the marketing aspect of anything and I live for it!

*We are both stay at home/work at home moms!

*She & I have both been looking for something bigger!

I know this is a loooooong blog...but I did warn you at the beginning! :)

I am so excited about this and if this story pulls at your heart-strings..........you can help, too! Email me if you would be interested in helping in any way. We need support from everyone who can help! If anyone would like to make a donation to our cause, we are using the money to purchase the hatboxes to put the items in and for fabric to help make more hospital gowns, goodies for the boxes, etc.! We are thankful for any help we get

Sarah has come SUCH a long way and we are so blessed by her life....I want her life to continue causing blessings for others! These photos are so hard to look back at and see where she started, but when you look at where she is now....it just truly shows how wonderful God is and how important it is to me to make a difference in others' lives!

Right after her most recent heart surgery...in recovery...

This is a photo from a time BEFORE they made her wear a hospital gown! See how happy she is! LOL They used a photo of her in this tiara for their brochure for the anesthesiology department! She is a true success story of Texas Children's Hospital!

The last one is one of my new favorite pictures of her! It looks like she's praising the Lord! She just looks SO happy! (Probably because she is!)