One of the things that I liked/hated about being on my depression medication is that I haven't been able to cry. In public or watching TV, that can be a great thing. In dealing with feelings, it can make things pretty bottled up. Sometimes you just need a good cry to get feelings out and then you can move on. As I've been decreasing my medication it has allowed me to cry again. The tears are not intense and they are usually really quick but they don't cease to surprise me time and time again.
Last night I was reading a book called "Wonder" about a boy who is born with multiple physical facial abnormalities. At one point, his sister is thinking about him and mentions his little body with needles and tubes everywhere and a sob shot right out of my mouth as my brain flashed to pictures of Lauren in the exact same position. I find that as we get closer to the anniversary of her admittance, I'm being reminded of many of her struggles and triumphs of this past year.
And that is just what this year has been. On days that I'm stuck in the past, I see her year as a struggle, but on days when I'm living in the present, I look at her and I see such a triumph. She has triumphed in so many ways by having such miraculous healing and coming so far with her development. We continue to triumph over sadness and depression and fear. Most importantly, God continues to triumph as we know that every step that we take as a family, from the moment that he pushed us to go to the hospital at exactly the right moment (that in and of itself is such an amazing miracle!) to every day that Lauren grows stronger, we take in his hands.
We are just over a month away from the anniversary of the worst day of our lives. One day, just over a month ago, Matt came upstairs with a look in his eyes. Usually when he has that look, he has some way to reorganize the basement or he has some great rugby to watch (both situations which make me groan inside... and out loud). Instead, he was on fire with a way for us to give back to the people who helped to save our little girl. In the past, we have done a garage sale each summer. It has been a way for us to save for having a baby, pay for the items in her nursery and save for her education.
This year, we are going to hold the garage sale of all garage sales and every single penny is going to go to BC Children's Hospital. EVERY. SINGLE. PENNY. Then Matt took it a step further by taking it to his work and getting them to agree to sponsor it - and match the first $500 we raise!
But here's the tricky part... Matt is an obsessive purger. Some people are hoarders, he's a purger. So we don't have all that much stuff to sell. Here's where you come in. Those knick knacks that you don't need anymore, that bed frame that you've had sitting in the garage, the kids toys that no one actually plays with anymore - send it our way and we will sell it and send every single penny to BC Children's Hospital... and get the donation matched by National Bank!! Or maybe you love a good garage sale (because you're more of a collector than a purger) - come on down to our backyard on Saturday, July 20 between 9am and 3pm and find a new treasure for your collection. We would love to see you there!
For full event details, check out our Facebook page or event info. Even better, like and share the Facebook page or invite your friends to support the garage sale by donating items or coming to the event so that we can make this a huge terrific success.
So to summarize:
How can you help?
1. Clean out your house and donate items to the garage sale! Contact myself, Matt or Elysha to arrange for drop off of pick up of your items. If you're not friends with us on Facebook, you can always email me at focusingonmiracles at gmail.com
2. Help us sell at the garage sale. I am terrible at this because I hate talking about money. Matt is great because talking about money is his job. Maybe you love to talk to shmooze or haggle over prices. Contact us to let us know that you would like to help in this way.
3. Donate to the cause, either by buying something or donating online. Children's Hospital has set up a special donation page so that all donations done online will be added to our total. As a bonus, any donation over $25 receives a tax receipt. Online donations can be made here.
4. Pass this information on! Like and share the Facebook page and event. Let's make this the biggest garage sale possible!
No comments:
Post a Comment