Baby Girls, Blogs, Baskets, Bows & Bonds

This picture was taken 1 week ago today.  I was privileged to spend four fun-filled days in Charleston, SC with two new friends... mothers who formed a long distance bond through our blogs, our baby girls, a love for bows and a ministry of baskets.

Over two years ago, I read my first blog.  It was this one.   A friend from Wichita had landed herself in Michigan to give birth to her baby boy who was diagnosed in utero with a congenital heart defect.  While there, staying at the Ronald McDonald house, she met the mother of Lindsay, another baby born with a congenital heart defect.  Lindsay, though, was in a battle for her life... she needed a heart transplant (at the tender age of 9 months) in order to survive.  One afternoon, as my friend shared prayer requests for her own little boy, by sharing the link to Lindsay's blog, she asked us to include Lindsay and her family in our prayers.

And so it happened.  With one curious click, I stumbled across a story that tugged at my heart and challenged me to change the perspective from which I was living my own life and carrying out my own vocation of motherhood.

I don't know why I became so invested in this little girl and her struggle to survive other than my mother's heart felt a deep empathy for this mother and her little girl.  Somehow, through the story and struggle Suzie shared on the blog, I was able to acknowledge and appreciate the "little things" in my life in a new way.  At the time, I was enduring what seemed to be a particularly challenging stage of motherhood.  But my so-called struggles seemed trite and meaningless in comparison to the very real struggles and challenges faced by another mother.  And this realization allowed me to offer my own struggles as sacrifices as I prayed that this mother would be able to watch her own daughter grow up into a mischievous toddler much like my own daughter who had become the source of my frustrations.

While I prayed for Lindsay, I began trying to find ways to lift Suzie's spirit.  If I felt like I sometimes needed "reinforcement" as I carried out my day to day tasks of motherhood, how much more would this mother, who was faced with caring for two other small children while maintaining a job and living out of a hospital room, need something to lift her up too?!  I stumbled upon a small cross one day while Christmas shopping and with that small purchase, a long distance friendship began between two mothers who shared a bond through the pure love for our daughters.

*****

The second blog I ever read was this one.  Shortly after my friend delivered her baby boy in Michigan, she began posting daily updates regarding his progress as he prepared to have open heart surgery.  In one update, she casually mentioned that she had received an Annabelle Basket that included some sweet little gifts for her newborn.

And so it happened again.  With a second curious click, I discovered the story of another mother and daughter.  Like me, this mother had dreamed her whole life of having a baby girl.  Her dream came true when she gave birth to her beautiful daughter, Annabelle.  Annabelle was also born with a congenital heart defect and for reasons that may never make sense, she graced this Earth for only two short months.  She now lives, perfectly healed, in the loving arms of her Heavenly Father.

Once again, I felt connected to a mother with whom I seemed to have so much in common.  We shared a love for all things pink, smocked clothing, planning birthday parties, and adorning the heads of our baby girls with precious bows.  For as much as we seemed to have in common though, Rebecca was walking a painful path that was very different than the one I was walking as watched my dream-come-true baby girl grow into a toddler.  And once again, my mother's heart felt connected to Rebecca as I stood in awe of her steadfast faith and her trust in God's plan for her family.

A box filled with bows for the ministry she started in her daughter's memory marked the beginning of another long distance bond with another mother whose love for her daughter radiated.

*****

After nearly 2 1/2 years of peeking into each other's lives from behind a computer screen, we decided to meet for a "mom's weekend getaway"!  Over the course of four days, we shopped a lot, ate even more, laughed a lot, and cried often.  It was a unique blessing to be able to spend such a fun weekend with women who have taught me much about faith, trust, fear, motherhood, and miracles.  

I don't fully understand why it is that God placed us in each other's lives.  I only know that I have been blessed by these unexpected friendships.

Thank you, Suzie & Rebecca, for inviting me into your heart world and allowing me to share in the joys and sorrows that your baby girls have brought to your lives.  Through them, you have brought much joy to my life!

{scenes from charleston, courtesy of my new photographically talented friends!}

*****

Today marks the three year anniversary of the day that Annabelle left this Earth and went to spend eternity with Jesus.  And so today, I want to invite you to visit the Annabelle Basket ministry by clicking here.  Rebecca started this ministry to provide hope and comfort to the families whose newborn babies were born with heart defects and would spend the beginning of their lives undergoing open heart surgery and living within an ICU.  The bows, hats, cute socks, sweet blankets, and burp cloths are meant to lift the spirits of parents who are not able to experience the normal joys that should come with having a newborn baby.    

Through the Annabelle Baskets, Rebecca has used her own tragedy to bless others who are in a position of helplessness.  It is a ministry that is worthy of your consideration and is funded solely by donations.

While Rebecca has used the baskets to minister to others through her loss, Suzie has followed in her footsteps offering parents of newborn "heart babies" a source of HOPE (through Lindsay's story) as they face the scary world of heart surgeries and medical intervention.  To celebrate the second chance at life that Lindsay was given, Suzie has replicated the ministry in Michigan and now delivers  Love from Lindsay Baskets.  Like the Annabelle Baskets, her ministry is also funded 100% by donations and has lifted the spirits of many parents.  It, too, is worthy of your consideration.


In closing, hug your babies, give thanks for their health, and offer a sacrificial prayer for all those parents whose children are in need of a miracle or have already experienced the miracle that is Heaven.