Grace's Wish Party

Last Friday, the Make-A-Wish chapter of North Texas had an incredible party for Grace and our family and we wanted to say thank you! They invited Grace's friends and our family to gather at their wishing place, Maggiano's graciously donated a fabulous dinner, we watched footage from our New York trip, and Grace's article in American Girl was on each table along with placemats of the article that were precious!

The entire place was filled with friends, smiles, and laughing girls and it was an incredible night...one that will hold a special place in our hearts for a long time!! It was so fun to watch Grace smile, giggle, skip, and talk with her friends as she shared this exciting time in her life with them. It was also so fun to see Grace show her friends the place where she made her wish and explain to her friends (with my help) how that wish came to be. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is an incredible organization and we are so thankful for them and what they did for our family!

So many of Grace's friends have been with her for so many years and so many of them have been there when she has been so sick and it was great that they all came on a rainy night and celebrated with us. It was such a treat to see Grace with her friends in a different light, having so much fun and away from doctors and hospitals! The best way I can describe it is it was pure JOY! I know I have told you so many times before but it is what I love best about Grace. Her ability to find joy in all circumstances. For this particular night, after such a long week of many, many tests and procedures, it was amazing to watch the JOY on her face!

Thank you to:

Claire, Colleen, and Ashley from Make-A-Wish for everything that you did for Grace....Maggiano's for the wonderful food....to the sweet lady who made the delicious pink cake.....Cannon for his photography and videography skills in NYC and for loving his little sister so well...and to all of our sweet family and friends. WE love each and every one of you!

Praise God for the blessings in our life,

Carrie

Pictures to follow soon.....

God's Perfect Plan

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

How many times have I planned out my life? We don't have enough days this year for me to write about it or for you to read about it. I do this so often even when I know that God's ways are so much better than my own. What's even stranger is the fact that I am always so amazed when I get through a hard situation and come to the other side and say, "Wow, God planned that out perfectly and can talk through all of the incredible ways that God showed up and was pointing us every step of the way.

Well, He's done it again...and crazy enough I am amazed again! A few years ago, a friend told Make-A-Wish about our daughter, Grace, and her story. MAW contacted us and after many phone calls and meetings they began the process of trying to grant Grace her wish. At the time, Grace was 7 and the TV series Hannah Montana was Grace's life. She had been home for a long time recovering from one of her spinal surgeries and she could escape from her own life when she watched HM. It was no surprise to us when she told MAW that she wanted to meet Hannah Montana because she had been asking to meet her for a long time. Grace was put on the list of kids who wanted to meet HM (Miley Cyrus) and she was #22 in line. We were told that it would be about a year or so. Definitely not my wish, but this wasn't about me, it was all about Grace. MAW was wonderful about it and so we began to wait. Amazingly, God already had a plan! (Psalm 139)

Meanwhile, as many of you know, Grace continued to struggle medically, was in and out of the hospital, and continued to have surgeries. Fast forward to last summer. Grace was recovering from another spinal surgery and we got a call from MAW that Grace would soon be up on the list to meet Miley! When I told Grace the news, she told me, "I don't want to meet her anymore." What? She said, "I want to be American Girl's Girl of the Year and help encourage other girls who are sick, kind of like Charissa did with bullying." Again, I thought, what? and how is that going to work?

But, remember, God, has incredible plans for our lives! (Jeremiah 29:11) MAW and American Girl have been AMAZING through this whole process! On the 1st of May, our family was flown to New York City on a VIP trip! We had limos shuttle us around as we toured the city and all of it's incredible landmarks. (Thank you Bermuda Limousine) We stayed at the Grand Hyatt and Grace commented on arrival, "Wow, this looks like a palace!" WE also had VIP trips to the Empire State Building, Mary Poppins (where we went backstage after the show and saw the sets and met the actress playing Mary Poppins and the children playing the Banks childrens!!), and the Statue of Liberty!

Grace's Wish Day was May 3rd and we were picked up in a beautiful limo and driven to the American Girl Store. Gail was our volunteer escort from MAW and was lovely! Once arriving at AGS, we were met by Robyn Roth-Moise, Grace's very own Personal Shopper! She was incredible and made Grace feel like a princess all day! Grace got to pick out her very own doll! Lots of clothes and accessories!! And then got to learn how to style her new and one of her old doll's hair (Felicity) with Moe at the Doll Hair and Boutique. Felicity also got her ears pierced and then went to the doll hospital to get a well check. From there, Grace had a photo shoot with her dolls and learned that she was being chosen to have her picture on the front of the magazine in the New York store for the month of May!!! Wow!!!! And the fun continued as Grace skipped through the 4 floors of the store. As many of you know, Grace can be so shy. But, this day, she kept a smile on her face, laughed, and had the time of her life! They treated us to lunch in their beautiful cafe and then more shopping! One of the last treats we received was being presented the May/June edition of the American Girl Magazine where Grace's story is told! It is a beautiful story and this brought me to tears. Mary Richards, the editor did an outstanding job capturing the true essence of Grace's personality by phone interview! By the time we left, our hearts were full and Grace was thrilled with her day! Thank you American Girl!!!

God has a plan and it is good. Sometimes we don't see that until years later....sometimes it can be 10 years. In 7 days, my little girl will be 10. Some days, I think it's been an incredibly long ten years for all of us, especially her. Those are the days when she is sick or when we are in the hospital or at the dr. Then, there are the days like when we were in NYC......she was still sick, but there were no drs and no hospital visits....God was revealing His bigger plan for her life, sharing her story with others, and there were His people surrounding us and loving on us...His hands and feet here on earth. Thank You Jesus.

God's Blessings

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another." John 1:16

So many times I have come to the computer to post an update and I have sat here with thoughts running through my mind and stabbing me in my heart but have been unable to type them. It's been a long 3 months since I have last written and a lot has happened...yet our God remains so faithful to us, even in the midst of my doubt. I thank each one of you for continuing to pray for our family and to ask how you can help us...God hears our prayers and loves us dearly.

The best update I can give you is that Grace continues to amaze us. God has blessed her with such an enormous capacity to endure hardship that it sometimes blows me away. As of now, she is continuing to struggle with several medical issues and will go through a series of medical tests and procedures for the next 8 days. Our hope and prayer is that we would get some answers to why she has been so sick and be able to best treat her.

Cannon continues to be plagued with his foot/ankle/leg fractures from the first week of January. For some reason, these bones don't seem to want to heal. He will go for a bone evaluation this Wednesday. Our prayer is that we would get answers for him too and that he would be able to heal. He continues to be in a lot of pain, has missed a lot of school, and seems worn out from it all.

For me, there are days that I feel like the weight of all of this is too much to bear. The best way to describe it is like trying to tread water in the middle of the ocean in the middle of a big storm....I keep getting swept under the water. When I feel this way, I realize, just as Peter did, I have taken my eyes off of Christ and have put them on my circumstances and am trying to do it on my own. I must remind myself to fix my eyes on Christ and consistently lean on Him for my strength, His Word to renew me, and His people to encourage me and help me along.

Thankfully, we continue to be encouraged. Just a week ago, we were jetted off to New York City where Grace was granted her wish from Make-A-Wish and American Girl-New York. It was a wonderful experience for our whole family despite all of the medical issues going on right now! My next post will be about our trip but for now I wanted to update you on Grace's status and ask for prayer for her in the coming days.

Thank you for your faithfulness,

Carrie