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.
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