Psalm: 90:09- We spend our years as a tale that is told

.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Ashley's Auction and Prayers of Healing

The auction has now ended but please continue to keep Ashley in your prayers. They are working! Read about the first good news she has received in a very long time! God is so good! http://www.lilblueboo.com/2012/03/the-best-news.html


    I "met" Ashley online via my dear friend, Stephanie Corfee. Stephanie was doing some design work for Lil Blue Boo (Ashley's amazing dress business). It was love at first sight for me with all her designs and one of kind dresses! Her dresses worked especially well for Harper's "corset"! Ashley's business was doing phenomenal and she was living out her dream. Her entire spring and summer line would sell out with in minutes on Facebook!  Every woman with a little girl coveted their LBB dresses and the matching doll outfits and still do! 
   
    Ashley's cancer resulted from a molar pregnancy last fall following a miscarriage and is called choriocarcinoma. When undergoing surgery to remove the tumor in her uterus, she started hemorrhaging and almost died. She underwent an emergency hysterectomy and  has been in the battle of her life ever since but still continues to run her business, blog and be a wonderful mother. Her cancer is extremely aggressive and spread quickly throughout her body. She can literally feel and see the tumors protruding from her abdomen. Can you please lift her up in your prayers on a daily basis and pray for complete healing? 
 
      Ashley has touched many and on a daily basis she is choosing "Joy" and literally spreading it around the globe. She was choosing "Joy" long before her cancer diagnosis. Her father past away last year and in the wake of his death her family clung to this verse they found on his desk. As simple as could be, the slip of paper said, "Choose Joy". Little did he know how much that slip of paper would mean to Ashley. You can read just how special this woman is here on her blog http://www.lilblueboo.com/category/cancer-chronicles. To be a part of her "Choose Joy" mantra click here http://www.lilblueboo.com/choosejoy. She documents her life with cancer via the "cancer chronicles" in a way no one else could. She has an uncanny skill of talking about very personal topics in such a humorous fashion. Her gift of openness allows all of us to see her daily struggles with this horrible illness, but moreover it allows us to see the light that exists in all of us. "For light our light shine for all to see so that everyone will praise our heavenly father" (Matthew 5:16). Please read Ashley's story and think about the light inside of you. How can you use it to better someone else's day and how can you use it to glorify God?

    Ashley's team of fans, friends, co-workers and peers are having a silent auction for her. The costs of her cancer treatments are beyond great and this is the 3rd type of chemo treatment she has tried. The items in the 2 day silent auction are beyond awesome and it begins tonight. 100% of the profits go directly to Ashley.  For all the details click on this link! http://hyenacart.com/stores/teamashley/ You do have to sent up a hyena cart account. If you have any problems or if you need further details this would be the link to check out. http://evystree.com/blog/ . We expect the bidding to get very high (hallelujah!)  So if you want to help with her medical bills, even just a few dollars, I can provide you with a paypal address.

    One last note about this remarkable woman. Any woman undergoing chemotherapy worries about losing their hair. Here is a video of Ashley losing her hair in front of the world in a joyful fashion. (Be prepared to have a tissue near by and you have to put my music player on pause to hear the song). 


And major props to my friend Stephanie Corfee  http://stephaniecorfee.com/ Check out what she made for the silent auction!


   May God be present in their efforts and in all those who need his divine healing this week.


  Lately, everywhere I turn I hear of friends and acquaintances having cancer.  Some are newly diagnosed, some at stage 3, some just entered heaven and some are fighting for their lives at this very moment. All I can do is offer prayers of healing, along with, sincere reassurance that there is a far better world then the one we live in right now. For Jesus promised us that those that believe and accept Him as their savior will live in paradise for eternity with Him and to those that mourn remember His message to you: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Revelation 21)


    Everyday we are burdened with bills, unexpected life events, illnesses, negative and horrific news stories. Of course we could feel trapped, saddened, depressed, empty and lonely but it is at those exact times when we have to make a choice.  And you probably are asking yourself how can I choose joy when the whole world seems bleak and crashing in on me? And I say to you, "How can you not"? With choosing Joy I also don't mean just putting a smile on your face either and pretending to be fine. I mean living each day knowing that no matter how bad it is your creator will guide you and bring you to where you are suppose to be. We may not like his plan and it may not make sense to us. But it is in those deepest, darkest days when we our forced to totally abandon our anxiety and rely on God and the strength He gave us. For he does not want us to be anxious or burdened. He wants us to surrender our lives to Him and make everyday count. He wants us to make a conscious choice to choose Him. With the little time we have on earth, He wants us to be his hands and feet. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble: but take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16"33)

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Healing Hearts

     One of my favorite girls in the world is jump roping in honor of my "Little Miss Talia Mei" and "Harper Lily"! Both of my girls have congenital heart defects.  According to the March of Dimes, in most cases scientists do not know what causes hearts to be developed abnormally. It does appear that genetics and the environment play a role, but exactly how is uncertain. We know Talia was born premature so that increased her risk of having a heart defect. We will not know the extent of Talia's heart condition until she comes home. As we have learned sometimes the medicals are not up to date, sometimes things are omitted and sometimes they just don't look for anything else besides the presenting condition of a child. Harper has a few birth defects and her little heart has at least four holes in it right now. Presently, her heart is enlarged and will need open heart surgery in the coming year or two. In addition, she has a heart valve disorder called pulmonary stenosis. This past week we received some unsettling news at Harper's heart ultrasound appointment. Her pulmonary stenosis has worsened and they don't feel we can wait until five to do the surgery. At this point they also are not giving her medical clearance to fly on a plane which is a whole other post:)  Please continue to keep my little girl in your prayers, the wisdom and discernment of the doctors and the advancement of medical procedures relating to pediatric cardiology. 

     Here are some facts about congenital heart disease. It is the number 1 birth defect and the highest incidence of death related birth defects worldwide. There  are over 35 different types of congenital heart defects and a staggering statistic, nearly twice as many children die from Congenital Heart Defects in the United States each year as from all forms of childhood cancers combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for Congenital Heart Defects. Each year worldwide 100,000 babies (under one year old) will not live to celebrate their first birthday but with increased funding and support we can change that. In the past 25 years, advances in treatment of heart defects have enabled half a million U.S. children with significant heart defects to survive into adulthood. For more information about heart defects take a peek at this site - one of the best! Also, if anyone out there is considering adopting a child with heart disease or recently has a child diagnosed with a heart condition please reach out to me. I would love help you and can recommend some great doctors

     As a child, jump roping for heart was a full day event at my school and to us it was a great reason to be outside all day. I didn't really know what congenital heart disease was back then. I just knew I didn't have to sit in a class all day writing notes from a blackboard. It seemed like the best day of the year to me, well that, and balloon day (which due to the deterioration of the ozone layer I don't think they do anymore!) Little did I know 20 years later I would have two children with heart defects. 

    Laura is jumping for my girls and her grandparents this year. Here is the link to her sponsorship page and a super cute picture of her practicing her jumping skills. Can you help support her? Every dollar helps children, like my girls and adults alike with heart disease! If you feel led, just click on the link and the “donate to Laura” button. The last day to donate is this Wednesday, March 1st. If donating past this date and want to help support pediatric heart research the link I provided above is a great organization. Thank you!



http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR?px=2467048&pg=personal&fr_id=1683&et=kSaWIRkRIzfulFlLpaVjrw&s_tafId=119316


Thursday, February 9, 2012

Our 2nd Giveaway-Diamonds oh yes please!

This giveaway has ended we hit $620 amazing!!!!!! It was double my goal! The winner is a new adoptive parent! They just submitted LOI this week for aprecious little girl! Here is their fundraising blog! http://bringjiahome.blogspot.com/ Congratulations Brandon Taylor. A huge thank you for the big rally today everyone! We all feel very loved and supported! 


A Journey. A love Story. This necklace symbolizes our journey of love and is actually labeled in the jewelry world , "The Journey Necklace". With its ups and down and twists and turns love endures all things. The pendant represents how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. It is a stunning necklace that you will want to wear everyday and what can be more meaningful then every donation for this raffle goes right to our love bug, Talia! 

Necklace Details-retail value $300
14 kt .25 ct. brilliant cut round diamond pendant on  white gold 18 inch chain with spring ring clasp. 

This love story raffle will run for 14 days. Happy Valentine's Day! Just click on the donate button to the right. Please specify "donation" on paypal. You can also pay by credit card on the donate button. For those that rather not pay via the website but want to enter please contact me at mjpost32@gmail.com for other payment options. 
  •  $5 for 1 entry
  • $10 for 3 entries
  • $20 for 7 entries
  • 1 entry for posting on facebook
  • 1 entry for posting on your blog
Good luck! Harper will draw the winner and 8:00 pm on Friday, February 24th

It's hard to capture the radiant bling factor with my camera! But this really sparkles!












Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.~Corinthians 13:7-8