Precious Molly...

Precious little Molly passed away this morning. Although her time on earth was brief...it was God's plan and He used her life to fulfill His purpose--in doing so touched many others.

If you're anything like me, you grew to love this family that you don't even know...and my heart breaks thinking of the pain they are enduring now. The coming days, weeks, months...even years will not be easy...please don't stop praying for Briana and Garrick now. More than ever they need us to be walking with them.

To view their story from the beginning...check out their personal blog at http://www.brianaandgarrick.blogspot.com/. The last post has a link that takes you to a page where you can make a donation in Molly's memory to Trisomy 18.

Two sweet little girls...Molly and Maddie

**Update 09/24/08...Molly did not have a good day yesterday--it was her roughest day yet. Her oxygen is at 100%...and Briana sounds so defeated. Please just lift her up right now, I think prayer at times is so powerful because we're able to intercede on their behalf when those just struggling to make it thru have no words to say. I'm asking for strength and peace for this family that I--along with so many others--have grown to love.**


I'm asking for ya'll, once again, to beat down the doors of heaven. Molly did not have a good day yesterday, which is very disappointing after a strand of excellent days. This was her worst yet. Her oxygen levels were at 90%...the past bad days had been at 60-70%...if I'm understanding correctly this means that the machines were doing 90% of the work for her and she was only able to handle 10% of breathing on her own. Obviously, this is very close to the machines doing all of the work...and that's not a good thing. Again, I'm not a doctor...I may be off base...but in my little brain that's how I'm interpreting it. Briana and Garrick are realizing that her time is much more limited...of course we're not ruling out a miracle...little Molly could have another strand of good days...and I'm still praying for that BIG MIRACLE...I'm still hoping that God will intervene in the way we would chose...but the days he's given this sweet family have already been a stamp of His love and miraculous power. And I keep reminding myself He sees the whole picture...we see just a glimpse. Please pray for this family...

And Maddie...Miss Maddie is having her bone marrow transplant today--YAY!!! From what I hear the side effects can be pretty hard. I also found out why the news was so good that the bone marrow test came back cancer free (aside from the obvious--cancer free--words!). Now, keep in mind I am not an expert but just passing along info I'd been given--Maddie is considered in "remission" but without the bone marrow transplant the cancer would almost definitely return. Had the test results come back showing cancer cells in the marrow her liklihood of beating this was only 3%...since her results came back cancer free the probability of her survival increased to 60-70%. Drastic change. Please pray that the transplant goes well...that there's not any rejection...and for her precious parents as they have been an example of true faith thru this ordeal. I am in awe of them.

On a side note...if your considering my CHALLENGE...my friend, Julie told me about her friend who'd signed up to be a donor and was recently matched with a 12 year old!!! I mean is that not one of the coolest things you could ever do...give a child a chance at life. I'm praying that I will be a match for someone because I think that is one of the greatest things we are capable of doing for these precious kids!!! If you're unsure of what the challenge is...scroll down to the next post and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Okay, get to it...we've got some praying to do today!! :) Thanks for all of you coming alongside these families.

Check it out...A Challenge!!!

I've posted this on our family blog, but I want to post it here as well.



I have made it a goal to become a bone marrow donor by October 15th. And I thought how cool would it be to get others involved in doing this as well. From what I hear, it's pretty easy. Check out http://www.marrow.org/ and it gives all the facts of why it's important and what to do.



I'm going to do a drawing...a give away for a complete custom designed Jewelry Set including Necklace, Bracelet, and Earrings (Estimated $130 value). How do you win? Well, I'm giving you three options:

• Become a Bone Marrow Donor


• Make a donation to The Common Bond


• Purchase a Faith, Hope and Love Bracelet

If you do one of these three things by October 15th, your name will be entered into the drawing...if you tell a friend about it and they do one of these three things as well, your name will go into the pot twice!

Also...just a heads up...I am considering hosting a couple of 'Parents Night Out' events in order to raise money for the foundation's 501(c)3 status. (I can't go after any grants until I get statused as a non profit)...Anyway, those in the Middle TN area let me know if you'd be interested. I'm not ready to commit yet...but if I get a good response then I'll probably go with it.

Alright so there it is ya'll---let's DO something!!!

Krista

James' cousin emailed us this morning regarding a family friend's daughter that lost her battle to cancer last night. Krista was 11 years old. She had battled cancer since she was 4 months old, from reading her story she had a remission period of over 6 years when the cancer returned again.


Here is a picture of her with her family in July of this past year.


Please pray for this family. For her Mom and Dad and her sister. I always say..."I can't imagine..." and I can't. We know Krista is whole again, and no longer in pain, she's laughing and dancing on the streets of heaven...but those left behind are struggling right now. Pray for peace beyond comprehension to just blanket them during this time...peace that surpasses all understanding and if you haven't signed the petition from the previous posts (like 2 or 3 ago) please do. Our children need the best chance to fight this horrible disease.

One of God's Miracles...Molly

Here's a new picture of little Molly. She's still hanging in there. She's soooo cute. The past week she had some rough patches with her oxygen levels, which from what I understand is very stressful on all of them. The last two days have been really good, though. Every day she has with her parents is definitely a miracle...please keep praying for this precious family.

She's so cute, don't you agree?!

Progress

Just FYI...
We have sent out 4 Faith, Hope and Love bracelets from TCB. We have 2 going out this week and 1 scheduled to go out the first of October that is already completed. We have 3 more names on the list for bracelets to send, we're just awaiting funding for those.

Also, we are going to start sending a small amount of cash, we have enough to give approximately $300 each month. My initial plan is to send $100 to 3 families of children currently in the hospital. It's not much, I really wish it was 10x that amount...but for now that's what we can do and honestlyI'm happy that we're able to do this so soon. I believe God will bless this and I hope He will multiply it by overwhelming numbers as we continue moving forward.

If you haven't read my previous blog...please scroll down and read it. The information is very important. Thank you, again, for your support of these Moms, these families and The Common Bond project.

Childhood Cancer Awareness

First of all I want to update ya'll on Maddie. I am so excited to tell you that her results came back even better than they had hoped!!! There were no signs of leukemia in the bone marrow so the transplant is a go. I have no medical knowledge whatsoever, so I don't know what it all means but I do know it's great news...so thank you for praying for this precious little girl!!!

September is childhood cancer awareness month. There's a blog a I read of a family that has a 4 year old battling cancer which he has been fighting for the last 2 years. His name is Coleman, and he's the newest hero to add to the list to pray for. You can keep up to date with his progress thru: www.carepages.com/carepages/ColemanScott You'll have to set up a login id and password, but it's worth the extra minute it takes. Read the September 11th update part 1. It's remarkable. I learned two new things about cancer today....1st...only one new drug has been released for pediatric cancer in the last 20 years....yep, that's right--20 years!! Also, only 3% of funding goes to research for curing pediatric cancer....3%. Are you outraged?? I am...so what can we do?

We HAVE to take a stand...we can't assume someone else is going to pick up the slack...it is up to us not just to stand against cancer BUT to stand up for our children!! Please go to this link and sign this petition to get more dollars generated for pediatric cancer research. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/CureChildhoodCancer

And keep praying for these kids--all of them that are fighting this disease... but especially for Maddie and Coleman who are fighting. We cannot be complacent....just like we will never forget 9/11...we should never forget the war going on in the lives of these families with children battling cancer.

One last thing to note, I am looking at possibly hosting a silent auction in November to raise money for The Common Bond. I figure we might be able to raise it faster if we do an event versus selling bracelets one by one. People have asked how they can help...so here it is:

• If you have ever held a fundraising event like this--call me...email me..get a hold of me so that I can get some ideas of how to go about executing this If you want to help with planning this event...please jump in...I need all the help I can get (no smart comments!!)

• Buy a bracelet...or 2...or 3...the more we sell the more we have. I'm hoping to start sending $100 to assist with food and gas costs. In order to do that, I have to start generating some funds thru this jewelry. The bracelets are $50 a piece, plus $3 shipping. (If you know me from church, work, etc...then there's no shipping--I'll deliver them.) If you can't purchase the bracelet...I completely understand...but keep praying that we can get some sold. God can do anything and I'm counting on Him to make me overloaded with bracelet orders!

• If you feel led to donate towards getting our 501 (c) 3 I would be more than happy to accept your money. :) Just kidding...kind of...but seriously, pray about it and if this is something you want to be involved in at that level let me know. (No pressure, but I thought I'd throw it out there)

• And of course, the most important thing...pray for the kids and families we list on the blog. Pray whenever they come to your mind even if it's 20 times a day. Pray for miracles, cures, peace, encouragement, comfort, the list goes on...but never stop praying.

Thanks, I know it was a long one...but it's been a while since I've posted. :)