Blood Blessings

What a blessing!  I received the news today that the patient, whom I donated bone marrow/stem cells for in October is doing well!  My cells have engrafted in her body and they are doing exactly what they need to be doing.  How wonderful!  I told those cells to "Go, get 'em" right before I handed over the bag...I guess they listened!

 

 

I am honored to have been a part of this journey.  It has taught me so much about my God, myself, my faith, and life in general.  It's funny how moments/circumstances/opportunities that God brings into our lives can truly change us.  How we choose to respond is up to us. 

 

I am in the process of reading a book entitled, Start Something that Matters.  The author is the creater/chief shoe giver for the fast growing brand "TOMS" that for every shoe purchased, a pair is given to a child in need.  I've taken a lot from the book, as I feel God is working in my life and really burdening my heart for children and adolescent hospice services.  Working as a Child Life Specialist I had the opportunity on more than one occasion, to learn and be with families when a child died and also when a child was given a life-altering diagnosis.  As Christians, we don't fear death because we know how awesome life is on the other side.  That doesn't mean that death is easy, because I don't think it's ever easy to go through, but it's certainly not something to fear.  I have a passion for creating children's hospice services in areas that do not have them.  So many children are given diagnoses and are dying and there are no services to aid these families in their hometown.  There are only a few organizations in Virginia, alone.  I want all families to have the choice to bring a child home if palliative care choices are made. This is all a journey though because I keep worrying...me, worrying...nooooo!  This is a journey that is just beginning.  I am working on it, giving things to God and not taking them back.  I bet God smiles at me when I keep praying and telling Him I'm sorry for taking it back or even thinking for a moment I had all the answers. 

 

This life journey, and more specifically this opportunity to donate bone marrow, has softened my heart and molded me more into the person I believe God is creating me to be.  I want to share the hope and peace that I have with others, and specifically with children and families who are facing end-of-life situations.  To have that opportunity would be a blessing.  I know the journey ahead in the next couple of years, finishing school and working and volunteering will have its challenges, but I am excited.  It's always amazing how God speaks to me through people, through music, through books, through nature, and in so many other ways.  I am so grateful to each person who has been a part of this journey with me.  You are a blessing to me from God.  The kind words, encouragement, prayers on my behalf, and tears cried with me mean more than you know.  I pray that God will bless you, just like I have been blessed.  I love each of you.

 

 

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived,

this is to have succeeded."

 

"If you organize your life around your passion, you can turn your passion into your story,

and then turn your story into something bigger-

something that matters."

 

 

I am off to the races, just like so many of you-to reach goals, to become successful.  I am so thankful for this life.  Even through the ups and downs, I am amazed at how much I am learning and just how blessed I am.  May each of us encounter more than we thought possible in this new year, 2013!