We had our second party of 2012 a week ago yesterday. Last Friday, February 10 we headed over to 7 West, the Children's Cancer Care and Renal Center at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, KY. Like the Riley party preceding it, the Kosair party was great! We had lots of families come to eat food, paint pottery, do crafts, open gifts, hang out, and just play.
A huge THANK YOU to those who donated to make our party even more fun: to Chik-fil-A for the nugget tray; to Earth and Fire pottery for providing the ceramics, paint, brushes, time, and kiln; to Great Harvest Bread Company for the bread and spreads; to Adrienne's Bakery for the sweet treats; to the Christian Academy of Indiana students and families for collecting the items for our families; to all of the stores who gave us discounts; and to our awesome volunteers who came and served our families.
One of our long time Break the Grey families, the McSweeneys, was there. Patrick was first diagnosed with leukemia at age five in 2004. After undergoing over 3 years of front line chemotherapy, he relapsed in April 2010. He is now 12-years-old and should finish his intensive relapse treatment protocol this summer. Patrick and his family have the greatest attitude and made our party a lot of fun with their laughter and participation. One of Patrick's older brothers, Alex, even joined us! As we were cleaning up, Patrick's mom approached me and began thanking me. She had already begun to read the book that came in her parent basket and Patrick was "in 7th heaven." He was already shooting his nurses with the Nerf gun he got from the party and asking, "Why can't they do this more often?" His dad had this to say about our team: "Your team brought rays of sunshine to many families tonight. I saw kids laugh and play, parents smile, and the loving hand of God touch all there tonight through your love and effort. Thank you and God Bless!"
It made my night knowing that we could "break the grey" of a boring hospital stay for kids like Patrick and his family. Please continue to pray for Patrick and his family as they press on.
Please pray that the seeds planted at our parties - both at Riley and at Kosair - would be watered and would grow. Please pray for each of the families that we met - over 50 families between the two parties. They are all fighting such valiant battles, and most are weary. This is hard. Please pray for grace, strength, perseverance, peace, courage, joy, and hope.
While you're praying, please remember Susana's family. Last Saturday, February 11 marked exactly one year since she went to heaven.
Alex could also use continued prayers. He has restarted immune system replacement therapy following the relapse of his immune deficiency. His first treatment was tough, but he is pressing on and handling himself with grace and courage. Please pray that his transition back to treatment would be smooth.
You can also give thanks for Adam and his family! His most recent scans showed no evidence of disease! Adam remains cancer-free only a few months after finishing treatment! Woo hoo!
And, as always, please continue to pray for us as a ministry and a team as we seek to continue to love Jesus, love families, and bring the Kingdom of God here and now.
Hoping, Believing, and Never Giving up,
Sarah
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Party 1.0
We hosted our first party this week at the Riley Children's Cancer Center in Indianapolis, IN on Tuesday, February 7. It went great!
There were approximately 27 families there and each one of them was represented in some way at our party! The play room was packed and we had to have families come in shifts so that there was enough space. The staff - nurses, child life, etc. - kept commenting on the party and how much of a difference it was making for the families. This year, many of the families stayed and hung out and socialized with each other and found networking and support instead of just taking their food and gifts and going back to their rooms. This is one of the things that we try to facilitate, and were ecstatic that it was accomplished!
Additionally, we served tons of food, hugged lots of necks, cried, prayed, laughed, and played with the kids and their families. Moms, dads, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles were all touched by the love of Christ. We ventured into rooms of kids whose parents could not be at the hospital and loved on them. We held children and made crafts and talked about the hope we have in Christ. We really connected with a couple of families. It was a great night.
We have the awesome opportunity to do it again tomorrow night on 7 West at Kosair Children's Hospital. And we need tons of prayer.
Even though we had a great night on Tuesday, this week has been tough for our team. I know that I have had a hard week, as have many of our volunteers. As I tried to figure out why, it dawned on me that perhaps this is spiritual warfare. What we are doing is making a difference and it is creating waves.
We are doing more than throwing parties; we are engaging in a battle for hearts and lives for the Kingdom of God.
And so I'm asking you all to please, please, please continue praying for our ministry. Pray extra hard for our team as we prepare for tomorrow night. Here are the specific requests that I posted last week:
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual force of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand, therefore, having fastened the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak." - Ephesians 6:10-20
This passage reminds me that it is in His strength - God's strength - that we are able to do anything at all. Thanks be to God. The bold part reminds me to keep on praying and fighting for the hearts and lives of the families with whom we will encounter. Please pray that our team will utilize wisdom and discernment, but will be bold and courageous as we seek to proclaim the gospel with our words and our actions.
May we love hard and love well as we advance the Kingdom.
Hoping, Believing, and Never Giving up,
Sarah
There were approximately 27 families there and each one of them was represented in some way at our party! The play room was packed and we had to have families come in shifts so that there was enough space. The staff - nurses, child life, etc. - kept commenting on the party and how much of a difference it was making for the families. This year, many of the families stayed and hung out and socialized with each other and found networking and support instead of just taking their food and gifts and going back to their rooms. This is one of the things that we try to facilitate, and were ecstatic that it was accomplished!
Additionally, we served tons of food, hugged lots of necks, cried, prayed, laughed, and played with the kids and their families. Moms, dads, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles were all touched by the love of Christ. We ventured into rooms of kids whose parents could not be at the hospital and loved on them. We held children and made crafts and talked about the hope we have in Christ. We really connected with a couple of families. It was a great night.
We have the awesome opportunity to do it again tomorrow night on 7 West at Kosair Children's Hospital. And we need tons of prayer.
Even though we had a great night on Tuesday, this week has been tough for our team. I know that I have had a hard week, as have many of our volunteers. As I tried to figure out why, it dawned on me that perhaps this is spiritual warfare. What we are doing is making a difference and it is creating waves.
We are doing more than throwing parties; we are engaging in a battle for hearts and lives for the Kingdom of God.
And so I'm asking you all to please, please, please continue praying for our ministry. Pray extra hard for our team as we prepare for tomorrow night. Here are the specific requests that I posted last week:
- That God will provide enough toys, parent baskets, food, and Bibles for our party.
- For our volunteers - for wisdom and discernment as they interact with the families; that the Holy Spirit would guide their words and their actions so that they are able to share the love of Christ and serve in a way that reflects Him
- For the parents - for peace, comfort, hope, encouragement, and strength.
- For the siblings - for peace, comfort, hope, encouragement, and strength.
- For the patients - for peace, comfort, hope, encouragement, courage, and complete earthly healing.
- For all involved in the medical care of these children - for wisdom, guidance, discernment, compassion, and peace.
- That all who encounter Break the Grey in some way will be blessed by the love and hope of Jesus Christ.
- That God would continue to open doors and bless us with opportunities to share the hope, comfort, healing, peace, and encouragement of Jesus Christ with these families
- That any and all glory, honor, and praise attributed to Break the Grey would be God's and God's alone.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual force of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand, therefore, having fastened the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak." - Ephesians 6:10-20
This passage reminds me that it is in His strength - God's strength - that we are able to do anything at all. Thanks be to God. The bold part reminds me to keep on praying and fighting for the hearts and lives of the families with whom we will encounter. Please pray that our team will utilize wisdom and discernment, but will be bold and courageous as we seek to proclaim the gospel with our words and our actions.
May we love hard and love well as we advance the Kingdom.
Hoping, Believing, and Never Giving up,
Sarah
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Parties, New Resources, and Prayer Requests
It's been over a month since we've updated, and lots has happened since then! We have hit 2012 running!
The biggest thing is we have scheduled our annual parties! They are next week! The first one is this Tuesday, February 7 at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, IN and the second is next Friday, February 10 at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, KY.
Everything is coming together nicely for the parties. We have had a great response in terms of giving gifts for the families, financial donations, business donations, and volunteering. We had so many volunteers ask to come that we had to turn some away for infection control and policy reasons. I always hate having to make that call, but love that we have so many people who are willing to serve!
One thing that everyone can do, however, is pray like crazy! We have some specific requests:
The biggest thing is we have scheduled our annual parties! They are next week! The first one is this Tuesday, February 7 at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, IN and the second is next Friday, February 10 at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, KY.
Everything is coming together nicely for the parties. We have had a great response in terms of giving gifts for the families, financial donations, business donations, and volunteering. We had so many volunteers ask to come that we had to turn some away for infection control and policy reasons. I always hate having to make that call, but love that we have so many people who are willing to serve!
One thing that everyone can do, however, is pray like crazy! We have some specific requests:
- That God will provide enough Bibles for the parent baskets (Normally we put a special devotional Bible designed specifically for families facing chronic or life-threatening illnesses into the parent baskets, but there may be a shortage this year. Please pray that we will be able to get the Word of God into the hands of these families.)
- For our volunteers - for wisdom and discernment as they interact with the families; that the Holy Spirit would guide their words and their actions so that they are able to share the love of Christ and serve in a way that reflects Him
- For the parents - for peace, comfort, hope, encouragement, and strength.
- For the siblings - for peace, comfort, hope, encouragement, and strength.
- For the patients - for peace, comfort, hope, encouragement, courage, and complete earthly healing.
- For all involved in the medical care of these children - for wisdom, guidance, discernment, compassion, and peace.
- That all who encounter Break the Grey in some way will be blessed by the love and hope of Jesus Christ.
- That God would continue to open doors and bless us with opportunities to share the hope, comfort, healing, peace, and encouragment of Jesus Christ with these families
- That any and all glory, honor, and praise attributed to Break the Grey would be God's and God's alone.
I think those are our specific and immediate prayer requests for our parties. Please join us in covering this event in prayer!
In other ministry news, one of our volunteers came across a great website with resources for siblings! We've had a request recently for resources for siblings of kids with cancer or other life-altering illnesses and we went on a hunt. We found a great website with book reviews and websites for siblings and their families. Check it out here. We hope that this provides some added coping for our families. If you end up using any of these resources, please let us know! We'd love to know what you think!
Lastly, we received some sad news today. I met Alex Smith and his family several years ago when I was going through treatment for immune deficiency. Alex was diagnosed with a primary immune deficiency disease (PIDD) in January 2007 at age 11 - only a couple months after I was diagnosed in November 2006 at age 17. Alex went through IVIG and then switched to subcutaneous IgG. He finished his treatment and began trialing off May/June 2011. Unfortunately, his most recent blood work came back yesterday and his family received some tough news: Alex, now 16-years-old, has relapsed and he must once again begin replacement therapy. He and his family are just waiting on insurance to approve it. To add insult to injury, they were told that his disease has progressed into common variable immune deficiency, which is typically an incurable, chronic immune system defect. Please pray for him and his family as they absorb the news. His mom, Laura, had this to say:
"We received some pretty crappy news yesterday. Alex's PIDD has not been cured. He officially has CVID now. He needs to restart Gammaglobulin infusions as soon as Insurance approves them. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of the brand we want to use. While donating won't help his short term, it will help save the lives of many people, and could help him remain healthy in the future.
1) If you are able, can you please donate plasma?
2) Will you pray for the paperwork to go through quickly?
3) Will you say a prayer that he feels better quickly?
4) Will you also pray that he does not get behind in school?
Thanks friends! We just want him to feel like his old self again."
1) If you are able, can you please donate plasma?
2) Will you pray for the paperwork to go through quickly?
3) Will you say a prayer that he feels better quickly?
4) Will you also pray that he does not get behind in school?
Thanks friends! We just want him to feel like his old self again."
Their whole family is absorbing this challenge with grace and an incredible faith in Jesus, but it is still hard (speaking as someone who went through immune deficiency treatment, came off-treatment, and then relapsed). Please pray for their family.
As always, thanks for your support! Please continue to pray for our ministry - for our upcoming parties and for our families. Thanks!
Hoping, Believing, and Never Giving up,
Sarah
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