NICU Reunion

The four of us and my parents attended Brandon Regional Hospital's annual NICU reunion. It was a lot of fun. Basically, it's an opportunity for the NICU staff to get to see the babies that they took care of and for the families who bonded to get to see each other. There was one family in particular that we talked to a lot while the girls were in the NICU and we got to see them. Ethan is growing and doing great and almost done with all of his surgeries to fix his cleft lip and palette (spelling?) that we was born with. There were some children there about 5 years old so it's neat because the bond between the NICU staff and the families they care for lasts a long time. George and I left feeling very blessed that Hannah and Kate are so healthy because there were some children there that had some disabilities. The staff loved seeing them. Here's a picture that they had taken for a calendar they are putting together:




The Lord has also burdened my heart with a vision for putting together some sort of ministry to NICU families. I've contacted our church about it and plan on meeting with our preschool minister to talk more. It was such a hard time in our lives and our faith is what got us through each day. There are so many people who probably feel so hopeless because of the difficult journey they are facing and we just want to encourage them and let them know that there is hope. My plan is to take in a gift for either a family that God really impresses upon my heart or let the NICU staff decide who to give it to. I want to do this on the 1st of every month because that is when Hannah and Kate were born. I want Hannah and Kate to be left with the legacy of serving our community and loving others because Jesus calls us to. With great blessing comes great responsibility to minister to those who are going through what the Lord brought us through. So consider this our missions to our Jerusalem. I'm not sure if it will open up huge doors to share the gospel, but hopefully people just see the love of Christ through us. This month we gave a $50 gas card to the family in our church that recently had twins and lost one of them. I know that the hospital where their son is at is far away from their home. If you feel led, please pray for me as God opens this new door of ministry.

The girls were dedicated this past week at church and I'll post pictures of that as soon as I get some.