The Bigger Picture- The Hang Tough House (The format for this post is better on the caringbridge site, linked in the About Section of the Pray for Grayson FB page. But for some, it is easier to read via FB...if thats you, my apologies for the LONG, crummy formatted post!) Sometimes in life, we make decisions, meet people, and take leaps of faith. We dont know why per say, but we feel we make the best choices given the information at hand. My sister-in-law once told me, many years ago before she was my sister in law, that say yes until God says no. It has stuck with me in all of lifes choices. From changing my degree in college to moving to Florida and everything in between. Small decisions, big decisions, and only snapshots of the big picture. Then one day, you start to see all the puzzle pieces fall into place. A brief background before we embark on the big picture: -When I started college, I was a business finance major. I worked in banking. -I took a general requirement in human development. And my life forever changed. I switched my major to Family Life and Community Services. -My intentions were to get my masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. I applied to the program but then discovered that I had a few health issues that the longer we waited to start a family, the less likely chances of having a child would become. Brady and I made the decision to instead pursue his career, I would fall back on my banking experience and we would start our family. -Brady and I got married and the next weekend, moved to Colorado Springs. He had a internship with Carmichael Training Systems as an athletic coach which we prayed would become a job. It did. We lived in Colorado four years. Against all odds, and to the astonishment of fertility specialists, Kate was to be born in July, 2010. (They had given up on us and I decided to pursue my Masters degree once again. I took the GRE, applied to the program, and voila! Pregnant!) Shortly before her birth, one of his athletes was getting ready complete Race Across the West a bike race from Seaside, California to Durango, Colorado as a part of a four-man team seeking to raise funds for a little girl in Tallahassee, Florida battling leukemia. Team Hang Tough Hayley Hart (HTHH) was getting ready to go, when the 4th member of the team was unable to participate. Halsey, Bradys athlete, called his coach to fill the open spot. Brady joined the riders and met the crew from Tallahasee as well as the parents of Hayley, Lance and Michelle. Team HTHH actually won the race and it was a great success. -In the next year, Halsey offered Brady an opportunity to move to Tallahassee, Florida and work in a bike shop. It was a huge leap of faith for us. We had a new baby girl, our salary would be cut in more half, but we agreed to do what we had to do to make it where I could stay home with Kate. -When we arrived in Tallahassee in July of 2011. One of the first friends I made, was Michelle Hart. (Hayleys mom) She not only became my friend, but like a sister. She took care of us when we knew no one, we would spend holidays with their family, and was there whenever I called. -Team HTHH decided, as Hayley wrapped up her final leukemia treatment in fall of 2011, that they needed to do the full blown Race Across America. Crazy, crazy men. Seaside, California to Annapolis, Maryland. Racing 24 hours a day and getting to the end as fast as possible. The team chose to raise funds for CureSearch for Childrens Cancer as Hayley was done with her treatment. The race took place in June of 2012. Leading up to the race, Michelle, myself, and other wives of riders organized Gritz and Glitz a fun evening, dinner, and fundraiser for CureSearch. All about dedicating funds to finding a cure for pediatric cancer...so no one else would have to go through what the Hart family did. I was pregnant with Grayson at the time. -The men raced their hearts out, completed the race in roughly 6 days, 6 hours. They were amazing. A camera crew followed them on the journey and documented the entire experience. It is a powerful video...all footage recorded prior to the race and during. I am attaching the documentary here. It is wonderfully done. Please know that it has some foul language (four men, traveling the country on bike...yea, it wasnt always pretty!!) but is worth your time. Brady makes a statement somewhere in the middle about What if this was your child...it makes me cry, shake, and proud of him all at the same time. vimeo/m/92299104 It is humbling looking back. Yet, this is only the beginning of the goosebumps kind of big picture stuff! -Michelle shared a vision with me during our fundraising planning...a vision of a Hang Tough House to take care of pediatric patients in Tallahassee, Florida. She asked me to jump on board. I was pregnant, tired, new to the community...and told her I wasnt interested. A year later, Grayson was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Michelle was one of the first people I called. She was at my doorstep and I remember asking her, What do I do? Just tell me what I need to do! She remembers me saying in that moment that I now knew why we were in Tallahassee. I have had a sister, a fellow cancer mom to walk alongside me every step of the way. It has been priceless to me. Several months ago, I called Michelle and said, Im ready. Lets get the Hang Tough House to reality. Im pretty sure she squealed and said that she had just been waiting and giving me time to come to that conclusion on my own. So, here we are. Michelle and I are serious...we have a vision. Our vision grows every day. As of now, its just that...a vision. But give us some time and it will become a reality. It will take a ton of work and probably years, but we are ready and embarking on an incredible journey. The puzzle pieces are falling into place. I changed my degree to Family Life and Community Services, I have started to apply to my masters program but things have always come up, we moved to Florida largely in part because of a brave little girl Hayley Hart and her battle with leukemia. My husband, Halsey, Jamey, and Austin poured out blood, sweat, and tears racing their bikes across America for pediatric cancer research, which lead Michelle and I to work together on fundraising. So, here we are. Two women on a mission. A mission to change the lives of pediatric patients and their families in Tallahassee and surrounding communities. The vision is actually very simple...A Hang Tough House. It is just that a place where children and families are encouraged to Hang Tough throughout some of the hardest days of their lives. We envision a holistic approach to taking care of the whole family. One day, maybe medical treatments and office visitations will be incorporated as we grow and develop, but to start heres what we see... +A house. Warm, inviting. Not with a medical feel. Pediatric friendly. A reprieve that is there to provide resources, support and encouragement to any child with a chronic or life altering illness and their family. +A play area. Where an immunocompromised child could go do simply that, PLAY. In an area that a parent know is cleaned with hospital grade antibacterial cleaners, where only other immunocompromised kids are playing (with parents who understand the risks associated and wouldnt bring a child with the slightest sniffle). What kid shouldnt be able to have a place where they can play without fearing germs and other children?! +Sibling Support Groups/Activities +Mommy and Me Classes. A place a parent and child could go do something FUN together, not a medical treatment. So often, the parent who regularly takes the child for procedures, treatments, etc becomes the enemy. This would give an opportunity to let the child know that they can have fun with that parent and foster a healthy parent/child relationship. +Parents Night Out. An evening where the doors are opened for children to be cared for by volunteers who are trained to take care of medically needy children so the parents can have an evening to reconnect and simply breathe, if only for a few hours! +Therapist and counselors on site for couples, children through play therapy, siblings, parents, etc. Fostering mental health for all involved. +Tutors/School work assistance. Many children miss a lot of school and fall behind. Even after some treatments end, there are side effects and learning disabilities. +Community Advocacy and Awareness +Social Work Provider +Financial Counselors The list could continue...how incredible would it be for families to have one place as a refuge where the help is readily available. Facing any sort of childhood illness has an impact on families. This is what my purpose is. This is why I got the degree I did. This is why I never went to get my Masters...I have what I need. This is why I worked in Finance for eight years. This is why I had a boss who taught me to think outside the box and to not limit myself. This is why I took her encouragement and made a Financial Literacy Program from the ground up at a local soup kitchen as part of my managerial experience at the credit union. This is why we moved to Florida. This is why I met Michelle Hart. This is a big reason Grayson was diagnosed with cancer (I truly believe there are many other reasons, as well). This is what I am supposed to do with my life. I am excited, nervous, overwhelmed, encouraged....you name it, Im feeling it. This will be a huge undertaking. This will take lots of tedious hours, blood, sweat, and tears. This could be years in the making. But do I believe with my whole heart that this is where my life has led up to? You better believe it. Do I wish I would have said Yes! to Michelles prompting 2 years ago...if it would have saved Grayson an ounce of pain...Absolutely. Not a doubt in my mind. Would I be as passionate about it and ready to tackle such a huge endeavor had I started this project 2 years ago? ...Absolutely not. There is a time for everything. Everything happens for a reason. And there is always a bigger picture that we cannot see. I believe, I am only beginning to see a glimpse of Gods plan for my life, but I can begin to see how He has orchestrated every small stepping stone along the way to lead me where I am today, facing what we are fighting, living day by day, moment by moment, by faith. Saying Yes until God says No. By Faith, Tough As Nails. Ecclesiastes 3 New Living Translation (NLT) A Time for Everything 3 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. 2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4 A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. 5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. 6 A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7 A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. 8 A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. 9 What do people really get for all their hard work? 10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 12 So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. 13 And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 03:49:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015