I met Kyle and his dad was one of three and his mom was one of five.
Okay, large families... who am I kidding?
But then we had a need. We had a need in the form of a child who was born with no heartbeat. A need that was bigger than anything we ever imagined. A need that grew in to a daily struggle to keep our heads up, stay positive, and be good parents to two little boys. A need we couldn't carry alone.
An in that instance our family grew larger than we could have ever imagined. People came out of the woodwork a year and a half ago to pray over us from near and far, to donate money to a cause that was unknown, to help with Hudson and to just pour love over us. This new family is one rooted in Christ's love whether they knew it or not. People surrounded us that were deep in their walks with Christ and some that that weren't. It didn't matter where each person was with their walk because they decided to step up and help us. They each decided to love us. And that love made them family.
Today was National Cerebral Palsy Day. We made shirts and asked people to post their pictures in the shirts with the hashtag #weargreenformaddox and boy did people deliver!!! My cousin asked me, "what were y'all raising money for specifically with the shirts?" and I just giggled.
The story of the shirt:
I wanted to buy shirts for our immediate family for CP Day but all the ones online I didn't like so I decided to create one and just ask for the cost of the shirt because I just wanted them for awareness not for fundraising. Well, in doing that, I thought I'd ask my close friends too and it just snowballed. More people saw the design and I ended up posting it public. Two bulk orders of shirts later we sold almost 300 sizes 18mos - 4x. We raised enough money to where I was able to ship almost 100 shirts without needing shipping costs and made everyone a magnet who ordered a shirt without a cost out of pocket. Also, we were able to put almost $300 dollars in Maddox's savings and pay for the last couple of small out of pocket medical costs we've been waiting to pay off. (why did I disclose that information? because it wasn't my money and I believe in being transparent)
We love you, each of you. We love the prayers and laughs. We love the heartfelt concern and the questions. Know this - we chose to live this life as an open book. Please don't ever hesitate to ask anything. I'll say it til I'm blue in the face, Thank You so much.
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| This is what happens when Granddad and Gramma Terrie attempt a selfie. Love it. |
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| Quite possibly my favorite picture of the day!!! Maddox's great grandparents and cousins. |
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| Our little family. |
