Being God's hands

In follow-up to my very vague post yesterday, I wanted to post the email that I sent out to family and friends yesterday. If you would like to participate and help bless the McRae family, please let me know. I found out this morning that Olivia's birthday is around 7/17, so I am hoping to get the package out by 7/15. However I know that if you are sending something cross-country to me, that timeframe may pose a difficulty. So just let me know and we'll work something out. Thanks so much!!

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Hi everyone!! I hope you are enjoying your summer and are doing awesome! I must say, we are enjoying every second of our lazy summer and will have a tough time when school starts back up. :)

I wanted to contact you, not for anything benefiting myself, but because God has really laid something on my heart and I wanted to throw it out there and see if anyone wanted to join me. I am so so excited about this and know God is going to do big things!

Several days ago I became aware of a little girl named Kate McRae (thanks to the technology of Twitter) and her family has really touched my heart. She is a 5 year old little girl in Arizona that just last Monday was diagnosed with a serious brain tumor. On Friday, July 3rd, she underwent brain surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible. The night before her surgery, her parents posted this video on YouTube coveting our prayers and introducing the world to their precious girl (the same age as Tommie, so this especially breaks my heart).

Well, doctors were able to remove about 40-50% of her brain tumor, and she has very slowly been making progress with speaking, eating and just giving her parents a tiny glimpse of the full-of-personality little girl they love so much. As I write this, they are still awaiting a report from the team of radiologists, neurosurgeons, and oncologists (to name a few) to even decide what type of tumor this is, and how to treat it. They have been told it is most definitely a form of aggressive cancer. (I encourage you to check out their website www.prayforkate.com for the full details).

So, as I am totally long-winded and passionate for this family, I will get to the point of my writing you this email. :) Do I ever say anything quickly? ;)

A few days ago Holly, Kate's mom, mentioned that their oldest daughter Olivia had a birthday coming up in a couple weeks. I contacted her because I really wanted to send something to Kate's two siblings (Olivia is turning 7 and Will is 4) for Olivia's birthday. (Of course if you'd like to send something to Kate too, I'm sure it would be such a blessing!)

I read a few days ago, from a little girl that had fought cancer, that the child going through cancer always gets so much attention, but the siblings are going through so much too and it seems like they get overlooked. Now, I know that Kate's brother & sister are being well-loved. But I just thought it would be so cool to let them know that tons of people, all over the country, are thinking of them too, and are praying for them. I can't imagine at that age watching my sister go through so much- it has GOT to be so heartbreaking and confusing for them.

So what do you think? I am willing to ship anything that we can gather to bless the socks off these kids- toys, gift cards, whatever you want to/can spare (new!). I know money is tight (good gracious I won't even go there, but I know!) so if you can spare anything I know it would be a blessing. Even just a little toy to let them know that they are being thought of. A card? Have your kids draw a picture for them? You know kids- they are ecstatic with the littlest things! ;)

So I will leave it at that. I pray your heart is touched by this sweet family as much as mine is. I plan to mail out whatever I have hopefully within a week or so (though I am waiting to hear the exact date of Olivia's bday) so please let me know if you can do anything! Thank you soooo much for praying about doing this, and for praying for this family!

************* As I was typing this ridiculously long email, Kate's mom put up a new post on their website. Kate's tumor has been diagnosed as Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor and, thank you God!, it is generally very responsive to chemo and radiation- though the location of Kate's tumor is nowhere near typical of this type. There is a long road ahead of them! Pray pray pray! Thank you again for taking the time to read this, and I so look forward to hearing from you! I look forward to seeing God work through us to bless this family.

"When God's children are in need, be the one to help them out." Romans 12:13 NLT

Love, Melody