Simply Beautiful Now: hope

Easter is about new beginnings, new life and new hope.

I've been thinking a lot about the word, hope. As a parent, it's one of the biggest drivers to be "successful". It's our motivation. Our raison d'être. It is the one common denominator that ALL parents have, no matter what background, financial situation or country we live in...we all have hope for our children's future. When my kids were born, not only were we in awe of the miracle of their birth, our new found hope and dreams for their future was immeasurable.

With the word hope, I've also been thinking a lot lately, about two little girls with a lot in common. Both are sweet and bright, who brings light and a smile to anyone that meets them. This light in their eyes also brings hope to their parents, who have worked tirelessly to help their daughters live through very difficult medical situations.

Just before our son was born, good friends of ours had a little girl named Makaylah, who was born with spina bifida, and has had more surgeries than any human being should ever endure. Recently she had 12 hours of surgery and her Mom posted on Facebook about her difficult recovery. A true testament to her parent's strength is the overwhelming obstacles they've had to overcome in order for Makaylah to get the proper treatment, therapy and surgeries so she can have the best possible life. We've watched their journey throughout Makaylah's life, and we hope and pray for her speedy recovery so she can come home to be with her family this Easter weekend.

A few weeks ago a dear friend of mine told me about little girl in her neighbourhood who was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a serious form of leukemia.

Sarah is a bright little five year old girl who is desperately looking for a bone marrow/blood cell match. You can read about her journey on Facebook (Sarah's Drive for Hope). Sarah's family is working with onematch.ca, an organization that helps find blood cell/bone marrow matches. An amazing organization that we learned about when a friend of ours also had to use their services a few years ago. (I wrote about him, here).

I can not begin to imagine what these parents must be feeling right now. How many prayers they've had, especially during these past few weeks. How Makaylah's parents spend weekends driving through snow to get to the hospital, instead of playing in the snow with their kids. How Sarah's parents have to do media interviews to raise awareness so she can once again, lie on the gymnastic mat instead of in a hospital bed. How they all must yearn to one day spend the holidays again with family instead of nurses and doctors.

Hope is a very strong and powerful word. It gives you the courage to fight. It gives you the motivation to accomplish anything, and I smiled when I read "Sarah will pull through this, I know it", because it shows that her family will never give up hope.

During Easter this weekend, we will be thinking of and praying for these two little girls. Whether it is donating blood, donating your time to see if you're a bone marrow match, or even words of prayer, support or encouragement, we need to help Sarah, Makaylah and many other families who deal with life threatening medical issues like these.

With all our hopes and prayers, these girls WILL pull through this. We know it too.

Please Give Hope

Sarah's Drive for Hope Facebook page (click here): Sarah's Drive for Hope

To learn more about spina bifida, visit:
www.sbhac.ca (in Canada)
www.spinabifidaassociation.org (in the US).

Donate

In Canada:

To donate bone marrow (and check if you're a match):