Sharing God's Love

I had such a wonderful day with the boys today. Brian is gone visiting his brother in Ohio for the weekend and I really wanted to spend some special time with the boys on my own. We started out the day with Gavin's basketball game this morning. We then came home and all worked together measuring ingredients and making cookie dough. We stuck it in the fridge to cool and got started on what was my absolute favorite project of the day. I got out all my stamping stuff and each of the boys made a card. The best part about these cards was who they were for. I came across a wonderful organization called Spirit Jump a while back and decided that this would be the perfect time to introduce the boys to what it was all about. Spirit Jump is a place where you can go and sign up to be a "Jumper", from there you can read through the different posts by "Jumpees" and decide who you would like to send a card, a gift, or whatever you decide to. Just something to boost the spirits of these people. Why do they need a spirit jump? Well, that's because the "Jumpees" are people of all ages who are battling cancer or similar diseases. I was reading through the posts and my heart was tugged so strongly for two particular people. One being a 7 year old little boy named Dylan who was diagnosed December 1st of last year. I read his story to the boys on Thursday and told him that I thought it would be nice to send him a little package to just brighten his day. The boys agreed it would be a great thing to do and we decided we would go shopping after I picked them up from school on Friday. When I picked them up, they couldn't wait. They picked out 4 matchbox cars for he and his brother to play with, as well as a candy cane filled with M&M's and a cookie mix with a snowflake cookie cutter, because his story tells about how he loves to cook.Then today, they each made him a card. I was so touched by the time and care they put into it, especially Riley. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that he is the same age. He literally spent close to 2 hours on his card to him. He told me he was going to write "Love, Riley" because he loved him even though he didn't know him. Talk about melting a mommy's heart. During the time they were working on those cards, I was making one for a girl named, Crystal. She is 26 years old and was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer when she was just 22. She has been through so much more than I could ever even imagine and I just want her to know she is being thought of and prayed for. When we were done with that, I made some of the kids' favorite foods for dinner, Mexican meatloaf and homemade macaroni and cheese. When we were done with that, we decorated and baked our cookies from the dough we had made earlier in the day. Then we had warm cookies and hot chocolate and watched a Christmas special. The perfect ending to a perfect day. I just praise God for my sweet boys, for the wonderful time I had with them today and most of all for the loving and compassionate hearts that they have. What more could a mom want?

I hope you will check out SpiritJump.org and shine a light into the life of someone who could use your encouragement and love and just the knowledge that someone out there is thinking of them. We plan to make this something we do several times throughout the year, not just at Christmas time. When you've been blessed with so much, how can you not want to share that blessing with someone else. God is so good and loves us all so much and this is a perfect opportunity to remind people in bad and sometimes desperate situations of that. So please, check it out.