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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Remembering Margaret

Today is the 4th anniversary of my grandma's death. A day of reflection and graditude. And forgiveness. Margaret's Hope Chest would not exsist if there wasn't forgiveness. Mistakes were made at the time of her death-serious mistakes with life-altering consequences. But I have learned that with forgiveness also comes life-altering consequences.
Today is also the 2nd anniversary of MHC. Two years, 83 quilts, countless people touched. Man I love this job.....
My grandma grew beautiful peonies at one point in her life and so today my kids and I planted a peony bush in her honor and to help keep her memory alive.

 
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A Gift in a time of Grief

Theresa lost her 19-year-old son a few weeks ago in a car accident. I got a call from one of her friends. We sent this quilt out right away. We also sent a quilt to Theresa's 12- year-old daughter. Her brother was the third family member to die in a short amount of time and I'm sure she could use some extra comfort. It is our pleasure to serve this family.

 

 
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Friday, April 17, 2009

He Gives and Takes Away

The last two weeks at Margaret's Hope Chest have been busy. We heard of the deaths of three of our quilt recipients. Cella Bosma was given a quilt back in July-her breast cancer had returned and she lost her earthly battle on March 29. We gave Dawn a quilt during our February quilt give-away. She died on April 2 of complications from ALS. During February we also gave a quilt to little Alexandria who had leukemia-she died this past week as well. We think of all of the families left behind and the pain and lonliness they are experiencing. We are praying for friends and strangers to come along side them for this difficult part of the journey.
Just as the Lord takes away some, He also has GIVEN us more people to serve this week. The first quilt pictured below has gone to the Daniel family. There is a link to thier blog which describes their journey of waiting for a baby to be born in God's perfect timing.
 

Sorry about the quality of the next two photos but they were the final two I took before I realized that there was something terribly wrong with my camera lens....OH NO! This quilt is going to be auctioned off tomorrow night at a fundraiser for the children of a woman who was murdered in Grand Rapids in 2004. Thier father was convicted of her killing last year. There is a great expense associated with the couseling that these 4 children need in order to deal with these realities. We pray for a HIGH BID!!
 

 

This final quilt-NUMBER 83 was given to a family friend who has a melanoma on her eye and is trying to stay hopeful that laser treatments will kill the cancer. Her name is Shirley and we are praying for many more years of sight for her!
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My Favorite Quilt

 

This is my favorite quilt. It symbolizes the beginning of a beautiful unexpected journey that started 4 years ago with the murder of my grandmother. This is the first quilt given to someone by Margaret's Hope Chest, a quilting non-profit started in her honor. Since this quilt we have given 83 quilts away to people all over the country in seemingly hopeless situations. I had the honor of giving this quilt to the mother of one of the girls convicted of murdering my grandma. I would love for some of you reading this to visit our website and blog and become involved, we could really use more help! If you want to read more Favorite Quilt Stories click on the link to the right "Bloggers Quilt Festival". Be INSPIRED!
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Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Big 8-0!!!

80!!!! 80 quilts to families who needed hope. Wow! Praise God for writing the story of Margaret's Hope Chest so perfectly. Our 80th quilt arrived in Houston this week. It was sent to Nadia who is 8 years old and just had brain surgery for a tumor. Now she is starting chemotherapy. You can imagine that this child (and her family) needs hope. I don't have a picture of this quilt but my mom tells me it is bright and cheery, perfect for a little girl with a bright future ahead of her.