Pillowcases with chicken...
This post may get a bit heavy(hence the chicken in the photo-thought it would lighten up the mood a bit).
About a year ago I heard God calling me to help children with cancer. I don't know why and I didn't know how I was going to do it. I kept pushing it away and it kept coming back...over and over and over.
Well, about a month and a half ago, I listened. I kept wondering why he would choose me for this and would this mean I would be personally affected by having a child with cancer. I placed myself several times over the year in a parent's shoes with a child that may have cancer...waiting to hear a diagnose and receiving that terrible news and my heart would break. As I tucked my little ones in bed, I would weep for those parents and I would hug my children a little more that day, and be diligent in prayer for them-praising God for their healthy bodies...
Anyway, he chose me and I don't know why but I wanted needed to listen. What could I do? I'm a homeschooling mom with a newborn baby? How could I serve or help? I'm busy, I'm tired at times, I have family to raise, children to teach, etc.,etc., etc..
Well, I posted my thoughts on a homeschooling forum and got my answer...
ConKerr cancer-A Case for Smiles
I took this from the website so you could see what this wonderful organization is all about:
ConKerr Cancer started when Cindy Kerr’s son was diagnosed with cancer in 2002 and she began making pillowcases to brighten up his hospital room and to put a smile on his face. He loved it and so she began making pillowcases for other children on the Oncology Unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Since then the pillowcase project, A Case for Smiles, has grown in amazing ways. We have provided nearly 400,000 pillowcases made by thousands of volunteers from across North America and in South Africa. School groups, sewing circles, church groups and fabric stores have all pitched in and are making pillowcases for the kids. An exciting new program has been to take fabric and sewing machines to hospitals and sew with the patients and their families.
ConKerr Cancer has been able to make amazing progress towards fulfilling our goal of making hospital stays as pleasant as possible for chronically ill children and their parents. Simultaneously the pillowcase project has fostered a spirit of community and volunteer service in communities across North America. Unfortunately the number of sick children never ends, and we must continue to expand our efforts to help brighten patients’ lives and raise awareness about childhood cancer.
This was right up my alley! My love of sewing could help children with cancer! I started out with a couple of pillowcases(which are pictured above with Missy Hen). But, I wanted to go bigger, do more. I know I could make some pillowcases, but I know if I had a bunch of people helping, we could really make a difference. 44,000 children have cancer in the U.S. right now and ConKerr cancer is trying to collect a pillowcase for each child in the month of September to coincide with Childhood Cancer Month.
Well, I thought about it and prayed about it and decided to see if my homeschool group was interested in me teaching a sewing class on how to make these pillowcases and the response has been overwhelming-praise God!
So, with God's help, on Sept. 22, I will be teaching a class on how to sew these pillowcases. I don't know how many children/moms/grandmas I will have yet but the church I'm teaching at has advertised to their congregation and I will be asking both my homeschool groups participate(my one group already knows and have given a wonderful response!) But, I need your help as well. If you feel led to donate some money for fabric and notions, I've provided a way for you to help us. I have included on my sidebar on the right a donate button under my email address. When you donate that will go directly to my paypal account. Please prayerfully consider helping this cause. My prayer is that soon, we won't have to do this, that cancer will have a cure..but until then..maybe we could all help to bring a smile to a child in the hospital.
If you have any questions, please email me a i-choosejoy@hotmail.com
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