The One Week Wrap Up

Well, this time last week guys we were in the thick of it up at Chick-fil-A.  What an awesome day that was, God's hand was evident over the whole day.

One of the neat stories that came out of that day for me, was the story of the $2 bills.  A pharmacy owner in a south Alabama town handed out bonuses to his employees, $700 for full time employees and $300 for part time employees.  The business owner's only request was that 15% be given to someone in need and that the rest be spent at local businesses.  In order to track the impact of the bonuses, this business owner handed them out in the form of $2 bills.  Well, I don't know how any of those bills made up here to Trussville but y'all wouldn't have believed the $2 bills in Sophie Kate's donation boxes.  Oh, it still gives me chills.

I was also told of two boys (ages 8 and 12) who did chores to earn extra money and also used their allowances in order to donate money to our little Sophie.  Wow, does that speak to the character of those two young men or what?

Also, those who worked at Chick-fil-A last Monday spoke of the great atmosphere that was in their store all day.  No one was irritable or angry about waiting in the long lines.  It would have been so easy for y'all to have turned around and driven somewhere else to eat and I am so grateful to you all for waiting in those lines, whether they were in the store or in the drive thru.  Y'all made this day the huge success that it was.

On that note, I did want to point out that $1500 of the Chick-fil-A money came from the receipts saved for Sophie, the other $4000 came from donations, AMAZING!  In addition to all that, we have also had various other family, friends and Sunday School classes who have donated money to us on behalf of Sophie Kate just because of the fundraiser, whether they ended up eating there or not.  So the updated total that has been given over the course of this entire fundraiser is....$7,357.00.  Praise God, what a blessing this is!!

I have been told by several people since Monday that there should be no question about how much our family is loved by our church and by our community, I certainly have to agree with that, but please let me clarify that it's not just b/c of the money that was raised for SK.  There were a lot of people needed to make Sophie Kate day a success and everyone came together in such a great way.  The number of volunteers was exactly what we needed and everything fell into place so perfectly.  I have to give a HUGE shoutout to Theresa Suhr and Traci Collins, boy were they ever the backbone of this whole thing, love you girls.  Theresa, so glad that you were up to the technology challenge that this proved to be for you, we are all so proud.  Traci, thank you for organizing the lunch preorders in such a way that that Melissa had to say "enough, no more," that's a great problem to have.

Also, there have been volunteers at my house to sit with SK, so that I can have some grown up "time out," there have been meals brought, laundry done (loved that one) and grocery shopping completed just to name a few.  We do feel loved and sooo blessed to be a part of this community.

You all have given me something that I will carry in my heart always and when things get bad and I get down, I am going to think back to this day and I will always be reminded that I am not alone here.

Thank you for the beautiful display of God's love that we have been shown.