Checking In...

Sorry we've been a little out of touch lately...lots has been going on. We've had you know, just normal life, as well as lots of craziness with insurance, fundraising, etc. So we've been preoccupied and unable to blog much.

In early April we learned that because of Brody's CMT, our insurance premium was doubling. We are already paying a pretty high premium, so doubling it is not an option for us. So we began to get quotes from other companies. However, we learned that although they can't deny Brody because he is a child, they would be charging us the same high rates because of his condition. So we've been jumping through hoops, filling out applications, and talking with everyone who knows anything about this type of dilemma. It has been stressful, to say the least. But the Lord has had his hand on us through all of it. We've had a peace about all of it, and know that He will provide whatever solution is best for us.

In the meantime, my family hosted a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. My family, as well as a lot of their co-workers, donated a LOT of stuff and we had another huge, successful sale. We made about $1700! So there's another set of braces paid for!! I have a feeling we'll be buying those later this year as Brody seems to be growing taller these days. So thank you to all of you who priced, sorted and worked the sale. We could never thank you enough for all of the love and encouragement you give us daily!

Brody still hasn't been in physical therapy for a couple of months. We are out of visits with our current insurance plan (it is still in effect until June 30) and there is still no full-time therapist at his rehab center. However, he has been adamant about doing his at home exercises. His former therapist left us with very detailed exercises for him...stretches, activities, etc and he loves it. Some of it is painful, especially the stretching, but he pushes through and asks to do it every night. Last night he even said "Can I do exercises tonight instead of picking a book before bed?" So hopefully this is keeping him on track as far as strengthening his legs and preventing deterioration.

So there's a quick update. I hope to be better about posting more often, especially as things happen worth blogging about. We've got an exciting Mother's Day weekend planned...Baby Brooks is being dedicated at church on Sunday, and we are cooking a Mother's Day lunch for our moms and sisters. Hope everyone else has a wonderful Mother's Day as well!!

Unreal

I can't even begin to put into words how thankful we are for our family and friends who donated items to the garage sale. Brody is truly loved by so many of you and we are so grateful.

I feel like this entire week was a whirlwind for myself, as well as the other ladies who put in lots of hours sorting through boxes upon boxes upon boxes of things.  I joined in on the sorting fun starting on Wednesday, but I know Kristen and Tara worked on it all week long, not counting all the time Kristen spent collecting donations from people for the last 2 weeks. I don't know about the other ladies, but I think I had this idea in my head that by Friday night everything would be perfectly organized, on tables, and priced. How wrong was I!! There was SOOOO MUCH STUFF that it was impossible to price items individually. And impossible to put it on tables by 10pm, close the garage and go to sleep. So what happened?? Matt and I stayed with Cindy, Tara, and Kristen until 1:00am setting up tables and items in the driveway. We headed home to let Brooks sleep in his bed and get a couple hours of sleep. We assumed that the girls would crash too and we'd meet them at 5:30am to finish dragging everything out. When we returned, every table was set up, every item was on display. The entire driveway and front yard were overrun with clothing, home decor, sporting goods, tools, toys, baby gear...you name it, we had it. We had enough to have 2 large garage sales. And my dear friends NEVER WENT TO SLEEP so that it was all set up and ready for our first customers. (who started coming at 6am even though we advertised 7am) And despite that, they were chipper and happy all day as they sold and dealt with professional hagglers.

I was (and still am) blown away by their hearts and attitudes this entire week. I never once heard them complain about how much work it was. Kristen never seemed to mind that her home was overtaken by other people's junk all week. They never batted an eye about the fact that they had to stay up all night and work until almost 3pm today to run the sale and clean up.

I don't even think saying "Thank You" is enough. We truly, truly appreciate everyone who pitched in. The husbands for giving up their wives, as well as working the sale today(Thanks Ken!), those who donated, the dear ladies who worked like crazy today to raise money for our Brody Boy! We love you all!!

So, how much did we raise, you ask? More than we ever imagined. $1500!!!! That is incredible to me! We had $900 of it by 8am. And we still have enough stuff leftover to have an entire other garage sale. So we plan to do another one, hopefully fairly soon. So those who donated items, hopefully by the end of the next sale, nearly every item will be sold and put towards Brody's expenses.

Tara and Kristen probably around 9pm last night..before the all nighter.

 These photos really don't do it justice. It doesn't even look all that large in the photos...but it was huge!

 We had a poster explaining what we were raising money for. We were able to share a little about Brody when people asked, as well as about our church and the body coming alongside us to put on the sale.

 Matt and Ken don't appear to doing much but cutting up right here. They were probably talking about some fantasy football trade or something. But we really put these 2 to work today. 

Cindy making a sale...and it was a BIG one :)

Brody's Walk Garage Sale

image from google.com

The people in our life are pouring love out on us. I just learned that some dear friends of ours are planning a garage sale for Brody's Walk!! All money raised will be put towards Brody's medical expenses!! It seriously chokes me up when I see the body of Christ coming along side us and loving us so much!

So, that being said...its time to go through your closets, dig under your bed, and clean out your attic!! We are collecting donations so if you have anything you need to get rid of and want to pitch in, it is greatly appreciated!

The garage sale is set for Nov. 19 in College Station. Its somewhat of a quick turnaround, but they wanted to get it done before it got too cold and before the holidays started. If you have anything you'd like to donate, you can contact me at brodyswalk @ gmail . com (ps did you know you are supposed to put spaces in your email  in posts to prevent spammers..I learned that recently) or if you have my personal email you can email me there as well. We will coordinate picking up/dropping off donations.

Please have all donations to us by Wednesday, Nov. 16 so that we have time to price and set up.

For those in the Lumberton area who would like to donate, we are working on a way to get donations here. However, they may need to be brought up next weekend so that only leaves a week. Sorry for the short notice. Please contact me for more information.

Also, feel free to pass this information on to your friends and family who may not know us or know anything about Brody's Walk and spread the word about the sale.

We are so blessed by all of you. We're seeing the Lord provide in ways we never imagined. God is always so faithful.