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I came upon a heart-rending blog today.  I spent my morning immersed in the world of a family who just lost their 11 month old baby.  As I sat here in the silence of my house with my children safely tucked inside their beds I read about this angel who was in our terms taken too soon and this family that is left trying to find a way to move on.  I know that God has his reasons for things like this, I know we will never know his reasons and I know we must accept that He never does anything that isn’t unjustified in his kingdom, but my heart goes out to this family.   As I sat here and cried…no sobbed, I knew I had to pass on this site to everyone.  This family needs our prayers as they deal with their loss, and mounting medical bills.  Please take a moment to visit this site and read their story:   http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/2009/05/51109-goodbye-sweetheartfor-now.html     Hold your children close; our children are truly our angels.  God Bless you this morning and always

Cheryl

     About two weeks ago I wrote a post here where I asked my readers to vote for me over at the profitablemommyblogging.com contest.  Many of you immediately followed the link I posted and placed your votes for me.  I would like to thank each of you for taking the time to vote for me.  I am also more than happy to announce that I WON the contest and I am the new owner of becausemomsaidso !!!  I can’t believe I won.  For those of you who went over there, I am sure you noticed that I was FAR FAR FAR away from first place by the looks of the number of votes for a few of the other ladies.  I thought for sure I had lost from the start; I just could not see myself catching up to the number of votes that were placed for the competition.  I had a good attitude about it all though–I figured that it wasn’t God’s will that I win and I told myself that whatever happens would be for the best and that perhaps I am meant to do something else.  Well,  I got an email Saturday with my name and the names of the two other finalists wherein Kelly McCausey, the genius behind profitablemommyblogging.com informed me that I had actually come in first place as there were some “suspect” votes and duplicate votes from the same IP addresses which had to be thrown out.   In the end, when all was said and done, I had the most votes!  We are in the process of setting up the new fully loaded blog and I believe that it will be unveiled tomorrow at some point over at http://www.profitablemommyblogging.com   I must admit I am very anxious to see it and I am a bit nervous too because I know that A LOT of people will be following the blog in the beginning and I want to keep them as readers!  Of course I want to grab some new ones as well.       In the meantime, Kelly McCausey has been introducing me to some of the best marketing affiliates for women out there and I have to say—I may just make a decent amount of money with my new blog.  I had no idea all of these possibilities existed!   I hope some of you will stop by tomorrow (or anytime thereafter) and see the big reveal!    I am planning to have a blog of the week post wherein I will spotlight blogs I find along the way that I love.  I am also going to be looking into mommy-owned businesses and promoting them as well.  If anyone wants to sponsor a giveaway please leave me a comment and I will get back to you to talk shop! Thanks Again to all who voted.Cheryl

CARLEIGH

I know I know….that is a heavy line to drop on you, but I write this with good reason.  A very wonderful family close to my heart has been given a cross to carry in their lives and rather than dropping under the weight of their burden they have dug deep and faced their challenge with courage.  Carleigh Rose is a beautiful bright eyed little girl who struggles with a very rare disease called cystinosis.  I won’t get into all of the details but understand me when I say:  Life is very hard for this little girl and very very hard for her family who deals with medicines, regular doctor’s visits, and trips to the hospital for tests.    Carleigh is lucky enough to be at home with her family–THANKFULLY her disease is being treated and although she struggles, she is doing the best she can.   Carleigh, however, will eventually need an organ transplant in her future.   I received the following note from her mom a few days ago and I asked her if I could put the details on this site in an effort to help her out–she granted me her permission and is praying that God leads those who are in a position to help to do so.

Dear Friends and Family,
 
Little Anthony and I are participating in a Walk-A-Thon on April 26th, to help benefit a Long Valley family.
   This is a subject very near and dear to us, as you all know, my daughter Carleigh battles with Cystinosis and will be needing a kidney transplant too.  In an effort to “Pay It Forward” we are participating in this event.
 
A donation of as little as $5.00 would be greatly appreciated and will be a huge help to this family. (However, any donation would be greatly appreciated).
 
Please take a look at this flyer.  All donations of course are tax deductible.  Checks should be made payable to :  COTA (Children’s Organ Transplant Association) with “Kaitlyn Cross” in the memo section.  My address is :  27 Ann Road, Long Valley, NJ  07853
 Thank you all in advance!
 Joan DeCroce and Family

The information for the walkathon is as follows:

COTA for

Kaitlyn Cross

1^st  Annual Walk-A-Thon

Sunday, April 26, 2009

1 PM Start

Rock Spring Park

East Springtown RoadLong Valley, NJ 07853

All proceeds from this event go to Children’s Organ Transplant Associationwww.cota.org

Kaitlyn’s Story

Kaitlyn Shannon was born to parents Jonathan & Kelly Cross on January 30, 2006.  She was six weeks premature, with a congenital kidney defect discovered shortly after birth.  Her condition was carefully monitored from that point forward for any signs of renal deterioration, which, unfortunately, came quite suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of nine months.  Critically ill, Kaitlyn spent a month at
Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, NJ, most of that time in the pediatric intensive care unit. The subsequent diagnosis was End Stage Renal Disease.  With daily peritoneal dialysis treatment and much love, Kaitlyn was finally well enough to receive a kidney transplant at seventeen months of age, from her mother, Kelly.  This life-saving procedure was done by the transplant team at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ on July 25, 2007.       With the cost of any transplant easily exceeding $500,000, many transplant patients and their families are unable to shoulder the financial burden of such a procedure.  The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity dedicated to organize and assist local communities in raising funds for transplant-needy patients like Kaitlyn.  After a request for assistance from the Children’s Organ Transplant Association, volunteers have been working with COTA in raising funds in the greater Long Valley, NJ area. One hundred percent of all funds raised will be used for transplant-related expenses like Kaitlyn’s.

I ask now, that you, if you are at all in a position to do so, to please donate something, anything you can afford, to help build funds for this wonderful organization.  Children are our most precious gift, full of potential and God’s greatest fullfillment of Christ’s love.  I am so thankful and so blessed to have two wonderful and healthy children….I can’t imagine what it must be like for parents who must carry the burden of a sick child.  Please help today.  Children like Carleigh and Kaitlyn are anxiously awaiting their new gifts–a gift you can be a part of.  Please Support my friend and her son as they walk for Carleigh and others like her.   Send your tax exempt check to the address contained in her letter above.  God Bless. 

For more information on Kaitlyn Cross and their organization see:  http://cotaforkaitlynshannonc.com/

To learn more about cystinosis see: www.cystinosis.org

And as he rode [into Jerusalem), they spread their garments on the road. As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:36-38, RSV)

 What man/woman alive is as great as our Lord?  None that I know of.  None that I can imagine.  Today I thank God for the gift we received in the sending of his son.  I try to visualize what it must have been like to take that ride before his many believers who threw down their clothing and palm branches for him into a place also mixed with hatred.  The courage and the strength his father instilled upon him to enter into a place where he knew he would face his adversaries was infinite.  Still he went foward to spread the word of our Father and to win more souls.  Mere days later he would willingly put himself on the cross to save us from our sins.  He died for me.  He died for you.  In him we will find life eternal.  Through Christ alone I find my strength.  Thank you Lord for giving me so much and taking so little in return.