A story of thanks and giving…
I met Eden years ago on the sidelines of the baseball field where our boys played ball. Over the years a friendship formed and we started walking together regularly. On our walks, I had the chance to get to know Eden more, and learn more of their family’s story.
Eden has a daughter Abby, who is 8 years old, and she has a rare and severe form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS). People with LGS have multiple types of seizures that vary among individuals. Most people living with LGS experience some degree of impaired intellectual functioning or information processing, along with developmental delays and behavioral disturbances. There is no known cause nor cure for this debilitating syndrome.
As a friend of their family, it has been powerful to watch Eden, her husband, John, and their son care for Abby throughout the years.
On our walks, Eden would share what life is like with a child with LGS. One comment she made one day has stayed with me. She shared, “having a loved one with LGS is like living in a battle zone, the bullets aren’t always flying but you need to be prepared for when they do.”
As we continued to walk and talk, over time I learned how the van they had wasn’t meeting their needs. Eden or John were lifting Abby into the van to buckle her in daily. Doing this all the time wasn’t something they complained about yet was growing more challenging as Abby was getting bigger and stronger. Having a van with a ramp that had more safety features would be a blessing to them.
God put it on my heart one day to ask Eden if she’d be willing to share her story and let people help them get a motorized, handicap accessible van.
She was resistant.
They are a humble, hard-working family and have been so use to doing life all on their own, to ask for help was challenging.
I made sure she knew there was zero pressure but asked her to consider it.
As I waited for her to think about it, doubt grew in me as I honestly wasn’t sure if we’d get the funds and would hate to put this out there and fall short for their family. Yet I’ve learned that when God prompts you to do something, it’s best to follow His lead.
Over time Eden and John eventually agreed to our creating a gofundme to raise funds for the van.
I reached out to family and friends who graciously donated but we were only a tenth of the way towards our goal. I had also reached out to some connections at various churches locally to see if they could contribute.
One day I unexpectedly received a call from a local care minister who said their church had a connection with a local non-profit, Amy’s Angels, that helped them get a van for someone at their church. He kindly connected us with the non-profit.
Eden and John met with the people from Amy’s Angels who listened to their story. They didn’t make any promises to Eden and John but after months of the Gofundme staying at the same amount, the meeting brought more hope to our hearts.
Time went by with no word from the non-profit.
Then one day they called Eden and John and said they had raised enough money, coupled with the Gofundme, to get the van for Abby!
The joy we all experienced was palpable! Happy tears flowed!
Then a couple of weeks ago I got a note from Eden saying their van was being delivered the next day! She sent me pictures of their family receiving the van from Amy’s Angels, and it brought tears of joy to my eyes.
Seeing them receive the van for Abby was awesome and a moment definitely worth celebrating!
Yet their story is also a reminder that when we have a need, it may be hard to let people in but we need to. It took a step of faith for Eden and John to stop doing it on their own and be willing to let others know their story and lend a hand their way.
Also, their story reminds me that when we get a prompting within us to do something, even when it doesn’t make sense, when we don’t know what the outcome will be, and we fear failing, we still need to take a step of faith into what God is asking us to do.
I share this good news with you today to invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray. ™
May this story encourage us that God knows our needs and has circles of love around us to lean into to help us. We were not made to do life alone. We need community. May we be willing to take a step of faith and let someone in to help us.
And if we are in someone’s circle of love who we know has a need, may we do what we can to lend a hand their way. And if we get that inner knowing we are to do something that seems impossible, may we also take a step of faith. May we place our trust in God, and remember that He is working at all times in ways we cannot see. And that His timing is best, even though it is not always aligned with ours.
May our lives be filled and fueled with stories like this; when friends open up, friends and community support one another, needs are met and love is always the common thread in the story.
With joy and gratitude,
Shawn
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me... Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. - Matthew 25:35-40
*names were changed to honor the family’s privacy