Thursday, June 18, 2009

Make You Think Thursday - Simply Jo Designs

I believe every person is important. I believe we all have things to offer and ways we can help make the world a better place. We decided to make our Thursday blogs stories that inspire and encourage this spirit of reaching, teaching and believing.

Recently, we were asked to participate in Great Strides, a walk to benefit Cystic Fibrosis. Up until a year ago, I had no clue what this awful disease is about. But then we met some wonderful friends - the parents of Madison. If you met Madison, your heart would absolutely melt. She is brimming with love and life. Our entire family decided to walk the six miles around River Front Park to help Madison.



The boys in our family were serious about helping Madison and other kids like her, you could tell they knew how important their part was because they passed the playground without asking to play, they passed the carousel without asking to ride. They wanted to do their best so Madison could get well enough to play and ride too.

Not long after our walk, I was privileged to meet another person who loves helping too. Her name is Amanda Jo and turns out she has known Madison’s family since she was 9 years old. She also knows others suffering with CF and has decided to make a difference. Amanda Jo offers handmade jewelry and with her ‘Madison’ collection she donates to the CF foundation - go to her Etsy shop to buy or her website Simply Jo Designs to learn more.




She also put together a video of Madison, Sopia and Matthew - its their story entitled 'A Different Normal'. Very good. Our boys watched the video too and felt proud that they are helping CF suffers, doing their part to help change lives. It is good for all of us to ask ourselves, ‘what can I do to help others?’ - and then do it!

Blessings!
Theresa

2 comments:

  1. Great feature and cause to talk about!

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  2. Good morning! I happen to be Madison's mom, Kim. Theresa, I can't thank you enough. Madison inspires me on a daily basis. She has such a strong spirit and no complaints. As a parent of a child with an incurable disease (at this point), I feel that my strength and faith have been tested beyond limits. So many times I have asked, "why her? Why Madison? Why not me?" Since we can't change the fact that Madison has CF, we CAN do everything in our power to raise money for the researchers to find a cure. We have met many generous people along this path and we are very blessed, Theresa's family included. Amanda Jo is donating 40% of the Just Breathe necklace to CF. She is amazing!

    Count your blessings, and love your kids.

    Kim

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