Delivering comfort...one person at a time!

It's been a busy couple of weeks. We've delivered many blankets & dogs. Here's the rundown...

• Blanket being sent to Canada to a woman diagnosed with two different types of cancer. (Delivered by Erica)


• Blanket being sent to California to a man who has terminal cancer -- hoping the blanket makes it on time and can provide some comfort in his last days. (Delivered by Jenna)


• Blanket & dog provided to a women just put on oxygen because of her heart condition. (Delivered by Stephanie)


• Blanket & dog for an 18 year old young women suffering from clinical depression --tried to kill herself and spent a few days in the adult psych ward. (Delivered by Annette)


• Blanket for her mother who cried nights for her daughter, praying for "angels to watch over her daughter". (Delivered by Annette)


• Blanket delivered to Larry Miller, owner of the Jazz who had both legs amputate 6" below the knee. (Delivered by Nancy)


• Dog delivered to a toddler who is very sick but doctors have not yet been able to diagnose. (Delivered by Jenny)


• 3 dogs & 6 blankets delivered to LDS Family Services for young women who choose to place their babies for adoption. (Delivered by Judy)


• 1 blanket being delivered to Idaho to a young women who recently had a baby and then was diagnosed with cancer. (Delivered by Ashley)

What I know for sure...there is a lot of pain and suffering in this world. However, that provides others incredible opportunities to reach out and offer a little "hope & comfort".

Join us in delivering these gifts. You'll feel the joy!

Heavenly Father Never Gives Up on Us

"It is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us--even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will.
"We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won't, for He sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming."

Joseph B Wirthlin,

"The Great Commandment," Ensign, Nov. 2007, 29 30

The Gift of Adoption

This morning on the bus on the way to work, I was reading an article on Adoption in the February 08 Ensign (see http://www.lds.org/). After reading the article by the birth mother, I felt prompted to contact LDS Family Services to see if I could donate some blankets & dogs to young women who choose to place their babies for adoption. My hope is that these items will provide some hope & comfort during a very difficult time during these young women's lives.

Last May my sister in law asked me to write a letter to a young woman she knew who was pregnant and trying to decide what to do. The following is the letter I wrote to this 16 year old girl:

I wanted to share how I have been blessed through adoption. First of all, I believe that you are at a critical crossroad and appreciate the decisions placed before you. I believe that the choices you make are very personal and best made as you counsel with the Lord and seek for his guidance. That being said, this has been my experience….

My husband & I have been blessed with 2 beautiful children through adoption. When I was in my mid 20’s and unmarried, I had a cyst rupture on my ovary and was informed I had endometriosis. When I inquired whether or not it would hinder my ability to get pregnant, I was told that I wouldn’t know until I tried.

I got married 3 months shy of my 27th birthday. I discussed my medical history with my soon to be husband and he assured me that should I be unable to conceive, adoption would be an option. However, I never really believed it would be necessary. I was a righteous young woman, why wouldn’t Heavenly Father bless me in conceiving children?

In our 2nd year of marriage, I was still not pregnant. I served in the Young Women’s program in our ward and was invited to attend a meeting. Not really knowing what it was, I went. There was a woman in her 20’s who spoke of the blessing of adoption. She told about the beautiful baby boy Heavenly Father saw fit to bless her and her husband with and shared her gratitude for this little boy and the birth mother. I was blown away by the spirit. It touched my heart & soul so deeply that I sat on the back row and cried uncontrollably. There was not a doubt in my mind when I left that meeting that I had felt the spirit and knew for sure that adoption is a way that our Heavenly Father could bless us with a child, a child that was intended to be in our family just as if he/she were born to us.

About 1 year later we moved to Arizona and went through the rigorous process of applying to adopt through LDS Social Services. It took almost a full year to complete the process. Now that we did what WE could do, it was up to our Heavenly Father to do His part. We waited.

My father died suddenly on May 15, 1993 at the age of 64. My husband & I headed for Utah to be with family and prepare his funeral.

While some of the details are a little foggy, within a few weeks after the death of my father, we received a call from our social worker asking some questions and telling us we were being considered as the adoptive parents a baby boy born May 22, exactly one week following my father’s death. We waited.

I had 2 step sons who arrived for the summer. We left for California on vacation. Several days into the trip, we received THE call “Judy, you are the mother to a beautiful baby boy.” Music to my ears and joy filled my heart. I felt an immense sense of gratitude to my Heavenly Father and reverence to the birth mother who had the courage and faith to make such a decision. What greater gift can one receive than a child? I felt truly humble that we were chosen.

We returned to Arizona and two days later met our baby boy for the first time. What a glorious day!

Three and a half years later we went through a similar experience, although this time, our Heavenly Father saw fit to bless us with a beautiful baby girl…born on my husbands birthday.

I can’t express enough love & gratitude for the birth parents of our children. They have blessed our lives and home beyond measure and gave me the opportunity to be a mother. I don’t take this responsibility lightly. Our son is nearly 16 and our daughter is 12. These are challenging years and I feel this tremendous responsibility to be the very best mother I can be. Our birth mothers chose US as parents for their babies because they believed we were in a better position to love and care for them than they were at the time. I do not want to let them down, or our Heavenly Father.

Our children have always known that they were adopted and loved by their birth mothers. They are important women in our lives and I hope to meet them again one day. I thank my Heavenly Father for the privilege of being a mother. I am grateful to have a wonderful husband who is a worthy priesthood holder who is committed to me and our family and with whom I can raise a family unto the Lord and work to live with eternally.

While I don’t know you personally, I appreciate the sacred responsibility you have over the coming days/months to ponder your path and choices for both you and your unborn child. I believe there are opportunities for growth in all our challenges. We can make difficult choices and rise to our full potential when we have faith in our Savior and seek for guidance.

God bless you as you move forward….

Judy

Lessons Learned from Tragedy

From bearing one another's burdens as ward members, we have learned several lessons:

1. The Lord's organization is fully adequate to know and care for those with even the most dire emotional and spiritual needs.

2. Adversity can bring us closer to God, with a renewed and enlightened appreciation for prayer and the Atonement, which covers pain and suffering in all their manifestations.

3. Members who suffer tragedy firsthand often experience an increased capacity for love, compassion and understanding. They become the first, last, and often the most effective responders in giving comfort and showing compassion to others.

4. A ward, as well as a family, draws closer together as it endures together--what happens to one happens to all.

~ Richard C. Edgley

www.lds.org

Enduring Together, Ensign, Nov. 2007, 11

The Spirit of Love

I'm sitting here in January- recovering from the holidays & looking out the gloomy window - and yet I am still enjoying fond memories of the best Christmas our family has ever had. My husband has 2 dying grandmas that live in Virginia that visited us for Christmas.

One is dying of 4th stage breast cancer with mets to the bone and had never been on a plane before. She is in SO MUCH pain but is so positive. She says, "I have lived a good long life". She never complains and really inspires me with her courage. Her doctors and family asked her in November what is the one thing she would like to do before she died. She said, "Well, I've never been on a plane before. I think I'd like to take a trip somewhere." She wasn't expected to live past Christmas initially, but with this goal in mind, she completed 8 radiation treatments to prolong her life a few more months. Then she boarded the plane and came to Utah. She loved the flight but was exhausted by the time she arrived.

The other grandma is very ill also. She has very fragile Diabetes and a long history of cardiac illness. She very likely will not live another year either. Recognizing she might never get the chance to come visit Salt Lake City, the headquarters of her church, she too wanted to come to Utah. So my cute hubby's parents brought both their aging mother's in wheel chairs clear across the United States to see their grandchildren and great grandchildren one last time.

We had so much fun visiting, playing games, telling stories, singing, and tuning out all the noise of the holidays. The important things were done early and the gifts all wrapped long before Christmas came. Basically we dropped everything and just spent loving moments with each other for a whole week, at home, before Christmas (I am crying right now just remembering the peace of it all).

One of the special Christmas gifts that we gave each of the grandmas was a "little piece of heaven" blanket with Jason's inspiring story. They loved the soft warm blankets and thought that it was such a treat! Like you Jason, both of these elderly ladies have endured a lot of pain and trials throughout their lives and yet have remained so positive and inspiring to others- especially to us.

I want to thank you, Jason, for your courage to stay positive, for helping all of us laugh a little bit more (Judy has told me stories of how grateful you are for little things like soup), and mostly for reminding my family to look outside of ourselves a little bit more. Next year our grandmas may not celebrate Christmas with us - but we will never forget the spirit of love they brought with them. Hopefully in their last days - as they snuggle in their warm blankets they will remember us and your story, and continue to smile in a courageous way! Thank you for sharing a "huge peace of heaven" with us! Now we really know what Christmas is all about.

With much love & gratitude,
Jill Waldron, SLC, Utah.

Between You and God - quote by Mother Teresa

My friend Julianne shared this quote with me at a time I was really struggling. It really helped me to refocus on what matters rather than getting caught up in what others think.

I hope you enjoy it!

People are often unreasonable and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you.
Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness people may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Give the world your best and it may never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.
It never was between you and them anyway.

--Mother Teresa

A Little Piece of Heaven...for just $30.00

To help raise money to fund "Inspired by Jason" gifts, we are selling these beautiful, soft & cuddly blankets for just $30.00 each. These little blankets make wonderful baby gifts and birthday presents and come in a variety of patterns & colors. They bring "comfort" to all! Please contact Judy for details.

Adversity

"There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them." - Phyllis Battome

Steph's Grandmother

This is my Grandmother... Delpha Douglas. She is 103 years old. Every time I visit her she tells me that she prays for Jason every morning and night. My grandmother has given me love and comfort ever since I can remember and I am so grateful for her and the example and inspiration she is to me. I am so grateful I was able to share some "hope and comfort" with my grandmother at Christmas. When I gave her the blanket and "Junior" she kept stroking the soft blanket and hugging the "Junior". I told her she could even cuddle with "Junior" at night... and with her witty sense of humor said "Oh, I don't know, he may keep me awake through the night." :) Thank you for the opportunity to share some "hope and comfort" with my Grandmother. - Stephanie Reynolds

Showing Compassion

"There are many ways in which we can become more compassionate in our daily lives. Even little things like becoming less judgmental, making peace with imperfection, allowing someone else to be right, searching for the grain of truth in the opinion of others, and practicing random acts of kindness can make an enormous difference in our own lives and in the lives of others." Richard Carlson

A Christmas Miracle

We have a neighbor who has been somewhat (okay, VERY) anti-social over the years, primarily the husband. The woman has always been very nice. I don't recall this man ever smiling and saying "hello" to us. They are an elderly couple and this sweet woman has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). In the past few months we've seen some subtle changes (for the good) in him as his wife has progressively become more disabled by her illness. Several weeks before Christmas, we felt impressed to give this woman one of Jason's blankets.

With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, the blanket sat on the back of our couch for weeks. Finally, on Christmas Eve I took it down to their home. He met me at the door. I told him that we were thinking of them and wanted them to know that we cared about their family and wanted to offer this special blanket to his wife. I told him briefly about Jason. He was very gracious and thanked me for the blanket.

I left feeling uplifted by this opportunity to show love and kindness toward this man (who has been a little difficult to love) and his sweet wife. The story would have been great had it ended there, but it didn't.

The day after Christmas we had a big snow storm in the Salt Lake Valley. As a gift to my husband (since he always clears the driveway & sidewalks), I went out first thing to snow blow the driveway and walk ways. Within minutes, this neighbor had arrived in front of our house with his snow blower and cleared all our sidewalks. I was stunned...this had NEVER happened before...to anyone in our neighborhood. As soon as I caught his attention (over the roar of the snow blower), I thanked him for his help. He proceeded to express his appreciation for this little blanket I had delivered two days earlier to his wife. He said that his wife's legs get cold as she sits in her wheelchair all day and how much she is enjoying this small soft blanket to stay warm.

My mother has sewn over 50 of these small blankets since the beginning of November. Whenever this man sees my mother, he thanks her for this blanket. She has expressed that this single incident has made it all worth while.

Miracles DO happen! Thanks Jason.

Living a Quality LIfe

One author I have always really enjoyed is Richard Carlson who wrote the "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" books. He wrote the following:

"Every day, I use the fact that I don't know how long I have to live to enhance the quality of my life. I remind myself of what's really important in life, and try to back that up with my actions and the way I prioritize things."

Richard Carlson died suddenly at the age of 45.

Hope & Comfort Revisited

Just after sending an email to Jason telling him "Inspired by Jason" is coming to an end because of funding, I arrived home to a note to call Jolene, a woman in our ward. She asked if I was still doing Gifts of Hope and Comfort. She told me about a family in her son’s ward in West Jordan. This family was blessed with 4 children. Three of whom have cancer. They have a 13 year old girl, who doesn’t have cancer, but is having a hard time. An 8 year boy who is in remission, a 4 year old girl who died of cancer just before Christmas, and a 2 ½ boy who is at Primary Children’s Hospital now. She knew we had taken items to Primary Children’s Hospital and wanted to know if we could deliver something to this 2 ½ year old. I told her I still had some items here and would love to give something to each one of the kids. That evening I delivered 2 dogs (1 for each boy) and a blanket for the girl. They will be delivered to the family by her son.

This mother stays at the hospital with her baby boy, the father is home with the other two kids but the 13 year old won’t sleep in her room because she had shared that room with her little sister who died. The family’s home is small and Brett would like to help finish off some rooms in the basement so the 13 year old can have her own room and start fresh. He is seeking assistance for purchasing needed materials.

While these gifts (Junior’s and blankets) may not change their circumstances, maybe they will bring a little hope and comfort from reading Jason's story and knowing that others care.

I was touched that Jolene thought to call me and share this family’s story. I feel honored to be apart of something that may help others get through rough patches in their lives.

This was the "shot in the arm" that I needed to try to keep this all afloat. In an attempt to keep this going, we will be selling the blankets ($30.00) & dogs ($15.00). Proceeds will go towards purchasing dogs and material for the blankets so we can continue to bring "Hope & Comfort" to those who need a lift during times of sickness. If you're interested, you may contact me by email or phone (see contact information on blog).

I understand that some who sent checks had them returned. I am VERY SORRY for this. I have changed the mailing address to my home address. The address listed is correct.

Thank you for your continued support. Together we can do something "extraordinary"!

"If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a kind word of encouragement, or attempts to understand, EXTRAORDINARY things begin to happen." - Loretta Girzartis

Comfort for Kaitlin

My friend Karen was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on a Tuesday and in the hospital for surgery by that Friday. Wednesday evening I took over one of Jason's "Hope & Comfort" blankets to comfort her as she prepared for surgery. Her daughter Kaitlin, could not stop holding it, petting it, feeling it & cuddling with it. I told Karen that by the time she took it to the hospital with her it would be filled with so much love she couldn't do anything but get better!! By the time the surgery day came, Kaitlin (age 10) was having a tough time, understanding a little better that her mother was not going in the hospital for a little minor surgery, but, this was a critical surgery and she would be in the hospital for over a week. Well, let me tell you, this little blanket became Kaitlin's life-line of comfort, hope and peace (rest). Kaitlin ended up sleeping with this little blanket every single night that her mother was in the hospital. In fact, she couldn't sleep without it!!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your courageous story and these little blankets of "Hope & Comfort". Jason, you make a difference!!

--Sheila Agnew

Letter from PCMC

Great Quote

"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing." -Benjamin Franklin