Children's Miracle Network

 This weekend was the annual Children's Miracle Network Telethon.I cannot even begin to describe how special the Children's Miracle Network is to our family. My mom, sister and sister-in-law have all donated financially and through the gift of volunteer time for years. This is the second year for our family of three. It took us needing what the money raised through the Children's Miracle Network provides to get involved. Although I wish it hadn't come to that, we have been so blessed to see first hand how the money raised gets put to use.

We have grown to love the faces of those in our community who put in countless hours of hard work all year long, as champions for the children of East Texas. We have also grown to know and love several of the families whose children's lives have been impacted for good by the money raised.

One family is that of the miracle child for our area this year, Faith. She has Type 1 Diabetes. I don't know much about Type 1, but I do know that Faith is a walking miracle. She was diagnosed at 9 months of age. I remember vividly the day I heard her story. We were at a planning lunch for last year's telethon and they were talking about how many times a day this baby girl was poked with needles, just to make sure she made it through that day. From that day on, I prayed for her mother. She was only a few months older than Madelyn and my heart ached for Faith, but also for her mom.

She almost didn't make it to the telethon this year because she was hospitalized earlier in the week. She was discharged just hours before the telethon ended. Her family came straight from the hospital, because they too have felt first hand what the Children's Miracle Network does! What a blessing they are by sharing their story!

Emily was up there the whole weekend. She loved talking to everyone that came in, getting people snacks and drinks, but most of all she LOVED being on camera! After several times out, she was a pro.

The ladies of the volunteer committee are awesome and I was so blessed to be able to play a very small part of the team! I cannot wait until next year.

Madelyn had fun running around with the older girls while she was there.

We loved being able to see Dr. Morris. She is such an asset to our community and we are thankful each day for her skills in caring for sick babies!

We did a short, live update interview this afternoon on Madelyn. I was so nervous. My toddler smack dab in the middle of her usual nap time live on TV? I had prepared myself for the worst, prayed for the best and sat down with a smile on my face. Although she definitely did not want us to hold her, she did pretty well. Of course, she picked her nose and screamed a few times, but she also told them her name and made some cute animal sounds! We survived and those that watched got a few good laughs, I'm sure!

We are so thankful for the Children's Miracle Network!