Inheritance of Hope

So I have a bit of exciting family news to share . . . 

No, it does not involve a new baby.

Or a new squirrel.

Yes, it does involve DISNEY WORLD!

Thanks to an awesome organization called Inheritance of Hope, this time next week the Memphis half of my family will be playing in Disney World!

Inheritance of Hope is a nonprofit Christian organization that serves children and families with a parent who's been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness (or, in our case, a parent who's been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness twice . . . way to be an overachiever, Trish). IOH provides "cost-free, worry-free" vacations to these families in the form of trips called Legacy Retreats. A few months ago, one of my mom's friends told her about IOH and asked if she could nominate us for a Legacy Retreat. She did, and about two weeks ago we learned we'd been chosen for this retreat to Disney World! Technically the all-expense-paid part only applies to the parents and their under-18 children. However, since I'm Trish's personal nurse and all, I figured I should probably go, too, just in case she has a bad day or something. ;-) And we've come to find out that some of my expenses actually will be paid, because IOH is just that awesome.

In addition to providing families with fun vacations and helping them make lots of memories, IOH also wants to connect families like ours with other families that are facing similar challenges. Thus, we will be joined on this trip by 15 other families from all over the country, each of us there for reasons we prayed so hard not to have (I'm talking about the diseases, not the kids). Licensed counselors (including children's counselors) volunteer their time to come spend the weekend with us, and there are also volunteers who come along to play with the kids, take pictures, help us plan our activities, pick us up at the airport, etc.

In the info packet we received about the trip, we were given IOH postcards to pass out to our friends. But then we didn't really give them to anyone. Oops (we just found out a couple weeks ago!). So I'll just tell you what they say. One side basically tells about the Legacy Retreats like I have here, and the other side tells how you can help support a family you care about (that's us, unless you happen to know one of the other families going). You can help out by 1) making a donation to IOH at their website, 2) getting "involved" in our Legacy Retreat experience (have no idea what this means - I would think maybe it involves writing a note or something. It says to email jill@inheritanceofhope.org for details, and I do know that we love Jill), and 3) pray for us!

I'm excited and nervous. Of course I'm thrilled that we get to visit Disney (Jamal and Tekia have never been and the rest of us haven't been since I was five), but I'm also prepared for these few days to be difficult as well. I know that, for some of these families, this will be their last vacation together. And this is the only way some of them are able to get away from home for a few days. I know that not every sick parent there will look and feel as great as my mom does right now. The IOH staff has very prayerfully assembled this particular group of families, so I'm eager to see what God has in store for us next week.

Get ready to see lots of Disney pictures! You can also follow the IOH Legacy Retreats blog and twitter by clicking on the links found under the Disney World picture on their site. 

Oh, and it's Monday, so pray for Tricia!