lillian hope
"....deep grief sometimes is almost like a specific location, a coordinate on a map of time. When you are standing in that forest of sorrow, you cannot imagine that you could ever find your way to a better place. But if someone can assure you that they themselves have stood in that same place, and now have moved on, sometimes this will bring hope."
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
Give Hope
We have learned that the best medicine for the pain of grief is to give. Countless times I have found myself wondering through frilly dresses and bows, aching to dote on my beautiful girl. Early on we found that there was comfort in donating items we might have gotten for Lilly to help other children in need. We also sponsor a little girl with her same birth date through Compassion International. In this way we feel that we keep her memory alive and that Lilly is still making a difference through us.
There are many others out there, Lillian's Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins, to name a few, who we know also feel the empty space where a loved one should be. We want to encourage you to take the pain and turn it into purpose. Use life's struggles and turn them into compassion and kindness for others. We are not so naive as to believe that a few donations will take the pain away. Nothing can bring our baby girl back to us. However, we will strive to help other children live to see many happy birthdays in the years to come, and pray that Lilly's life will never go in vain. In this way we find comfort, knowing that because she lived, Hope might live on in the heart of another child.
Below you will find the campaign we are running in memory of Lillian Hope, to honor her 4th birthday, as well as a list of causes and organizations we believe in supporting. (If at any time you decide to donate outside of The Give Hope Campaign in honor of Lilly, please let us know in an email or tell us about it in Stories of Hope.) Thank you!
The Give Hope Campaign
Winter/Spring 2016: Through our fundraiser, we want to help Compassion, one of the world’s leading child development organizations, give children in Brazil everything they need to thrive: an education, clean water, health care, the love of Jesus, HOPE and more. Tons of great projects are already being carried out by Compassion and their local church partners in Northeast Brazil, but by joining their efforts, an even bigger impact can be made.
March of Dimes
St. Jude
The Leighs are precious friends of ours, and are currently in the process of adopting two children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is outrageously expensive to adopt and no one deserves it more than this loving family. Please help them reach their goal and give those babies a home!
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has about 4.2 million orphan children due to significant poverty, death of one or more parents by HIV/AIDS, war and famine. It is quickly becoming recognized as a wonderful option for families looking to grow through adoption.
Our unique mission ...
… to find cures for children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases through research and treatment. And no family ever pays St. Jude for anything.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Ranked one of the best pediatric cancer hospitals in the country, St. Jude is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children.
Having a baby hospitalized in the NICU can be frightening, confusing and overwhelming. March of Dimes NICU Family Support is there for the families.
The program addresses the needs of parents, siblings, grandparents and extended family. We are there during a baby’s stay in the hospital, during the transition home, and we are there for families if their baby never makes it home.
Babies shouldn’t have to fight for their lives. But, with your help, we can provide comfort and information to families in crisis.
In response to the Great Commission, Compassion International exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults.
In a world where more than a billion children live on less than U.S.$2 per day, connecting one child with one sponsor is the most strategic way to end child poverty. Through monthly gifts, prayer and letter writing, sponsors invest in the lives of children living in extreme poverty. This relationship communicates, “You are an important little person!”.
Compassion International