Oh Lexi, there is so much I admire about you! As I reflected on a service opportunity to do for you this year, my mind went to the many things you have done in the name of service over the years. My service to you reminds me of when you were offered a scholarship from Down East to travel to Guatemala to serve those there.
I have a brother that lives in New Hampshire, and he and has wife adopted a baby 3 years ago and miraculously became pregnant just 2 months after adopting their son. Having 2 young children less than a year apart is very tiring. Add in that my younger nephew, who has several developmental delays such as cerebral palsy, hypotonia and cordial visual impairment to name a few. He still wakes up at least twice each night to feed from his bottle, and he is over two years old now. My brother and his wife are very exhausted taking care of his needs, as well as their very active 'all boy' 3 year old.
In May, my sister-in law took their boys to the park, and she fell and broke her foot. They live in a 2 story house and were very concerned how she would get around to take care of their family on crutches. My brother was going to hire a nanny during these first couple of weeks because there was no way they could get by now with her foot holding her back, as they are already exhausted beyond whatever I have ever felt before, and this is with 2 healthy feet. I decided to use this opportunity to fly out to New Hampshire with only a few days notice, bringing Alison with me for her first airplane trip, to help with the kids for a couple weeks. While there, I went straight to work: I took care of their home, making dinner each night, cleaning their home, fed Parker a bottle a few times, (he takes 30 minutes to finish a bottle) went grocery shopping several times, did all their dishes, and I babysat so my brother and his wife could have a few hours out of the house to themselves! I know from being a parent of a special needs child myself, it can be very difficult to find a babysitter willing to take on the extra challenge. They really appreciated this, as they have had a heavy load. They are actually moving to Utah next year, to be closer to family.
I hope you can feel my love for you in this service I did for another family member. I am so proud of all the humanitarian work and travel you have done, and this is just one small sample of travel/service I could do for one family in need. Merry Christmas Lexi!
I love it! Thank you Cindy!
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