Burgers 4 Babies Update

UPDATE: THANKS so much to those of you who have ordered Pixie Dots Jewelry or Rodan + Fields Dermatologist Skincare from me this month (where my commission will go to NICU Helping Hands) Currently Team Gramkow has $1000 pledged for our table at Burgers 4 Babies! Only $2000 more to go! And I wanted to let you know that you may now donate online via the NICU Helping Hands Web site, if you feel led.

1. Go to http://www.nicuhelpinghands.org

2. Click on the DONATE button along the top.

3. There you will be able to enter an amount, and you can pay via paypal or with a credit card.

5. And please email me at mandysue@gmail.com and let me know if you made a donation, so I can double check NHH received it! I guess there isn't a way to indicate in a comments section to donate toward Team Gramkow, so do e-mail me so we can be on the lookout!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for even considering donating! And P.S. Notice the cute family on the NICU Helping Hands page??? :) We love our Beckett!

Love,

The Gramkows

Tax Day: SO THANKFUL!

Tax Day: A day I will never complain about. Team Gramkow will forever be grateful to you, fellow TAXPAYERS, in helping pay for both Ellie and Beckett's medical costs while they were in the NICU. They both qualified for the federal government low-birth weight program (because they weighed less than 2 lbs. 10 oz.), which automatically qualified each of them for Medicaid while they were in the NICU. And although, unfortunately the Medicaid system sometimes gets abused, I want you to know there ARE those of us who are FOREVER grateful for these programs. We could NOT have made it through both our premature birth medical expenses with out this financial assistance from our TAXES. Your TAXES! So thank you for supporting Team Gramkow in this way. So. So. Thankful.

God can meet you even at the kitchen sink...

I love blogging, it causes me to write, sit and reflect and see the good work that the Lord has done in our lives. Actually I think my time at Jardine really helped me take the time to reflect in every area of my life. After talking about Burgers4Babies fundraising last night, and our efforts to support NICU Helping Hands, I can't help but just be so THANKFUL for the ways in which God gave us TWO miracles. And you got to see it too. You experienced this right along side us.

I couldn't agree more with what one of my bestie preemie mama friends, Robyn said. "I actually want to trade my extraordinary miracle birth experience with "normal". Really, it doesn't make sense at all. I mean God shows His glory through either experience. But I KNOW my relationship with Him is different, better, and deeper because of what He chose for me. And that is better."  (Read her full post here!) And it depends on the day...I will always long to know what a normal birth experience is like, but you know what...some of us in this life just don't get to experience the expected. And that is ok. GOD is healing my heart for that to be ok. I don't need that reason for me to be thankful for His work in my life.

So I'm washing dishes at the kitchen sink today. Ellie was done eating, I got Davis cleaned up, got Beckett cleaned up and let them play while I finished cleaning our lunch dishes. And we start listening to Pandora to some Contemporary Christian music. And as I'm washing, the song 10,000 reasons comes on. (Now, I'm a little behind on my worship music due to the large amount of toddler tunes and Awana music that my 4-year old prefers) I hadn't heard this song before. It's probably old, now that I bring it up. Well, regardless. I love how God meets me through worship. Some of my closest times praising Jesus was in college through singing.

But it just brought me to tears. Have you really listened to the lyrics?
 Here is the song on YouTube

"10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)"

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore

__________

God can meet you even at the kitchen sink...

and there I realized I definitely have 10,000 reasons to SING LIKE NEVER BEFORE.

And no matter what the frustration, the hard times,  the unmet expectation for my kids..
You know what?

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again.

Jesus, thank you so much for putting Ellie and Beckett on loan to Ben and I. We are forever grateful, and may we always SING like never before until we meet you one day in Heaven.