CHASE Day Family Fun!

Your stories keep coming in and I love reading each and every one. We have heard about so many wonderful acts of kindness...everything from buying groceries for men in the military, to sending handwritten thank-you's or anonymous treats to people who don't expect it. Whether you were taking food to shut-ins, new moms, the homeless, your coworkers, or your child's teacher, you were being the hands and feet of Jesus. Oh, how inspired we are by all of you! And, more importantly, how glorifying this is to our God!

And like so many of you have said, it makes me want to be more intentional about reaching out to others on any regular old day.

In fact, we plan to borrow some of your ideas, as well as continue some of the things we did last week. All the little ways of thinking of others definitely need to "stick" in our family from now on.

One idea we had read in Kurt Warner's book "First Things First" was to decide as a family on someone to bless with a surprise meal when you're out to eat. This isn't an all-new idea, but it's certainly one that we've never done! We did this last week at Outback, as we watched an older gentleman eat his steak alone. I wish you could have seen the look on the faces of our girls, as they got increasingly excited about surprising this guy. I really think we walked by his table at least 8 times. (John and Cheri, he was truly a "Papa"...and we smiled as we thought of him.)

So, that was definitely something we have decided to do more often. It was a great way to have fun as a family, as we watched the blessing be handed to someone else. Something so simple. Yet, we've so easily forgotten and paid attention only to our own {usually crazy} mealtime...until now.

Another "first" for us was making and handing out "food packs" to homeless men or women we pass on the street.

Embarrassingly, this is something I've intended to do for months and months. We finally did it. And, I was in tears as I watched my husband bless these men like I never could have done. They were given food, but were also given encouragement. They were prayed with and talked to like they were real people. I'll be honest--this is not my strength. I never know what to do or say to help homeless people, and I was just so taken back by how easily Mark ministered to the people we met.

And, the girls have still not forgotten their names...or forgotten to pray for them. Once again, I learn another lesson from my children...and my husband. :)

I don't want to stop doing that either. We now have a box of meal packs in the back of the car. And, Carlie is constantly looking for someone to hand them to. (Even people who aren't homeless. :)

That has been my favorite part by far of CHASE Day...seeing my kids get excited about serving and surprising others. They planned quite a few ways to bless their friends, including surprise packages in the mail, surprise "door dropoffs" (which was HIGHLY exciting, as you can see here...)

and even a kidnapping. :)

Emily called me at the beginning of the week, and wanted to share an idea she had for Chase Day. She wanted to have a balloon release, but write on the balloons first, so Chase got birthday messages from all of us. I loved the idea, of course. So, we kidnapped Blake, Emily, and Ellie for a surprise balloon release and message writing party. It was SO sweet. Emily wrote "Dear Chase, I love you. This is the best day of my life."

She was SO excited and so sweet to think of this idea and do it with us. Way to go, Emily! I know Chase LOVED his balloons!

Another sweet group of kids did it up BIG for Chase Day too! The Sunshine School kids at the preschool where I worked for many years, and where many of my church friends attend also, made it CHASE Day for the whole preschool!

Each child brought $2, and gave one of those dollars to His Chase (which we collected over $400 from!!), and the other dollar went toward lunches for the homeless shelter in downtown. The kids decorated sandwich bags, lunch sacks, and made sandwiches for the people served by the shelter.

They also learned all about Africa in chapel, and prayed for the kids in Ghana. Oh my goodness....you already know where this is headed. Tears. I had more of them. Kids and their BIG hearts melt me. And, these sweet teachers who thought of this idea also melted me. Some of my best friends in the world. Thank you to all of you for making CHASE Day so special.

Here is the huge sign they made---isn't it cute!!

And, here is Kendyll setting up coffee and donuts for our FAVORITE teachers in the whole world!

It was such a Happy Chase Day at Sunshine School!

In the midst of all of this, we also spent time saying "thank you" to those who walked so closely beside us last year.

Mark and the girls got to surprise our amazingly gifted photographer, Amber, and deliver a little "thank you" to her house. I wish I could have been there, but I'm so glad the girls got to meet her, and show her Chase's video, which she was such a huge part of, since most of those pictures are hers!

We also brought treats to the Labor and Delivery nurses at my hospital to thank them for all the work they do!

(By the way, a total side story. The nurse kneeling down next to Carlie is the nurse who voluntarily heads up the Bereavement ministry of L&D. And, I ran into her in Canton the next day! I was looking at gift wrap and all of a sudden I hear "Excuse me, are you Chase's Mom?" Oh, those words were SO SWEET! I've never been asked that! I just smiled huge and said "YES, I am!!" Then, we talked for a while about how quickly the treats were eaten and how thankful we are for the work they do. It was such a little gift of a moment for me to be known as Chase's mommy. :)

Okay, that was a total tangent. We also brought a few copies of books to Marilyn, our sweet, sweet chaplain who cared for us SO well last year. We hope the books will bless other families for the journey they are on.

And, of course, we took treats to my doctor as well. It's always such a fun office to visit, and the girls enjoyed getting to see Dr. W and love on her for all that she does for us. We talked about how amazing it is that she delivered each of these girls so long ago!

While we were there, I also got to see "Chloe's Room", where families who have lost a baby can go and be comforted. I never visited last year, but my family spent time there. This is also where the sweetest people on earth leave keepsake things for the families. This is where Chase's blanket and hat came from....things I couldn't think of or pick out at the time. And, I'm SO glad Chloe's room had all that I needed.

One of Kendyll's good friends lost her baby sister two years ago, and has been donating little precious lovies ever since. Kendyll was so excited to see Ainsley's lovies when she walked in Chloe's Room!

And, we were excited to add a scripture canvas for those families who will be visiting this room in the future. Thanks to Laura and Angie, at Written On Your Heart, for designing the perfect canvas for these words of comfort.

Laura and Angie also designed a canvas that I gave my whole family and some close friends, that had one of the most significant verses for me through all of this. It was so nice to be able to say "thank you" with God's word for their homes. Thank you, girls, for making that happen for me!

By the way, look what ELSE they did for me!! :) I LOVE it!! It's already hanging!

Whew! After a full day, we got to see one more group of VERY special people...our family!

We had a fajita dinner at our house, with an "official" one year balloon launch in the yard.

Abby Kate even let her "#1" balloon go "up to Chase"! She picked this out at the store for him and called it "Chase is a Rock Star" balloon. I think she meant to say "All Star", but Rock Star sure was cute. :)

The kids planted Chase's Corner with new fall flowers, which involved alot of dirt throwing, of course!

These cousins are SO cute!!!

I did not get many pictures from the evening, but it was a wonderful, very relaxed night with our family. The perfect way to end CHASE day. :)