Oh, What a Night!

This past Thursday was A Blue Skies Christmas Concert with Christy Nockels and Kenn Kington. Salli Beasley and I were both husbandless for the night so we enjoyed treating our grown sons to a night on the town.I knew it would be a great event but the entire evening far exceeded all of my expectations.

Planning for the event began shortly after Christy Nockels and her family served at one of the retreats this past summer. I don't think any of the planners really knew what to expect in terms of how many people would attend, but the day before the concert, the venue was changed from a very large room to a huge sanctuary in order to accomodate the 700 people who reserved tickets. What a blessing!

If you have never heard Christy Nockels sing, you are missing out. Her voice is beautiful. The Christmas music and praise songs reached deep into my soul. Kenn Kington is billed as a comedian and a motivational speaker, but what you don't see on his internet resume, is that he is also the parent of a childhood cancer survivor....whose family, by the way, was served at a Blue Skies retreat. His dialogue was both heart-felt and humorous, giving those of us who haven't lived through pediatric cancer, a glimpse into the life of someone who has. He so beautifully painted the picture of the need these families have for a week of normal, or as he said, super-normal. Interspersed between the singing and the speaking were video slideshows of Blue Skies retreats. I recognized several faces!

I think one of the biggest highlights of the evening was when a precious child, a 10 year old survivor stood up and sang "Welcome to Our World." She truly had the voice of an angel. The concert ended with the children in the audience joining Christy in singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

Before and after the concert, I saw several fellow retreat volunteers as well as some guest families. Blue Skies truly is a family and this was a great family reunion. Of course, the goal of the evening was to raise awareness of what Blue Skies Ministries is all about and to fund the 2014 retreat season. I don't know how much money was raised but I pray that generous hearts and wallets overflowed!

I'm as fired up as ever for this ministry. If you think you might be interested in serving, please contact me. I would love to talk to you about it. There are plenty of ways to be a part of the fun. Stay tuned for details about a pajama party where we will make 2500 "night-night" notes for next years retreats! Until then...

 

 

Thankful

The 2013 Blue Skies retreat season ended a month and a half ago. Before it ended, plans were already underway for the 2014 season. Instead of six retreats, 2014 will offer eight weeks of beach fun for families of children with cancer.

In this Thanksgiving season, I am feeling thankful for the opportunities Blue Skies Ministries has given me to serve; to be the hands and feet of Christ; to connect with a community I never knew was out there; to be blessed by the families and the ministry of Blue Skies beyond measure.

On December 12, there will be a FREE concert by Christy Nockels and Kenn Kington. If you are unfamiliar with these performers, you can read about them here.

http://www.christynockels.com/  http://kennkington.com/

This is a FREE concert but you will need to reserve your tickets. Here is the information:

 

 

 

I hope you can come! It will be a great evening of entertainment and inspiration. Please go to the Blue Skies website to see how you can help with fulfilling wishes and dreams for the 2014 Blue Skies season. http://www.blueskiesministries.org/blue-skies-christmas/

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving! And remember to count your blessings in this season. 



Blue Skies Blues...Feeling Nostalgic

Tonight I am feeling Blue Skies nostalgic. The retreat season has come to an end for the 2013 year. I have no doubt that plans are already well underway for next summer...in fact I know they are. This year there were six weeks of Blue Skies fun; next year there will be eight. My goal is to attend two of them. I have already set some "goals" for myself for my time there next summer.

My biggest regret is that I didn't get to know the other volunteers and the other families as well as I wish I had. Since my week, I have many new facebook friends and have continued to follow the journeys of many of the families. I even had the opportunity to visit one of our families with some other Blue Skies volunteers. Six of us took a roadtrip to Ringgold, GA a couple of Saturdays ago. I can't tell you how much good it did my heart to connect and reconnect with my Blue Skies "family."

So  next summer I will be even more intentional about really connecting with more families and volunteers. Maybe it's a little like school nursing...took me a year to learn what a school nursing is really about. As much as it is about the day to day clinic visits, it's more importantly about the relationships I have with my students and their families.  Now that I know what a Blue Skies week is all about, I can focus on what is most important...also the relationships. It may be too late for a "do-over" of my first week there but there are plenty of new opportunities next summer.

Enough about regrets though. Let's talk about the positive changes after a Blue Skies retreat. The Blue Skies family has shown me the value of serving others. I wish I could say I've always been eager to "serve" but the truth is, I've been overly protective of my own time and money for way too long.  That is changing in me and it's truly been a heart change. Please be clear that I did not cause this change. Only God could do that. It feels good to give and to serve and I pray that God will continue to show me opportunities, big and small, on a daily basis.

Between now and next summer I will continue to "talk up" this fabulous ministery. I will continue to pray daily for the families I met.

 I made a poster for my clinic door that has been a GREAT conversation starter...to students and adults alike. I LOVE when someone asks me what the poster is about.

Blue Skies Nostalgia is real. It is an experience that never leaves you. More weeks next year means more need for volunteers. Please consider spending a life changing week being a Blue Skies volunteer.

Eat More Chicken!

Tuesday, September 17th is Blue Skies night at the West Cobb Chick-FIL-A. 10% of all sales between 5-8 p.m. will be donated to BlueSkies Ministries. Won't you join us for this great cause?

Moo!!! See you there!

The Perspective of a Blue Skies Guest Family

It's been a month since my time at Blue Skies and I still think about it...every single day. Yesterday, one of our guests for the week updated her Caringbridge site with a post about what Blue Skies meant to her and her family. With her permission, I am sharing it here with you. Lynn is a cancer patient and a mom to two young children. Blue Skies has always been a retreat for families of CHILDREN with cancer but the week that I volunteered, there were openings for two more families that were unfilled. This gave the organization an opportunity to extend the invitation to two adults suffering from cancer and their young children. After all, cancer affects the entire family, no matter who the patient is. How awesome that the organization took advantage of an opportunity to expand beyond their previously set boundaries to minister to even more people.

This is Lynn and her Blue Skies Family

And here is what Lynn had to say about her week!

"I wanted to spend some time telling you about my week at the beach courtesy of Blue Skies ministries. You can visit the Blue Skies web page at: http://www.blueskiesministries.org/ to get more information. They are a grass roots - little to no large corporate sponsorship group that is committed to giving families back some sanity during a very hard time. They primarily invite families of children with brain tumors or leukemia, but have been kind enough to invite a few families at each retreat where the parents are suffering from cancer. But it's all about the kids. About giving the cancer patients a fun week to forget about chemo, pain and suffering. About giving children whose parents are sick a week where it's all about them - what they love to do: play! It's about celebrating the siblings from families with sick kids. Giving them a whole week where it's about them, loving on them just as much as their sibling and reminding them how amazing they are. It's an amazing mission and that's exactly how most of the volunteers approach it. It's a mission trip for the whole family, although I would caution that you wait until your children are at least 7ish or older so they understand this is NOT their beach vacation but their "job" for a week.

You will work too. The amazing 120++ volunteers spend a week cooking, cleaning, loving, playing crazy games and did I mention loving us families? They come from Georgia and Alabama and Texas and come with or without a church group. They taught me more about the power of love, kindness and patience than I've learned anywhere. So how does it work?

Volunteers pay $600/person to volunteer. They live up to 3 families per condo for a week. They love it! The kids all spread out on sleeping bags and have an extended sleepover. Volunteers arrive a day earlier than families. When we arrived we were immediately introduced to our "host family". My host families were AMAZING. Karen Leonard and Allison Gruehn were fabulous. Allison is a survivor like me and her 2 kids were the perfect ages to play with Alex and Andrew. Karen and her girls could not have done more or been more gracious. It turns out that Allison's amazing husband, Chris, and I knew one another in middle school! That man put in more sweat equity that week than I swear Skip Gilcrease did! I never saw him when he hadn't been sweating in the Florida sun and didn't have somewhere he had to be in 10 minutes. And, oh yeah, he got the oil changed in my car so we wouldn't break down on the way home. Thank you doesn't begin to sound appropriate enough....

So yes, Blue Skies is a "ministry" so, of course, my Jesus radar was High when I arrived. We've discussed this before and I don't naturally worship like many in the South do. Which is to say I get a little nervous about offending people. I can honestly say I survived and walked away with a real respect with how so many of these volunteers can share their strength and belief in God in such a beautiful way. It is their belief that their God has been good to them and Blue Skies is a way in which they serve him and his desire to see us all help others that need it. I praise them to the highest. I left Blue Skies with so many more pray warriors and strength and love and Facebook friends. Again, I am humbled by all the good in people and how they are neither afraid or too busy to share it with me. For god sakes, they soaked my skanky beach feet in water and painted very same toes. Just because I have cancer. They showered me with gifts and reminded me how important I am to my family and how important my family is to curing me.

I was lodged in an amazing - I swear - luxurious condo with a view of the Gulf of Mexico. I was given a laundry basket for our dirty clothes even though we had our own washing machine and dryer. I told them: "are you crazy? I think I can handle this!" Then I forgot all about it doing it and took a vacation. We had our own "Sparkle team", who had to plunge the toilet my son plugged for the 400th time this summer (seriously? what is up with boys and toilet paper?!!), they cleaned our dishes and put them up from the dishwasher they took the kids' animals and we found them all over the condo doing the most hysterical and g-rated things! They fed us, lunch and dinner, with enthusiasm. We had a parade celebrating the mighty USA, we rode horses, we had a great beach party and we FORGOT ABOUT CANCER FOR A WEEK.

My kids each had a team of teenagers whose sole responsibly were to make sure they felt very important all week - Alex, needless to say, adapted quickly. She ate exactly one meal with us then ditched us for the table with all her new girlfriends. I watched as Harrison, boy wonder, teenager I hope my son becomes one day, kid who rolled on the grass with a kid one day and lead us all in worship on the guitar the next, made Andrew Wyatt feel welcome and one of his group. Andrew never had a chance to be a loner in the pool for long. He was immediately grabbed up into a game of tag, swim races, "master of the rubber ducky float". But it was all the kids we met. I could handle the waves for a just a while, so when I needed to go back in, I looked a young man next to me with a group of boys and asked them to swim and keep an eye on Andrew. Which they did. Then they came over and made sand castles along with someone's dad. Incredible. All of them. I never picked up my beach bag, I never carried anything other than my fabulous hat. My kids played biscuit beach tag and worked fearlessly to lead their Team Green to all kinds of victory in every silly summer camp game they played. I sat on my ass under a palm tree and read a whole book in one week. Divine.

I spent time with all the other family parents and with our fearless leader, Salli Beasley, a Mom whose fought through cancer with her college-age son, who helped us exorcise some serious demons. I learned that I am not alone, that we are all so very scared and that while I hate cancer at 45, I hate it even more at 2, 6, 10 and 13. That as long as I am 5 minutes from Children's and close to Egleston, I will be the servant of my Blue Skies families to be used as their second family. But that god we are a strong group. Everyone of us with all the shit life throws at us along with cancer - dads who couldn't handle the diagnosis and left their wives to deal with it alone. I met some amazing women that I gained so much strength from knowing everything that they were handling because they had no choice. And I pray for them that the world stops throwing shitty police men, pneumonia and bad men their way. I thank God that I have my amazing husband and all that he handles. I thank god for all of you. ALL OF YOU. (Okay, seriously crying in chemo room now).

I owe Blue Skies a debt that, like everything I've received, I can never repay. I want to hold Jennifer Gilcrease in a bear hug that reduces her to a puddle love on the floor. I want to go back and hug Clare, Harrison's sister again for being Alex's BFF, I want to hold Brayden on my lap again and wish him a long healthy life. I want to love on Rebecca's Mom Polly for telling me she thought I was incredible. I want to hang on a patio again with Erika and never have to get up until her baby girl no longer has her 8-year old tumor and I have hair. I want to hear Erika and Alyssa sing Jason Mraz's: "I Won't Give Up" and try to make it through the first line of the song without blubbering. So many gifts that will never be repaid but will be paid forward.

If you are moved by this amazing group, as I was, please consider helping. As I mentioned, they do approximately 8 weeks of retreats each year. They do it with no corporate sponsorship. If you or your company is in a position to help, this, unlike even Susan G. Komen, is a way to see a donation go immediately to the people that need it. Please consider helping.

You can get all their information at: http://www.blueskiesministries.org/ . Melinda Mayton, a full time peds oncology PA is the founder and goes on every retreat. She is a testament to all that say "I'm doing something about this shit." You can find a way to contact her on the website. You can learn how to volunteer and donate. Please consider doing what you can."

Thanks, Lynn for sharing about your experience. I'm ready to go again, how about y'all??? Will you join me?

It's Almost Time to Say Goodbye

Quick and early entry today before turn down, dinner and our end of the week slide show. Another great day, started with chapel, communion and 4 children who were baptized.

From there it was time for my final time with my Bluebirds. Look at these precious faces!

We had a wonderful afternoon with lunch at a restaurant on the beach followed by beach time...until the storms came in. Never saw a beach clear so fast! My boy Brayden had a blast in the water and then enjoyed some R&R sitting on the edge with his buddy Nolan. So sweet!

Now it is time to start the evening activities. It is sure to be an emotional night but hopefully one with lots of laughs too. Tomorrow morning we will have our balloon release and then it is time to hit the road. Can't tell you how appreciative I am of you following my journey with me. Once I am home and have had a chance to process everything, I will write a summary. For now, I will say my goodbyes and put my feet up for a while. They could use a rest! Until then, Blue Skies!

Less Martha, More Mary

There are no typical days at Blue Skies. Each day is different. Today was different. The families were gone (half in the morning and half in the afternoon) on a wonderful boating/snorkeling trip. That meant our morning started a little later. At our meeting we broke into groups to pray for our individual families. That is where the emotions of the week caught up with me. Sometimes when you have a minute to stop being "Martha" and have a chance to be "Mary," that happens. Don't get me wrong. Blues Skies is by no means a sad place, but these families are in extremely difficult situations and I feel that what I do here is temporary and just not enough. Prayer felt good.

After getting Brayden and his family off for their adventure, I cleaned and did laundry. I had a little down time this afternoon which was welcomed. Braydens mom said they had a "fabulous time." My new little buddy maintained his energy well enough to really enjoy the day! Here is a picture of him on the excursion.

Once they got back I spent some time racing cars with him before it was time for me to help with dinner duty for the night. The theme tonight was Red, White and Blue/Western. BBQ was delicious and the best part of the evening followed with the Blue Skies parade. We had some very special guests tonight at dinner and at our parade. A group of orphans from Uganda were in Port St. Joe. They are a talented group, a choir, that has come to the states sponsored by several different churches, to raise money for their orphanage. Melinda invited them to have dinner with us and to participate in our parade. Just before the parade started, they performed. What a treat it was to hear them!

The parade was a whole new level of cute. They decorate their bikes, golf carts and even the rolling luggage racks. The Port St. Joe police came and led the way with sirens and lights. They circled the fountain several times throwing candy at the bystanders. I told Brayden this morning about the parade and he asked me if it was for him. I told him that yes, it was all for him! He "drove" one of the golf carts (He's a crazy driver, just ask him!).

It's been a wonderful week. Tomorrow is our last day. The week has flown by. I really hope I can get a picture with each of my little "Bluebirds" tomorrow. It will be hard to say goodbye to these families and volunteers but I will worry about that tomorrow. Tonight it is time for some rest.

Sometimes, You Just have to be There

I'm going to work backwards today because I am still laughing about our LOL show tonight. The guest kids are invited to perform however they feel led. Some were sweet, some were just plain funny. The ones at the end of the show left me laughing so hard that the tears rolled down my face. Sometimes, the side show was as good as the show on stage...like the boy who went up randomly and enjoyed swinging the sword in front of the screen so that he could see his own shadow...while another guest was singing Taylor Swift.

It ended with a macho man frozen tee shirt contest. 4 grown men WRESTLING to thaw and dress in frozen tee shirts. You had to be there!

But, I think the best, was when a sweet girl named Hailey did a Bon Qui Qui impression...and nailed it!

 

 

Other than LOL I spent most of my day setting up and running the Mom's Spa. We treat them to two hours of pure relaxation and pampering.

 

 



 We ended the night on some great news...no meeting until 9:30! I'm sleeping in!!! My feet hurt and I could use the rest. It was a great day!

Belly Laughs

This morning started with our daily 8 a.m. meeting. Now, did I say before that these people have thought of every detail? Right down to the coffee! We have "Skip's Coffee Bar" upon entry to the meeting. I'm on board with that!

Thanks Skip! You are my morning hero!

From the meeting, we went to our first Chapel of the week. It truly is a beautiful and worshipful setting. Pictures don't do it justice (guess you'll just have to come down and try it out for yourself!)

The theme of the week for our messages is Ready, Set, Action.

After morning worship, it was time for our H20 groups. While parents attend "Kindred Journeys" the kids go to the activity group of their choice (chosen prior to arrival). I am helping with the "Bluebirds." They are the 5 and unders and there are 10 of them all together, the youngest is 8 weeks. They are cute, fun and active! We take them to the pool and we play and play. I am sooooo glad the pool is warm!  One in particular was having a few issues with my rules so I made him the "Sheriff" of the pool. Once he was in charge, he was on board! I really had fun and hopefully wore their little hineys out for their parents so they could have a good nap in the afternoon.

I'm getting to know my family a little better. Brayden's momma is suffering with a pinched nerve and her mom has come with her to help her out. He has a two year old brother who was in my Bluebird group this a.m. She really has her hands full and I hope that she is getting a chance to get some rest. Brayden had a great time fishing this morning. I was talking to him later on and was telling him about the "Sheriff." Well, he thought that was just the funniest thing and let out a big ole belly laugh...which in turn just made me laugh too. He's not the only one with a belly laugh. I hear it all over and it's just the happiest sound. I can't get enough of it.

Lunch was followed by "free time" for the families. The volunteers are encouraged to spend the time interacting with the families. Most of them were at the pool so that's where I spent my afternoon. I spent the time getting to know a few of the other families and a few of the other volunteers...the Blue Skies family.

 About 4:30, I headed into the condo for some cool down and rest, because soon it was time to get ready for Hoola by the Poola! I didn't take my camera to that because, well, it was a little wet down there but here are Salli and I, in costume and ready to go.

Another delicious dinner and then the games began. I chose to cheer rather than play but honestly, the best entertainment was Melinda and 3 small children, in the pool with water soakers. They would call people over and soak them...every time followed by the biggest belly laughs you could imagine. I took my turn and then sat back and belly laughed with them. Belly laughs are the best. Can't wait to hear some more tomorrow!

Day 1 - The Familes are Here!

First of all, Happy Father's Day! Here at Blue Skies, Father's Day started with a pancake breakfast. My condomate, Allison Gruehn, was up WAY before me as she was on the pancake cooking crew. I heard it was delicious (it's possible I may have missed it and ate my oatmeal instead). My sweet roommate, Salli Beasley, demonstrated her gift of encouragement with this sweet surprise on my bed this morning.

Thanks Salli. I have a lot to learn from you!

We started the day with our morning meeting. Our directors have been great about giving us the information we need without making me feel overwhelmed. Thanks for that guys!

From there, we went to the "green room" (because it's painted green!) to learn where to get our supplies for "turn down" each night. This room is where we go to get things we need for our rooms, our H2O groups, etc. This is only SOME of the supplies. The rest of the stuff is in the resource room.

After setting up our guest families rooms, it was time for lunch. Most days we will eat here at the condo with our guest families but today we were free to leave and do our own thing. After a quick stop for a picture, we had a delicious seafood lunch at the marina.

Once we got back it was time to wait for our families...and wait...and wait. Check in time was between 3 and 4 but my family didn't arrive until after 5. It was worth the wait. My little buddy is PRECIOUS! He has been sick more of his life than he has been well but he is happy, full of smiles and plays the best air guitar you have ever heard! Melinda personally takes every child on a golf cart ride when they get there, honking the horn and celebrating their arrival. Here is a picture of my fella! (whoops. Caught him with his eyes closed.) As luck would have it, he also has a broken leg. That's just not fair!

While we waited there were numerous activities including a huge jumpy house. It was HOT outside but the kids had fun anyway.

After my family got here I spent some time helping them unload and getting settled. Then it was time for our welcome party. It was all about celebrating your team spirit. The overwhelming majority were dressed in Auburn gear (War Eagle!), I was the only one sporting the GT apparel and Salli was repping Samford.

Everything around here is a party and meals are no exception. The tables are decorated beautifully and let me tell you, the food is ridiculously good AND abundant. The menu tonight was marinated grilled flank steak, salad, mac and cheese, rolls, baked potatoes, green beans and this amazing ice cream type pie. Yum!

After dinner we went down to the beach to watch the sunset and to release lanterns...only we couldn't release lanterns because the wind was blowing the wrong direction (which would have set the resort on fire). So instead, blue balloons were released. The sunset was gorgeous tonight!

 

 

Each night we will end with a short time of worship and thanks for the day. Tomorrow we start at 8:00. So happy to be here and so blessed to be able to be a part of such a great ministry. Thank you again for all of your support and prayers.