March of Dimes

I'm so bummed as I write this that we didn't take any pictures today! I've been excited to write this post for a few days leading up to this morning and was planning on taking a bunch of pictures to document what we did - but lo and behold, no pictures of us :( By the time I realized it, it was too late! But enough about regrets... let me tell you what we were able to be a part of today!

My Life Group has been wanting to volunteer more often and do things in the community, and so my friend Zack found out about this 2 mile walk called March of Dimes, that benefits babies who are born premature. We joined teams with Bank of Oklahoma and all met up at the OKC Fairgrounds this morning. Here's what the funds go to:

where your money goes 

The money you raise in March for Babies is used to fund important research and programs 

that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it helps us 

provide information and support to families whose baby was born too soon, or sick. 

It was so humbling to walk alongside others who had t-shirts on that said "In memory of ...... " and you knew it was for a precious baby that they grew to love. Some shirts had weights on them. For example, "In memory of Amelia. 4 lbs, 3 ozs, 19 in" and it broke my heart to imagine the hurt and loss those people had. 

Checking out the website more, I stumbled up on "Share your story" with this description: 

Parents love to talk about the trials and tribulations of having and raising kids. Unfortunately, it often isn't easy for the parents whose children were born prematurely, with a birth defect or who have suffered infant loss to find other parents who understand. That's why the March of Dimes created Share Your Story , an online community to support the parents so closely touched by our mission. The site provides parents with a place to share invaluable information, encouragement and support. 

It also brought to mind a special baby, whose family I knew growing up. I babysat for the family's other three kids, but their 4th little baby girl was born premature and struggled to survive for months. Her's is a happy story- in that she survived and is a blessing to her family- but I know there were months, even years, that were very difficult because of her premature birth. Whether it was feeding tubes or hundreds of doctor visits, I saw with my own eyes how much of a toll it takes on families. But those babies are SO PRECIOUS and SO WORTH IT, and it was a wonderful morning this morning, marching to support this cause!

Also, I loved marching with Jake and our other friends, and look forward to the many other volunteer days we will share together! There's nothing like serving alongside friends and having a common purpose to do so!

We finished the morning with BIG TRUCK TACOs!!! (one of our favorite local stops) and as always, it didn't disappoint!

*****

Also I wanted to let you know that for my April donation, I decided to give to

 

There's just something about giving to what you participate in. Seeing those families marching for the babies they lost just made my decision all the more easier. What a blessing to have doctors studying and researching to give babies healthier lives!