A Crummy Day Turned Right

At the little get together with the Harrisville ladies from the post below, they presented me with the hats to donate as Help A-Head.  What an honor!  I thought a lot about who should receive these hats.  Days went by with the hats sitting in the back of my car.  Then a crummy day came.  You know, one of those days that everything goes irritatingly wrong.  I love my two children, but well, they are children, so when my husband got home from work I said "see ya!" and I was off to get some errands done by myself.

I got in my car and thought, hmmm... no kids, hats in the back of my car, perfect time to get the donation completed just in time for cooler weather to hit!  I thought again of where I should donate them and Ogden Regional came to my mind, so I acted.

I dropped the hats off to a very kind gentlemen by the name of Craig.  He was so appreciative!  It was absolutely a delightful experience.  He took some pictures and notes from me to add to their blog.   Another honor!  (see the article here: http://blog.ogdenregional.com/2012/08/31/hats-off-for-helpers/) I feel like I can't take much credit though, it was the wonderful Harrisville ladies that did all the work!  They deserve to be recognized and honored!

Well, I walked away from that experience in a COMPLETELY different mood.  It was exactly what I needed and I left feeling so blessed to be able to give these hats away.  It's hard to describe the feelings I felt that day.  As I drove I contemplated on service and giving and how it truly can change lives.  President Thomas S. Monson says it best:

"The Savior taught His disciples, 'For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it' (Luke 9:24).

"I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives."

Yes, this is a very important key to life in deed.  And I am so grateful I got to embark in an act of service on this very day. It changed the course of my day and isn't that what dictates where we end up, little "course corrections" sending us up on onward to our final destination.  I feel very grateful indeed...

At Ogden Regional Medical Center donating hats

100 Hats in 100 Days...

Back in April I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to an amazing group of women, who just happened to be my sister Natalie's Relief Society group in Harrisville, UT.  I was accompanied by my talented mother-in-law Janet Varble.  We came to teach some to crochet and brought cute hat patterns for other experienced crocheters to have fun with.  I got to tell them my story of Malinda and Help A-Head and how it has impacted my life.  It was a really awesome experience for me to share my story.  I hope it touched them as well. Then the crocheting began!  It was a lot of fun :).

It was the intention all along to make hats to donate to cancer patients.  They too have women in their Relief Society who have suffered from cancer, so I know they wanted to honor them with this project.  Well, a couple weeks later I got word that they had decided to set a goal... 100 hats in 100 days!  This would set them to be finished around the second week of August.  My heart was filled with pure joy at the news!  To see something that little ol' me sparked take fire was truly touching to my soul.  Tears filled my eyes as I thought of the impact this would have on even more people!

I got periodic updates from my sister.  They were fervently working to reach their goal.  A line was set up stretching across the Relief Society room at church where clothes pinned hats were hung as they got completed.  How fun!

Their deadline came and can I tell you, they did not get 100 hats... they ended with 165!!  Wahoo!!  Way to go ladies!!  What an accomplishment!  They had a little get together and I got to see them all.  These hats were absolutely adorable!  I seriously wanted to take them home.  See for yourself!

Thank you to all those who spent hours of their time to create such an amazing gift for so many deserving cancer patients!  I know it will not go unappreciated!!

The First Big Donation!

This gorgeous group of ladies are the young women from my church!  (left to right: Kristen, Leisl, Rachel, Natalie, Lacey, Tammy, Julie, me).  On February 28th the group above (minus a few girls that couldn't be there that day) donated 56 hand made hats to Ogden Regional's Cancer Treatment Facility!  Boy, am I proud of my girls!!   And I must mention my mother-in-law Janet who joined us in our venture and crocheted around a dozen hats for the donation.  I love being surrounded by so many wonderful ladies!

As I explained in my first post, I very much wanted to create an experience these girls would not forget.  And I believe it was a success.  We were able to take a tour of the cancer facility from detection to remission and everything in between.  It was amazing to walk through the process of what these brave people go through.  The best part was the end when we got to learn about the victory bell (in the picture above).  After the cancer is defeated, the patient, along with their families, gather to ring the victory bell!  I can only imagine the celebration!!

The girls also got some great education on how to take care of themselves to prevent cancers or other sicknesses.  It was exactly what I had hoped it would be for them and I am so grateful to those who took the time to meet with us!

You'll see the hats below made of loomed, crocheted and knitted hats.  Aren't they pretty?  Everyone's favorite was the monkey hat (top right) made by Janet, so cute!  I'll definitely be taking some lessons from her. :)

 Not only did they donate 56 hats, they also tied 9 adult size fleece blankets to add to the caboodle!  I also have to give a shout out other ladies in my church and Walmart for donating yarn and money for the hats and blankets.  This couldn't have happened with out them!

I have to say, the best part of all of this was knowing that our hats and blankets will help others to feel warm and loved.  There is truly no greater feeling in the world than giving of your time and talents :D.  I pray that those who receive these gifts will feel of the undying love of a God and Savior in heaven who truly is the most amazing healer of all!

A Gift to Malinda

I was able to crochet a this hat (I am the model :) and write a letter to Malinda about the amazing inspiration she has been to me.  She responded back saying how much she LOVED the hat.  She said it makes her feel pretty when she wears it and stylish as she walks the hospital halls.  When I heard that, tears nearly fell.  It is my deepest desire that the hats from Help A-Head will come with a message.  The message is one of peace, comfort and the love of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I also hope that the hats will help the recipients feel pretty, special and important.  Every woman deserves to feel pretty and beautiful with exactly who they are.  And every man deserves to feel loved and important.  I couldn't have hoped for a better response from Malinda than that, for her to feel pretty and loved! :)

The Beginning...

December 1, 2011 I received a knock on my door.  It was the father of a resident at the apartment complex I manage.  He was turning in the rent for his daughter, Malinda.  Just two short months earlier, Malinda had learned of the growing cancers inside of her.  Things took a down swing very quickly.  She soon had to quit her job due to the disease and her parents had moved in to assist her with every day life. 

As I took the rent, I asked Malinda's father how she was doing.  The image I saw next will forever be burned into my memory.  It was the tender look of a loving and very concerned father as he replied "not good".   He quickly left and I closed my door. 

I need to back up a little.  Along with managing apartments,  I am one of the leaders of the teen girls at my church.   Over the month before I had been searching for a project that I could orchestrate with them.  When I was a young girl I had a church leader who taught me to crochet.  We made little, sometimes oddly shaped, hot pads or pot holders, sold them to our friends and neighbors and used the money to buy scriptures.  We wrote our testimonies of Jesus Christ in them, and sent them to Russia.  It is one of the most memorable service projects I have as a youth.  I wanted to find something that my girls could think back on and have the same tender feelings as I do about this experience.

Fast forward.  The moment I closed the door after the brief encounter, something deep inside me stirred.  I wanted to be able to do something more than just pray for Malinda, a thought that had been returning to me often over the time I learned of Malinda's condition.  I NEEDED to do something more!

And then it hit me. I could make hats for cancer patients!  I could crochet hats and my girls could loom hats (a little easier than crocheting :).  It felt as thought the inspiration had surged through my body, coming so clearly and so profoundly that I knew where it had come from. 

I made the necessary phone calls and found that this was indeed a great need at a hospital just a block away from my home.  Not only would we be able to make these hats, but we would also be able to deliver the items to the directer of the cancer department and we would be able to take a tour of the facility.  It would be an amazing experience for my girls as well as beautiful gifts for the recipients of the hats.  I couldn't wait to share the news with my girls!!  I knew this was going to be something they would never forget!

The next day the "next level", if you will, to this inspiration was born.  I couldn't stop thinking about this new found project.  I was in my bathroom getting ready for the day, thinking through the details of all that would be required to execute this plan and another thought entered my mind.  I could make hats for cancer patients all the time.  I could make an organization out of it.  I could call it Help A-Head!  Huh... I thought.  That's pretty clever!  Like there's help ahead and I'll also be helping heads! I instantly loved it!  

I thought of all the Extreme Makeover Home Edition episodes I've watched (my favorite TV show) and how inspiring it is to watch people just like me reach out with what they have and really make a difference in the lives of others.  I've often thought that I would love to do more, but never really knew where to start.  As the idea of Help A-Head was birthed, I felt like I could finally do something with the gifts and talents I had been given to bless the lives of so many others.  I think sometimes we think we have to have a lot of money or other resources in order to do big things.  But in reality, I've learned that we've been given all we need to fulfill our purpose here and to make a big difference in this world.  We just have to tap into it!

I felt so liberated!  I had discovered something that was in line with my divine path, something that I knew was inspired, and it felt so good!  It still feels amazing!

I don't know where this idea will lead, but I know that God uses those who are willing.  Right now I am ready and willing.  Maybe this will stay with little me, and maybe it will grow into something much bigger.  Either way is fine with me.  My goal now is to use this to inspire others to share their gifts and talents and to tap into their divine path to create amazing change in this world!

The delivery of the hats with my girls is scheduled for the last week of February.  I will definitely post when this first project in Help A-Head is complete. :)