Broken Hearts Made Whole

Tomorrow at 9:30am Ontario time, my mom will be sharing on television about Hope's story.  It's on CTS here, not sure what channel that will be for each of you, but it's 51 at our house.  I believe it will air at 9:30am here as well, but I'm recording all morning just in case.  I'm looking forward to watching it when I get home from the hospital.  Please join me in praying that her story not only draws people closer to the Lord and gets them on their knees, but that it raises awareness for organ donation and that it floods the gates of Heaven with prayers for a heart for Hope.

Today was a day I have been dreading.  It was the first day of training for the run with Heart Beats in October.  The last time I ran, was for the run last October!  Seven months later, I've begun to run again to work towards my goal of running the entire 5 km without needing to walk.  As we get closer, I'll post a link for anyone that would like to sponsor a runner on our team.  If you're interested in running, let me know and I can send you the info to sign up for the 5 or 10 km run or the walks.  My faithful running buddy arrived this morning and I dragged myself outside.  It was honestly not as horrible as I had anticipated.  The last 10 minutes were much harder than the first, but I have survived and I'm truly looking forward to the exercise and the time it gives me to chat with friends as we run.  Last year we ran as team Hope Holly Lincoln.  We plan to have the same name this year and run for the 3 babies that started this journey together.  I was thinking our team t-shirts should say, "Running for broken hearts made whole" or something to that effect.  We know that Lincoln's broken heart was made whole in Heaven.  Holly's 1/2 heart was made whole when she received her transplant last August, and we await that day that Hope's 1/2 heart will become a whole.  We pray that is here on earth, but know that Jesus will give her a perfect heart in Heaven, even if not here on earth.

I had an amazing afternoon cuddling Hope and looking into her beautiful face.  I was struck by how amazing our God is today.  Hope was created with only 1/2 her heart, but there were also people created with incredible brains that found ways to surgically keep a child with 1/2 a heart alive.  That absolutely amazed me today.  I looked down at my precious girl and imagined a heart 1/2 the size it's supposed to be and yet working overtime to keep her organs running and her body alive.  It's simply a miracle and absolutely incredible to witness.  Every heart beat is a miracle and I choose to celebrate each one.

Hope was getting a bit warmer as the day progressed and I'm worried she may develop a fever overnight.  Shawn noticed that her heart rate was a bit higher as we headed out for the day and we are hoping it's nothing.  Please join us in praying against infection.  Our cardiologist is wonderful and told me this morning that he overruled the decision to lower Hope's heart meds at this point.  They may consider it in a few days, but he felt she still needed the higher dose and I couldn't agree more.

My mom arrives tomorrow night, she flies out after her interview.  Over the next week my entire family will slowly arrive in Calgary.  We had hoped to go on a family vacation this year, it's the only time we're all together.  With Hope's serious condition, it was clearly not an option and they've all chosen to come here so we can be together.  I keep telling Shawn that once they all arrive, both our entire families will be in the same city.  Could there be a more perfect time to receive the call that a heart was found for Hope?  Last night I had a dream that the call came when our house was full of people.  I could only make out the face of one friend, but perhaps the rest were family.  I was amazed that as I grabbed my things to rush to Edmonton in my dream, I felt total and complete peace.  Lord, give us your peace until you give Hope a heart that is no longer broken.