I want to start out by saying that I normally don't send out massive links/letters for financial support. I will pass along prayer requests anytime but raising money is different. Ken and I have decided that we both feel pressed to help this family.
Jodie and Jesse have touched our lives with their ability to turn a tragedy into something meaningful. There are many days that I read what they are doing to remember the life of their baby boy and I just cry because I am so touched and amazed. Ken and I almost lost Luke several times and I am sure that we would not have handled it with as much grace, strength, and inspiration as Jodie and Jesse. Many times I read the words that are written and think "this could have been our heartbreak very easily. One single moment and a turn for the worse and we could have been writing how we lost Luke."
The reason that I am writing this letter is because we want to help them get to Las Vegas! I know what you are thinking- Las Vegas, why would they need a fund raiser to go to Vegas! Their son's medical case was going to be presented in Nashville, TN in June at the Opryland Hotel. The flooding has changed those plans and it is now going to be in Vegas. Jodie and James were going to go to Nashville since it would be easy to drive but now they are not able to go due to limited income! (Ken and I understand because we too are a one-income family!). The AWHONN Conference is scheduled for the last weekend of September and they will present Eli's case and use his story to educate others.
Jodie, Jesse, and Walker (Eli's twin brother) could use this trip as a much needed vacation but also get to see their son's short life being used for a purpose. In one of Jodie's blogs she wrote:
We accepted Eli for what we 'thought' was to come. But even when it wasn't what we were told, we accepted that he was created for a reason. And one of the last things I told Eli as I held him in my arms was to 'come back to me', meaning I wanted to know he was alive in that other baby (they did ARORA). I wanted to know he was serving his purpose.
Jodie and Jesse have done many things to make Eli's short life have a purpose including:
1. Donating to ARORA
2. Team Eli- To educate Spina Bifida Awareness & Organ Donation
3. Project E.L.I. Documentary to be released Summer 2010.
4. Eli's Garden of Hope & Dreams-- for I CAN! Dance Arts & Resource Center
5. did an interview with KARK
and much more.........
Any amount would be appreciated. We hope to raise enough to be able to purchase plane tickets and hotel rooms for them. I would love to have it all together by the end of July. Pray about it and see where God leads you!
Thanks!
Rachel and Ken Barnes
raebarnes@hotmail.com
Here are the links to read about their story:
http://mcginleybabyjourneystory.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-it-all-began.html
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/note.php?note_id=102012769842079
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