You kept asking why.
Why would we show up?
Why would we choose to walk alongside a family navigating pediatric cancer?
Why would we purposefully step into something hard?
Why would we spend a week serving up tacos, BBQ and Famous Amos cookies?
Why would we spend seven days blowing up floats, making bracelets and raising beach umbrellas?
Why would we do laundry for strangers?
Wouldn’t Disney have been more fun?
My answer? Disney’s got nothing on Blue Skies!
Serving your families was my great pleasure.
I got to attend my first red carpet event.
I got to get to know celebrities with gold stars on the Blue Skies walk of fame.
I got to line dance wearing a bandanna and a cowboy hat.
I got to hold babies, hug necks, and watch sunsets.
I got to talk books with an extraordinarily brave 21 year old.
I got to worship next to dads who carry their faith like a sword and shield for their families.
I got to dig my feet in the sand and have long talks under the Florida sun with warrior mommas.
I got to play “baby shark” in the pool with squealing small people.
I got to cheer my heart out while siblings were given permission to call themselves heroes too.
I got to watch hope filled, blue balloons lift-up and away into the sky.
I got to be amongst heroes with PICC lines, feeding tubes, braces, MRI appointments and chemo schedules.
I got to help kids be kids and families be families.
It was my great pleasure.
You inspired me.
You blessed me.
You reminded me to live 24 hours at a time.
You gave me perspective.
Your faith renewed my own.
You demonstrated the gift of vulnerability, the power of connection, and the healing power of a giggle.
You gave us a darn good excuse to throw our very own parade!
It was my great pleasure.
So why did we show up to serve?
Because we believe that above every layer of clouds is a bright, blue sky.
Because God’s placed a banner of love over us, and He nudges us to invite others to stand under it too.
Because we long to serve in a way that matters, soul to soul.
Because we like to walk among heroes, tall and tiny.
Because, though our stories are different, we’ve been loved on during hard seasons, and we want to pay some of that love forward.
Because we know the sweetness of both giving and receiving.
It was our great pleasure.
Thank you, new friends. That you’d be willing to share your stories, your kids, and your time was a gift to us. Thank you for breaking bread, singing karaoke, fishing, and building sandcastles with us. Thanks for letting us celebrate you, pray over you, and laugh with you.
Now that we are all back home, we can no longer actually hold hands and circle up, but we’re still all under that same blue sky. Though we’ve left Port Saint Joe, know that we remain circled around you cheering you on like crazy people. Our whole team of volunteers is with you and for you. And until we hear that the cloud of pediatric cancer has passed, those of us who were blessed to serve you will keep right on praying.
Best week ever! Courage, dear hearts.
(Sorry to all the many amazing volunteers that I am missing!)______________________________________________________________________
To follow along with the work of Blue Skies Ministries, follow them on Facebook and Instagram. Better yet, find out how to volunteer or donate on their website.
“Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine,
even the least of them, you did it to Me.”
You and all who volunteered have made an eternal difference in the lives of all you
served. Thank you for sharing your story of how the week had such far reaching implications as you spread the joy and love of Christ. Keep smiling- You made a difference…