Gift.

Summer brings with it a bounty of pleasantries.

*

Amongst them, a summer school with six dear friends and the twenty-eight children we've birthed between us. At our planning session months ago, we dibbed the classes we most desired to teach (Jamica took cooking. Darn her!). Without any plan whatsoever, I told the ladies to write down 'SERVICE' as my topic. Little could I have imagined the path on which that word would lead.

*

I cut now to an excerpt from an email I sent to the Summer School friends on Thursday evening:

*

Dear Moms & Daughters,

*

Yesterday I sent you all an email with information about the service project I'd been trying to organize when I meet with the girls (7 of them, ages 6-11) on Monday. I'd been searching quite extensively for a local girl the age of our daughters for whom we could host a Bake Sale but had been unable to find someone, so eventually gave up and decided our efforts could raise funds for a worthy nonprofit.

*

Then.

*

All day Rebecca (my 9-year-old) had been asking if we could go to the Dollar Store. After an unexpectedly quick dentist appointment, we had a moment and decided to stop by. As we perused the aisles, we saw a mom and little girl. The girl had wisps of hair on her head and was wearing a hospital mask. Becca and I whispered to each other, wondering if this was a little sign of fate. We'd been looking for a girl who might benefit from our service, and perhaps there was one RIGHT HERE, walking the aisles of Dollar Tree. We mustered our courage and approached her mother, Mary, who was as kind as could be. She listened patiently to me mumbling off random details about the service project. We then exchanged numbers and I called her tonight to learn more about how our families can help her daughter, Abby.

*

Abby is 10-years-old. She was diagnosed with leukemia in January, and is now undergoing her second round of chemotherapy. She'd just begun her second round when we met her.

*

When I spoke with her mom, she said: We weren't even supposed to stop at the store. Abby's so susceptible to disease. But, while coming home after chemo this afternoon, she was so insistent. She just kept saying how much she needed to go to the Dollar Store...Maybe it was meant to be for us to all be in there at the same time... I absolutely believe that, too.

*

As we walked the aisles, and as we worked up the courage to talk to her mom (not wanting to frighten or overwhelm her) there was more than a desire to talk to them. There was an URGENCY. I think God wanted our seven little girls to find Abby. I share all of this with you in the hopes that you can share it with your daughters. I hope they feel the power of the Lord guiding us as we approach our time together on Monday. I feel very strongly that our little bake sale has now become a big opportunity to bless the life of a family who needs us so very much.

*

Won't it be wonderful?!

*
Since speaking with Mary, phrases from our conversation have echoed in the corridors of my mind. Among them this:

Me speaking, "I'm so sorry, I don't mean to assume you need money--"
*
"Oh! Please!" she cuts me off gently, weariness at the edge of her words, "We have cancer."
*
My heart broke, realizing the tremendous weight she must carry as the mother of a child heavy with sickness. How you'd want to fix it! How you'd want to take it! How you'd suffer as your child suffered through treatments and throw-ups and travails that only time can cure.
*
She said also, this: "I think it's a tremendous lesson that you are teaching your children. Did you see the way your daughter looked at you when you found the courage to approach us, to talk to us?"
*
"No," I said, a question hanging onto the end of my word.
*
She replied, "I did."
*
Yet, the lesson has not been from me. Last summer my cherubic sister, Holly encouraged my children to host a Lemonade stand, with all their earnings being donated to Free Wheelchair Mission. I snorted. Thought she was joking. The kids wavered. Worried. She stuck to her guns.
*
Two hours later, the kids and their cousins had waved and whistled and poured enough glasses to buy five wheelchairs for needy souls in underdeveloped countries. Well, oh well! If the ability to help and heal wasn't worlds better than a fistful of dollars! I feel tremendously thankful to my sister for the lesson she gave our family that day. A reminder of the gift that is giving. A lesson which has changed our hearts (and our lemonade stands) forever.
**
And on Monday, we will be blessed and honored to give away another lemonade stand.
*
To Abby.

PRAYERS 4 ABBY
Bake Sale & Lemonade Stand

Monday, June 8, 2009
9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
at the corner of Vickers & Rangewood

in Colorado Springs, CO

All proceeds benefit Abby.

www.prayers4abby.com

*

Abby's Bake Sale Cupcakes

If you're going to bake for a bake sale, shouldn't it be the most remarkable kind of treat? Something that screeches from the tables, "Buy me! Buy Me!" Something that, when put upon the tongue of the taster whispers, "You're gonna want another one..." thereby encouraging them (and their jingly nickels) back for more! more! more! These cupcakes are right up that alley. With sleek chocolate icing and a moist, dark center that will have chocoholics clicking their heels high in the air, they also come fully equipped with a few surprise flavors. Just enough to keep the masses coming back for more! more! more!

*

3 eggs

1/2 c. olive oil

3/4 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. white sugar

1/2 c. milk

1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

pinch of cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. baking powder*

1/2 c. Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

*

*double baking powder if you're below 5000+ feet altitude

Mix eggs, oil, sugars, and milk in a bowl until well beaten. Add remaining ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer just until incorporated. Spoon into 24 cupcake wrappers. Bake at 350 degrees for 24 minutes. Allow to cool then frost with Boo Baby Icing.

*

Chocolate Darling Icing

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 c. milk chocolate chips

1/4 c. Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder

2 T. milk

3-4 cups powdered sugar

*

In a medium saucepan, place milk, chocolate chips, cocoa powder and milk. Melt over medium heat, stirring constantly (it burns easily!). Bring to a boil, stir for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Using an electric mixer, beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until a soft, but slightly stiff consistency is reached. Frost cooled cupcakes immediately by scooping a large spoonful of the frosting atop and allowing it to smooth and settle around cupcake. Leave frosted cupcake in open air for about 30 minutes, giving frosting ample time to set.

Today's Challenge:

Join Team Abby.

*

This week, fire up your oven for Abby.

Gather your children,

your friends,

your neighbors.

Paint signs,

Paint faces,

Sell Lemonade.

Donate your profits.

Do good.

Then...

Send me a link to your post.

I will boast about you immensely.

*

Donations from your Bake Sale or

Lemonade Stand Festivities can be sent here:

Prayers For Abby
6660 Apricot Lane
Colorado Springs, CO 80918

*

And Now, My Thanks to You...

An exclusive sneak peak at

Nie's Chocolate Cake

arriving this Friday, right here at CwaC.

*

{How do we love Nie? Let us count the ways...}