grace led in life: Courage over fear

Isla is heading into her 13th surgery on February 29th. Her body has grown so much (SO THANKFUL FOR GROWTH! So good!!!) with all the growth, she really needs this next surgery...it is time. Without even understanding it being surgery time, Isla has been asking daily if she has to go on an airplane to the hospital. Her brain is responding to her body's pain. She just knows. We will be headed to Philadelphia for Isla to have her next VEPTR expansion at Children's Hosptial of Philadelphia.

I want to honor Isla and her story being just that...hers. So, I am cautious what I share, but I will say that this year has been one of her hardest mentally and emotionally on top of the physical challenges she experiences. There are so many details to her story... Isla is recognizing physical and neurodivergent differences. It has been a lot for her to process and she is struggling with it. She is a WARRIOR in every sense of the word. Anxiety runs very high for her every day. She has been SO brave and having to do a lot of things, even when she feels afraid or frustrated. Would you please join us in praying for Isla - for wisdom on what are the best ways to support her, for continued clarity and movement forward with her medical teams/therapists/schools, and for her to have so many moments of pure joy and peace in each day. We try our best to give her many sweet moments to build memories of hope, joy, and peace even when many days are hard.
She is so brave, courageous, and strong!

Isla LOVES to be matching or dress up together - it's definitely one of her love languages in this season. On any given day, Isla can be seen in at least 5-10 different outfits throughout the day - generally princess dresses, but any item of clothing that can be matching makes her smile so big.
Some of you may remember, we had designed some t-shirts to be a visual support for Isla and a reminder to pray for her. We are going to open up the shop of our past Hope for Isla shirts and there is a NEW design is added to the shop! We would LOVE your help in spreading the word about these shirts!
The first batch of ordering will close by Feb 1. (you can order after this, but shipping/delivery may not arrive by surgery day).
We would love your help to share this campaign... let's get many people wearing these shirts for Isla!
It is so incredible to wear these shirts to show support to Isla, to spread awareness for Jarcho-Levin Syndrome, and they are also a great reminder to pray for Isla, is so important! Let's help Isla not feel alone in her journey!

All FOUR designs in the shop!

The NEW design - BRIGHT HOPE FOR TOMORROW

Here is the description of this new shirt design -

Isla is about to have her 13th surgery. She is a warrior, and this past year has been one of her hardest in many ways. We pray for her to feel HOPE, JOY, and PEACE as she so bravely faces all that she does day to day. Romans 15:13 has been a verse that we have been praying over Isla's life since before she even came home. May the God of HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit. The words HOPE, JOY, and PEACE come from that Bible verse.

The sunshine image is inspired by the lyrics from the hymn - Great is thy faithfulness. "Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow". We are so grateful for the strength that the Lord gives... we need it, and we know, with him, we can always be living with hope. The complex trauma that Isla

continues to face and the challenges that she is facing on a daily basis, really have been so heavy for Isla and our family as a whole, too. We love Isla's bright sunshine joy and want to continue to advocate and encourage her every step of the way, so she can experience those sunshine moments. Love our girl and so greatly appreciate all the support and love sent her way. Please pray for Isla and our family.

CLICK HERE FOR THE HOPE FOR ISLA SHIRT SHOP