Giving to Others in Honor of Samuel

In the months since Samuel died, many of you have asked about making donations in Samuel's name.  Bryan and I have spent a lot of time thinking and praying about what we'd like to do and how we'd like to continually bless others through Samuel's life.  We have come up with a number of options.

1) You could help us raise enough money to fly a child and one parent from a third world country to the United States for life-saving heart surgery through Samaritan's Purse Children's Heart Project.
I love the idea of raising the $2200 needed to bring a child to the US and granting them life.  Something about life coming from death is so powerful and healing to me.
Watch a video (though be prepared to shed tears) and donate to Children's Heart Project here.  (It's Gift 3 --Buy an Airline Ticket to Save a Child's Life.)

2) You could donate to a ministry for orphaned street children in India.
Bryan and I both became very burdened for the street children of India after watching Slumdog Millionaire in March.  A couple of weeks later, we learned about Samuel's heart defects.  We both associate Samuel with this passion God has placed in our hearts, and we are hoping to have a life-long involvement in helping street children.
Donate to street children here. Type in "North India High Risk Children" for the Missionary or Project Name.

3) You could give blood in honor of Samuel.
One way in which Samuel really benefited from the generosity of others was through donated blood.  He received I don't know how many pints of blood products, and we became convinced of just how valuable the gift of blood is. 

4) You could donate to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
Egleston Children's Hospital is part of CHOA and is where Samuel spent his life.
Donate to CHOA here.

Doing any of these things would bless us richly.  If you do decide to give in one of these ways (And there is no obligation to do so.  We recognize that there are many, many quality ways to give your money and time and to bless others this holiday season), we would love to hear about it.  It brings us joy to know that good comes from Samuel's life and death.  It is healing every time we hear about Samuel's life touching and changing someone.  So please, let us know if you donate in any of these ways.

This Christmas our family has decided to remember and honor Samuel in numerous ways.  We decided to use the money we would have spent on Samuel's Christmas present to put something in his stocking.  We let Caleb and Joel each choose something through World Vision to give the Christmas money to.  Caleb chose to donate money to the Orphans and Widows fund, and Joel chose to buy 5 ducks for a needy family.  On Christmas morning, we will put a duck and something to symbolize orphans (any brilliant ideas??) in Samuel's stocking.  We have also decided to give to the orphans' home in India and toward a flight for a child's heart surgery.  (Notice we aren't planning to give blood.  Bryan has lots of stories as to why he will be refraining.  At one point he was even told not to donate again -- and it has nothing to do with the quality of his blood.  Sometime you should hear the stories.  They still make me laugh, and I've heard them many, many times. :) )  I am excited about these ways of blessing others through Samuel's life.  It is renewing to me to know that we can use our sorrow to help others and to bring something beautiful out of our brokenness.  I love that it's a small picture of what God has done over and over again in our lives.

Thank you for caring about our son.  Thank you for praying for our family.  Thank you for giving so kindly to us in these past few months.  We are grateful in more ways than we can express.