BlogHer

Some of you may have noticed the new BlogHer ads that I have up on my blog now (in the top right corner). You may not have noticed it since the blog looks so messy, and is totally disorganized. Ugh. Trust me, this has been driving me ca-razy!! (coming from someone who tries to be organized at all times). I've been shopping around for a new template, but haven't found one yet (I'm also open to suggestions...I want something clean-er). Maybe I'll get around to it in the New Year...

 Anyway. I wanted to let you guys know that I decided to participate in their network (via invitation). I did it for a couple reasons, one being to continue to create awareness about Charge Syndrome, Moriah's Heart Defect (Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia and Multiple Aorto-Pulmonary Collateral Arteries), and Ventilator-Dependency.

But, the main reason is because the blog profits from the advertisements that are posted here when you click on them. Justin and I have decided that all the money made from this will go towards our funds for helping families of acutely or chronically sick children. After everything we have been through, we are passionate about wanting to give back and serve these families.

Speaking of which, I also wanted to give any of you the option to donate to our Christmas gifts that we are doing for the CVICU families at LPCH. Nothing big or fancy, but I wanted to do $10 Starbucks gift cards for 20 beds. Maybe something more depending on the funds that we have available.
Please do not feel pressured. This is only for those who want to contribute, knowing that many of you are our friends who have spent time at LPCH. I remember running over to the Starbuck across the street from the Ronald McDonald House, and savoring that treat before I headed over to be with Moriah in the CVICU. That cup of yummy coffee was my little treat before I went into what felt like a war zone.

Again, if you want to contribute, you can click on the image below and donate, designating the amount for "Packard Plant."



OR...

you can just click away on the ads =)

We are also open to suggestions of more things we can do to serve the families.
Thanks guys.

Love,
Victoria

CRC Thanksgiving Meal

Before I write about our own Thanksgiving, I wanted to share about how awesome the T-dinner at CRC was...

We have to give a big shout out to our local Whole Foods for making all the yummy food, and for making it even extra special for the families. I seriously love that place, and if I could, I would buy all my groceries from there. 

A quick pic of our own fam... I love how Moriah is looking at her Daddy and Jadon is looking at his Mommy. Okay enough of us. Introducing all the others now...

Mia's Family

Jackson's Family

James' Family

Makyla's Family

Juan's Family

Chatting it up

From our church, we had Pastor Jason and Laura, who are expecting their own bun pretty soon. Can't wait to meet you baby Helvie! =)

And we also had Brian, an elder at our church, and his beautiful wife, Nicole, helping us out. They pretty much saved the day since it was a little hectic for us trying to set up with our two crazy kids to take care of. Thank you guys so, so much!

As you can see, there was plenty of food for everyone, and the staff at CRC was able to enjoy the leftovers. 

Thank you all for praying, and contributing financially to help make this possible. This was the only Holiday celebration that the families were able to enjoy with their kids. You can see it was a very special night for everyone. 

Lots of love, 

the Nelsons

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. 

Psalm 9:1

Giving Thanks and Giving Back

This past month, we have been so fired up about being able to bless and serve other families with loved ones in the hospital. We were the humble recipients of your support while we were in the hospital so we know how appreciated it is during such a difficult time. You have no idea what a little note in the mail or a 5 dollar Starbucks card can do for someone in this situation!

Serving these families has become such a joy...and even a passion for us, and we want to do whatever we can to continue to help. In addition to providing care packages/cards for LPCH fams and doing the church services, Justin and I wanted to put on an early Thanksgiving dinner for the families at CRC this Saturday. Again, we understand what it's like to celebrate the holidays in a hospital...you are not home, you don't get to eat your mom's favorite home-cooked food...or you don't even get to see the rest of your family at all. And if you do leave, your heart feels incomplete because your child is left at the hospital. It's a pretty heart-wrenching situation...which is why we want to bring Thanksgiving dinner to them!!!

I wanted to throw it out there, in case any of you wanted to offer your help too.

We have contacted our local Whole Foods, and they will cater Turkey/Ham dinners for us at roughly $13/plate. We are estimating about 30 people to come.

The only way we have been able to bless these families is through all of your generous donations through the "JUST GIVE" button on our blog. It is located on the sidebar, and your donations must be designated for the "Packard Plant."

It always brings tears to my eyes to see such kindness and generosity for these families of children with acute and/or chronic illnesses.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for not only loving on us, but also for loving these families.

And thanks, especially, from a Mom who is thankful to have her baby home from the hospital but who wants to give back to those who are still there...

Church at CRC

Justin here...I want to thank everyone for the comments, emails and calls we have received from all of you.  The past month seemed so crazy with Moriah in the PICU, and so many reached out to keep us going. It's awesome.
Even though we haven't met many of you in person, Victoria and I consider you family.  There is something special when we walk alongside each other on this journey.
I wanted to give a heads up on what's been going on recently with our family.  Awhile back I shared about our family's desire to be apart of starting churches for families that are going through the same trials we are. God has been the only reason we have been able to remain sane, and His love for us just keeps us going.  We continue to get asked about how we get through the days as a family, and the only thing we are able to bring up is Jesus, and how His Message to the world has changed our lives.
Last week, God opened a door for a church to start at the Children's Recovery Center, the subacute facility that Moriah resided prior to coming home.  It was awesome.   According to the Bible, a church has more to do with the people.  In the Greek, church literally means the called.  I know I often think of church as a building, but in reality, it is the people of God, those who have put their faith in Jesus.
The goal of the church at CRC is pretty simple:
"¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end." - Hebrews 3:12-14
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” - John 13:35

We are gathering to encourage one another in God, to press on to put our hope in Him, knowing that His plans and purposes are greater than anything we can fathom. We appreciate all your prayers for these children and their families, and we are thankful that this will be a time for the families to come together and worship. God is moving. 

Much love. 

A Call to the Church

Justin here. As many of you know, a few months back we started a ministry that is dedicated to serving families of acutely and chronically ill children. The hope has been for these families to come to know the love that Jesus has for every one of them.

Victoria and I have been overwhelmed by your generosity. Many of you have made donations, and so I wanted to let you know where these funds have been allocated, and discuss the amazing opportunity the Lord has opened up.

We have been able to help families with various expenses, from meals to gas to Starbucks gift cards. We've also been able to purchase resources like devotionals to encourage families spiritually.

Additionally, the desire of this ministry is to fulfill a family's spiritual needs while in the hospital, and have the church meet them in the midst of their stressful, chaotic circumstances, knowing that they can't go very far...well, a door opened this week to do just that!

Moriah stayed in the Children's Recovery Center for almost a year. We left last October, but we still maintain relationships with many of the other families. Recently, I got a response from the Children's Recovery Center where I proposed having a church service for their families in the conference room of the facility. We would stream a live webcast from our church in downtown San Jose to the CRC. They approved it this week!!

So what does this mean? It means families won't need to go far from their kids to gather as the church. In fact, it will be just down the hall. Children on ventilators will be able to worship with their parents, with nursing close by. I cannot tell you how many times Victoria and I wished to do this with Moriah on Sunday mornings.

I'm amazed at what God is doing. Many of you have been praying, and it is simply a miracle that this is able to happen. With all that to say, I am making a request for people to:

1. Pray, Pray, Pray: The launch date is September 18th. Pray for a harvest...

We want to be a huge blessing to the CRC. Pray for us to be able to serve and meet the various needs of the patients, families, staff and the facility.

2. If you have a desire to give, there are a few immediate needs right now:

*We want to provide coffee, bagels, fruit, etc. for the families every Sunday Morning. It will allow us to hang out with families and get to know one another better.

*We have decided to donate $100/month to the Children's Recovery Center. If we could do more, that would be awesome.

*There are families that live far away from the Children's Recovery Center, yet their children still need to be at the facility. We are looking to provide resources to these families so they can be closer to their kids.

100% of the proceeds will go to the needs of the families. No one is getting paid to do this. If you would like to donate, simply click here or click the widget in the upper right corner of our blog called "Donate Now." Please remember to designate funds to "Packard Plant" to ensure the gifts will be given accordingly.

I continue to be in awe of what God is doing. Every person who has read this blog has meant so much to us. Your hearts are huge. We love you all.

To God be the Glory...

What A Handful

On Friday evening, Justin and I made a trip to Trader Joe's to buy items for Care Packages for 20 families in the CVICU. For some reason, ever since M was in the NICU, this became our "thing" to do whenever we wanted to be a support to families in the hospital (several of you have been the recipient of one of our TJ bags!). We just figure that you can't go wrong with Trader Joe's since they have yummy, high-quality, healthy snacks, and a lot of time when you're in the hospital, you get stuck eating junk - or not eating at all. When we were in the hospital with M, Hannah always made sure we had yummy snacks and meals to help nourish us and keep us going - I remember how much this meant to us!

Several shopping carts later, Justin made a trip to LPCH on Saturday morning and delivered the bags on behalf of City Church San Jose (so thank you to those of you who donated because there were 20 families who appreciated the nourishment to help keep them going!)

On Sunday, Uncle Jon and Auntie Vanessa made a visit on their way to San Francisco. We are so happy for this newly-engaged couple, and can't wait for them to get married. They are so cute...and so in love =)

And last but not least, this little chunk has been crawling everywhere (well, as far as the tubes will allow)

And has been pulling herself up to a stand every second she gets

But man oh man, has she been a handful! We can't turn our backs on her for one second because she's crawling too far for her tubes, becomes disconnected from her vent, or she is standing and doesn't have the core strength to balance herself. But, I guess that is what you get with a toddler on a vent...and that is exactly why we have home nursing!

It's completely worth it when you see the smile on her face because she is so proud of herself =)

Make an on-line slide show at http://www.onetruemedia.com/landing?&utm_source=emplay&utm_medium=txt1m

Our First Service

We had our first church service yesterday, which turned out to be very small and intimate.

While we did not have anyone show up from LPCH or RMH =(, we had our friends come who we knew from our own stay at the hospital and RM House, some even driving as far as two hours away just to be there!

The restaurant had a beautiful set-up ready, complete with little sandwiches, delicious fruit, and tasty beverages (I wasn't sure what to expect really because Justin had been the one doing all the leg work, coordinating things with the restaurant supervisor).

Justin began by sharing why we are even doing this, and what "church" means

And then Pastor Jason did a great message from the book of Esther, ending in prayer for everyone

This is our friend, Sue, who has rentals for Stanford Hospital families needing long-term housing. While our families were looking for a place to stay when Moriah first came up for her major heart surgery in Nov 2008, a friend put Justin's Mom in contact with Sue, and it has been an instant friendship ever since. Sue also was awarded "Volunteer of the Year" for Stanford Hospital in 2009. We were so happy to have her there yesterday.

Another family who joined us was the Murphy Family, who we met while at the RM House. Dianna and Tim's son, Kevin received a heart transplant, and he was celebrating his 2 year Anniversary of his new heart yesterday, so it was extra meaningful that they came! Here is a story that LPCH did on Kevin's amazing story, and you can read up on his journey through his Caring Bridge Site

Thank you Bryan, Brandon, Kevin, Dianna, and Tim for making our day extra special with your support...we hope the new puppy didn't keep you guys up all night! ;-)

And here is our sweet Dueck Family, whose son, Bodie, battled cancer, and was only given a 20% chance of having a successful chemo treatment. He is now 4 years old, and is Rocking It, completely in the clear!

Sherri, Bodie's mom, encouraged us by saying that this is something that they wished they had during their stay at the hospital and the house. While it seemed like everyone continued their lives as normal, they were stuck having to be near the hospital, but wanting that fellowship and place to worship so badly...it encouraged us because that is exactly how Justin and I felt...

Thank you Dueck Family for being with us on our special day...we are so thankful for your support and encouragement through the years, totally blessed by your friendship.

And lastly, Miss Moriah rocked it, lasting the whole time without having a breakdown, considering it was her nap time. Also, for those curious, her bleeding from the trach has stopped, and we will just be following up with ENT in a week or so!

Pastor Jason and Laura had come, this being their third service for the day! As far as the teaching goes, we will work with City Church to see about doing a rotation of people who would be willing to give the messages. We certainly couldn't be taking this on without the support and help of our church family, so we thank you guys from the bottom of our hearts...

We continue to lift all this up in prayer, and see where God takes it. We know the need is there...

A few specific prayer requests, especially for some wisdom and guidance:

1) Justin and I hope we are not the only ones at next week's service =)

2) Is this the right place for us to be doing this? i.e. could there be a better location to serve the families?

3) How can we do a better job of making families aware that we are even doing this service?

4) We hope there would be enough volunteers willing to teach the messages each week

I know we sound like a broken record, but we seriously thank you all for your prayers, donations, and support.

Lots of love,

Victoria

Packard Plant

A lot of people have asked Victoria and I, "How can we help? What can we do to make things better?" It's pretty humbling. I can't help but be moved by people's willingness to give and help those that have gone through similar trials.


Some wanted to help our family. We have appreciated it so much. Others wanted to help other kids, other parents.


Maybe you have given to some of the awesome charities that we have been able to be apart of.


Victoria and I have wondered too. We've been able to see so many different needs, you feel like you just want to help everyone and do everything. I can still remember praying when we were first at CHLA, "God, what do you want our family to do? How are we supposed to respond to all this?"


For years we have thought about this...and the same answer seems to keep coming up.


I would be bothered by a simple question when I was at the hospital, Ronald McDonald House or subacute facilities, "Jesus, where are you in all this? Where is your church?"


There is no way our family could have gotten through this if Jesus was not carrying us through. When you are in such crazy circumstances, there is no fear when talking with other families about God because it seems like everyone is searching for the same answers. To be honest, the world doesn't have too much to offer. People are desperate for Hope...Hope that things will get better, that the pain is not wasted.


It has gotten to a point to where Victoria and I have no other response...


We want to start a church...a church that serves families at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House.


After being through it ourselves, we know that while at the hospital, we couldn't take too much time away from Moriah, nor did we want to travel too far in case of an emergency... yet we truly needed to be supported spiritually.


The vision for this church is to be a place for families to take a moment to get away, be encouraged, and be in the Word of God. We want it to be a place where Hope can be offered in the midst of utter turmoil.


We have made reservations to meet at a local restaurant in Palo Alto, very close to both LPCH and Ronald McDonald House (we are unfortunately not allowed to meet at the hospital or Ronald McDonald House).


So in order to do this, we are reaching out for help. It is going to cost around $1,300 a month to meet at the location. We hope to have our first service on February 20th.


Our home church in San Jose, City Church, has been a huge support. They have set up an easy way for people to give. Simply click here, and anyone can make a safe and secure donation. In order to ensure all funds go for this church plant, please write "Packard Plant" in the delegation line. Each gift is also tax-deductible.


We don't want anyone to give out of obligation...we are only talking to those who God might be leading.


If you are interested in joining us on Sunday's, please email me at nelsonjk5@gmail.com for more information.


We are excited to finally take this next step, and provide a church support for families who are in need. During this time, your prayers would be much appreciated!


In Him,


Justin and Victoria