Let me tell you a little story....my husband always says that we can't go anywhere without running into someone I know. I grew up in a small town and knew everyone. I have lived in Montgomery, Atlanta and now near Birmingham. We moved back to Alabama in 2008 and bought a house in Trussville, outside of Birmingham, in 2009. Immediately, we began attending First Baptist Church and decided to visit a Sunday School class one Sunday. When we walked in, there sat a guy I went to high school with but lost touch with after he graduated the year before me. Jamie introduced me to his wife, Chanel, and they happened to have their newborn, Sarah, with them. That may have been their first Sunday back since Sarah's birth. Such a small world...
The next week, Jamie and Chanel were saying that they were going to have Sarah's eyes looked at by a doctor because she just didn't seem to be acting/reacting the way older sister, Ellen, had at that age. The next Sunday, they shared the news that Sarah had serious problems with her eyes and was blind. Talk about tragedy striking this sweet family. I am crying as I type this. I cannot imagine the fear, anger and uncertainty that they were feeling. After many, many surgeries, Sarah is now past her 1st birthday, had her 14th procedure this past week, has vision and it is improving.
Chanel is one of those women that you meet and just love instantly. She is super-energetic, cute as a button and just a sweet, funny person. When they received Sarah's initial diagnosis, she didn't want to leave the house. Through God's grace and strength and through her own faith, she made it through. Not long after Sarah's diagnosis, Chanel decided to help raise money for their neighbors who have a severely handicapped daughter. This precious family was trying to save enough money to buy a handicapped accessible van for easier travel as a family. Chanel organized a yard sale for this family and began painting some cute crosses that her husband, Jamie, cut out for her. All profits were going to her neighbors. At this time, she and her husband were flying back and forth to Michigan for Sarah to see the specialists and have several surgeries. She was always thinking of others even at her darkest times.
Her crosses have taken off like lightening and she now has formed a business called
Bare Your Cross. You could not imagine the way her crosses have touched people all over this country. They hear the story of her family and share their own story. God has used baby Sarah's eyes to allow Jamie and Chanel to minister to SO many people! Please, check out the link above. She is so stinkin' talented!! I am proud to call her my friend. She is a strong women, mother and a devoted Christian.
Here are a few of her crosses that I love!
