NO SMALL thing!!

I cannot believe that I once thought this pillow pet idea God laid on our hearts was something small. We quickly realized last night that this is definitely no "small" en devour. We bundled Landon up yesterday and went out in search of these cuddly creatures. We only found 3 left at Walmart and 4 left at Target. We took that as our confirmation that kids LOVE these things! After noticing that it only took 3 to fill up our grocery cart Ryan asked, "Babe ummm do we plan on bringing anything besides pillow pets to MN? Don't you think we might want to bring some extra clothes or something?" He was right!! How are we going to fit all of these in our vehicle???

We bought a couple x large space bags, but we're going to need a whole lot more than a two.

Having exhausted Walmart and Targets pillow pet selection, Landon and I ventured out again today to try some other stores. Having been to two with no luck I was getting a little discouraged. We really don't want to be stopping at every Walmart from Bismarck to Minneapolis to buy pillow pets, but if that's what it comes down to, that is exactly what we'll do.

Kmart I owe you an apology. I've never liked you and I've even said before that your stores have weird layouts and your stuff is cheap... sorry. YOU CAME THROUGH FOR US!!! BIG TIME!! I will forever return to you with all of my pillow pet needs!

SCORE!!

I practically screeched with delight when I rounded the corner of an aisle and my eyes fell on a large tower stuffed FULL of pillow pets!! There was a woman who was searching through them... the poor soul. I would love to know what she was thinking when I proceeded to STUFF my cart full of every different one I could find. "OH look Landon! They have a butterfly! Isn't it pretty?" STUFF in cart. I hope she thought I was some kooky lady who collects them for a hobby LOL. Seriously I had to walk on my tip toes to the checkout because I couldn't see over them. Good thing Landon had his helmet on because I'm sure that ride wasn't the safest haha.

There it is folks! The growing wall of pillow pets that is invading our apartment. Don't feel sorry for us though, they're very welcome guests :) Ryan's favorite of course is the blue dino in the back. According to him, "We have to get a lot more of those because all the boys will want them." I'm loving the neon pink hippos and how cute is that little Thomas the train!!

I think Landon is a little confused by them. He may think we're going a little overboard and spoiling him a bit... I don't know haha.

 I cannot tell you how excited we are... (pause for dramatic effect) WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!! Something has happened in me and Ryan now that these things are actually residing in our home. We are beginning to understand why God has called us to do this. We feel like God has an invisible name on each of these animals. A name that belongs to some special little child out there who is going through a lot of junk that kids shouldn't have to worry about. We know that we can't answer their prayers or give them a normal childhood, but we can make this special delivery from God and tell them that they are loved by Him. He knows their name, their story, the waiting list their on, how many rounds of chemo they've had etc. It's blowing our minds that God is giving us this opportunity to not only bless these amazing children, but be blessed by them.

This would NOT be happening if it wasn't for You!

Thank you just doesn't seem like a big enough word to tell you guys how grateful we are. Your support is what made this possible. I know we still have a ways to go to make it to our goal, but you guys believed in this, when to us it seemed like an out of reach, crazy idea. Now look!! It's taking shape and taking over our home!!

So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! (hopefully the caps and the repetition help you get the picture... we're extremely grateful!)

With that said, it's time to really roll up our sleeves, link arms and get going. These are the things we need to really make this thing happen for these kids.

~ First and foremost PRAY! Please, pray for all of the details that have to go into this. Pray for the kids who are going to receive these. Pray for us, that we can empty ourselves and enter that hospital completely filled with the Holy Spirit. Pray that God leads more people to give and be a part of this work He's doing.

~ If any of you have space bags that you wouldn't mind giving to us we would SO appreciate it.

~ Bismarck friends, if any of you are good at using a printer and have some extra time on your hands, we would like to make tags to tie around each of the pillow pets. Pretty simple, just "Jesus loves you" on one side and landonsletters.blogspot.com on the other. I am technically challenged and can't even imagine how I could find time to print all of these, let alone figure out how. I get stressed out just thinking about it, so if this sounds "fun" to you. AWESOME!! Let us know and we'll connect.

~ Lastly, we still have a ways to go to reach our goal of 100 kids. So here is a challenge... I know so many of you have generously given already so I'm not going to ask you for another big gift, but I am going to ask that everyone who reads this give $2. That's nothing right? BUT I know that at least 100 of you are going to read this so that small $2 will easily turn into over $200. How beautiful that God can take something so small and multiply it through His people. Also PLEASE SHARE this post on your facebook, tell your friends to share it on theirs. We know WE NEED YOU.

God is so amazing! We are anxiously waiting in expectation for the works He is going to accomplish.