Little girls. Big hearts.

Instead of the normal pile of birthday presents, two friends (with the help of their amazing parents) in Council Bluffs, IA, decided to celebrate turning nine this past weekend by hosting a skating party where their friends brought donations instead of gifts. Abby chose a cause that is raising funds to build an religious education center to honor a friend of the family who was taken as the prime age of 34. Emma chose the Kyrie Foundation.


For us, walking into a room and seeing others wear their "Go, Kyrie, Go!" shirts was honor enough! To have these young ladies join in the fundraising was breathtaking. Their birthday choice may fund the research that saves a life! Amazing.

This is Emma and her mom, Maureen.


Maureen gave birth to twin girls in early February, number four & five for their family. She also made the girls special outfits for the party. Do you recognize little Ella Sue's onesie design?


And Ava Ann's matching ensemble?



The adults got in on the skating action, too. Here's Emma's dad, John, skating under the limbo stick--so fast, he's blurry! In the background, you can see Chad wearing his shirt, too.


And for the grand finale: a game of Red Light, Green Light.


We're so grateful to you, girls! Thank you for doing good!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful the number-one, best-selling publication ever: the bible. Sometimes it's an easy book to take for granted. No flashy cover art. No author signings. No media-blitz. Funny how the bible sets in the nightstand drawer of nearly every hotel room, waiting for a guest.

The good book has been an instrumental healing tool in the past several months—through anger, confusion, frustration, sorrow and hope. It's a whole different experience reading it on your own terms versus hearing a part of it on a Sunday. After you get past the beget-begot-begats, there's some pretty good stuff in there. ;)

Shirt Alert!

We are sold out of the Youth Small, Youth Large and Adult Medium. We have one Adult 3X left. Quantities are getting limited with the Youth Medium and the Adult Large, too.

Would love to see those snapshots, if you got 'em!

Reflection.

Been thinking a lot in the last week or so about where we've been and where we've come here on this blog. Apologies for the absence, but we wanted to make sure that we were on the right track. Believe it or not, we still have new people joining us each week! And slowly, one by one by one, all of us are teaming together to make a difference by supporting the foundation and personally challenging ourselves to do good things for others on behalf of Kyrie.

For newcomers, you may wonder what a story about an overlooked concert violinist has to do with Kyrie. Or what a quote from Gen. Patton or a video of a man singing opera or a family trip or St. Augustine has in common with Kyrie. The answer is everything. Everything here has been to honor her and to thank you.

It was here on this site that our rallying cry, "Go, Kyrie, Go!" was born out of the momentum of you choosing to do good things with your life, be it all the generosity that you bestowed on Jordan & Lacie or perhaps the good deed you did for someone while thinking of Kyrie. It was as if Kyrie was pushing people to do better, to be more, to go further. Since then, each post has been an effort to inspire you to keep going and to keep looking for opportunities to be a part of Kyrie's legacy. For some, you may appreciate more now. For others, you may be encouraged to take a leap of faith. For still others, you may have made your friends or family a new priority.

We have chosen to fight pediatric brain cancer. Another has chosen a charitable career. Another has chosen to organize frequent nights to cultivate deeper friendships. Another has chosen to begin a ministry. Yet another has chosen to give to The Kyrie Foundation in lieu of birthday gifts. And it goes on and on, like little pin lights of good shining toward the heavens.

Because of the little random quotes and stories shared here, people feel propelled, emboldened, encouraged to keep going. It's why people are sending us mail like this:



and this:



Some days are tough, though. We try to share that, too, because it's part of the complete picture. It's the human shortcoming in spite of the greater good.

Lord knows that a load of statistics wouldn't have compelled you to care for this family or about fighting pediatric brain cancer. Nor would mere business updates about the foundation. The love has been among the details, even the uncomfortable ones. Lacie & Jordan have been kind enough to share Kyrie and their story with thousands of people here, and that's what has made all the difference. She compels, just like the other heart-stirring ideas shared here. It's amazing how many lives have been touched by their little girl. And we're honored to know that you're wearing your shirts with such care and love.

So please know that so long as you are inspired, we will continue to inspire.

Thankful Thursday.

We hope that we've been able to convey how grateful we are to all of you. We're all still thankful that you're still with us, still reading these posts and still volunteering to do good things in Kyrie's honor. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I hope everyone out there is enjoying their tees! We're completely out of youth small! I'll double-check counts on the other sizes. Chad & I were talking about fundraising ideas for the foundation and he mentioned that at these functions, it would be great if people wore their Go, Kyrie, Go! shirts. That idea took my breath away. How awesome.

Lots being done for the foundation. We are officially official according to the secretary of state. Wa-hoo!

There are also some wonderful little stories bubbling up that I hope to share with you soon.

I'm learning that my July word "vision" is a lot about perspective. If I think about all the work that the foundation will entail, I begin to get overwhelmed. The whos, wheres and hows crowd out the intention. Instead, I focus on today. What can I do today to get me toward the goal? Little steps over time cover a long distance. Ask any marathon runner.

Really, that's what it's about for all of us, right? What are we doing today to get us toward the light? Sometimes today is difficult to prioritize with demanding jobs, family and bills. We think in terms of weekend plans and milestone days. But what if today were THE day? What if today were your big chance? And what if you started tomorrow--an ordinary Thursday--what if you started tomorrow on purpose?

July.

So it's now been officially three months we've been without her. Longer than we knew Kyrie even had a PNET. Seasons have changed. Life has moved on. My heart has not.

Traveling abroad, I kept hearing Jordan's voice in my mind say, "It's just not fair." And over and over again, I'd see families with small children, who, from the outside, looked impatient, unappreciative, selfish. I'd silently ask, "Why not them?" Or rude fellow passengers. Why not them? Or the terrorists. Why not them? Or the families more interested in television than each other. Why not them? Or the self-righteous. Why not them? Or vainglorious celebrities. Why not them? Or, heck, even me. Why not me?

This weekend, the family came to visit Amanda & Ryan in their new home and to celebrate our sister's birthday. Dad visited the local Catholic church to find out Mass times in their bulletin: Prince of Peace in Olathe, Kansas. And in their bulletin, do you know who was still on their prayer list? Our girl, Kyrie! What a comforting surprise! And, in a way, it made me feel like she was with us.

She is with us. Seen and unseen, remember? So this week, I'm going to keep a look out for more Kyrieness. I hope you do, too.

So ...

what did you think of our swan, Paul Potts? He may single-handedly bring opera back to the people!

Don't judge a book by its cover.

Typically, I don't judge a book by its cover. I weigh it by the last page--I read the last page first, before I even know what the book is about. Usually, it makes absolutely no sense, but I'm looking for how the author brings it home, how the words feel in my head. I want to know what's on the inside of it all--it's vision.

Such is the case with this. You may have already seen the video, but it's too amazing not to watch. Everything isn't always how it appears, eh?

p.s.
I don't want to cause a panic, but just 11 days into the t-shirt sales, I need to tell you that certain sizes have quickly disappeared. As of this morning, we only have one youth small, one adult medium and one adult 3XL left. We have stock of all other sizes.

Vision

So, today being the Fourth, I've been thinking a lot about "vision," more aptly the vision for the foundation. Sometimes it's difficult to see how to get from here to there without a map.

Luckily, today on AMC, we tuned into Patton. One of my favorites. You don't meet too many people today with fires in their bellies to achieve greatness. Although, some of Patton's verbiage raises an eyebrow, I do agree with this:

The great things a man does appear to be great only after they are done. When they're at hand, they are normal decisions and are done without knowledge of their greatness.
Gen. George S. Patton

And Rocky is on today, too:

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!
Rocky Balboa
Speaking to his son in Rocky Balboa (2006)

For goodness' sake.

You may have seen billboards like these around town:




But maybe you weren't sure what it was about or from whom. Well, there's actually a privately-funded non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to publicize good principles. Nifty, huh? The Foundation for a Better Life has some very inspirational ideas on their site. Just a great place to visit if you need a little pick-me-up. They have tons of quotes, billboards, TV & radio spots. I really like this TV spot and this one, too. (It may take a long time to see these if you're on dial-up.) You can read inspiring little stories from other people or leave stories of your own. I think its a fantastic effort to combat all the junk that gets publicized.

Maybe this week, we could each choose one of these principles to make our focus for the month of July. I chose "vision." What's yours?

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

—Dr. Leonardo Buscaglia (1924-1998), professor, author