In Honor of Ellie Kate - A Month of Reckless Love!

It's here! It's here! It's here!  December has arrived, and with it comes Ellie's Month - the Month of Reckless Love.  It's the month we celebrate Ellie Kate's birthday (December 4th) and her heaven-day (December 23rd), and we will celebrate her everyday in between by actively loving and serving those around us who are too easily forgotten.

Gifts have been pouring in - gifts YOU have given in Ellie Kate's honor.  These books, toys and therapy items will be given to children who are currently inpatient at OU Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City.  Mike and I have the privilege of going door to door, along with Child Life, allowing kids to pick out a toy and/or book of their choice.  Can you imagine the joy and excitement that comes from that?!  You are sick in the hospital, stuck in your room because it's flu/RSV season AND it's Christmas-time . . . talk about being down in every possible way!  Trust me - we've spent so many holidays in the hospital with the Girls, and we know first-hand how heartbreaking and defeating it is to be up there when the rest of the world is out celebrating, shopping and going to Christmas parties. By giving in this way, we are doing something that WE know will means SO much to these children AND to their parents.  Some of them won't have much of a Christmas, yet because of you, on December 4th, they will get to choose a wonderful new gift.  The child will feel loved, the parent will feel loved.  They will know they are NOT forgotten.

Going to the hospital wouldn't be the thing we would selfishly choose to do on Ellie Kate's birthday.  She celebrated several birthdays there, including her last birthday.  We had a small family birthday part for her that night, Hello Kitty decorations, pizza, cake and all!  No, it isn't easy to be there on that day, but we choose to act, stepping out of our comfort zone, to love and serve others in honor of EK.  We choose to love others and serve through our pain, as Jesus leads us to do.  We don't do this because we are super-human (trust me, we are anything BUT!), but because we want to love as we learned to love Ellie Kate - with reckless abandon.  That's how she loved those around her as well.  This is what we are calling you to do this month in her honor . . . show some "Reckless Love": 

• "Love" should be a verb, an action; it's not just a feeling, because our feelings pass and fail us.  

• "Reckless" means to be unconcerned with the consequences of an action; to test the limits and not worry about what might happen, be it good or bad.  

Reckless Love is taking intentional action in order to benefit the life of another

without worrying about the consequences. 

So, go ahead and change those Facebook profile pics to one of Elizabeth Kathleen McLaughlin, and feel free to use our cute specific "Reckless Love" photos shared here on the blog today.  Three years later and ya'll still encourage us, support us and honor Ellie Kate by participating in this special month of heartache and unspeakable joy.

For those of you who want to purchase a gift, but weren't able to order one in time for it to get here before December 4th - there are still some BIG ways you can participate!  Hope Link, the non-profit we started in Ellie's honor, has adopted TEN families for Christmas this year.  Each family has a child with a rare, serious or even undiagnosed disorder or disease.  Each family has been given the precious responsibility of raising, protecting and providing for children with many extra needs.  Life can be overwhelming, and when it comes to Christmas and adding extra costs to an already strained budget . . . well, sometimes it's just too much.  You MOST DEFINITELY will be recklessly loving in Ellie's honor by purchasing gifts from the Amazon Wish Lists for the families (Hope Link ensures that each family will receive their gifts before Christmas):  http://www.amazon.com/registry/giftlist/1O32SS218DBC9

There are other ways to give and participate, and we welcome and encourage you to jump in with both feet - giving until it's uncomfortable, loving until you are out of your comfort zone, giving when it becomes a sacrifice to your family (see below for details).

THANK YOU for loving the world around you in honor of Our Precious Daughter.

In His Hope,
Ryan

WAYS TO PARTICIPATE AND GIVE:

1. Purchase items on our Amazon Reckless Love Wish List for Children's Hospital: All interactive toys, movies and books donated will be given to ill children at OU Children's Hospital on December 4th, Ellie's birthday (Ellie spent most of her birthdays, including her last earthly one, there at OU).  

2. Purchase items from the Hope Link Amazon Wish list, providing Christmas for families whose children suffer from rare, serious and undiagnosed disorders: http://www.amazon.com/registry/giftlist/1O32SS218DBC9

  
2. December 1-31st: Start loving those around you in reckless ways! Give to those in need, purposefully reaching out to those who are hurting, including those with special needs and families who have lost children. Share on our page how you have loved others in Honor of Ellie Kate (see the definitions and explanations above).

3. December 4th: 

• For Ellie Kate's birthday, we ask that you love, serve, encourage, or give to a family with a special-needs child OR to a family who has a lost a child due to any circumstance.  Bring a meal, bake a cake, send a balloon or flowers - anything uplifting to let the family know that they are loved and not forgotten.
• Share Ellie's story with someone you come in contact with.  Post and let us know about your encounter. 
• Share your favorite Ellie Kate memory or story on our FB page

Sissy's 7th Birthday at OU

4. December 23rd: Ellie's Heaven Day! Post pictures of you and your family releasing balloons in Ellie Kate's honor. Send messages with your balloons and be creative! This is a way to show our family that you remember our Sweet Girl.