I just learned about a great ministry in Birmingham called Footprints and am so excited about getting involved with the good work they are doing. It's so cool how God orders our steps and puts people in our paths for His purposes.
I met Lurenda Avery, the director of Footprints, in the elevator at St. Vincents Hospital in Birmingham. Her arms were full of Christmas stockings she was delivering to the moms of babies in the NICU there. I was so touched.
When I was on bed rest last year for almost 11 weeks with a subchorionic bleed I worried day and night about little Jana. I would wake up in the middle of the night coughing and then stress out that the coughing would make the bleed worse. I would get so stressed out that my heart rate would go up. Then I would worry that the heavy heartbeating would also make the bleed worse. I couldnt go back to sleep until I got out the fetal monitor that I rented off the internet and heard her little heartbeat. So I can't imagine the stress and worry those parents must experience while their little ones are in the hospital. It must be such a helpless and scary feeling. Which is why I think the work Footprints is doing is so important. Footprints delivers gift bags every month to 7 different hospitals and offers prayer and support to the parents during a difficult time. Their mission statement is "Walking in God's Grace and Sharing His Love with Families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit" They have an active email prayer chain and offer other special events at the hospitals throughout the year. The week before I met Lurenda in the elevator, Santa had visited St. Vincents and had his picture made with all the babies.
We are excited to be including our heart necklaces in the gift bags they distribute and are in the process of designing a keepsake necklaces for moms who have lost babies.
www.nicufootprints.org
www.nicufootprints.org
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