Natalie leaves this Saturday morning for four days as a counselor at the Inheritance of Hope retreat in Orlando. IOH is a non-profit organization that supports families who have a parent with a life-threatening illness. Each year IOH offers a retreat in Orlando. Parents and kids get to come on an all-expense paid trip to Disney World, receive individual and family counseling, make legacy videos, and interact with others in similar life scenarios.
In the past two years we've lost two close friends to cancer.
A year ago, on January 5th, our friend Amy DiBias Patwa went to be with Jesus. Amy and I were on YL staff together in Concord, NC. She left behind her husband Adam and their daughter Charis, who is Honey's age.
In November, many of our college friend gathered in Winston-Salem to celebrate the life of Sarah Ferguson Garcia. Sarah is survived by her husband Esteban and 3 year old son Milo. Sarah and I were YL leaders together at UNC.
Before Amy died, her, Adam and Charis were able to go on an IOH retreat. Sarah, Esteban and Milo never get to go, but thankfully many of their friends in Winston helped them create similar legacy videos and gave them tons of support.
As you can imagine, retreats like this these are super intense. My heart is so heavy for these families and for Nat as she enters into their pain for these few days. Would you join me in praying for her and the other counselors (Meredith McDaniel, Kelly Heritage, & Carol Moses) as they minister to these kids and parents. I'm praying for miracles, for physical healing for these parents, for emotional healing for these families, and most of all for the presence of the Holy Spirit to be present and evident.
You can watch a 4 minute video to learn more about IOH here.
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