Friday, February 09, 2007

Some Days its just fun ....


To do something nice. Not because you have to. Just because you want to. All of these hearts are leaving and heading out to Las Vegas. All because I found out about this .......


Postcards are usually just a quick "thinking of you" message that people send during vacation. But to one local girl, they mean so much more. For Luci LaMonica, postcards are a message of hope, and a way to get her mind off a life-threatening illness.
Luci has leukemia. She is an honor student who loves to study and her new favorite subject is geography. Luci is only 8 years old, but already she's trying to travel the world one postcard at a time. So far, she's gotten about 60 postcards.
"It makes me feel better if I'm feeling really bad that day," said Luci. "It's nice to see how many people care and stuff."
You can get postcards anywhere, and they cost very little, but to Luci, these postcards are worth much more than the paper and ink it took to print them
"Some days she feels sick and tired and doesn't have an appetite - she's scared. So things like this will perk up her day," said Liz LaMonica, Luci's mom.
If you're planning on leaving the country or the state and would like to mail a postcard to Luci from where you're visiting, you may do so at the following address:
Luci LaMonica3383 W. Oquendo Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89118


The post I read was about hearts and I shared it with these ......



The kids in attendance at my youth meeting on Wednesday night. They were thrilled to share some "hearty" love with her. So we hit the supply room and grabbed card stock and glitter and paint and markers and they fired up the Ipod's and the social activity buzzed all around me. As they compared each others work, I could hear prayers being lifted for this stranger.

We talked about the project I participated in for JoAnnA. We talked about reaching out without expecting anything in return. We talked about how scary it must be for those with illness. We talked about the fears of every parent that their child may be sick. We talked about our responsiblilty as Christians to share the love of Christ without qualifying the people we share with. And while those kids made hearts, they did not even realize how much they learned about being a Christian.

I grew up being dropped off at church. These kids are fortunate. Every one of them has parents who are active in their faith and who have chosen to participate in these activities as well. As a church, we never have any problem getting chaperones, food, or financial support for these kids. Their activities are supported whole heartedly. I love the people at Jones Chapel. I really love these kids.

If you are inclined to share some love from your neck of the woods - just because you want to, please take the time to send Miss Luci a card. If you would like to send a word of encouragement to those kids at Jones Chapel, I will pass those on as well. You can send those words to Jones Chapel Youth - Attn Teresa Atkinson - PO Box 471 - Danielsville, GA - 30633.

I will also print any comments for these kids and share them.

I have discovered bloggers are kind and encouraging and generous people. I would love to show this to those kids and encourage that behavior in each one of them.

Have a wonderful weekend.

4 comments:

Vallen said...

Kids are just the most astonishing creatures. Sometimes I wish their parents could know how wonderful they are.
Thanks for sharing this with us!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful group! That will make Luci's day!!

Raesha D said...

What a wonderful bunch of youth!! They will be wonderful leaders in the future:):) I'm so glad to hear their paernts are active as well - it really does make all the difference. I will be sending sweet Luci a postcard.

Roxanne said...

Wow - thanks for sharing this with us Teresa! It is so awesome to see teens that are active in their church. Even though it may not be the "cool" thing, these are the things that really matter.