Wednesday, November 17, 2010

I'm Thankful with Heather of Blessed Little Nest

{Hi everyone!  I hope you are enjoying I'm Thankful week, and are loving the peace of it. I am.  I want to introduce you to my friend Heather.  I actually found her fab blog earlier this summer when I made a butterfly shirt for Ivy.  I'm so glad I poked around, because how Heather lives her life has been a much needed inspiration for me.  I've been working towards not having such negative feelings about hard things in my life, and I've been really touched every time I read Heather's blog.  So with out further ado, I give you Heather...}

Hi there Making It My Own readers!  My name is Heather from Blessed Little Nest
and I'm so happy to be part of Jenn's I'm Thankful Week.


In 2007 my life changed forever when my infant son died after a difficult battle
with bacterial meningitis. Through the journey of Samuel's life, and his loss, God taught me that
I could live a more vibrant and joyful life than I ever thought possible.  My heart was broken and
God stitched it back together with more love, compassion, hope, and joy than ever before.
Now I spend my days finding the lovely that exists in life, and I feel grateful every day.
I'm grateful for all 6 weeks we had with Samuel.
I'm grateful for the people that worked so hard to care for him.
I'm grateful for the strangers that we met along the way that showed us kindness and grace.
I'm grateful for family and I'm grateful for the way God loves and comforts us.

Just 2 months after Samuel died we were faced with our first Thanksgiving.
We didn't know what to do.  Hosting family and friends for dinner, as we had done for years,
didn't feel right anymore.  Thanksgiving felt so much more personal.  I felt so full
of gratitude and needed to do something with it.  I needed to share it,
so we decided to start a new Thanksgiving tradition.


Now on the night before Thanksgiving my husband and I stay up late and bake.
We bake treats for the group of people that touched our lives during Samuel's life.
We want to share with them our gratitude for the work they do. 
While we bake we talk about Samuel and his importance in our family.
We talk about the hospital and the amazing people that work there every day to fight
for our kids, and others just like them.  We talk about hospice and the angels that work
there.  We talk about our living children Henry and Piper, and how we want them to
grow up understanding where their brother spent so much of his life.  We talk about
how important it is for us to show our gratitude, even if it's just in a small way.


When Thanksgiving morning rolls around we head out as a family to deliver the treats.
We visit the PICU and the hospice home that cared for Samuel so we can give thanks.


This will be the fourth year we are following this new tradition
and it still feels right for us.
For us, it feels good to truly give thanks on Thanksgiving.
Thanks again for asking me to be a part of this special week Jenn!
xoxo- Heather


Thanks for sharing your traditions and love with us Heather! I'm always blown away by your kind heart.  

I'm Thankful

44 comments:

  1. Wow, how incredibly beautiful. I can't think of s better way to honor someone. Thanks for sharing Heather.

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  2. thank you so much for letting me be a part of this special week jenn! and thank you for all the kind words,too :)

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  3. I see why you think so highly of heather! What a great example of seeing the blessings in life's greatest trials!

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  4. amazing abosolutley amazing thank you for sharing that

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  5. This post created a few tears for me. It hits really close to home because my littest brother passed away on Dec 13th,1986 from bacterial meningitis. He was almsot 2 years old. Growing up, we would always decorate for Christmas on that day. We made it our "Dustin Day". I have since carried the tradition over to my little family. We don't decorate on that day, but it is "Dustin's Day". It makes my heart full to think about all that he did in his short life on this earth, but I am so thankful for the chance to be his sister.

    I KNOW that when your children are older, they too will remember their little brother and all the sweet things that you do in his memory. It helps us all remember the true meaning of the season.

    Heather, THANK YOU so much for sharing!

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  6. I think that is a beautiful and selfless tradition. You have a great perspective. Happy Thanks..giving to you.

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  7. How special and what a way to honor to your son... A thankful heart indeed!

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  8. WOW. What an amazing story and perspective. You are wonderful, Heather.

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  9. Such a beautiful way to honor your sweet little boy and to celebrate this thanksgiving season.

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  10. My son and his wife do this at the hospital NICU where my granddaughter was born. She was born without a heartbeat for 8 minutes. She survived and we are so thankful.
    I am glad that you are sharing this with others. God Bless your little Samuel.

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  11. I think its awesome to turn your attention to others...what a wonderful way to give thanks!! You are wonderful.....<3

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  12. I"m thankful for you, Heather. You bless my stinky, holey socks off.

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  13. oh Heather, you and your family are so so incredible. what a fantastic tradition that so very reflects you. if i could hug you through blog land i would, you are such an amazing woman!

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  14. awe inspiring way to offer thanks...love it.

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  15. Absolutely beautiful. Such a great reminder of how God works in ways we can't begin to understand. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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  16. Really great ideas! I hope to create special traditions like this when I have a family. I want my family to be reminded of everything that we have and to truly be thankful. I also think it's so important to give back!

    Thanks!
    Jessica
    jah019@shsu.edu

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  17. That's what thanksgiving should look like for all of us. Thank you for sharing Heather!

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  18. Heather, you NEVER cease to amaze me with your strength and positive outlook in all your life adventures. I love love love your Thanksgiving tradition, one to be thankful for you sharing :)
    (Great blog Jenn :) )

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  19. what an incredible testimony.

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  20. What a special way to honor your son and others, thanks for sharing!

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  21. Touching post. Such a sweet lady! I follow Heather's blog and stopped over.

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  22. Oh Heather...thanks for sharing...that is the TRUE meaning of Thanksgiving ! Hugs!

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  23. What a beautiful way to show your gratitude.

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  24. tears are streaming down my cheeks. this is our 1st thanksgiving without our sweet samuel...it's been 3 months now and my heart is searching and asking God what will help us through this holiday season. thank you for sharing your heart&story heather.

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  25. beautiful.
    thank you for your example…
    thank you for sharing

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  26. beautiful!!!...just beautiful- what a precious way to spread the true spirit of Thanksgiving!! I just love sweet Heather's heart!
    Thanks for sharing- and inspiring!
    Many Blessings!
    Jill

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  27. i think that is wonderful & so precious.

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  28. Heather that is beautiful & touching! I bet the doctors and staff are so thankful

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  29. This is a beautiful post, and such an inspiring way to put honor to a tragic situation.

    Thank you for sharing.

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  30. What a good way to remember your baby, by service...
    I imagine it softens the pain a little. Blessings and comfort

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  31. thanks for sharing and reminding us all to be thankful of the people we (unfortunately sometimes) take for granted! what an inspiration to turn something so difficult to something so beautiful--celebrating your Samuel's life.

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  32. Thank you for sharing! I follow Heather's blog...and she is truly amazing and inspirational.
    teri12481@hotmail.com

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  33. What a great post!...blessings to you and your family.

    kling6@optonline.net

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  34. what an amazing story, how thankful I am that she shared that with us all!! Such an inspiration, thank you!!

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  35. And that is why Heather is one of my favorite bloggers. What a wonderful post!

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  36. Wow. Such a sad/wonderful story. I love your blog. Your newest follower.

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  37. thanks for sharing your life with so many of us strangers in 'blog world'. you are such an encouragement/inspiration.

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  38. Beautiful.

    I'm amazed every time I read about your strength. You are an inspiration to all of us.

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  39. Beautiful. As a mother whose child spent some time in the NICU, I am so very thankful for those who took care of her. What a wonderful way to honor your son.

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  40. Just amazing. What a wonderful way to remember your son and to show your thanks.

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  41. Amazing. You and your family. Thank you for sharing.

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  42. Thanks for sharing. Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving!

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