Etsy and Ebay Fundraiser for Emily Starts February 18th

Thank you for your e-mails and your willingness to pray for Emily's family during this very sad time.

Thanks to this blog and your support, a fabulous group of Etsy and eBay sellers who belong to Hope for God's Children are hosting a special launch in memory of Emily.

All proceeds from sales for Emily's Launch from February 18th through March 4th will go directly to Emily's family to help cover the cost of medical expenses now due.

Read more on the www.hopeforgodschildren.com website. (I put this site together for them as one of my gifts to Emily's family.)

Will you join me?

I will be listing items for sale beginning February 18th. All participating shops will be featured here and on the Hope for God's Children site with a link to your shop (if you send me your link).

I will list on eBay and on Etsy.

We will have images and buttons for you to use to promote Emily's Launch on your blog too.

Send me a note to isaiah43project@gmail.com if you will be selling items and donating all proceeds to Emily's family.

God bless you! - Sally

Photos from Emily's Service

I wanted to share a few photos from Emily Schmidt's funeral with you.

The folks at Clarkston United Methodist Church planned a phenomenal service for Emily and her family.

Emily's elementary school planned the entire balloon launch.

My 5-year-old daughter told me that she sent balloons to Emily in heaven. That is what it is all about.

Emily's last day on earth with her family, swimming with the dolphins (what a special blessing!):

Rainbows for Emily:

I will be participating in a special eBay launch just for Emily in the next few weeks. I will post all the links here.

Thank you for your prayers and e-mails.

Emily Schmidt - Heaven's Newest Angel

We received word from Craig, Emily's dad, that she passed away early Sunday morning.

This is so hard.

The family arrived in Florida on Thursday for their Make-a-Wish Foundation trip. We are not sure if Emily was strong enough to enjoy her time at Disney, but we know that she was with her mom, dad and brother - Melissa, Craig and Hunter.

UPDATED 1/5/10:
Emily's grandmother says she was able to swim with dolphins! Praise God!

Thank you to each of you who sent personalized gifts for Emily. I hope they made her feel so special and so loved and so covered in your prayers.

Thank you for praying for Emily's recovery right along with us.

Please pray for Melissa, Craig and Hunter as they cope with Emily's absence.

Here is a photo I love of Emily at a summer benefit for http://www.prayers4emily.com/ - she is having her face painted as a butterfly by my brother-in-law's best friend. Yesterday she became that butterfly and flew to Heaven to be healed and to be with Jesus and her grandmother too.

Spread your wings, Emily! We love you!

If you would like to send a card to her family, please e-mail me directly at isaiah43project@gmail.com.

Photos courtesy Steve Gemignani.

If you would like to leave a comment below for Melissa, I will print and send to her for you.

Thank you again for going on this difficult journey with me. You are really wonderful.

Update: Emily Schmidt

I want to give you an update on Emily Schmidt and her fight with cancer.

I really don't want to even write this.

I wish I didn't have to write this.

You can see I haven't posted on this blog for a while. I will write more about this later.

Emily has been in the care of wonderful doctors at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. She has a bone marrow transplant match. The doctors needed her trial run of full-body radiation to be successful and for her cancer to shrink. This has not happened. Since November's tests, her cancer has spread and tripled in size.

Heartache.

Emily and her family will leave Cincinnati on Tuesday and travel home to the Detroit area. On Wednesday, the Make-a-Wish Foundation has arranged for her family to travel to Disney in Florida for a wonderful vacation. Her dad Craig says he doesn't know if they have 2 weeks or 2 months with Emily. Her mom Melissa keeps moving forward, dealing with it all, he says. Her brother Hunter sat in with the doctors for the final meeting about Emily's condition.

Huge lump in my throat.

Please continue to pray for Emily, Melissa, Craig and Hunter.

Thank you!

Kate McRae on Dr. Phil Wednesday, 12/2/09

Our November/December precious kid, Kate McRae, will be on The Dr. Phil Show tomorrow, Wednesday, December 2nd.

Kate has touched Dr. Phil and his family - he has written about Kate several times on his blog.

Tune in to see Kate and her family tomorrow on Dr. Phil!

Learn HOW TO DONATE personalized gifts from your business to Kate.

(Read Holly McRae's journal about Kate)

Address to Send Personalized Donations

As each family is different, most do request a level of privacy.

I prefer to send all gifts to each child in one or two shipments.

Please send your personalized gifts to my business address:

Polka Dot Market

(for child: ________ )

P.O. Box 36612

Birmingham, Alabama 35236

Or e-mail me directly for other delivery options to isaiah43project@gmail.com.

Please note the child's name on your address label to help me keep all these wonderful gifts organized!

Thank you!

November 2009: Kate McRae

I am so blessed to announce our November/December child of God. I cannot wait for us as the Isaiah 43:1 Project community to shower this family with prayers and personalized gifts.

Meet Kate McRae and her Family

When I wrote to Kate's mom Holly about the Project and our wish to pray for Kate this month, she was so kind and only asked for more prayers.

She says, "I would love for you to feature Kate...it can always inspire more prayer fo her, thank you!"

"Thank you so much for doing this...we appreciate it. Keep praying! Much love, Holly"

Kate has been battling an aggressive malignant brain tumor since June 2009. Her mom first noticed a slight tremor in her right hand. Kate was to start kindergarten in August. She is still in and out of the hospital for treatments. She has undergone three full chemotherapy treatments. Kate's birthday is December 26th. Her family has a very strong faith and you will be inspired, you will cry, and you will want to send them your love when you read Holly's journal. Read her full story.

There is a project going on at The Tom Kat Studio to create a very special 6th birthday party for Kate too. Holly is also planning "Kate's Crazy Christmas" collecting Christmas gifts for all of Kate's friends in the hospital. This is an amazing family!

Here we will be sending personalized gifts to Kate and her family to SHOW them God's love based on Isaiah 43:1 -

The Lord says, "I have called you by name. You are Mine."

Please consider donating - being one of the McRae family's angels here on Earth.

Family members to receive our personalized gifts (please choose one or two):

Kate
Size 6 clothing, favorite color is pink, she loves puppies and Sponge Bob (age 6 on 12/26/09)

Olivia
Size 8/9, favorite color is purple, she loves Hannah Montana and ICarly (age 7 1/2)

Will
Size 4/5, favorite color is blue or green, loves anything superhero (age 4)

Of course, Holly and her husband Aaron ask nothing for themselves, but if you feel called to make a personalized gift for the parents or for the McRaes as a family, that is just fine!

Please send me a message to isaiah43project@gmail.com if you will be participating as one of the McRae's angels for November and December.

Thank you for giving so fully of yourself to be a witness of God's love for this family here on Earth.

May God richly bless you - Sally