Mac Kids Celebration Telethon Countdown

We arrived at Mac Kids tonight and Liam was asked to participate in the cake cutting ceremony on TV. He did a great job of not cutting off any fingers during the live shot. Not one to shy away from the spotlight or yummy cakes, TJ stuck right beside him and got herself on television! She also shone a big smile and got herself the first piece of cake, even before her big brother.

We were able to meet with one of the host's Connie Smith who gave us a tour of the set for Sunday and showed us Liam's documentary. Debbie who was our director did a great job on it and we can't wait to tell her how much we like it. It was fun to watch and to see Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Gerry and some of our Sanctuary family Will, Tania and of course the infamous Cheri! They all did a great job. The documentary will be shown three times during the telethon. It is amazing to see the way that God is still working. One of the things about our family that they have decided to emphasize is how important our faith is to us. Jason will actually get to talk live on air about this. He is being interviewed with the hospital's chaplain to talk about why this was an important part of treating Liam and how the hospital supported us as part of their "whole" patient program. We think this interview will air about 4pm around the time they will be showing Liam's documentary for second time.

Liam will be opening the telethon at 1pm and introducing the hosts Connie and Dan. He was already practicing in our family room tonight. The first interview and documentary of the afternoon will be ours and Liam and I will be interviewed live with Dr. Singh (Liam's neurosurgeon). Jason will be interviewed live about 4pm and they will show the documentary for the second time at this point. Then they will bring us on again one more time around 6:30 pm for another live interview and to show the documentary for a third and final time.

Pray for Jason, Liam and I that our time on television will be God honouring and that we will also do a good job of representing the Mac Kids. Please pray for the families that currently have a child that is hospital. It is a difficult journey and they need us to pray on their behalf. Pray for the doctors, nurses and other medical staff that work at the hospital as they give of themselves to help children. Pray that the people in our community and the surrounding area would hear about the needs at the hospital and decide to give. Pray that the fundraising goal would be met and that more kids like Liam will be helped. Pray that above all else God would be glorified in all that we say and do.

Extra Extra Read all About It!

Our phone rang early this morning. Our friend Cheri was calling to tell us that a friend of hers had called to say there was a large article about Liam in the Hamilton Spectator. We have not been able to find it online but we did get a print copy today. If I can't get it online I will post the article later.

Our local paper the Milton Champion ran Liam's story in their pages today as well.

In a few minutes we will be leaving to head off to the hospital for some pre-telethon meetings and to preview Liam's documentary. We are pretty excited but also a bit nervous as they asked us to come with our hair brushed and faces washed as they may want to put us on the 6 o'clock news. They may put the coverage on their website which you can access here.

We will let you know how it all goes later on tonight!

The Countdown is On for Celebration 2009

Only four more days until the Celebration Telethon in support of McMaster Children's Hospital. We have lots of different events and interviews etc this week so it is very exciting. This Friday there will be an article in our local paper about Liam's journey and the telethon. On Friday I will post an update with a link to the article. Friday is also the day we will get to see the documentary for the first time. We are looking forward to seeing it. We have been told that we will get a copy so we will try to see if we can post that online as well.

The whole point of the telethon is raise money for the hospital and some people have asked me how they can help. If you would like to donate online I have included the secure link to Mac Kids website below. If you would like this gift to be made in honour of Liam they will send him a card. Just email us if you do not have our address.

DONATE TO MAC KIDS

Or if you would like to become part of the Mac Kids Miracle club with a monthly donation of $18 or more then you can do so online through this secure link to Mac Kids donations below.

BECOME A MEMBER OF MAC KIDS MIRACLE CLUB

If you do not want to donate online then you can call Mac Kids the day of the telethon. As soon as we know the toll free phone number we will post it.

Remember the telethon is THIS Sunday on CHCH (also known as E! ON) from 1pm-7pm.

Keep us in your prayers over the next few days that we would be good representatives of His Kingdom where ever He leads.

Blessings.

Birthday Celebrations

We have just come back from an extended long weekend of rest up north at the McGibbon family cottage. Despite the cold ,we laughed and played in the sunshine, rested and sat around the campfire and just enjoyed being with one and other without lots of distractions. We also celebrated Liam's 9th birthday! Can you believe it! Although we tried to keep the celebrations as normal as possible I found myself at times wanting to shout. "God did it! He carried us through! We are still here as a family, facing each day as it comes. The good, the bad and more often just plain crazy. Liam is healthy and whole and nine!"

We are six months past Liam's surgeries and as I have tried to process everything that has happened I realize that I have started to worry about what might happen next. Although I did not worry when we were in the middle of the intense unknown of Liam's health issues, I have become complacent in the day to day rigors of life and I have let Satan get a foot hold to steal my joy. I need to be vigilant in remembering my spiritual markers, in remembering all that God has done. The great thing about being a Christ follower is that U-turns are not only allowed when you are on the wrong path but encouraged! So as I too look forward to another year (Liam and I share a birthday), I will be looking to remember all that God has done and to revel in the freedom of the joy that He has given.

Remember to watch for more posts about the MacKids Telethon on May 31st.

Bus Shelters and Laughter

I was out and about on Friday afternoon with Liam, Caroline and TJ in the car. As I waited at a light I looked across the street and to my surprise and utter astonishment Liam's smiling face was staring back at me from a bus shelter! The kids will tell you I was so shocked that I couldn't form any words. I just kept saying " Oh.. oh..oh..Liam" and I pointed. Liam very nonchalantly said "Oh mom is freaking out because it's my MacKid's poster". By this time the light had turned green and as I turned the corner we were all laughing so hard that I could barely drive. Good thing we only only had one block to go until our destination.

Our friend Cheri has made a game out of finding Liam on bus shelters. She even dragged her very patient husband out on a photo scavenger hunt style date to see how many they could find and take photos of in one evening. I think she said it was seven. As I said, Gerald is a very patient man!

So if you are out and about in this neck of the woods and you see a familiar face smiling back at you from a bus shelter...you are not crazy it is Liam.

Liam and his dad took this shot to commemorate the occasion.

MacKids Radiothon

Last Thursday, April 30th was the Mac Kids radiothon. It aired on several local radio stations such as K-LITE FM, TALK RADIO 820 AM and OLDIES 1150 AM and was hosted live from the children's hospital lobby. Below are some pictures. Over $225, 000 was raised for McMaster Children's hospital in just one day. The kids and I listened to almost the entire telethon as did our school for the day. We were amazed at all the stories of children just like Liam that have been treated at this amazing facility. We were very emotional, more than a few times during the day, as we listened to the different journeys as told by the children and their families. We had a brief interview that aired just before 8am. This interview was pre-recorded and we heard it for the first time on Thursday. Liam did a great job right at the end. I can't post MP3's to this site but if you follow the link below, we posted it on Jason's My Space page.

I will try to be posting more often over the next few weeks to keep you up to date!