Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, a day where you can make a difference by donating to charitable organizations. And today I want to let you know about an organization that is extremely close to my heart. Some of you may remember last year when my amazing friend Meredith’s two year old little boy Tommy died. There are no words to describe the pain of watching your friend walk through such enormous grief and sadness. Tommy’s life and death will forever be a part of my story. It is not fair that my friend had to say goodbye to her sweet boy. It is not fair that bad things happen to good people…..the best people. To say the past 20 months have been hard would be an understatement. But in Ecclesiastes 7:2 it says that “it is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” And I never understood what that verse meant until now. Because although it’s been hard, being a witness to mourning and pain and suffering, and being invited into a house of mourning with my friend has blessed me in countless ways and has been very sacred to our family. It has opened all of our eyes to God’s grace and mercy.
Meredith has said during their grief, God placed the idea on their hearts that nothing is wasted. He can use anything….even the short and small life of a child to His glory. To honor sweet Tommy’s life, my friends have joined with a non-profit organization in Haiti called Figi Jezi and their mission is to be the face of Jesus to widows and the children of Haiti by providing a safe and loving environment that emphasizes education and trade building while supporting business and ministry opportunities. I’ve had the pleasure of learning more about Fiji Jezi over the past year and couldn’t be more proud of the heart, passion, and love for Jesus reflected in every decision and project. Figi Jezi is working to establish The Thomas Hamiln Medical Center, that will one day provide medical care to the kids in Haiti that they support. If you want to see Meredith speak about Tommy and Figi Jezi, please check out this video here.
Tomorrow, December 3rd is Giving Tuesday, and Facebook and PayPal have partnered together to match ALL GIFTS made on Facebook from 8am-12pm EST! How cool is that?! I would love to encourage you to consider donating to Figi Jezi, and doing so during the Giving Tuesday event. Facebook and PayPal are matching gifts on a first come, first serve basis, so you if want to participate, make sure you set an alarm and donate right at 8am EST! Please like Figi Jezi now and get ready to give on Facebook in the morning on Tuesday for your donation to be doubled and to make even more of an impact! Also, consider supporting Figi Jezi by shopping on Amazon with the Amazon Smile program. Select Figi Jezi as your charity of choice and they will receive 0.5% of your cart total, with no additional cost to you.
This is such a heart breaking story. Meredith and Ben are wonderful examples of loving parents struggling to deal with their grief while also parenting their other children and actively working to help less fortunate children in Tommy’s memory. The love, strength and resilience of this family is inspiring. I pray that God continues to bless and comfort them.