There’s an amazing song by Matt Redman called 10,000 Reasons and it’s been on my mind since 2pm.

You see, today was the close-out assembly for the “Kiss the Pig” fundraiser at my husband’s school. Let me just say, if you were there and didn’t bring a tissue, you were kicking yourself! Basically there was no point for me to put on make up this morning.

So there’s a part of this song that goes-

“For all Your goodness I will keep on singing, 10,000 reasons for my heart to find… Bless the Lord, oh my soul! Oh my soul! Worship His holy name!”

This song has been on my mind because we indeed had 10,000 reasons (if not more)to praise our Mighty God this afternoon! Today we and the Abbett teachers & kids learned that they had raised a little over $10,000 for our sweet baby Gideon.

Yes, I said $10,000.

Obviously my heart is overwhelmed with joy, not just because our prayers were answered for financial burdens to be lifted, but because of the overwhelming amount of love we have experienced by this great community.

First of all, walking into the cafeteria my heart was full, seeing all the love for my son. Then as the kids rolled in, I was again moved by how much they truly cared for a little boy they had never before met. I wish I could post photos of all these kiddos but because of the law, I cannot (but trust me when I say, they were all excited and they are all precious)!

I was also surprised to learn that channel 4 & 5 news was covering this story; and my camera-shy husband was surprised too… ( but he did very well!!). If you’re in the DFW area, the story should be on tonight’s 10 o’clock news. (Maybe tomorrow morning too.)

The school even took care to make sure our daughter Laynie felt as much love as Gideon. They gave her a stuffed pig of her own and some other goodies!

Of course she was most excited about the real pig…Ellie May.

Yes, her hooves are pink.

I know I’ve said this before but I need to say it again.

Thank you. To everyone who has prayed for us, supported us, loved us, and thought about us- THANK YOU! As I type, I feel as though my words are insufficient to adequately say thank you. Whether you meant to or not, you’ve been the hands and feet of Jesus and we are forever grateful. Please know my heart feels less broken for my son as we experienced this out pour of love. I pray God blesses you as much as He has us.

So with that I’ll shut up and give you the real reason why you’re reading this particular post.

My handsome husband KISSING THE PIG!

I know, I wish he would’ve held his snout for a really long wet one, but the pig seemed a bit disinterested in my man. Oh well. 🙂

Thanks again to everyone involved. I wish I could name you all…Staff, parents, and kids. Thanks especially to all the other teachers who took one for team Gideon and kissed the pig as well. I know you were probably dreading it (as I would be) but you all did it with grace. And for that I thank you.

And finally none of this would’ve taken place if not for Mrs. Elms. Thanks for loving our boy and uniting a school to answer a prayer you never knew you were answering. God bless you and the community you’ve united.

Thanks for the reminder that there we have more than 10,000 reasons to praise Him.

So basically my husband’s elementary school is better than any other school in the world. I’m serious. Ever since we found out about Gideon’s diagnosis, they have done one thing after another to help raise awareness and support for our little guy. First they had a Rangers Game Fundraiser (I’m still working on thank yous for that one) and now they are having a “Kiss the Pig” fundraiser.

Yes, I said Kiss the Pig. Let me explain.

One of Kevin’s co-workers, Mrs. Elms, came to us and said that Gideon’s story had touched her heart in a big way and she wanted to do something big in return for Gideon. She had an idea (and friend who owned a pig) and this is what she presented to the Abbett staff and the GISD Superintendent!! Basically every teacher (classroom and specials), office staff, and administration have a pink bucket. The kids bring their loose change and put it in the bucket of the staff member they want to see kiss this real-live pig. Pretty funny huh? Not sure if the teachers think so, but as it turns out, the kids LOVE the idea!

They loved it so much that many of the kids have come up to my husband to tell him that they are walking dogs or babysitting in order to raise money to put in their teacher’s bucket. One little boy is making bracelets and selling them for $0.15 so he can put that money in his teacher’s bucket.

Doesn’t that just bless your heart????

The sweet teacher who organized this had t-shirts and buttons made to sell as well that say “Team Up for Gideon.” So in addition to the change the kids have brought and t-shirt/button sales, they have already raised a ridiculous amount of money. We won’t know the final total until this coming Monday afternoon at the assembly. From my understanding, one teacher from each grade level, one teacher from specials (crossing my fingers it’s my husband-he’s PE), and one administrator will be kissing this pig.

I CANNOT WAIT!!

This will probably be one of the funniest moments of 2013 for us. I hear my husband is in the lead, which is GREAT because he’s such a germ-a-phobe!!! We don’t even own a pet, that’s how germ-a-phobey he is. Don’t let the smile below fool you. When he got home he said, with a look of disgust, “When I was holding the pig for photos it was squirming all around and I was trying not to touch its teets!”

I was rolling!! And you can tell in the picture he’s trying to so hard not to touch the pigs “teets!” I can only image how long it took him to wash his hands (and the bend of his right arm, where the pigs butt is resting) after this photo was taken. I would venture to guess he scrubbed all the way up to his arm pits!!

But in all seriousness, my husband and I are often times moved to tears by the selfless actions of others. This school truly has “teamed up for Gideon.” But I think there is more going on than just helping out our little boy.

Mrs. Elms nailed it when she said “Gideon is bringing people together.” I think that is what happens in the wake of someone’s storm. We see communities come together all the time just because of what someone else is going through. Many of these kids and parents have never met our little boy, only his dad.

What we are going through as a family has impacted the lives of those around us. Many people have stepped forward to love a family they have never met or maybe only half met. Either way, it just goes to show you that tragedy at it’s core produces a love like no other.

Thank you Abbett Elementary for Teaming up for our sweet Gideon. You’ve done more than just bless us…you’ve taught hundreds of children what it means to unite for something bigger than themselves.

You’re teaching a generation to be selfless.

You’re teaching a generation to care about others.

You’re showing a generation what it means to love! And that’s something our world desperately needs demonstrated.

We are so thankful.

So last night Laynie decided that she and Gideon needed to go visit their cousins, Addison & Dawson. While we were there Gideon decided to do more big boy stuff!

I hope you will watch this VIDEO of my little man holding himself up.

Pretty awesome, huh?!

Go ahead and watch it again…I’ll wait.

Now granted, he did not get into that position by himself, but just the fact that he could hold his weight like that (and his head) is HUGE!

I love these shining moments and as cheesy as it may sound, I love how at the end of this video his daddy’s hands are right there to guide him to a safe landing. Isn’t that how we all are with our babies? We are right there to catch them quick if they fall (unless they’re sitting on the bed…lol).

There’s a story that comes to mind about catching our kiddos and my husband will probably kill me for telling it…but I’m going to tell it anyways. So for those of you who may not know, my husband cheered in college…and I don’t mean from the stands. He was a cheerleader and many people know it takes a lot of talent to throw/hold those girls in the air. But because of that, my husband is always bragging; saying things like “Did you see those hands???” when he catches something quick.

That being said, he was completely shocked and shaken when the day finally came where he missed…big.

One fall afternoon Laynie (she was about 2 at the time) was playing on this high platform at the playground. Kevin had stepped on the first step of the latter so he was just high enough to be eye-level with her feet.  She squatted down to kiss her daddy and to everyone’s surprise, she jumped!!… over Kevin’s head, and landed flat on her back. Now let me just clarify, Kevin did a back bend off that latter trying to catch her, which was an impressive attempt…but unfortunately, he missed.

This was totally out of character for her! She knew not to jump until daddy said “ready” but they weren’t even playing “catch me.” Of course that would be the day we walked to the park (with no stroller by the way…Laynie’s big girl idea). So the entire mile home Kevin carried her. I think he was in shock as much as she was. The only words he said to me on the way home were, “Daddy never misses.”

But unfortunately, they do. Mommy’s miss too. And you know what? That’s okay.

There’s only one Father who never misses. He holds us in the palm of his hand. In the video of Gideon holding himself up, you can see daddy’s hands are ready to catch him. But what’s interesting is that our Father’s hands don’t have to be ready, because we’re already in them. Is that as comforting to you as it is to me? Think about it. We never have to ask the Lord to be ready to catch us, because He’s already holding us.

We’ve already been caught.

I love seeing Gideon hold himself up. These brief moments of success totally make my day, and this one could not have come at a better time. It’s a reminder to me, that God’s not done with my little man yet. And I have a feeling there will be several more instances where Gideon is going to need us to be ready to catch him…when he crawls…when he walks. I can’t wait to be there for those moments.

In the meantime we’ll keep celebrating every ounce of progress- catching him all along the way.

Thanks for celebrating with us.