Remembering Whitney In Life

Several people have asked me if we have any kind of memorial fund set up in Whitney's name.  You have no idea how much it warms my heart and fills me with great joy to hear those questions.  It means the world to me that others would care enough about the short, sweet life of our little girl to want to keep her memory going in some way.  I hesitate a little bit to put this out there, because we have already received such an outpouring of love and support from all of you in the way of meals, letters, flowers and hugs.  So please know that I am not asking for donations... I am just putting this out there for those who have asked and feel led to contribute.  And please know that ALL the love we have received-- in so many different forms-- is truly helping to carry us through this time.

So to answer the question, yes we have set up a memorial fund.  Sean and I thought and prayed a lot about how we could best honor God with (y)our gifts in memory of Whitney, and how we could best use those gifts to further His kingdom.  We thought about it and just remembered how thankful we were for the gift of seeing our baby alive on the ultrasounds.  We never got to see her alive in our arms (in this life), but we did get to see her moving and growing through the ultrasounds.  If you remember back to the day we had our 18-week ultrasound and found out something was wrong, our doctor began to talk to us about the option of termination.  I was baffled at this, because just minutes prior, we had seen our baby girl moving around on the screen!  We saw her heart beating!  She was alive, a tiny person-- our tiny person-- and she was God's.  And even though we were handed a fatal diagnosis, it didn't change the fact that for the moment, she was alive.  We spent every second with her that God gave us.  And I am forever grateful for that.  Carrying Whitney was the greatest honor of my life.  The greatest blessing I have yet to receive.  I believe that too many women make decisions based on limited information.  I wish that more women had the information that I have learned from my years of working with pregnancy care centers.  I wish more women had the opportunites to get ultrasounds in a life-affirming environment.  And I wish more women could have the resources and support they need to choose life for their babies.  

So that's why we've set up a memorial fund at the Pregnancy Care Center of Fresno.  Your gifts will help fund an ultrasound machine for the Center's new mobile medical ministry.  They will also provide free ultrasounds and resources to women in unplanned pregnancies.  Of the women who are undecided as to whether or not they plan to carry their pregnancies to term, more than 90% of these women who receive an ultrasound at the PCC Fresno choose life for their babies.  This is truly a life-saving ministry for not only the babies but for the women and families as well.   If you have any questions or want to know more about this ministry, please just email me!  (sheyennew@gmail.com)  

I made a little video that shows a little bit about how precious the ultrasound images are to us, and how life-changing they can be.  

Checks can be mailed to:

Pregnancy Care Center

169 North Clark Street

Fresno, CA  93701
 
(Make sure to put in the memo line or note somewhere that its in honor of Whitney Jill.)

You can also donate safely and securely online via credit card or Paypal using this button:

I was shocked when I stopped by work today and our director told me that a friend from church had already sent a donation in Whitney's honor.  It means so much to us that you care that much about Whitney, about us and about the bigger picture of the Kingdom.  Because afterall, as I've learned throughout this whole journey... its really not about us.  Its all about Him.  And since that's really all that matters, its going to be ok.  

THANK-YOU!

PS- The music on the video is the one we played while we were waiting to deliver her... it's Yiruma's "River Flows In You."

PPS- Sean wrote the last two posts himself... he's so great at eloquating his emotions.  I {{heart}} him.  If you see him around, ask him how he's doing.  :-)