Things are happening fast around here, and Mom (aka Beverly) is spinning lots of plates at once...meanwhile...Verity has it made in the shade!
If you haven't heard our BIG NEWS, we have started a nonprofit ministry! Born of a dream that began in our hearts in the midst of desperate times in the early months of Verity's life, Verity's Village has taken shape in this first phase as a way to offer hope, encouragement, education, and practical support to families who receive a life-limiting diagnosis (of any kind) for their babies.
Our dream is to CHANGE THE NARRATIVE surrounding genetic anomalies...
from heartache...
...to HOPE!
If you've been with us since the beginning of this journey, you know the heartache we experienced after receiving Verity's diagnosis. Even when we were privileged to bring her home from the NICU after 18 days, we lived in constant fear for her life--after all, she wasn't expected to make it to her first birthday. Chronic sleep deprivation plus the stresses of a military move and life as a homeschooling family with 9 children led to some pretty dark times, to be honest.
And yet...through it all...God's enduring faithfulness shone in the darkness.
And now? Life isn't easy by any means, but it's full of joy and HOPE. (And by the way...that HOPE would be present even if the Lord had decided to take Verity to heaven. We don't have hope simply because she is alive but because her life is eternal, and we will all live in heaven with Jesus someday thanks to His wonderful, gracious gift of salvation.)
Save the Storks gave us a generous $10,000 grant to launch Verity's Village this past spring. Because of that, we have filed our articles of incorporation and are waiting for final IRS approval for our nonprofit status.
Meanwhile, though, we have made some huge strides!
- We run a private, online support group for those who have received a prenatal diagnosis, providing practical support, education, resources (such as those listed below), and care packages.
- We've published a special pregnancy journal for moms whose babies have a life-limiting diagnosis.
- We have also published a 30-day NICU journal.
- I'm in the final stages of editing the book I wish I could have read when I was pregnant with Verity, From Diagnosis to Delivery: What to Expect When the Unexpected Happens During Your Pregnancy.
- We are spreading the word about the services we provide to families in these situations through any means possible! We have sent out approximately 85 care packages in 2021.
I'm doing as much as I can over the summer because soon the homeschool year will be upon us! Verity's Village needs to grow, grow, GROW because we NEED to reach more people. The needs are great. This is a HARD journey, and many (probably most) families come to us heartbroken already and feeling alone, afraid, and hopeless. We are here to walk them through this difficult journey and help them with the hard decisions so they can find hope, peace, and purpose no matter what happens.
Would you like to know more? Reach out! We'd love to hop on a Zoom or get together in person (if that's feasible) to tell you more about our mission and how we've already been able to support over 120 families. You can view our temporary web site also to learn more...Storks is helping us with this aspect of our ministry, and we are still working on our logo and brand guidelines. Once that's finalized, we can go forward with our very own web site.
Would you pray for us right now? If you'd like to be a prayer partner or even support us financially, please reach out. We'd love to chat with you!
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