Gracious Legacy Foundation

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

I have to admit that when I lost my mom 7 years ago to cancer, this passage of Scripture seemed hollow. I questioned deeply God's love and His graciousness, and couldn't begin to imagine that He would take something so painful and use it for good. I was only 26, a first-time mom of a 2 mos. old baby girl, and not only lost my incredible mom but my best friend that day.

Fast forward six years, and I am passing off my youngest daughter at only 10 mos. of age to an anesthesiologist to prep her for open heart surgery. By this time, I know that God is good. He is loving. He is gracious. Yet, there was still a piece of my heart that was scared to death that He would once again allow me to lose someone I loved deeply. I will never forget driving away from the hospital six days later with tears of joy and relief streaming down my face, so thankful that our precious Reese was carefully strapped in her car seat and coming home with us.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes on our behalf with groans that words can not express." This verse precedes the one above in Romans 8. I can tell you, with both my mom's battle with cancer and with Reese's heart surgery, that there were many times that I didn't have the words. "Please help" were the only things I could utter to the Lord. Yet the Spirit, in His graciousness, prayed for me. He brought people around me to help me. He gave me comfort in both tangible and intangible ways,

I am sharing all of this with you to tell you the ways God has shaped my life, and why over the past few months, He has prodded my heart to start a non-profit. I am calling it Gracious Legacy Foundation. Gracious is in the name for many reasons. First, because in good and in bad, God is gracious. Secondly, because my mom's name, Jean, means "the graciousness of God." I can't begin to tell you how much she lived up to her name. And thirdly, because God was so gracious in sparing Reese's life just over a year ago. Legacy is also chosen because I want to live out the legacy my mom has left behind. She was compassionate, loving and gracious in every way. And like Nicole Nordeman sings, "I want to leave a legacy. How will they remember me? Did i choose to love? Did I point to you enough to leave a mark on things?" I want to take the things God has allowed in my life, both the heartache and the blessings, and use it for good, for His glory, and to honor my mom's life.

With that being said, I am excited to tell you that as of last Thursday, Gracious Legacy is an official non-profit in the state of Texas. Hopefully, in the next few days, we will be receiving our tax exemption from the IRS. The main heartbeat of Gracious Legacy is to show God's love in tangible and intangible ways to individuals or families who are facing cancer treatment or open heart surgery. We will be putting together recyclable gift bags filled with waters, snacks, note cards, decorative note pads, books, small toiletries, etc. We are already set up to take the bags down to Medical City Dallas' Chidlren's Hospital. Dr. Mendeloff, Reese's surgeon, alone does around 40 open heart surgeries on children each month. It also looks like I will be able to work with Plano Presbyterian Hospital's oncology department.

Would you pray about joining us? If you live close and would like to donate any of the items mentioned above or help put together bags that would be wonderful. If you would consider joining us financially and sharing God's love to people walking through crises we would be eternally grateful. Each bag costs around $30. In the next couple of weeks we will be putting together a website for Gracious Legacy (probably graciouslegacy.com). If you give, we would love to post who you are giving in honor or in memory of on the website. We also plan to share pretty openly about Christ on the website, as He is the true source of Comfort, Hope and Life.

Asking for finances is a pretty awkward arena for me. However, I truly believe that God has called me to share His comfort, His graciousness, His love to others in tangible ways. A little can go a long way.

If you would like to share in the mission of showing God's love please make checks payable to Gracious Legacy Foundation. Include who you are giving in honor or memory of. Please e-mail me at mills5fam@verizon.net if you need our home address to mail your gift in to. You will be given a tax deductible receipt.

"To all who grieve...He bestows a crown of beauty for ashes, gladness instead of mourning." Isaiah 61:3

Living out His dream,
Kim

Christmas

Well, it is definitely time to wrap up Christmas. I will try to keep my words to a minimum.

Christmas Eve we were blessed with a beautiful snow...probably about 3 inches. It was fun to go to the Christmas Eve service in the true snow flurry that we had. I felt like it was a special treat from the Lord to us Texans! Sorry a lot of the pictures are dark. I forgot to ask Santa for a new camera. Below is Reesie and Daddy outside sprinkling reindeer food on the snow.

Us after the Christmas Eve service.

Honestly, when all the gifts for everyone are out I get embarassed by how many there are. I mention this out loud probably every year and I always get crazy looks. Please know that we are well aware that God has been so good to us.

The girls opened their one Christmas Eve gift and lo and behold! It was matching Christmas pj's....shocker :0)! As you can tell, we were blessed to have Uncle Andy, Aunt Kelly, and Drew join us for Christmas which made it even more special.

The cookies and notes for Santa:

Look close and read Ashlyn's note to Santa. This came a week after she asked for about the 10th time about Santa's "realness." Let's suffice it to say that tears flowed and the question of why people would lie about such a thing also came. (aka: Mommy & Daddy, you teach me not to lie so why are you doing so to us). Not the fondest parental moment. I think we salvaged why the tradition of St. Nick carries on.

Our big gift to the girls was a dollhouse.

I'm sad to say that i don't have any pictures of my wonderful sister-in-law. Poor Kelly spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning puking. I didn't think it appropriate to ask someone to hold her hair back while I captured a shot!

Little britches has learned to make silly faces for the camera and will ask you to take a picture of her silly face.

She then asked for us all to make silly faces:

May you be blessed in the New Year!

I will be back soon. God has really been speaking to my heart through His Word lately and I want to share. Plus, today Gracious Legacy Foundation became official! I can't wait to share and recruit your help.

Pre-Christmas Christmas

The first couple weeks of December I felt like I literally ran from one thing to the next. Apparently, most of Laney's best buddies are born in December. The girl had 4 b-day parties within the two week time frame. Ashlyn also had a friend's birthday party and girl scout Christmas carroling. All 3 had school parties. Whew...fun but tiring.

The weekend before Christmas MiMi and Papa D decided to come in so they could be a part of Reese and Laney's fan club at their school program. Here are 3 of the Fan Club's top members! I wasn't sure how Reesie would do going up on stage and seeing us in the audience, considering the moment I leave a room in our house she asks, "Where's Mommy?" and comes to find me. But the cutie-patootie did just fine!
I am pretty sure the following picture is while the song the 2 year-olds were supposed to be singing was going on. Quite a few had "deer in the headlights" looks. However, unlike the past 4 years we have been a part, not one 2 yr.-old left crying mid-song! To her right is Reese's best friend, Lilly Jeane!

Then entered the Star of Bethlehem, our very own Laney Hope. It took me at least 3 minutes to snap this picture because I was laughing so hard! I had seen the costume but not on her before the show. Just seeing her head and legs sticking out was so cute and had my tickle button going. If she tried any of the hand motions with her class her face would sometimes disappear as the costume adjusted to her body!

She even had to lead the wiseman out into the audience and make it back up on stage in perfect timing...which she did with ease!

My sweet girls after the program. Aren't they beautiful?!

The whole fam.

Oh, and did I mention that we also celebrated Christmas with Mimi and Papa D while they were here? Here are the girls having fun with some of their gifts.

Yes, they got dress-up clothes as every princess needs and a karaoke machine too to add in a little diva to their mix.

Every Soul Needs a Savior

"Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace." Luke 1:78-79

As I was reading my Bible last night I came across these verses. I think because it's in the New Living Translation it stood out to me as if I have never read these verses before. The truth is I have read them more times than I can remember. But oh what a precious gift I felt God lay across my heart last night. These verses come from Zechariah's mouth soon after John the Baptist was born and just months before God incarnate was born in the form of a helpless child.

All day long these words continued to dance across my mind and heart. Because of God's great mercy, we were given a Savior. Not just mercy from one man to another but from God himself. Not just God's mercy but his tender mercy. Because of His tender mercy God gave the most precious gift possible...His Son wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger among cows and horses and whatever other animals found solace in that tiny stable in Bethleham.

Light broke upon us that quiet night. A bright light. A heavenly light. A light that burns for all eternity for all men and women, every boy and girl, for the rich and the poor and everyone in between. A light for the hurting. A light for those who celebrate. A light that triumphs over the darkness in even the darkest of nights and greatest of storms. A light that beckons us to peace, to hope, to life.

You need a Savior. I need a Savior. Every soul needs a Savior. And over two thousand years ago, the Savior we all need chose to come in the form of a baby...to walk as we walk so that we can walk as He walks. Wherever this time in life finds you...on a mountain of inexpressable joy or in a valley of deep sorrow, know that Emmanuel "God with us" has come. Let His light nestle into the very crevice of your heart and bring peace to the deepest part of your soul.

May the greatest Gift ever given be yours this Christmas Eve night. Merry Christmas!

Proud of the Boy!

There are so many reasons why I love Jase and why I'm proud of him. He is loving and faithful. He is patient and kind. He works hard to provide for our family and is a godly example. And superficially, I think he is amazingly handsome. Yup, I picked me a good one. About 3 years ago he decided he'd like to run a marathon. Since then he has run 3 more. While preparation for him begins months and months before the race, us girls...we prepare a day ahead of time.

Here are the girls working hard on their posters.
Reese was so funny. As you can see, she colored her sign too and was so proud.
This was just 1 of about 6 pictures she had me take holding her sign...in all different poses.

Laney working hard on hers as well.

The finished product of some of the finest cheerers you will ever meet! Don't they look incredible?!!

Sweet Jen helped me navigate through downtown Dallas for the White Rock marathon yesterday. She is so dear to us and I am sooooo thankful she was there to help guide me.

Jason's favorites!

This picture is so funny! We were trying to proudly document his cheering section. I wasn't expecting him yet so had Jen take a picture of me and Reese. Next thing I know there he is! This is about mile 5. I'm so glad he saw us. We got in the car and I asked Jen if we had gotten any pictures of Jason and she replied no. Jason was the one who noticed that he in fact did get captured in the first stop photo shoot! Like the surprised look on my face?

Cutest cheering section out there!

This next picture is taken at around mile 16...lookin' good, isn't he?We saw him at mile 21 and he was still pushing through. He did look white as a sheet though and it scared me. I sent out a prayer request and got people praying. I had us pull over and I just got out at mile 23 to make sure he was okay. Color was back and my heart was at ease.

Can you believe this picture is taken after he has run 26.2 miles!!!? He truly amazes me. I always get so emotional at these things and it feels like my heart could pop from how proud I am of him. In my mind anyone who finishes a marathon is a winnner. However, even if by only 30 seconds, Jase had his personal record. He finished in 3:54:25.

And our last shot...us after Jase had a chance to get food in his stomach after the race. He was absolutely starving. Jason Mills, you have my heart! Love you! Love you!

Sweet Moments in the Craziness

Okay, one of the things I treasure most is authenticity. To that end I have a confession to make...this is no news to my husband, but I've just been grumpy this past week. I don't know why but I am. I am tired. I have felt angry although not at anyone in particular or for any reason I can state. I have had a dull headache for days now. This, of course, does not give to me being a very good wife or mom which then makes me even more frustrated...at myself because I'm not being a very good wife or mommy to three precious little girls who take in everything I say and do. Blah.

That being said I'd like to share my favorite moment from this week so far. I have started reading the Christmas story out of Luke to the girls before bed. We started on Monday night with the angel coming to Mary and telling her that she was to become pregnant with the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. It brought up such a teachable moment as we talked about why this news would have been so scarey for Mary who was probably a young teenager at the time. Then we talked about the fact that sometimes God asks us to do things or endure things that are difficult and yet we should have the same response as Mary two thousand years ago, "May it be to me as you have said." I'm not going to lie. That both calms my heart and scares me.

The sweetest thing was our prayer time after that. Ashlyn prayed "Lord, when the going gets rough (didn't know she knews that expression) help us to be like Mary and say yes to you and trust you." Reese immediately started in with "Jesus, thank you for my family and please help the people, help the people..." (and we helped her finish that sentence). Laney prayed for the children that we took off the angel tree.... that people would take care of them. It was a sweet moment in the midst of these crazy few weeks, and it helped take some of the grumps away.

Thanksgiving

Before I begin telling you about our Thanksgiving holiday I have to share a picture of what we woke up to this morning. I know it might be hard to tell but we had snow! Can you believe it? Here in Texas in the beginning of December. It was glorious! Even more glorious was the fact that it was gone as quickly as it came. And might I just add, "Brrrr, was it cold today!"

One more fun announcement. I am typing this post from my bed! on my (oops...excuse me...our) new laptop! with a 17 inch screen! Our old one is about to crater and I'm digging this!

Okay, now for Thanksgiving. The past two years we have been at our home for Thanksgiving and so this year we made the trek to Arkansas to spend time with Jason's parents. We always enjoy our time with them. As you can tell, one of the things the girls enjoy most is getting dressed up fancy.

How precious is Reesie in her tea party hat?

Yes, we had ourselves a good old fashioned tea party. The girls always want us to get fancy. Excuse me if any extra is hanging out from my dress :o). And we all have to wear hats.

Then we move onto celebrating Christmas and the girls decorated gingerbread houses.

Reese ate about half of her candy while sweet Laney Hope put half of it on one side of her roof. Love her!

Cute Ashlyn Jean was in artist mode and made a beautiful home! She puts me to shame she is so talented.

The wonderful couple that gave me my wonderful husband. Seriously, they are some very priceless people that I'm so thankful to have in my life. And, if you can't tell, they are very loved by their granddaughters. By the way you two...Happy 36th Anniversary!

Papa D and Reesie! Happy birthday to you, old man!

Mimi and her girls!

We loved every minute of being together as a family, sleeping in late (okay that's me sleeping in late...I'm sure David and Melody think I always wake up at 9 because I usually do at their house...hey, a girl has to catch up when she can, but thanks!), and much to David's chagrin...playing games late into the night around the fire. Perfection if you ask me!