In Memory of Henry (Link-up included)

(Image credit Colleen Novit)

It is with a simultaneously heavy and joyful heart that I share with those of you who have not heard that Henry Dobrovits died on Wednesday of complications from surgery.

I went to Mass today with Henry's family as my intention. As I flipped through the hymnal before Mass, I discovered that all the music for that Mass was joyful. And oddly (or not), everything fit.

Our opening hymn. "Have you not seen? All you have needed has been met by his gracious ordaining." Henry "should" have died alone. He was only able to be registered for international adoption because his medical condition was misdiagnosed. And a family saw him, loved him, worked so hard to bring him home. Henry spent the last year of his life in a family. He experienced so much love in that year. It was the hand of God, graciously ordaining that Henry get everything he need.

The Scripture passages. The first reading: "Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb." Henry was called to that feast yesterday. He is blessed indeed. Our responsorial psalm: "I will go in to the house of the Lord, singing my song of rejoicing." How could Henry not rejoice as he entered into God's house?

And oh, the Communion hymn. "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord." Henry gets to taste and see that goodness in a way that we have never experienced. But I am sure that it is not an unfamiliar goodness. God is love, and because of his family, Henry learned what love is. As Henry's soul slipped from his body, he slipped into true love, the place where he is meant to be and for which his family was always preparing him.

Henry is in Heaven now, and all his pain is gone. But my heart is broken for his family. Henry was the youngest of seven. His parents and his siblings miss him terribly. They desperately need our prayers.

A collection for Henry's medical and funeral expenses is being taken up via chip in in the top right corner of this blog. I have created a link-up so that Henry's family has an easy job finding lots of posts for their child when they feel ready to read them. If you have a post about Henry, please feel free to add it here.

Auction for Angels is live!

Some of the other Angel Tree warriors and I have set up a joint fundraiser. We didn't have enough items to each have our own auction, so we clubbed together and made one big one. Here are the items that I'm selling for Aisha:

Hair clips that my sister made. (Side note, my family is awesomely supportive of my obsession desire to help orphans.)

Some baby booties, knitted by me.

That elephant, of course.

Some books.

Click here to view the auction! Place bids by commenting on the photo. If you don't have a Facebook account, comment on this post with your bid amount and a way to get in touch with you.

Seven Quick Takes: Angel Tree Edition

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Good morning and welcome! This week all my takes will be about the Angel Tree fundraiser, which has officially started! (Don't know what Angel Tree is? Find out here.) The page where you can see running totals is UP. You can see it here. It updates every 15 minutes. That's fine, I wasn't planning on getting any homework done for the next two months anyway.

~~ 2 ~~

Please pray for success! I forget to say this sometimes, but it's actually the most important part of any fundraiser I do. Don't think that if you don't have money, you can't do anything. Praying helps more than donating money (although if you feel moved to do both, PLEASE FEEL FREE. Haha).

~~ 3 ~~

Donations made through the Angel Tree link, Aisha's profile page, or either of the boxes on the right side of this blog are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE. Isn't that awesome? If you donate $35 or more, you can choose to receive a Christmas tree ornament with Aisha's face on it. Totally going to do this when I get paid. If I had $7500, I would buy one for each child on the Angel Tree. *sigh* Maybe after I marry my software engineer!

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Don't want an ornament? Go check out my fundraisers! Most of them still have no purchases and I don't know why. These would make great Christmas gifts. And everyone knows someone who drinks fair-trade coffee, right?

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Another way to help without money: Share! Everybody's got at least one friend who has money and would be willing to put it to a good cause like this one, or else a friend who wants something I'm selling. So please spread the word!

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Keep your eyes peeled for an auction featuring handknit stuff by me. (I have it on good authority that the bidding for my elephant is going to be intense.) There will also be baby booties! And uh, I haven't decided what else. Haha. Stay tuned.

~~ 7 ~~

I'm also working on getting enough stuff knit up to open a store in the Reece's Rainbow Christmas Craft Mall. A lot of crafters have collaborated to make buying homemade gifts that support orphans easy. Go check it out! (I don't know if you need a Facebook account to see it. If you want to purchase something but don't have a Facebook account, leave me a comment!)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!