Dear Family, Friends of www.jimanddoni.com, Grace Family Fellowship, Grace4Today, and Surprise, AZ Fire Dept:
Thank you for the overwhelming support for Project Jolley Christmas!?? I am excited to??announce that not only did we have at least six gifts??per kid (actually more), but we raised $4327.67 for the Jolley family!!!!!?? That was $827.67 OVER our goal! ??God??IS Good!!!!!
I thought you all would want to “see” what my front??room looked like before delivery.?? In the pictures??below you will see that I decorated my dining room table with the donated decorations, and my coffee table??and surrounding area is stacked high with??gifts for the kids.?? In addition, we had some baked goods, a couple of frozen meals, all the ingredients necessary for six kids to make gingerbread houses during winter break,??and even a few??gifts for mom.?? I can’t tell you how overwhelmed I was by the outpouring of your love.?? I had tears pouring more than once as your generous gifts just??kept coming.????What an awesome gift this has been for our family to be able to participate, even in small??part, to a greater community of loved ones who??want to be the hands and feet of Jesus during CHRISTmas.
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Many of you??wanted “specifics” on how the “revelation” went so here it goes:
“JustSarah” (Sarah – you do know that I want to rename you right?????You are anything??BUT a “just” :)…Jim, my Mother in Love, Tanner and Ty all drove to??the Jolley home.?? It??has been touch and go all week as to where Susie and Landen would be.?? Home? The ER??? A Pediatric??unit??? It took some coordination to figure back up plans because??things could change by the minute.?? Sarah actually taught me how to use txt messaging on my cell phone during this coordiantion effort – whehew!?? (How much exactly am I being charged for that though??? I’ll soon find out 😯 !
As it turned out, Landen??was still home tonight.????Short of intubating him, the Jolley’s have all necessary equipment at home at this point to care for him including a nurse who is there many??hours a day.?? They are on VERY STRICT lockdown though so we realized we would not be able to enter the house.
We parked a couple of houses down and??quietly piled up the gifts outside the door.?? Susie did know I was coming.????I told her that I was coming to??drop off Landen’s gift from Ty.?? That was entirely true – I just left a bit out 🙂 .?? I kept interrogating Sarah about the right house.?? I forgot my directions at home and was relying on Sarah to tell us what house number it was and I kept visualizing getting all these gifts piled and having a neighbor with children answer the door.?? It was pretty tough for Sarah and I to keep a lid on our endless giggles imagining all the awkward situations we could be in if we accidentally??piled gifts at??the wrong house.?? The oxygen tank outside the door though convinced us we were??at the right place.?? Thank you Sarah for keeping me on the straight and narrow 😉 .
When all was set just right, we knocked and waited.?? Meanwhile, Ferris and the kids were out for the evening so only Susie, Landen, and Landen’s nurse were at the house.?? This was a blessing in disguise because Susie needed her own moments to “digest” this AND she insisted that if the kids had seen the gifts, CHRISTmas would have happened on the 18th!!!?? :)??
When Susie answered the door – there was first silence.?? Then in this little voice I hear “Doni!?? This is not a gift from Ty to Landen”.?? To which I replied “Yes it is!?? There really is “A” gift to Landen from Ty in this pile somewhere I just didn’t mention the gifts from everybody else!
To say she was overwhelmed would be an understatement.?? Susie is not usually a “cryer” but being the expressor that I am, I encourage others to join in the fun and cry with me LOL!?? When we presented her with the check that would cover Landen’s surgery plus some, she was completely speechless.?? I won’t say much more about Susie’s reaction because I think she will want to tell you herself.?? I will say this though, she told me tonight on the phone that a mountain of stress fell off her when she opened her door -??all in just a moment.?? If even for one brief moment tonight, she feels wrapped in the arms of love, I am grateful and I am sure you all feel the same way.
The kids do??not know about this surprise yet.?? Susie and Landen’s nurse hid all the presents in a locked bedroom before anyone got home.?? She can’t wait for their expressions on CHRISTmas morning and she promised to take pictures and allow me to post them so we could all see??those happy little faces.
As for our dear precious little guy Landen…I’ll be honest.?? We are in a very critical place.?? His body is weakening and if surgery were scheduled for tomorrow, they would have to cancel because his body??could not handle the stress of it.?? In 10 days Landen is scheduled for surgery, and while we are not giving up hope, we are acknowledging that it will take??supernatural??intervention from God to prepare his tired little body for surgery.?? We can’t speak on God’s behalf.?? We don’t know if He will choose to??work a miracle??in this situation or not.?? Trusting Him anyways is when the rubber REALLY meets the road.?? ??My mom told me once that “when your will and God’s will intersect, you have reached the point of the cross”.?? We first pray as Jesus prayed, God’s will be done…but He also knows that the deepest outpouring of our heart is pleading for His mighty Hand to reach into a seemingly impossible situation and leave us in awe of His handiwork.?? So we ask our Daddy God…and then we wait.
Please pray for peace that surpasses all understanding for the Jolley’s.?? Pray for wisdom for them in the choices they need to make and great discernment for Landen’s Dr.s.?? Above all else, pray that this situation will draw them closer to the Father – that they will feel sheltered and cherished and treasured beyond measure even in the midst of this terrible storm.???? We do not know what the future holds, but we do know WHO holds the future.?? May we rest in that much.
Thank you all for your loving gifts –
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Jim and Doni Brinkman on behalf of the Jolley family
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17 responses to “Project “Jolley Christmas” Results”
I am just speechless and so blessed in witnessing all of this.
My heart aches for Landen.
???when your will and God???s will intersect, you have reached the point of the cross???. … tears, just tears.
Love you my friend
Doni you are such a wonderful blessing from God. Your heart is so big, we all love you. I was so moved reading this posting. I really hope that Landen gets better soon. I wish his family all the best.
Really blessed by your entry. Thanks for letting us all be a part of it! tears! lots of tears!
What a beautiful project of love and compassion. I pray for little Landen daily. PS — tears are rolling!
oh yes – thank you for letting us be a part of this gift. THIS is CHRISTmas in action. thank you doni… thank you Father for allowing us to be blessed with the gift of giving, of prayer. thank you that we can step up and take part in what YOU want to do. be near the jolley’s today, in a way they can feel – consume them with your love and peace we pray.
amen.
This is one of my all time favorite songs by Casting Crowns. Every time I think of the Jolley’s I think of this song and its amazing message. A message that is so easily forgotten in times of hardship.
Praise You In This Storm
Written by Mark Hall / Music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms
If there ever were a test of our faith – if there ever were a test of the motives of our worship – it is when a storm rolls into our lives. We watched and prayed for a precious little girl named Erin Edwards struggle with a deadly disease for several years. The courage, the witness, and the worship of Erin’s mother Laurie inspired this song. Sometimes God calms our storms. Sometimes He chooses to ride them with us.
Romans 8:28 / 2 Corinthians. 4:16-18
Psalm 42:5 / Psalm 121:1-2
Job 1:20-21 / Daniel 3:16-18
I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
And stepped in and saved the day
Once again, I say Amen, and it is still raining
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear you whisper through the rain
I?m with you
As your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
I?ll Praise you in this storm
And I will lift my hands
You are who you are
No matter where I am
And every tear I?ve cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will Praise You in this storm
I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can?t find you
I lift my eyes into the hills
Where does my help come from
My help comes from the Lord
The maker of heaven and earth
Michelle that is so weird! I wrote an intro to that and started writing those words in the posting last night and then I deleted them because I thought my post was getting too lengthy. When Kambrie died earlier this year, I sat in the kitchen of the Dunn home listening to THAT song while Kambrie’s mommy and daddy said goodbye. I can’t tell you how much that moved me. And once again, the familiar song of praise keeps going round and round for the Jolley’s.
Doni, so glad everything came together and that it lifted a burden from the Jolley’s. Heidi has it right completley…..this is what CHRISTmas is all about and it feels wonderful to know that so many people worked together to make their CHRISTmas as beautiful as possible. They will not only have gifts for the children and money for Landen’s surgery but they realize that there are a lot of people in this world that may not know them personally but are praying for them everyday and send Love In Christ to them! Merry Christmas everyone…..totally crying!
and you know Heather, that is what i pray the jolley’s feel and KNOW more than ANYthing right now… the presents are fun, the relief of financial pressures are incredibly feeing… but knowing you are not alone, you are loved, and the Savior is reaching his arms out to you through the love of His children… well, now NOTHING can beat that being part of the package. 🙂 i pray with all my heart that the compelling message of the gifts left on their doorstep will be:
you are loved
you are loved
you are loved
you are loved
you are loved
( i meant freeing, not feeing) 😉
and now the JOY of CHRISTmas surrounds me…
That song is my life as I praise the God who gives and takes away… and as hard as these holidays are without my precious baby girl, her life is still witnessing to others. Because of what we have been through, and through Doni’s support as my “big sis” I am able to reach out to moms like Susie. Susie and I have built a friendship and I love having the most random talks with her, because I get it… I am on my knees for the entire “Jolley zoo”! I admire Susie’s strength and keep praying for the Lord to hold little Landon in the palm of HIS healing, comforting and ALMIGHTY hand. It is so awesome to see everyone reaching out as the hands and feet of Jesus for this family.
Jolley’s if you are reading this:
You are loved:)
oh how we love you today.
Yes, you are so very loved!
Doesn’t this Christmas just have a certain “feel” to it, like we are really, really “getting” it?! This is what it is all about, praying for someone other than myself, sincerely actively seeking the Lord on their behalf, sharing even just a small part in lavioushly giving, feeling “surrounded” by cyber frinds and knowing that we are forever family united in our Dad’s family? Merry CHRISTmas to all of you and I pray that each of you feel a little extra hug of love and anticipation as we celebrate what it meant for a little baby to be born in a manger.
you are so right Aunt Beck! i too keep seeing around me, people who GET that we don’t just celebrate this cute little baby… but we see forward into the life, death, and resurrection – the saving grace – the healing hands – the love in action – all that Jesus really meant when He came to us by such humble means… all because Father loved us so deeply. Wow….. what a gift.