I’m just going to jump right in and get to the heart of this post. I have been so excited about this for a while and I can finally share it! If you have followed my social media over the past couple of years, you have probably seen me talk about a very precious friend of mine, Rebekah and her sweet little boy, Joshua.
Rebekah is a wife to Justin – who serves our country in the National Guard –
and Mom to Bella, Shiloh, Hannah and Joshua. She is a great woman of faith who is so inspirational to me daily! Not to mention that she home schools her girls AND she is also a coach!!!
Little Joshua was born in December of 2013 with quite a few health problems, which I don’t feel qualified medically to go into. Justin and Rebekah knew that Joshua had serious medical concerns very early in their pregnancy. They were told by doctors that Joshua had very little chance of surviving or even making it to term. Some doctors advised abortion.
But Justin and Rebekah are a couple of great faith and belief in our perfect Creator. Joshua went to term and was delivered at The Med in Memphis and then was transferred to Lebohneur. He is such a joy! He smiles, the laughs, he coos, and he has absolutely astounded his physicians. But not the Great Physician…He had a plan all along for this sweet little guy!
Joshua has endured many surgeries, doctors appointments, pokes and proddings! And Justin and Rebekah have spent countless hours at Lebohneur Children’s Hospital with him.
Justin’s position with the Guard requires him to be gone very often. Rebekah has wonderful family and friends, but they are often busy helping her with the girls while she stays with Joshua. This means that she is not free to come and go from the hospital as she pleases. This is the situation for many other families there as well.
Rebekah shared this recently:
“My family has been at Lebonheur multiple times in emergency situations with my son, Joshua. We had no time to pack a bag, much less pack snacks. We have been in the hospital for weeks and even months at a time. It gets expensive eating out every meal. They have a Family room with a refrigerator and freezer and couches, TV, etc. Occasionally churches will bring snacks and leave for families to have. Over the past few months we have noticed the family rooms are completely empty. I know for me I stay alone with Joshua because my husband can’t miss so much work. I don’t want to leave him to go wait in line in the cafeteria and worry about him. Yes, nurses can come sit with them but they are busy and get called out. I want to take food to all 12 floors so families can have access to snacks quickly and not have to spend so much money as well. It would be nice to have some fresh fruits, packaged fruit, snack crackers, almonds, chips, anything like that they can grab and take to the room with them. I love keeping granola bars and fruit. It’s healthy and filling.
So many of these families are very grateful! It’s a blessing.”
I have been praying a lot lately about how to use this coaching opportunity to impact others lives in as many ways as possible and be able to give back in a way that I could not before. As well as how to educate others on this growing need among families who are already struggling with so much.
After talking with Rebekah and hearing the needs of these Lebohneur families, we decided that for the month of August I am going to donate $10 toward the purchase of food to stock the Family Room for every challenge pack that is sold. And my team of coaches are doing the same! I absolutely cannot wait until the end of the month to see how much we has to donate toward this. My goal is to raise at least $100 myself, and I plan to help as many people I can this month get started with their own health and fitness while giving to this cause!
My Mommy and Me challenge group is the first group starting this month and it is already filling up fast with moms of small children who want to get healthy and just need a little extra help and accountability to do so.
Being a mommy is by far my favorite calling in this life!!! But I also remember the struggle. Being tired, nursing one, and trying to potty train the other. Trying to just fit back into my “big” clothes from before I had the baby.Trying to figure out how to cook for my family and not order out every night.
Struggling with a lack of sleep and self esteem all at the same time.
Oh how I wish I had know then that I could work out from home and still get a good workout. I was a gym girl. I thought that if I couldn’t get to the gym to work out, I would be accomplishing anything. So, when I had Milo, I just cancelled my membership and said, “When the boys are bigger…”
But I was so wrong!!! You can totally focus on your health and workouts even with little ones in the house. I know that now, and my goal is to help 3-5 mommies with little ones at home to do the same!
On August 24th, my team and I are starting a very specific challenge for moms, dads, teachers, or students going back to school.
We are going to focus on:
* 30 minute workouts
* portion control
* meal planning
* lots of quick and easy recipes
* one meal replacement to make it so much simpler
* scriptural support to help you through!!!
I am so excited about this and cannot wait to get started. If you are interested in joining us, send me your information HERE.
These are only two of the wonderful things happening this month, and can I say that I am so blessed to be in a position to help others??? I never imagined when I started coaching last summer that God would equip me to do any of these things, and I am just so grateful. August is usually a month that I really don’t look forward to with going back to teaching and now the boys are back in school, but I can honestly say that God has shifted my focus. I am so blessed to be able to give back and provide for my family. We are healthy, strong, and so blessed to be a part of something bigger than ourselves!
If you are interested in donating to the Food for Lebohneur Families fund, please email me directly at janzenmitch@outlook.com and I will share with you how to do that!
xoxo,
Rachel Mitchell
