When we decided to start a foundation in Nick's memory, I really had no idea what we were getting into. But the Lord knew.......

Like every other road we had faced in our lives up to this point, God had gone before us.....smoothing the way.

Well, one of the things He laid on my heart was the desire to send some sort of comfort to other families who lose a child. Through my reading of many books on grief I knew how important it was to be reminded over and over again of God's love as I struggled (and still struggle) with so much pain and hurt.

I also knew how much my wind chime means to me that I received as a gift at Nick's funeral. Every time the wind blows and I hear its beautiful sound, I sense Nick is saying "hi" to me....somehow rubbing my shoulder and letting me know he's still right there caring for me.

So, thankfully, by the gifts of many wonderful people we were able to begin ordering large quantities of books as well as ordering precious wind chimes that I stumbled across on the Internet one day while looking for the "perfect" addition to the memory box books...something that would bring comfort and love to a hurting family. As God would have it, I found a wind chime that had been handcrafted by a family who, of all things, also lost their son Dakota to a brain tumor. When I emailed and shared the story of Adrienne and Nick, Beth (the mother of Dakota)graciously offered to sell their chimes at a reduced price. I especially LOVE the engraving she did on each one!! You can see their family business at www.dakotawinds.org. I am hoping to work out some type of long-term partnership between their business and Nick's foundation so that we can work as a team in helping hurting families.

Last night we met at church for a candlelight memory box assembly and a time of prayer for all families who will receive these memory boxes.

Tonight, I just wanted to share a few photos of what the memory boxes contain. Tomorrow I'll share photos of the memory box assembly time. It was very special.Thank you for lifting up in prayer all the families who will be getting these boxes in the months to come. We are planning to mail out 12 of them on Friday. Nick's foundation has financially committed to sending out 50 each year at this point. We will send more if the need and resources are available. God already knows exactly what will happen with this ministry, so we leave that part in His Hands.

P.S.
The Nicholas Yancy Nischan Foundation teddy bears (ordered through Holy Bears) will be included in the memory boxes as well as used as a fundraising item in order to provide the financial resources for this particular outreach ministry. I will let you know when the bears are available to purchase through Nick's foundation website (www.nicholasyancynischanfoundation.blogspot.com).