Own Your Warrior Status

Life is crazy.
You know that saying "you make plans, God laughs?"...yea, I'm livin' it at the moment.

I have had a ton of things to do lately:
I've been sitting on hospital committees, distributing Piper T-shirts, attending parent teacher conferences, gymnastics lessons, speaking to high school classes, making lists of small house tasks to accomplish (because in this market, why not sell this baby for an upgrade, right!?) Life stuff has been happening. We have been busy. My people pleaser brain starts to get a bit self conscious and overwhelmed sometimes....and the other day, I had a thought.

I am choosing this busy-ness. This is good. We are making an impact and having fun with one another. I can handle this because....I have walked through effing fire. I'm handling a loss very few understand. I can handle anything that is "hard," because I am equipped with His Grace.

I've walked through hell and back. I am a warrior. I will own it.
Bring it on.

I'd love for other mommas to take a look in the mirror, and own your warrior status. Every family has their struggle, every marriage a hardship, every single person has gone through a personal hell in their life. There is no need to compare journeys with others, to determine who had it harder. We have walked a path that equips us to help someone, somewhere, somehow, someday. Own it. Embrace your warrior and hold your head up and know you can...because duh, you rock!

Matty and I have been super excited to get our house on the market and move to a new, bigger home in KC. We've been chill about it, no rush...and God laughed.

I rarely brag on mister hubs; but man, he's worked his butt off lately. He worked full time while Piper was in the hospital, yet never missed an early morning snuggle with her on his way into the pharmacy. He rarely slept, took care of us, paid the bills...and dealt with a horrible loss alongside me. He has worked so hard; and people have started to take notice.

Currently managing the Special Disease Pharmacy for Walgreens, Matt was pulled out of meetings last week to have a big, HUGE chat with the big wigs. There was an offer for bigger and better things, no interview needed, he was their guy...does he accept?

CUE FREAK OUT FOR MOMMA!

Matt has accepted an Area Health Care Supervisor position, leading over 60 Walgreens stores...in Little Rock, Arkansas!

The crazy thing is, Matt has been offered relocations before, and they were somewhat silly/not practical. We are usually pretty picky when it comes to these offers, and none of them had made sense for us. BUT - when Matt called about this job, all went quiet. My critical mind silenced, and we wept. What an amazing feeling of peace and understanding that we were on the right path. Matt is being rewarded for his hard work, the relocation specifics are amazing and a HUGE reward for our family, after these couple years of mental turmoil. House on the market? God laughed, then did us one better.

The best part: I get to sit back and watch, as Matthew Jarvis reaps the benefits of such hard work. I cannot put into words how much this is deserved for him. About time, babe!

The Specifics:
We will be meeting with a relocation coordinator this week to get our house on the market, schedule house hunting trips to Little Rock, and the family move date will rest on when our house sells.

* YES, we will still have and ALWAYS have the Grace Blanket Drive each Summer!
* I will let you know when it's time / where to mail blankets - STAY TUNED!
* I will be in KC regularly to continue our blanket giving with our original love - Children's Mercy
* There is an AWESOME new Grace Blanket website coming soon to spread even more love!
* I will save the goodbye KC emotions for a later post

I had a goal this year to be able to mail blankets to our hospital friends in different cities, so this is an easy transition to take Grace Blankets further! (If you are near a big hospital/big city, I will be reaching out soon for Grace Blanket reps that can deliver for us and snap a PIPES shirt pic! I'm talkin' to you, Amarillo, Dallas, Houston, Lubbock...) :)

Things are about to get crazy. Crazy good, and crazy new and crazy cool. Sometimes even blessings feel overwhelming to our schedules. I want to get anxious about Matt leaving and me "single mom-ing it" for an undetermined time; but then I realize - I've walked through hell and back this past year. I am warrior momma and I can handle it.

Own your Warrior status, and bring on the blessings.

Some quick iphone snaps of some really cool website shots taken today. Showing KC LOVE!

Just a Drop in the Bucket...

Woo Hoooooo!  Check out the fancy new blog design! A HUGE thank you goes out to Jodie Gerling, for coming to my rescue and sprucing things up for me! You rock my face right off, woman!
***
Have I mentioned that I've been getting my head shrunk? Ain't no shame in my game. Since February 2015, while Piper was still alive, I've been going to a therapist. I love to talk...I love to talk about myself...I love therapy. 
The result: my overly egotistic self now thinks I'm a psychologist. (Duh!)  In all seriousness though, this has really helped me dig into the how and why I want to grieve, give back, and tap into coping skills while incorporating my faith in this recovery process. 
Something I've been mulling over for a while now, is me getting tinges of anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. I've analyzed, then OVERanalyzed why; and have come to this conclusion: (I'm billing you for this session later.) I get SO excited to help, to make a difference, to give back, to have Piper be remembered...that I regress into the thoughts that everything I can do is too small. I look at this big ole' world and have the humbling realization that I am just a mere drop in the bucket. Just a small tiny blanket drive lady, trying to make a difference, but just a drop in the bucket that is children's hospital philanthropy. 
Blankets, hospital committees, NICU meals, bereavement bath products...does it make a difference? Have you ever had thoughts like this? "Am I even making a difference?"
This is when I have to stop. Slow my roll, and tell myself, "Hell YES it does!"  Now, all my psychotherapy comes in handy when I am so excited to share with you my thoughts on giving back... Do NOT let being, "just" a drop in the bucket, extinguish your flame! Your drop means something to someone. Your light has a purpose. Hold that light out and shine the way, baby! 
Matt and I have had discussions recently about our faith in God as youngsters. We were raised as Christians, and were pretty darn boring teens. No crazy fall to rise from, no huge mistakes, prude - boring teens. As a Christian, and a quiet one at that, this led me to feel like I had no real profound testimony to share with others. I always had God's light within my heart, and carried it with me through this life. 
What Piper has done, is allow me to take my light, extend my arms, and hold it out for all to see. Piper's life has given us a reason to shine that light for others, regardless of how big or small the audience. My drop in the bucket is awesome, my flame will be bright, and I will shine it for you, Pipes!
While compiling my words for this post, a song from childhood came to mind that I'd love for you to hear. It's perfect for this topic. (The YouTube video might be corny, but the words touch my heart.) I urge you to give it a listen, and think about how you use your light.  Go Light Your World ***
NOW, it's time for another PIPES shirt order!!!!! Some of you missed the last order, and we are excited to offer these again! T-shirt money goes straight into the Grace Blanket account and has been used in these ways thus far:
   * Blanket purchases to stockpile for August hospital delivery    * Bath product purchase for NICU bereavement team    * Website domain purchase    * Non-profit filing process    * NICU family meal event (we fed over 50 parents this January!)    * Footprint keepsake supplies for NICU nurses to create for families    * Blankets blankets blankets for NICU/PICU babies!
In short - Y'ALL ROCK. This is YOU shining your light! Thank you so so much!
Here are shirt ordering specifics! Call, text and email me ASAP!  817.319.8116 or tarajarvis13@gmail.com (yes, shirt prices are increased from last time...I spent waaaay more on tax & shipping than I bargained for!)
* $18 - Adult Sizes S - 3X * $12 - Child Sizes XS - XL * $10 - Baby Onesies NB - 24mo
When you call, text or email, I need from you:
* how many & what size * your shipping address * I can take cc payment over speaker phone, you mail a check, or meet me with cash! * your order isn't recorded until payment received. Emailing me doesn't ensure you get a  
  shirt...money talks, baby!  * I'll text or email you our address for check mailing. (Just not posting it here, duh!) * Checks payable to: Grace Blankets or Tara Jarvis DBA Grace Blankets 
SHIRT ORDERS/PAYMENT DUE BY MARCH 5th! (2+ weeks)
Questions? Call me. Text me. Email me. 
Check out all these fine folks sporting their Pipes shirts! How amazing! What a great way to get the word out about our blanket drive cause, CDH awareness, and remember such an awesome person!
We love you all! Can't wait to talk soon! #PipersPod