Lydia’s Birthday Party

My sister Jennifer has 2 daughters, Hannah, who is 12, & Lydia, who turned 8-years old June 13th. If I begin to explain how & why they are special to me, I won’t know where to stop; so, I will just say they are special nieces.
Because school ended before her birthday, Lydia held her birthday party May 18th, to be sure her friends would still be in town.
For the last couple of years Jenn has written “no gifts” on Lydia’s birthday invitations, but her friends still bought her gifts. This year Jenn asked Lydia if she would like to do something different & have her friends donate the money to charity they would have spent on a gift. Jenn explained what she meant & named a few options. One that she named was the Cancer Research Foundation – Jenn explained this is the charity people give to on the website Kristy set up for Aunt Patti. As soon as she mentioned it, the discussion ended; that was her choice.
Her birthday party was held at BounceFunPlex, in Shamokin Dam (see http://www.bouncefunplex.com/ for more information). Lydia was joined by 10 of her girl friends from Meadowbrook Christian School (MCS). You can see from the pictures that they had a great time!
When the owners of BounceFunPlex learned that Lydia asked her friends to donate to the Cancer Research Foundation, because her Aunt Patti has cancer, instead of getting gifts, they were so impressed that they also made a donation. They reduced the fee for the party & asked that the reduction be donated to the Cancer Research Foundation. The total amount of money collected for the Foundation was $150! (Thank you to all who donated!)
Isn’t it amazing what an 8-year old can do?
I mentioned Lydia in my Chapter 8 blog. She brought me handmade get well cards from her 2nd grade class at MCS. In return, I sent a Valentine card & treat to each of the students in the class, to thank them for their prayers, beautiful artwork & thoughtfulness.
Jenn showed me Lydia’s report card, so I could read the comments her teacher, Mrs. Cross, wrote. She praised Lydia & asked God to bless her for her tender heart for asking for prayer for Aunt Patti every morning.
As you can see, Lydia is a very special girl!