Two AWESOME phone calls

Yesterday I got to talk to two amazing people on the phone.

As I mentioned in my last post about Ironman Wisconsin I met an amazing man named Michael Hennessy. IMWI was his 13th Ironman this year as he is going towards a goal of beating the Guiness World Record of 14 in a year. He is set to do number 14 this weekend in Oklahoma.

He is racing to raise awareness for kids with Trisomy 13 and 18. I have joined his cause and yesterday we got to talk on the phone for the first time. I am very excited to see where this goes. I will be TRI-ing for TRI-somy to give a voice to these children who do not have one.

I have been reading so much about Trisomy since meeting him. A lot of these children are diagnosed in Utero. Most of the time parents are encouraged to abort them. They are told that their child, this precious gift from God, is incompatible with life. Who are we to say who is or is not compatible with life? Trisomy 21 is Down Syndrome and what I learned from Michael yesterday is that ony 10% of babies in Utero diagnosed with Down Syndrome, make it. The other 90% are aborted. I know that some of you will comment to me that it is the parents choice, but parents need to be given more choices than just abortion. These are precious gifts from God. Maybe their wrapping paper is a little different, but they are wrapped in His love and parents need to be aware of all their choices and that is why I am joing TEAM TRISOMY.

I challange you to look up Trisomy 13 and 18 on YOUTUBE. Look at these precious children and their families. Most of them have been told "you're child won't live long, so why do you want to try?" I had a sister that lived only 5 days. She did not have Trisomy, but as hard as it was, I loved seeing her. We have pictures of her and she touched our lives in such a beautiful way. Her name is Blessing and she truly blessed our lives no matter how short our time was with her. Don't these parents have the same right? A mom said in one of the Trisomy stories I was reading, "My baby is not just a syndrome. This is my baby. They deserve a chance at life." I know these parents probably wonder why their child, but God does not make mistakes and each of these babies are precious.

Most of these babies do not live to see their first birthday, but as I am searching on the Internet and finding stories I'm seeing that some kids are living to be 8, 12, 18 (check out bubbaforpresident.org) and even 32. These children have been a blessing to their families and everyone they come in contact with. Let's raise awareness for these kids and for their families so they know they are not alone and that we see their children as a gift to us and that they ARE compatible with life.

Stay tuned for more ways you can help. In the mean time check out this video of a little boy named Eliott who had Trisomy 18. Get the kleenix!:



Also, I had another aweomse phone call yesterday. I got to talk to Caroline Schnog who as I put in my last post was the last person to cross the finish line. I looked her up on the Internet and called her to tell her I had a picture of me putting on her medal. We had a great conversation and am so excited that I talked to her. She has lost about 120 pounds on her journey to doing an Ironman. We talked for awhile and I know that I must made a new friend for life. She even said to let her know when I do my 1/2 Ironman and maybe she'll come and do it with me.

Also, I have HUGE news. I wasn't going to say this yet, but I have decided to do an IRONMAN. After volunteering, meeting Michael, talking to my hubby, and talking to Caroline I have decided to do it. My 1/2 Ironman will be in 2011, so I am thinking of doing my IRONMAN in 2013. We'll see. I have a lot to overcome, but with God all things are possible. I cannot wait to see how God uses my journey to help others.

Stay Tuned.