Amazing Women

After I told my team that is going with me to Ethiopia that we had a last minute person coming along and the circumstances of her coming....I was once again reminded how incredible the women are that are in my life. I wanted to share with you their thoughts about Help Write a Chapter and then to give you an update on our trip.

WRITTEN BY AMY (BEMM's VP and going on our trip Feb 27th)

living is messy,

when you really do it.

there is this girl, this girl i don't know... who is dying

you can read about her here: http://182days.com/

and here's the thing,

we are going to bring her to ethiopia with us.

you know why?

because we live messy too.

it scares the hell out of me to get close to this beautiful girl, knowing she may be leaving this earth in the next couple of months... but you know what?

i am in.

i am running toward this, running toward her pain, her beauty, her healing, her stage 4 cancer, with her.

because it sucks to do things alone.

dying sucks.

it is messy.

and so is living.

it's joy and pain existing together in one place.

and i am in.

you can be a part too.

if you want to help us get her to africa... because to be honest, steffany and i didn't stop to think about that we hadn't even finished raising funds for our trip yet.

we just acted.

if you want to help.. you can donate on www.becauseeverymothermatters.com

just put crystal's name in the notes...

"Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest;

make the most of what you have. It is later than you think.” - Horace

*Amy's words hit me hard....I'm going to go on an adventure and fall deeper in love with "The Beautiful Stranger" and then what? How do you even begin to process that or accept it. Then I got an email from Jodie. She another young woman who I am so blessed to have travel with us as well... This is what she had to say-

Written by Jodie(going on our trip Feb 27th)

I’ve learned a lot over the past couple of days. I’ve learned that through determination and perseverance anything is possible. I’ve learned that in despite of all odds against one; one can still rise above. I’ve learned that through compassion, genuine compassion, dreams can come true. I’ve learned not to be so methodological, to live in the moment and to believe in miracles. Life is precious and to live life to its fullest means to put it all out there. Scream high above the mountains and say this is me the real me. I am flawed, happy, angry, explosive, shy, a loner, scared, excited, loved, depressed, weird, and adventurous. I may never experience love outside of my family and friends. I may never be married or have children. I may never be the beauty queen or the intellect. I may never be in a state a euphorium. I may never truly have faith in myself. I may never have true faith in this world. I may want and pray for ‘ world peace,’ but inside never believe in its possibility. I may be a realist, optimist, and pessimist all at the same time. I may say and believe in one thing and then do the opposite. I can be a contradiction of all sorts. I am a daughter of my God and the sister of Jesus. I can call myself a Christian, but not a follower of religion. I can believe in love and in true love. I can believe that everyone no matter of race, religion, creed, or sexuality deserves love and to be loved without persecution. I believe that Heaven is a place to be loved, to be true, to not be judged, and to feel safe. I believe the most beautiful, breathtaking places on earth is only the beginning of what God designed Heaven to be. I believe in the religion of all the people. I believe in the unimaginable. I believe in God and Science at the same time. I like people who don’ t share my same viewpoints and opinions. It what makes the world unique. However, I get very angry with people who are one minded and judgmental. I am however, not as gracious as some people, and don’t have the stamina to tolerate them. I am not perfect or pretend to be. Life has been an adventure over the past couple of years. I vow to be a better member of society and to do my duty as a citizen of the world. Life and death has been in my face for the past five years. I’ve seen the first breaths of a newborn and the last breaths of an infant, child, and adolescent. Some deaths were a sigh of relief from the pain or the injustice. Some deaths were a mystery and some were just tragic. They were all a whirlwind. Duty took precedence over the full emotion of the situation. I am going on another Africa adventure to Ethiopia in two weeks. We are going to visit villages and pass out birthing kits, love on the people, and to find a need and fix it. One of our new members on our trip is a girl named Crystal. She is at the young age of 27 just like me. However, she has stage four Ovarian Cancer. Life is fragile for her now and everything is up in the air. The future has given her 6-12 months to live on this earth. Life is unpredictable and never is as promised. I am going to share my love for this woman and to appreciate her life and what she represents. I am going to be stronger and to try to not let the little things ‘bug me.’ I am going to do it for all the cancer and disease stricken human beings on this planet. We have one life on this planet and have responsibility to each other. I am not going to be scared and worry about what tomorrow brings. I am going to live in each moment and appreciate every smile, laugh, cry, and heartbreak life has to offer. I am going to have good and bad days and even self-pity days. I am going to live and live my life in love. I am going to do it for Crystal and for myself. I am going to learn, teach, and fail in my life. However, I am never going to stop LIVING.

Bottom line the thought of death changes us, it forces us to think what we life for. What do you live for? What would you die for? Are you waiting for your life to begin? Or are you waiting around just to die? This trip is going to change us all in many ways. It's going to help the mommas we serve through birthing kits, training, sponsorships, serving and soaking in their stories. It 's going to impact their lives, but even more it will impact our own. We will be writing a few of our own chapters in this life and be humbly blessed to be a part of the final chapters in an amazing woman's life. This my dear friends will be a beautiful story of life, love, laughter and tears.

It's not to late to help write a few chapters in her life.....the more we raise, the more we can give, and the more things we can cross of her list.

Donate to the right.

Put Crystal in the notes!

P.S. We are bringing 4 video cameras with us and we will be documenting the whole adventure.
Our goal is to not only document and educate what it is Because Every Mother Matters does as an organization, but we now also have a new goal!
Video this chapter in Crystal's life and give a copy to all of her friends and family.

P.P.S- Still looking for someone who knows James Franco. She wants to kiss him!