Her birthday is on Christmas. She'll turn 11 in just a few days. She keeps asking her momma why there aren't any presents under the tree. 

That momma and this family is one of the families we're sponsoring this year for our Give Hope project. That momma came over this Thursday to help wrap gifts for her dear Hope Link friends who would be receiving them. We secretly wrapped her gifts up while she wrapped for others. Then we sent her home with a car full of presents to cover that empty space under the tree. 

She sent me this text the next morning...

Sometimes I think I'm crazy for taking on this challenge every year, and then things like that happen, and I remember why we love doing this. This community of women and families who are all connected by the hardships and blessings of having a child with special needs is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's beautiful and inspiring. 

Tonight, I just wanted to thank you. Everyone who is following our journey and this project and doing what they can to help, thank you for buying, donating, and sharing. It means so very much to these families. 

I wanted to share a few of the amazing things I get to see through Hope Link and the families that are a part of it. 

A few days ago, one of our Hope Link mommas posted an amazing video of her son walking for the 1st time with these words....

On the same day, another Hope Link momma shared these words in the Hope Link group. She said, 

I wanted to share this video of my daughter crawling! She will be 2 in just 2 weeks, and this just started about a month ago, very shortly after our November (Hope Link) meeting! 

We are very private in what we share on Facebook. There was a time, not too long ago, when fear of the future overcame me. You have all given me HOPE for our future, whatever it may look like, and a little but of peace in the journey. For now, though, we are celebrating this amazing feat, and I wanted to share with you all! 

This is the beautiful thing about a community like Hope Link. They truly do give each other hope. I am constantly inspired by the way they love so well and the way they serve and celebrate each other. 

So if you're wondering what in the world it is that would get us to even attempt something like this, it's that. It's all that hope that this community of women bring to me and to each other. 

I have to tell you about all the good stuff because there is also lots of hard stuff that comes with having kiddos with special needs. One of our Hope Link moms tweeted about the horrible shopping experience she had last week. Employees and customers were rude and made inappropriate comments. That's no way to treat a child with special needs or their family. Remember, you never know what someone is walking through or dealing with....ever. That's why we have to love recklessly. We have to love even if it'll hurt. We have to love even when it appears to be an inconvenience. We have to love the way Jesus loved. 

I wish I could help these babes walk or watch them for a night while their parents have a night out for once, but I can't do those things. But there are things that I can do, and Christmas is one of them. So if you've been watching and wondering what in the world we're doing.....the only way I know how to describe it is love. I have fallen in love with these babes and their families. They have captured my heart. They need to be loved well. They need to be given a little hope. Sometimes the hospitals and the bills and the diagnosis's (or lack there of) are too much, so we give hope at Christmas. 

If you haven't had a chance to see our Give Hope video, please take a moment to watch it below. And if you'd still like to help, there are 3 ways you can help in these last few days.

We still need:

1. Donations: To donate, simply comment below with your email address and the amount you'd like to donate. All donations will be used to fulfill the wish lists of our Hope Link families. 

2. Deliveries:  We have families all over the Oklahoma City metro area. From Norman to Yukon to Edmond and everywhere in between. If you'd like to pick up and deliver to a family, we would love for you to be a part of or deliveries. It's the best part of the process!! Comment below if you're interested in delivering. Deliveries will happen Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 

3. Gifts we still need (You've got to be local to the OKC area to be able to help with this one.)

🎁

🎄

We still have items that we're running around collecting. If you can pick up any of the items listed below, please let me know! It would be a huge help as we finalize all the lists and get everything wrapped up. • little kid Nike shoes for a boy size 3 

• Men's New Balance shoes size 15 (4e) color navy (I can give you details on the style)

• bodyguardz iPad Air 2 screen protector 

• a Jurassic world toy 

• a set of gorilla grilling mats

• b toys Ribbit-tat-tat drum (target) 

• Quadrillion game (target) 

• Usher cologne (kohls usually has it)

• Men's Thunder tee size L 

• Men's Thunder hoodie size L 

• boy outfit size 7/8

• girl outfit size 7/8

• Pie Face game (I know it's a long shot) 

• a toy kitchen 

• kids Converse size 8 toddler Chuck Taylor navy 

• unisex Converse Chuck Taylor All Star High top sneakers white size women's 8 

• Tom's 6.5 grey (women) 

Anything you can give, deliver, or buy is such a huge blessing to these families. 

❤

 Thank you for helping us give hope this Christmas.

The thrill of hope....for EK

I've spent the day going up and down the stairs in our home taking the Fall decor up to the attic and bringing the Christmas decor down. And every step, every trip was full of prayer. 

As Thanksgiving comes to a close and you start making your list for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday shopping, I'm hoping you'll add at least one more item to your list. 

You see, I've been praying over 10 families....some of them I know and love. Some of them I call my dear friends. Some of them I don't know yet, but I will. 

Five years ago, I met a little girl who changed my life and my love for Christ and every Christmas after that. Ellie Kate was a joy. I don't even know how to describe her other than joy. She was anointed. A child of God whose smile could light up any room. Ellie was born with a rare, genetic disorder called NKH. I fell in love with her, got really mad at God, and then discovered a God who loves us unconditionally. 

Ellie's mom, Ryan, is the co-founder of a non-profit organization called Hope Link. It exists to provide support to families with children who have rare, serious, and often undiagnosed conditions. There is even a Hope Link Graduates group now for families who have lost children. We say it's not a group you ever want to be a part of, but it's a huge blessing to these mommas. 

Hope Link is a thriving and growing community. They reach out to other families in the area by delivering care baskets to local hospitals to be delivered to other families with kiddos who have rare conditions and long hospital stays. 

It is community in it's most raw and beautiful form. 

Several years ago, we felt a pull on our hearts to attempt to provide Christmas for several of our Hope Link families. We used our Scentsy team as a launching point to spread the word and pray for gifts. And that year, our dining room was filled with gifts. Donations of love for several of our Hope Link families. Every year since, we have prayed hard and dreamed of great provision for some of these amazing families. 

All our Hope Link families have to battle insurance issues and medicare and in-home nursing and long hospital stays. Unfortunately some of our families even end up at the hospital over Christmas. 

So Christmas is something we do to try to ease the stress of the holidays. It's one way we can bless some truly incredibly families. But it's honestly a little scary. 

We adopted 10 of our Hope Link families this year. We asked each of them to provide us with a simple wish list of 3 items they would like to have. Some of them have a hard time doing it. They fight me on it. They ask if there is another family who could be blessed by it instead of them. 

And I press them. They deserve to be loved like this. They deserve for their stories to be told. 

So this year, we are sponsoring 10 families, 47 people, and over 145 items on our final master wish list. And I would be lying to you if I told you I wasn't nervous. I am. It's a big task. 

But I'm also so crazy excited. I can't do this on my own. There's no doubt about that. And when we decide to do big and scary things, we give God the opportunity to show off in big ways. 

So I'm expectant. I'm asking the Lord to bless these families with more than just things this year. I'm trusting that He'll move in some of your hearts. That their stories will grab you and change you. 

So I'm asking this year for a simple task....150 people committed to buying a single gift for a Hope Link family. They're more than just gifts. They truly are pieces of hope delivered to these families at one of the hardest times of the year. Many of these families are facing another Christmas without one of their babies.  

My sweet friends the McLaughlins are one of those families. Ellie Kate went to be with Jesus on December 23rd of 2012. During a time when many of us can look past our own struggles and issues and focus on Christmas and family and Christ, it's hard for them to function without Ellie here. 

So I'm asking for big love this year. I'm asking for more. Give a gift and then ask what else you can do. Volunteer to deliver theses gifts to one of our OKC families. Volunteer to bring them a meal or coffee or just ask how you can help. There is so much more that we can do as the body of Christ to love well those around us who are hurting. In honor of Ellie, we are giving hope this Christmas. 

So how do you help? 

• Share our story. 
• Commit to buying 1 gift via our Hope Link Amazon wishlist. 
• Reach out and ask how you can do even more. Just shoot me an email @ allisondalke@gmail.com. We need help wrapping, delivering, praying, writing cards....there is so much to do. 

Help us give hope this year. Because there is no better gift than the thrill of hope.