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Thursday, November 17, 2011

Hope

One of the challenges over at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge is scrapbooking your beliefs.  That doesn't necessarily mean religious beliefs it could be something as little as my husband believing that I ask him to swap cars only when my tank is empty... hmm but he may have something there :).  But when I read this challenge an idea came to mind immediately.  I don't believe in coincidence.  I'm not going to get into some deep religious blog post here but to put it simply I believe that God's hand is in everything.   I then saw on Missy's blog that the challenge over at Challenge Me Happy is based on a fabulous photo with blue sky, clouds, and the word love.  Well I swapped out the word love for the word hope, combined the two challenges and created this...
The base paper is Sassafrass Sunshine Broadcast, the other pp's are some old Fancy Pants.  Flowers are Basic Grey Bloomers, clouds and kite are KI Puffies, butterfly rub-on is by Jenni Bowlin, the little bird on the bottom left is by My Minds Eye, and the flare near the bird is American Crafts.

You can read all the journaling below, I know that's a whole lot of journaling but it is a nice story.

"In March 2006 Gavin and I flew to Mobile, Alabama.  Tim was stationed at Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg, Mississippi and this was going to be the last opportunity for us to see him before he left for Iraq.  I don’t know how many thousands of family members were traveling to Hattiesburg but it was a crazy day for traveling and Mobile was the closest airport to which I could find tickets.  All the flights were overbooked and there seemed to be thunderstorms all across the country.  Gavin was about 11 weeks old so I was traveling fully loaded with diaper bag, stroller, and car seat.   We had at least 2 layovers and when we landed in Houston I discovered the airline lost the stroller and car seat when I checked them at the previous gate.  So we were late for our final flight to Mobile and I was running through the airport carrying Gavin.  The plane waited for us but by the time I got there I walked in with a screaming baby, I can just imagine what the rest of the passengers were thinking.   We were seated near the front of the plane next to a very friendly busy man, all things considering.  I was trying to calm Gavin and I heard someone behind me tell the man next to me to switch places with her so she could, “be by that baby.”   This lady’s name was Hope.  The man sitting next to me was happy to change places with her.  Hope talked to me, and assured me not to worry about the crying baby.  I got Gavin calmed down and then the turbulence started.  It was the bumpiest flight I had ever been on and I could feel myself getting sick.  Hope took Gavin and cared for him the rest of the flight so I could either throw up or just sit back and relax, something I hadn’t been able to do all day.  We landed in Mobile and I never saw Hope again.  I don’t believe in coincidence.  God gave me Hope when I needed her the most."
 
See I told you it's a nice story!

Oh yeah, I've been seeing this all over blogs today but I too am going to watch Breaking Dawn tonight!  And then tomorrow I took the day off from work and am cropping at the LSS all day with my BFF.  How cool is that!?!

Thanks for looking!!!

21 comments:

Anne Pennington said...

Lea - I LOVE this. I love your design, your sentiment, and you know I LOVE Sass!! Great to have you play along with us at another Freaking scrappy challenge ... come back again!!!! Love your stuff!

yyam said...

Oh yes...it's a lovely story....love the kindness of a stranger. :)

Your layout is so pretty! Love the fun and cute elements you used! Such a delightful layout! :)

Roxy said...

That is a wonderful story! Some people are just wonderfully kind, and you remember them forever! Have fun at the movie and crop (I am extremely jealous, by the way!), hugs, Roxy.

Kirsty Vittetoe said...

Awwww... that is such a touching story, God always give us the best thing, people come into your life for a reason, it may be a short encounter like HOPE, but we know it was God's plan and he always have our best interest in heart!
Lovely layout to remember this wonderful moment!

Missy Whidden said...

What an awesome story! Perfect challenge for this...I just love how you used the photo to inspire you. Your colors are perfect, and that butterfly is so pretty! I just love the whole design here. Gorgeous, as always!!

Chantal Vandenberg said...

I love your layout - the design is amazing. Love the story too. Fantastic work!

sandi said...

Wow! This is just so beautiful, so touching! Tks. for playing along with us at AFSC!

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Wowwwwwwwwwww! What an AWESOME story and AWESOME lo!! I loveeeeeeeeeeeeee this! LOVEEEEEEEE the layers and that butterfly! :):):):):):):):):):):)

Anonymous said...

Lea this is very heart touching, thankyou for sharing your story, I love it. Your layout is stunning. I love the design. Thankyou so so so much for playing along at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge and look forward to seeing what you create in the future. Happy Scrappin. (Donna)

Anonymous said...

Lea this is very heart touching, thankyou for sharing your story, I love it. Your layout is stunning. I love the design. Thankyou so so so much for playing along at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge and look forward to seeing what you create in the future. Happy Scrappin. (Donna)

norine said...

What a wonderful story, and wonderful LO!! Thanks for playing along with us at Challenge Me Happy!

Anne said...

Such a gorgeous page for a beautiful and touching story . XXX

Ella Swan said...

Oh Leah this is such a beautiful story - I loved reading it! I have also had an angel come to my rescue & I firmly believe that's what Hope was! WOW!! And hope you did some serious cropping with your bestie!! What a treat!!!

Lizzy Hill said...

What a beautiful story ~ & the page is beautiful to match it.... love how you've got that cute li'l plane in the bg, too:):)

Lynnda said...

What a great Story Lea!!!..Love the kindness of a stranger...I heart your layout... its so gorgeous... hugs..xoxo

karenw said...

What a great story, I love that her name was Hope (Angel I suspect would have been perfect as well). Beatiful design wiht the pink butterfly and the very cute little plane.
I am so glad you could share your story with us. Thanks xx

Theresa said...

what rock have I been living under. not only is this layout fabulous, but that story is tear jerking..I can't recall that i heard it before. finally blogging a little. see what everyone is up to...

=)

Hannah said...

Awesome layout, and an incredible story! Thanks for playing along with us at CMH! :-)

AnneiSkogen said...

Really beautiful, and a wonderful story.

Thank you for joining us at CMH!

Bev said...

wow your story gave me goosebumps rthanks for sharing and your layout is gorgeous. Thanks for playing along at another freaking scrappy challenge!!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous!!!!

I love that story and your super sweet layout. Thanks for playing along with us at CMH