APRIL 4, 2013
It has been a while since I've added any more updates to Hope's home, and we've already been living here now for 6 months! How time flies! We have been slowly getting settled in. . . we've made progress for sure, but how is it that you still always seem to have a ways to go, eh! : ) But one of the most recent progresses that we have made is a ramp for Hope to come in/out of the house! WOW! This is such a blessing, as I was really struggling to wheel Hope up the front porch steps with her growing size and the perfect fit of the wheelchair wheels UNDER the lip of the stairs! So, before Trevor made his trip to Nepal and I would be on my own to get Hopey in and out of the house, some very wonderful friends (Keegan, Lucan, and Justin) built the most awesome ramp. . . you'll see why in a minute! It has made things so much easier on Trevor and I, but also Hope as she has much less cold weather exposure coming/going! And with how her custom built/fitted wheelchair is made, thick coats don't fit on her. . . we can only cover her up on top. So this is a BIG deal! Now as wonderful as it is to have a ramp for coming/going, what stands out above and beyond is the LOOK of this ramp. . . Keegan was so brave as to ask Hope what colour she would like her ramp to be. I cringed at first, knowing exactly what colours Hope would pick, and how on earth Keegan would accommodate her spectacular colourful tastes! Ready. . . Hope's answer was . . .TURQUOISE and. . .
RAINBOW!!!
I thought how on earth would poor Keegan accomplish such an undertaking of spectacular creative colour. . . but Keegan's response was precious and so generous, "Hmmm. . . I think I can do that!" And now we get to share a picture of this most amazingly beautiful and super fun ramp. . . if you gotta use a ramp, this IS the ramp to have! And a special note to all those who have contributed to Hope's trust fund. . . this ramp was paid for from that fund! So thank you so very much for ALL of your generosity and love that is evident all around our house. . . it is truly a house for Hope!!!
Get ready to feast your eyes. . .
Hope and Gabs showing off the newest addition to a House for Hope!
There is a turquoise ramp, pink landing, and dark blue step, with a terrific rainbow rail!
And as great as this picture is. . . it is even better in person. So come by and visit sometime, and you'll be sure to be greeted by Hope calling as soon as you walk in the door, "Hey! Open the garage door and see what's there!!!"
OCTOBER 26, 2013
Well, we began our move into our new home on Friday, September 27th, and finished the last load and final clean of our past home on Monday, September 30th! So we ARE officially in!!! I have wanted to get an update on here, but we hit the ground running from our moving date on! We just returned late last night from Chicago and look forward to being home now for the next while and continuing to get ourselves settled in. . . there are still boxes everywhere as we haven't been able to do much unpacking. The other challenge that we are pursuing is to use our space wisely in considering Hope's needs and day to day activities. Being still fairly new and learning how wheelchair accessible living works best, this is a work in progress, for sure, but one that we are excited to be tackling as we care for our precious girlies' needs!So, I will continue to give you more updates, including pictures, as we continue to settle in. What I can give you now is the most amazing part of our home. . . the girl's bedroom and ensuite bathroom/main bathroom! I only have pictures right now, but will eventually have video as well. . . it just needs to be edited as it was quite long! : ) So, why is the girl's bedroom and bathroom so amazing. . . well because we had some help. . . actually A LOT of help!!! Let me fill you in on a TERRIFIC SURPRISE that Hope and Gabi were blessed with. . .
A few months ago, dear Grace McKee (from McKee Homes), asked me if she could do a little something in the girl's bedroom to make it special when they moved in. She and her wonderful partner, Alex (also from McKee Homes), met with me to find out anything they could about Hope and Gabi's likes, colour preferences, etc. as well as what special considerations, needs and such were important to think about for Hope. . . such as what colours does she see, mobility in the room and such. These two precious ladies showed incredible attention to what we spoke about, and with their creative juices flowing, gifted talents for home design and decorating, and their love for two little girls who have been through a difficult past two years, they went to town. . . BIG TIME!!!
I think the best way to give an idea of how much these sweet ladies did for our girls (and us!) is to show the contrast between what I gave them, and what they gave us!!!
You're going to laugh (you should!) at this next picture showing what I literally brought to the meeting with Grace and Alex to give an idea of what colours the girls loved and also Hope tended to see best. . .
Yep. . . a turquoise, pink and light purple ponytail hairband! Impressive eh. . . NOT!!! But that truly is my skill level when it comes to designing or decorating a home. Now for what is impressive. . . they gave us THIS. . .
How beautiful is that, eh! Now let me fill in the gaps to this equally beautiful story about how the Lord lavishly blessed our girlies through some beautiful people!!!
Keep in mind that this effort was total surprise to our girls! They entered the house for the first time on the Friday of starting our move in. . . Sept 27th. We had invited all those involved with the "Hope and Gabi's room surprise project" to join us so they could see the surprise revealing to the girls! Before I show the rest of the pictures that will truly not do justice to just how beautiful this project turned out, let me share a bit more about another person who gave so generously and compassionately of his time and talents to be a part of this project, Jeremy Hood. . . he is one of the talented master carpenters at McKee Homes. Jeremy designed and built from scratch all of the custom bedroom furniture, including a loft bed for Gabi complete with tons of under bed storage, a built in corner desk, two huge dressers, and a beautiful shelving unit! He also installed all of this furniture! What an incredibly compassionate and generous heart to not only do all of this, but to also do it all for FREE! Jeremy was personally impacted by others coming along side them in dealing with their precious child's health difficulties and as such had determined to help others when given the opportunity. What a tremendous heart, and what a huge blessing to our family, especially our daughters!!!
God provides in many different ways. . . we have seen this throughout this journey with Hope! Sometimes it is through those close to you, sometimes it is through friends or even acquaintances, sometimes it is through complete strangers, and sometimes it is through those who can relate to your struggles and offer a special kind of comfort (2 Cor 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."). We have experience each of these, and they are all precious reminders of how God is faithfully providing and caring for us, not only what we need, but above and beyond our imagination. . . THIS WAS DEFINITELY ONE OF THOSE TIMES!!! Again these pictures will not do justice to how beautiful the project turned out. . . so you will just have to come by and visit us to see it better! : ) But here's a sneak peek (especially before it looked a little more "lived in"). . .
Hope's bed and side of the room. The horse painting on the wall was done by a local artist friend of Grace McKee's in colours that she loves and can see!!! Hope loves horses and it is one of her favourite things in her new room, along with the turquoise walls!!!
Looking from the bedroom into the girl's ensuite bathroom entrance. This entrance makes bath time so much easier on mom and dad and less freezing for Hope! At the foot of Hope's bed is Gabi's dresser and the beautiful shelving unit!
Gabi loves this desk area and spends tons of time doing various activities here! Hope's dresser is to the right in the pictures, and is conveniently located within reach of Hope's bed/care area! There is also a cute little square velour seat (not shown in the pictures. . . sorry!) between Hope's dresser and her bed that they have deemed the "story-telling seat!" : ) There is a window with pretty shutter blinds above Hope's dresser, & their names are on either side of the window in black letters! So fun!
Another view of Gabi's dresser and the beautiful shelving unit. The ladies also had me bring some of the girl's belongings that they had placed in the room, along with pictures, that made it home immediately!!! How special!!! You can also see the cute bathrobes that they bought for each of the girls hanging on the back of the bathroom door!
The sink area of the girl's bathroom. This sink is wall mounted so that Hope can get right up to it for washing her hands and brushing her teeth. She LOVES it, and wants to wash her hands all the time now! Especially cool when she has not been able to do that for nearly 2 years now!
Long view of the girl's bathroom, which also serves as our main bathroom. I've NEVER had such a beautiful bathroom in all my life! : ) The ladies were so kind to hang more family photos, include a lovely wall art, and add in all the bathroom necessities to make it immediately functional and so beautiful! Notice all the room in the bathroom that allows us to bring Hope's wheelchair right into the bathroom. This is so much easier on mom and dad's backs!!!
. . . like pictures right out of a home magazine, eh! Wow!!! It's hard to get them to come out of their room now. . . they LOVE it in there and come up with all sorts of things to do to make use of this beautiful space! We have a video that we took of the unveiling to the girls, as well. It needs to be edited into a bit more user-friendly length and then we will be excited to share that with you! So stay posted for more to come, as well as pictures of the rest of the house. . . although, as Hope and Gabs tell everyone when they give them a tour of the house, after closing the doors to their bedroom and bathroom and starting with the rest of the house, ". . . and now, for the prettiest part of the whole house!" Open doors, cue dropped jaws, followed by oohs and aahs, and on to enjoying big smiles on two blessed girlies' faces!!! : )
One last picture with Gabi's written heart expression right after seeing their new room, to sum it all up . . .
We cannot adequately thank these precious people who provided two such special and beautiful rooms for our sweet girlies! But with immensely blessed and thankful hearts, we say, "THANK YOU" to each and everyone of you for the parts you have played in this project! And to everyone who participated in the building of this home, another huge "THANK YOU!" We started paying on our mortgage on October 1st. . . a mortgage that we can find doable, thanks to our gracious God, and the generosity and compassion of so many that came together to make this House for Hope project possible! We look forward to sharing more with you soon, dear ones!!! And. . . we look forward to having you to our new home!!! : ) YOU are so loved, including those we have never had the privilege of meeting!!!
SEPTEMBER 15, 2013
This will be our last update on the house until it is ready to go! We are currently in the "lockout" period which is 2 weeks prior to our possession week, so they can have everything finished and ready to go. Here are the last of the pictures that we took this past Sunday, Sept 8th, before the lockout period began. Our excitement is definitely building and although we are in the midst of packing/purging chaos, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Even our girlies are getting super excited. It was hard for Hope at first as she has never seen the new house and was quite attached to our current home as this is what she remembers and knows. But over the last month, we have seen a huge transition in her and she is very excited about all the things that will be easier for her in the new house, as well as things that she currently either can't do or is limited in doing, but will be able to once we move. . . things like brush her teeth or wash her hands at the sink, help in the kitchen, eat at the table, and bring her wheelchair into the bathroom rather than be carried in. We thank and praise the Lord for His comforting of her fears of the unknown, that He helped her see the immense blessing that this wheelchair accessible home will be for her and the rest of us, and that He has equipped her with a new fresh excitement for what lies ahead, knowing He will continue to be with us through each step! Our God is always faithful and we delight in singing His praises!!! McKee Homes and their trades are working hard to finish up the final things on the house and we thank everyone, especially Grace McKee who has spear-headed and led this project, for their incredible generosity and heart to help our family. How God has used these dear people to provide a huge need for our Hope and our family! Enjoy these last few photos before the big finale ending to a House for Hope!!!
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| The framing in the basement is finished. Insulation and plastic covering is waiting to go in. The basement will remain unfinished for now, and we will work towards finishing this space at a later time. For now, it'll be a great space for Hope to practice her walking and biking this winter!!! |
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| Front Entrance Closet Doors |
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| Girl's Bedroom Closet Doors |
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| Backyard Deck with Wheelchair Ramp (There is a lot of dirt that will still be brought in to fill in the yard. . . so it's not a drop off the end of the ramp!) |
AUGUST 31, 2013
Well, it's offical. . . possession date is September 27th, 2013!!! We have about another week or so before we are "locked out" of checking out the house progress to leave the big surprise finish as we do our final walk through orientation with McKee Homes on Sept 23rd! So, here are some pictures of the latest work that has been done over the last couple weeks. And I'll try to post one more set of pictures before the "lock out" 2 week period. Now the big push to have everything ready to go on this end. . . sort, purge and pack is all I think about these days!!! : )
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| One of the tradesmen from Granite Gallery was so kind to show us what the sink will look like in our master bathroom! Love it!!! |
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| Tradesmen from Granite Gallery put the counter top on the kitchen island. It is special for us when we get to meet some of the people who are working hard on our soon-to-be new home! |
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| Tiling around the living room fireplace. |
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| Just had to showcase these beautiful lights generously donated by Trudy from Exciting Lighting Ltd. here in Airdrie! We had such a delightful time meeting Trudy and her family a few months ago. These lights will be over the flush eating ledge on the kitchen island. |
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| Long view from living room. . . looking at dining room and kitchen. Notice the tile backsplash also completed now and another pretty light fixture for the dining room from Exciting Lighting! |
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| Framing started in the basement. . . the basement will remain unfinished though for us to complete at a later time. |
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| Garage shows the completed walls and floor. And two closet shelves for the main entry that are drying after being painted. |
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| The girl's bathroom tub/shower tile work. . . isn't it beautiful!!! Thanks to the wonderful smart suggestion from Kathy of Hawthorne Interiors Ltd. in Calgary to have the tiles go vertical instead of horizontal. Love it!!! |
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| Similar to another earlier photo, but does show that the flooring has been started. But to keep it looking nice and new, it is covered with brown paper, so you can't see it well. . . but it's there!!! |
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| The garage door. . . hadn't seen it down yet! |
AUGUST 21, 2013
Here are some quick photos from earlier this week. Things progress quickly from this point on, so will have more frequent updates for you! Here are a few pictures of the front driveway and sidewalk poured and the cabinets that have been put into the kitchen and the master bathroom. Hope and Gabi's bathroom (or the main bathroom) will not have a cabinet as they are instead mounting a sink on the wall so that Hope can access it better in her wheelchair. As difficult as it is to stand her at the sink and try to brush her teeth and have her spit into the sink, this is going to be wonderful for her! More pictures to come soon, as I play catch up on the last couple weeks!
**Note: To see a list of companies generously involved in making this House for Hope Project affordable for our family, please scroll to the very bottom of this page! : )
**Note: To see a list of companies generously involved in making this House for Hope Project affordable for our family, please scroll to the very bottom of this page! : )
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| Front Driveway and Sidewalk Poured and Ready to Go!!! |
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| Kitchen Cabinets!!! |
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| Kitchen Island! |
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| Master Bedroom Bathroom Cabinet! |
AUGUST 14, 2013
It is exciting for us to share these recent photos taken in the house when our dear friend, David Wiens, was working on it! We have known the Wiens for over ten years, they are a part of our Harvest Calgary church family, and he is a very talented finishing carpenter for McKee Homes. So, he is the finishing carpenter in our new home for Hope, as well!!! How fun, eh!!! Trev ran over a couple weeks ago, to take some pictures of him and his work to share with you. So this is me playing catch up on where the house is at right now. I'll have some more recent photos for you by the end of the week, I hope! We are so very thankful for all the talented tradesmen working on our house and praise God for how McKee Homes has brought together so many willing to help our family move into a home that will be better suit and fit Hope's many special needs!
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| Driveway and front sidewalk are ready to be poured! |
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| Trev was able to catch a picture of David hard at work! |
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| David was working on the trim that goes around all the windows, doors and closets! |
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| This is our master bedroom closet and shows some of David's beautiful work!!! |
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| This is our pantry in the kitchen. . . shelves courtesy of David also!!! |
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| The fireplace mantle is part of David's handiwork also!!! Beautiful eh!!! |
JULY 26, 2013
Our latest update has pictures to show the drywalling that was completed last week. I believe that they have also textured the ceiling and are slated to have the finishing carpenter in to start the sub-flooring soon. Cabinets will go in after that, and then we will get a better idea of when they expect the house to be done. The last update we got about a week ago said that they are expecting mid September now for the completion and possible possession date.
We have some pictures of our last visit to the house, which was almost two weeks ago. We often don't get to meet the many people who are working on our house, but on this visit, we had the joy of meeting Michele, who was working on the mudding/taping. It was a pleasure meeting him and sharing some of our story about Hope and what this house will provide for her and our family, along with the many ways that God is at work in her life and His faithfulness to always provide for her/our needs throughout the journey that started for our family over a year-and-a-half ago! Michele gave us permission to post his photo, and you'll also see Trevor and our good friend and new worship director at Harvest Calgary, Joel Dipert, who came along to check out the house progress with us! Hard hats and all!!! : )
Meanwhile, at home, we are in the very busy phase of organizing and purging, with packing on the horizon. . . the move in date will be upon us sooner than I will probably be ready on this end! Ha! It is amazing how much "stuff" you collect over the years, and I am enjoying finding new homes for alot of this "stuff" so that we can avoid clutter in our new home. . . something that will not be good for Hope and her mobility around the home! Simple will be better for all of us! We look forward to getting over the house again soon, and will have more new pictures to share soon!
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| Looking down the main living area of the house from the kitchen. |
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| Girl's Bathroom/Main Bathroom |
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| Girl's bedroom looking in from the doorway. |
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| Basement. . . the cement floor has been poured now! The basement will remain unfinished for now. We'll work on that after we move in. |
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| Garage. . . cement floor has also been poured! And we heard from someone else who drove by the house, that the dry wall is also done in the garage now, too. |
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| We have a fence along the back of our backyard that was just added. |
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| Trevor, Joel, and Michele having a chat in the kitchen! : ) Sooo great to meet you Michele!!! |
JULY 8, 2013
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| Siding is Done! |
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| New Deck |
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| View for Now! : ) |
JUNE 18, 2013
Just a quick update on the house progress. . . it has been a slow past month due to the huge amounts of rain that we have had. They were getting the house all ready for inspection so that the next stage of drywalling could begin, however before that could happen, we had several days of continual rain. As a result, our basement flooded with about 3 feet of water. They were able to install the sump pump and empty the water, but in being super conscientious and considerate of us, McKee Homes is going to replace the furnace and the plumbing/bedding around the plumbing in the basement to be sure that there will not be any future issues. Once these things are done, then the inspection can occur and then the drywalling will begin! So the only difference since our last update and photos is that the gas fireplace has been installed. We'll keep you posted as things continue. We were able to meet one of our future neighbours, also building a bungalow! And they have started digging and preparing to pour a basement for the house that will be right across the street from us! So not too much longer and our house that has been standing all alone, will no longer be "The Little House on the Prairie" as a sweet friend has coined it! : )
MAY 18, 2013
The house continues to come along. I'm adding new pictures of the outside and a couple from the inside. Electric wiring has been almost finished and insulating and dry walling will start soon. Plumbing has also been started. We had our first walk through the house this past week and were able to change/add a few things that will make it work better for Hope. We have been busy at various housing appointments over the past 6 weeks, picking out various things for the house, from interior decorating to lighting and wiring! We've learned a lot and most of all been super blessed by the wonderful companies that are helping us with this House for Hope Project. They have been so helpful and kind through this process and we are continually humbled to see how everyone is so committed to making this home not only a great fit for Hope's needs, but also a HOME for our family. Special thanks to: Ashley from McKee Homes, Denise from Aya Kitchens of Calgary, Frank from The Brick, Scott from Digital Lifestyles, Kathy from Hawthorn Interiors, Kim from Granite Gallery, Dean from Enhance Electrical, and Trudy from Exciting Lighting!!! There are many more to thank that we will not necessarily cross paths with, such as the fellas who worked hard to get our 14 foot roof on top of our house with the crazy winds! Here are a few pictures. . .
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| Roof Being Put On! |
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Girls' Bathroom
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| Girls' Bedroom |
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| Stairs generously donated by TimberTech Stairs Ltd. |
APRIL 3, 2013
We have the immense joy of sharing with you a story of the amazing provision of our GREAT God! What a delight to get to celebrate God's faithfulness and goodness with you, our dear prayer warriors, and to see Him receive all glory, honour and praise! For the many prayers you have lifted up on our behalf. . . here is the story of how our gracious God has answered and given yet another good gift in His perfect way and timing!
We have been looking into wheelchair accessible housing that would allow us to better care for our sweet Hope, and have a space that would allow our family to function better in the activities of day to day living. It was a significant challenge due to the lack of availability of wheelchair accessible housing as well as the sizeable cost that was beyond what we could afford. With the help of precious kind-hearted people, we had looked into building in Calgary last spring, but this fell through at the end of July as it ended up way beyond what we knew we could afford and thus commit to. We shared our need with you, and you went to work praying alongside us and our Awesome God set His perfect plan in motion far before we were clued into how He would provide this need.
I was contacted late August by an amazing lady, who has become a sweet friend. I am so excited to share with you how God laid an idea, actually more of a burden, on her heart and how she responded in generosity and love! Grace McKee (who would have been quite happy to remain unnamed, but we wanted to share the whole story as God's hand was so evident!) is the co-owner of a home building company in Airdrie called McKee Homes. She contacted me to see if we had to build in Calgary or if we could continue to live in Airdrie. The reason I share this is significant and actually leads to another story of amazing provision through God's grace and faithfulness and the generosity of His people. So now I need to back up a bit and tell you about our wheelchair accessible van. . . some of you may know all about this, but for some, I'm guessing this will be new. . . and I love to sing the praises of God's faithfulness!
Okay. . . stay with me for this little back-track. . . last April. . . Hope is still in the hospital and we are basically living there as a family. They are starting to make early plans towards Hope's discharge knowing it will take a long time to sort out all the details of taking Hope home in her very different state. One of the big deals was could we manage in our bi-level home with three sets of stairs? After looking into options for wheelchair housing. . . there were absolutely none available!. . . and after consulting with several Homecare people and a walk through assessment of our home, they gave us the green light that with a few necessary pieces of equipment, we could make our current rented home work on a temporary basis, giving us time to continue to search out other housing options for our family. However, we were told all the way back in January that we would need to move to Calgary, in order to access the resources necessary to care for Hope. . . such as the public school system for special needs education, wheelchair accessible transportation, etc.. None of this was available in Airdrie where we were currently living (about 15 mins north of Calgary, for those who don't live here).
How were we going to get Hope home? It cost $150 to take a wheelchair accessible taxi from our home in Airdrie to the children's hospital and back, and this was not able to be covered by any funding. Hope was going to be there every weekday for an extended length of time! And what about taking Hope to church, on family outings, etc.? It became obvious that the only way we could manage and continue to function as a family and care for our now special needs daughter, giving her as many opportunities to resume life as she knew it, was to purchase a wheelchair van. We applied to President's Choice Children's Charity and were amazingly and graciously awarded the maximum amount they ever give. . . $20,000!!! (This is another story in itself as it usually took about 3 months to process these applications. . . however they responded to us in less than one month, two weeks before Hope was discharged from the hospital!). But this was still a far cry from the full amount of purchasing a wheelchair accessible van. . . end cost was about $65,000! But our God "owns the cattle on a thousand hills!" Nothing is too much for Him! He set in motion an amazing story that is too big for me to share every detail here, but let me tell you the highlights. . .
God had led us to place our girls in Bearspaw Christian School (BCS), just over a year prior to Hope's brain injury when we moved here to plant a Harvest church. Our church plant also met (and still does) at BCS. What God has done in our lives through this precious school and community of believers is truly a miracle in and of itself. . . and a testimony of God working through His body of believers! Ok, I said I'd just hit the highlights, or I'll soon be on to writing a book! : ). Along with our precious Harvest church plant family, BCS families joined in to provide meals at the hospital for the entire 5 months that we were living there with our sweet Hope! Amazing blessing!!! The BCS families had many other ways that they blessed our family as well. . . such as the Two Toonies for Hope prayer bracelets, and more things than I could ever recount here! BCS had also been taking donations for our family from the time our journey began in the hospital. The BCS families had so very generously raised $30,000 for our family and wanted to put it towards something we really needed. . . in April, that need was obvious. . . a wheelchair accessible van! But BCS did not stop there. . . hearing that we were only $15,000 shy of the full cost of the van, BCS Principal, Judy Huffman, led the students of BCS to participate in what she called the "Mountain of Hope!" Judy has a blog that shares more details of this, as well as her personal journey and eventual amazing milestone of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro last summer! Judy called on the students to use their OWN time, money, resources, giftings, etc. to give towards the "Mountain of Hope," to see how close they could come to raising the last $15,000. I wish I could share all the stories we were so very blessed to hear of how these wonderful students of BCS used their creativity and own resources to do just that. . . they raised that $15,000 in about 6 weeks!!! They made things that they sold, they babysat and gave their earnings, they sold their own belongings and gave the money they received, they taught piano lessons, they gave from their birthday gifts. . . it was an amazing display of God at work in and through young lives! What an example of I Timothy 4:12. So on Friday, May 11th, we purchased our wheelchair accessible van and took Hope home on a weekend pass to see how we did, and then were able to take her home for good after being discharged from a 5 month hospital stay on May 15th! Okay. . . transportation. . . CHECK!!!
June through September, The Lord worked again in and through our wonderful BCS staff as they were approached and considered whether they could possibly take Hope back there as a special needs student. . . this was completely new to BCS. . . they had never had a specialized program with all the facets necessary for a student like Hope. . . could it work? It would be a huge under taking, and yet again, BCS trusted The Lord and followed His hand over all the details, and committed in early September to work with the Gordon Townsend Rehab School (that Hope was then attending at the hospital) and school liaisons to take Hope back as a student when she was ready. Okay. . . education/school. . . CHECK!!!
Alright. . . I'm taking you back to the original story now regarding wheelchair accessible housing, and I hope that you are able to follow the significance of what I just shared. . . our all knowing sovereign God is over EVERY single detail. . . since God had used BCS to provide both transportation and special needs education, we no longer needed to move into Calgary! So at the end of September, when we were finally able to connect and meet Grace to discuss what she might be able to do to help us get into wheelchair accessible housing, Airdrie was now an option for us! You see, Grace's company was able to build in Airdrie, but not in Calgary. How could we ever doubt the faithfulness or lack trust in the perfect timing of our Awesome Sovereign God!!!
Over the last few months of 2012, Grace went to work on behalf of our family in a HUGE way! She wrote and sent a gracious letter, telling a bit of our family's story and needs, to all the trades, companies, and people involved working with her company in building a home. . . asking if they would be willing to commit to help with a project to discount a wheelchair accessible home that would fit our needs and remain at an affordable cost for us. Grace expressed the burden God gave her to help our family this way in the letter, "I can't even tell you how strongly I felt about this when I read about the house. I felt at that exact moment that we were called specifically to this family to build them a home." The response from the trades and companies was overwhelming and humbling! Grace designed blueprints for the project, being so kind to take into account the two requests Hope had for her new home. . . a big bath tub and a room to share with her little sister, Gabi. . . as well as what would be a good fit for our family's and Hope's needs and general functionality. Grace kept running numbers and costing out the project as the blueprints developed and responses from her letter came in. We can only imagine how much time Grace poured into this project! And in addition, Grace and her children have been praying for Hope and following her journey since the beginning. . . back in Dec 2011! In His perfect timing and plan of provision, God was now using this kind and compassionate family to answer some of those very prayers! GREAT is YOUR faithfulness, Oh LORD!!!
We had the joy of meeting with Grace a few more times from late September to December, discussing the progress of the project each time and waiting for the final numbers and plan to come in. We even got to meet and introduce our Hopey to her sweet kiddos, Sophia and Sam! How awesome to meet two "little" prayer warriors! Trev did some work with a couple banks and number crunching as to our highest cap for an affordable mortgage. As things came together, we were all thrilled and incredibly grateful to The Lord when not only did the numbers on both sides work, but we had a little bit of room to spare! And so. . . just before Christmas, we signed the final paperwork to officially begin the building of a bungalow home that will be fully wheelchair accessible on the main floor (basement to be finished later). Currently the estimated finish date is the end of August 2013! Lord-willing before the end of this year, we will be able to move into a wheelchair accessible home and rejoice in yet another miracle of God's faithful and good provision for our family and His continued presence with us through this trial!
So, we'd like to honour the generosity of the many people/companies that have committed to participate in this project and share their names below at the end of this post. May it also bring more glory to the Lord as it reflects His hand over ALL the details and using so many different people to bring about His perfect plan and provision in our lives! We'd also like to start posting updates on Hope's Facebook page with pictures of the ongoing progress of the project, so you can share in the joy with us and most importantly, the ongoing worship and praise of our Awesome and Worthy Lord and Saviour, Heavenly Father and Provider, All Powerful and Sovereign God!!! Thank you for continuing to walk along side us in this journey. You are so loved, dear friends and family!!!
Ephesians 3:20-21"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen!"
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| Surveying |
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| Foundation Stage |
We'd like to thank and recognize these generous people/companies for compassionately participating in the project of building a House for Hope!
Home Site: Hopewell Residential Communities Inc.
Survey: DA Watt Consulting Group Ltd.
Excavation and Backfill: On Track Excavating Ltd.
Concrete Supply (footings and walls): Foothills Ready Mix Inc.
Concrete Supply (basement floor, garage pad and driveway): Lafarge North America Inc.
Weeping Tile and Gravel Work: Mitchell Rock Systems Inc.
Driveway prep, place & finish: Calaco Concrete Ltd.
Place and finish basement floor: Calaco Concrete Ltd.
Engineering: Richards Engineering Consulting Engineers
Floor system, Trusses and Lumber: Zytech Building Systems Inc.
Framing: Not sure yet who will be framing the house - I will let you know
Misc. Framing & Decks: Mike Macsymic
Windows and Exterior Doors: Gienow Windows and Doors
Exterior Trim, Siding, Soffit, Fascia, Eavestrough: A&D Exteriors Ltd.
Exterior Stone Work and Parging: Summerstone Contracting Inc.
Stairs: Timbertech Stairs Ltd.
Roofing and Insulation: Ideal Insulation Ltd.
Heating: Horizon Heating Ltd.
Plumbing & Fireplace: Cyclone Plumbing & Heating Ltd.
Supply of toilets and sinks: Gerber Plumbing Fixtures Inc.
Supply of kitchen sink: Blanco Canada Inc.
Supply of faucets: Delta Faucets Canada Inc.
Facilator of supply of plumbing: Allan Forrest Sales Ltd.
Electrical: Enhance Electric Ltd.
Drywall: Du-All Drywall Contractors 1982 Ltd.
Garage Door: Ultra-Lite Overhead Doors Ltd.
Structured Wiring: Digital Lifestyles
Cabinets: Aya Kitchens of Calgary
Granite if Selected: Granite Gallery Ltd.
Finishing Material and Hardware: Makin Doors Building Supplies Ltd.
Finishing Labour: David Weins - 1006260 AB Ltd.
Mirrors and Shower Door: Chinook Glass & Screen Ltd.
Interior Painting, Stain & Lacquer: Magic Touch Painting & Decorating Ltd.
Exterior Painting: Ardivan Enterprises Ltd.
Flooring and ceramics: Hawthorn Interiors Ltd.
Appliances: The Brick Warehouse Corp.
Lighting: Exciting Lighting Ltd.
Legal Fees & Disbursments: Hassett & Reid LLP
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