what. a. year.
I really wanted to do something special to celebrate this day. So I put together a little video that is a quick little glimpse into what the past year has looked like for us.
Finley is one tough little cookie. She has taught me so much. I'll never forget the excitement that accompanied the phone call we received by Dr. Park's office letting us know that she was a candidate for the surgery. It was surreal. Its an interesting balance between "being positive" and "wanting to throw up because you are so anxious that something may not work, but you want it to sooooo badly." I tried to be as realistically positive as I could. I always believed that Finley would walk independently. Right before I submitted her application, I prayed with my Biblestudy. We were discussing the "power of prayer" (something I didn't truly believe in - even after everything we had been through with my dad and our adoption). I threw out a request for the week, "I don't know, I guess I want to pray for a MIRACLE for Finley." My girlfriends logged that into their journals.
A few weeks later the miracle began. She was accepted as a candidate. The online campaign, "The Dare to Dance Challenge" began- and we fundraised $40,000.00 in two weeks. TALK ABOUT A MIRACLE. Our campaign lasted long enough to raise the EXACT amount we needed to not completely max out our bank accounts for this SDR endeavor and all of the post-op expenses. So many people reach out to us for fundraising advice, and I truly feel I am unable to provide it. Honestly. It was nothing we did, it was God at work - He tugged at peoples heart strings as they encountered our Youcaring fundraiser. I still have no idea why us. We are forever grateful. I DO 100% believe it is our mission to continue to raise awareness and advocate for Cerebral Palsy and the SDR by Dr. Park. We were told by several of our "trusted" Doctor's NOT to do the SDR because it was a "thing of the past"- but let me assure you, its very much a thing for the future.