Have you ever felt the soul within you leap for joy? I did last night when prayers were answered and God was praised.
I have kept you abreast of the saga of Hannah's Birthday. As you all know, she was very sick for her surprise party, and Scott and I had to miss her actual Birthday to attend a Komatsu Forklift Truck meeting in North Carolina. For a mother, missing a child's Birthday is one of the worst things you can possibly do, so I wanted to make it up to Hannah BIG TIME!
Several months ago I decided I was going to get Hannah to a Hawk Nelson concert (for those new to the blog, they are Hannah's most beloved band EVER) for her Birthday. As only God can, He made that possible by bringing Hawk to Cleveland (3 1/2 hours away) this past weekend. I purchased VIP tickets for all of us (Scott, Hannah, Hannah's friend Zaryan, and me) and Hannah and I looked forward with excitement to this big event.
In the middle of the night several weeks ago, an idea came to me. I wondered if there was any way that Hawk Nelson would be willing to meet Hannah one on one for her Birthday. With a hope and a prayer, I e-mailed our story to their manager:
On Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 3:36 PM, Nancy Matthews
<nancymatthews74@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dear Mr. Rettler,
Hello! I am bringing my daughter Hannah to the Rock & Worship Roadshow in Cleveland on November 6. We are driving 3 1/2 hours to the show for one reason, my daughter adores Hawk Nelson and asked that we take her to see them as her one and only thing she wanted for her 12th Birthday.
Why am I writing to you about this? My daughter has had a really rough 12 years. I have a chronic genetic disease called cystic fibrosis (CF). Almost five years ago, I was given two years to live. My lungs and body were deteriorating rapidly from my disease. I had not been very healthy since her birth, but Hannah had to watch her mommy shrink down to 100 lbs (my healthy weight is 145). I had a feeding tube providing all of my nourishment, I was on oxygen 24/7, I was in a wheelchair, and I was visibly dying. We spoke often of my coming death, but also of my faith in a God who would love her even when I could not any longer.
I had completely given up any hope of survival, when a miracle happened for our family, I was given a second chance through a double lung transplant. We don't know how much time I will have, but we are making the most of every minute of health we are given.
I had been praying that Hannah could develop a strong relationship with God, and one of the ways I had hoped for was through music. I had tried to expose her to Christian artists, but she never seemed interested. Last year we had the opportunity to attend Revolve. I had one goal, that she might walk away from that experience with a new passion for Christ. What happened there was incredible; from the moment Hawk Nelson hit the stage, my daughter was hooked. We came home and ordered all of their albums and that is ALL she has listened to since. The Twilight posters came down, replaced by Hawk Nelson posters, several home-made. I was thrilled!
I brought her to see them this summer at Darien Lake and we stood for over 5 hours, in the pouring rain at times, so she could be directly in front of the stage. Being that close to Hawk Nelson was like a dream come true for her. She and a friend made home-made T-shirts with a picture of Jason on them and the message that Jason was Man Beautiful. When they got to the band during autographs, Jason got a huge kick out of her shirt, and Daniel had his picture taken with the two girls. My daughter floated out of the amusement park that night.
I apologize for boring you with all of these details, the real reason I am writing is to see if there would be any way for my daughter and her friend to be able to meet Hawk Nelson at some point before, during, or after the concert on the 6th. It would make her 12th Birthday something she would always remember. I purchased the VIP tickets, so we will be there early. I can't tell you how much it would mean to my sweet girl; or how grateful I would be. I certainly understand if that isn't possible, but I thought I would at least ask.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and consider my request. Hawk Nelson has already been an answer to so many prayers for me. Please thank them for their amazing service to God! May God greatly bless you!
Much to my amazement, I heard right back with an answer of yes, the band would be happy to meet with us for a few minutes before the show. I was ecstatic, but fearful that things might not work out, so we decided not to tell Hannah.
Last week was crazy, leaving home Tuesday, driving over 11 hours, attending meetings, then driving home. We returned home on Saturday, and by Saturday night, Scott was as sick as Hannah had been; and with our plans to leave for Cleveland Sunday morning, I was a wreck. Scott awoke to a temperature of 102; and I to the terrifying realization that I would be taking the girls alone. I so desperately wanted everything to work out well and was consumed with anxiety the whole drive to Cleveland.
To make a long story short, as always, God listened to my barrage of prayers and Hannah received the gift and experience of a life-time. She met her band, Hawk Nelson, and Jason, Daniel, Justin, and Jonathan greeted her like the angel that she is, with warm smiles and great big hugs. You would never have known that she was just a 12 year old girl taking up their precious time; they showed her a love that reached right down into my core.
Daniel, the bass player had actually taken the time to visit this blog and to Hannah's delight commented on how much he liked her Sock Monkey costume. The girls were allowed to ask questions, the guys oohed and aaahed over Hannah's latest home-made t-shirt concoction (pictures to come), and finished our meeting with a final round of warm hugs. I didn't think the tears of joy would ever leave my little girls' eyes (and actually, they have continued on and off all day today).
The concert was amazing, (I will share pictures and more info. later) and ended with a great big cherry on top when we stopped by Hawk Nelson's autographing table and those gentlemen once again welcomed Hannah with love. Daniel remembered her name and wrote it at the top of her poster to be signed, and Justin, the drummer, handed her his drum sticks from the concert that he had saved for her.
What more can I say? It was a magical night; one that I will never forget and will treasure always. Thank you to the most incredible Christian band EVER! Hawk Nelson is serving the Lord and bringing children to God, may they be blessed forever!
1 comment:
oh my goodness that's sooo awesome for her!!!! Tell Hannah I miss her! =)
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