Leaving On A Jet Plane for China! -Guest Author: Sara Heinz

Andra asked me to do a guest post about  the Leigh's Blankies that are going with us to China!  Andra is a dear friend, and when she told me about the blankets she was sewing for children in memory of Leigh Ann, I wanted to help in any way I could.   It warms my heart to remember Leigh Ann in this way.  She was such a great friend and never failed to make me laugh and give me perspective on things in life that really matter.  Leigh Ann loved Jesus, her family, children, and had a such a servant heart.   Leigh's Blankies is such an awesome representation of something she would have been excited about. 

"Say China!!!!"  Here is a picture of our two boys opening up the much anticipated box of Leigh's Blankies to go with us to China.  Jarrod and I will be on an airplane in less than 48 hours on our way to our daughter, Samantha!  We will have the privilege to go to New Day Foster Home in Beijing and hand deliver blankies to the children who are still waiting for their forever families. 

Here is a picture of our daughter - I can't wait to snuggle her in her very own Leigh's Blankie!

We are so grateful for this opportunity to show the love of Christ in a practical way to little ones on the other side of the world! 

Love, Sarah and Jarrod Heinz

2nd Batch of Blankies dropped off for Haiti!

This afternoon myself and my family headed to The Grove Church to meet up with Paul Gunther and deliver our second batch of blankies! We were greeted in the parking lot by this sweet crew, Leigh's family! Greg, Caden, Bailey and Malia are dear to our hearts. Sharing our lives and this ministry with them has been a blessing to all of us!  

I didn't expect to meet the missions team that will be traveling to Haiti. It was such a privilege to talk to them about the impact Leigh Ann had on my life and how Leigh's Blankies got started! The team was very warm and supportive, as I'm sure many of them loved Leigh Ann and attended church with her at The Grove. As I shared my heart with them, I wanted to smile and cry at the same time.  It is still difficult to talk to others about Leigh Ann being gone. Experiencing God's hand and his goodness through this ministry is such a blessing, but I'm experiencing it all apart from Leigh Ann.  Today I wanted to share with her my feelings about these Haitian children hearing the Gospel and receiving the blankies. But through sadness, I always find hope in watching how God provides fulfillment.  As we left, the team said they would try to take pictures of the children receiving the blankies! I felt so much joy and I cannot wait to share their experience in Haiti with all of you! Please continue to check back, as I'll have more information regarding the Haiti trip.

Thank you for your support!!! Your prayers, encouragement and donations are making an impact! 

Blankies headed to Malawi!

Wednesday morning we headed over to The Grove Church to deliver our first batch of blankies!  The church was packing a container of goods to be sent over to Malawi, and we are excited Leigh's Blankies was in it!

These girls were big helpers!

Ava (my youngest daughter), myself, Annika (my oldest) and our close friend Malia (Greg and Leigh's daughter)

Paul and my husband Jeremy

Paul Gunther, a pastor from The Grove Church (where Leigh's family attends), met us at the container in the church parking lot.  He is leading the missions team to Malawi this coming June.  He was very compassionate and very appreciative of the donation! We talked about their trip and the goods they were sending over.  He told us they had 7,000 pairs of shoes in this container for Malawi and that will still not be enough for the people they are trying to reach. They will be in contact with many villages while they are there.  24 blankets certainly doesn't seem like many, but we felt encouraged God has a purpose for each of those 24. Paul said he'd take pictures of the children with their blankets. I can't wait until June to see them! Please pray over this shipment and the team that is traveling! To see an amazing story from their last missions trip to Malawi, watch here.

So here's some more GREAT news! The Grove is sending a group off to Haiti at the end of March. Paul explained that this will be there first visit to this particular area of Haiti, and that they love to bring gifts for the people they meet.  He said the blankets would be a perfect gift and he could use as many as we can make! So we are taking that challenge and running with it.  But of course, we need more fabric! If you would like to purchase snuggle flannel fabric to donate, please contact me! Or you can make a donation by clicking the DONATE button in the left hand corner of the blog.  (FYI) Joann's Store has a huge sale right now until Feb.12th on Snuggle Flannel Fabric. A blanket requires about 2 yards of fabric. Feel free to email me andragood1@cox.net.

The first batch of Blankies!

The design for the blankets for Leigh's Blankies is pretty simple.  I chose to keep it simple for two reasons...cost and time. ;)   And I wanted to keep those things in mind in creating a label for the blankies.  Most printing companies charge quite a bit for fabric labels and I haven't quite found a company I like yet.  And since we were on a deadline to get our first batch ready, I hired myself for the job.  Designing the logo for Leigh's blankies came pretty easily. Creating the label from scratch, now that was tricky! ;) I used my scrapbooking program to design the logo. With lots of research,  I finally found a great tutorial for creating the labels with fabric iron on paper and twill tape. I'm very happy with the results! 

The label's frayed ends were sealed with heat and then sewn into the seam.

 My fantastic husband, Jeremy, is a huge support to me! He absolutely adored Leigh Ann and he's been excited from the start about this ministry. I love getting his feedback on the blankies, and I love dragging him into our craft room to help once in a while. ;) 

Bolts and bolts of fabric...what a blessing!

I had a few close friends over to help with the first batch. I couldn't have done it with you all, thank you!

Our first batch...24 blankets! Each ready to bless a little one!

Again, thank you for supporting us with donations, emails and posts to facebook! Please keep it up, your encouragment is so appreciated!!!

Blessings...

The response to "Leigh's Blankies" has blown me away.  Thank you for your emails, kind words, posts to facebook, and donations!! You're support for this ministry, and your personal words of encouragement mean the world to me.  Thank you!

I was able to purchase 80 yards of fabric this weekend! Snuggle flannel by the yard was the cheapest I had seen it yet! I bought enough for 40 blankies. Thank you Lord! God is certainly blessing this new ministry!

We have our first "drop off" tomorrow of Leigh's Blankies!  I'm excited to share the details with you!