Thursday, April 7, 2011

team libby bracelets.


no i am not trying to sell anything here. team libby bracelets can no longer be found on ebay. all that's left is a zip lock bag of about 20 bracelets that ava likes to play with. no need for a team libby anymore because we already won. my cancer is gone. but thank you for buying them and wearing them. it was an incredible gift that our family had a team behind us through cancer. many people we do not know and that means just a littlle bit more to us that people rallied around us who we have never met. but hope to someday. i love all the emails that start with..."you don't know me but..." no, i do not think its weird that people i do not know have so openly shared their heart with me through an email or a letter. it was more encouraging than i will ever be able to articulate. so thank you. i was given a rare oppourunity to get a glimpse into people's hearts and i am forever grateful. not everyone gets that chance and i consider it a gift.

back to the bracelets. since i was sick when most people starting buying them and wearing them i never really got the chance to see how many poeple in chesapeake we sporting a lime green bracelet. but now that i am getting back into the game i get a little chocked up when i see a freshman guy at young life club wearing a team libby bracelet. or a mom i barely know at the grocery store with one on. many who did not know me personally, but maybe knew justin. some i just met for the first time and many who know me better than i know myself. but thank you to all of you who wore a little team libby bracelet. thank you for being in this with us. i love it because that is what community is all about. we were never meant to do it all on our own. to try and make it without any help. its not how its supposed to be. even though asking and allowing people to help you can be hard...it was for me...i can now look back and understand more and more what it means to walk alongside people when they are struggling. that is how it was meant to be and i love that. i love that we were created to be in relationships with other people and when we try and do things on our own we rob people the chance to love us. and carry us. and enter into our pain and struggles. its okay to let people in. even when its not so pretty. because my house was messy and people cleaned it. i was throwing up and too sick to care for my daughter so other people came in and cared for her when i couldn't. with some resistance at times i was forced to allow people to pick up the pieces when i couldn't do it. and the bracelets. oh, the bracelets. what a gift they were. because it allowed people to feel like they were in this with us even if they did not see me for 8 months or are yet to meet us...they were in it. i love that. i love that many of you kept your bracelet on (that did not match anything you wore ever i am sure) to important business meetings, the opera, nice dinners, weddings, etc. that is cool. someone told me early on that they were not taking it off...not once...until i was cancer-free.  you will never know what that meant to me. 

i got a little emotional last night because i was campaigners (young life bible study with high school students) and i looked around the room and saw those bracelets. and it just hit me how thankful i am that people care. whether they knew me or not they cared about cancer and about our family and that means more to me than anyone will possibly ever understand.

important side note. many of you loved us, prayed for us, and helped us without wearing a team libby bracelet. we know that and that's cool. this is just a little blog post shot out to those of you with a lime green bracelet.

*one week since the pixie cut and i am lovin' it.

12 comments:

  1. Your so sweet. And it's okay to be emotional... You have earned the right girl! Sooo glad your loving your pixie cut! It makes me happy to know that!

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  2. oh friend, those little bracelets are a testament to not only God's community but a place where he MOVED. And that is glorious.

    love you a lot. Just think... I bet ava wears one when she's older... to remember how Big our God is.

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  3. I love that you get to see the community evidence of just one of the ways you've impacted the world Libby! You're an inspiration to many now and forever!

    <3

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  4. I didn't get a bracelet, but I did get a T-shirt and it arrived TODAY! I am so excited to wear it!! Now all I have to do is sign up for a race. Maybe I'll wear it running to the car in the rain?! Haha! I LOVE IT!!

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  5. Libby- Your post about accepting help couldn't have come at a better time...this is something I really needed to hear today. Thank you.

    Also- I don't have a bracelet, but my t-shirt arrived today...Go TEAM LIBBY!!! :)

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  6. I am wearing the bracelet right now, it inspires me. Love that you love your hair now!

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  7. sometimes i get these moments where im like holy crap libby doesnt have cancer, God is good. Just had one of those read this. And started crying in the library. so embarrassing. But i don't care. Cancer is gone. God is good. Love you Lib

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  8. I still wear mine ... wore it to kaitlynn's soccer practice. I love it. I do feel like I am some how connected to you and in it with you .. even though we have never met. I also love telling others about you and about your blog. Thank you Libby!!

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  9. Although I do not have a shirt or a bracelet and I have only been reading your blog post Cancer, I love to see a community stand together for someone as special as you.

    I have been affected by Cancer my whole life, not me personally, friends and family and si I try and get involved where I can and I am teaching my kids the same... although I think they are still a little too small.

    We walk the Crusade of Hope in South Africa. Last year saw 50 147 people turn out, I wrote about it here, http://settoncrew.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/ithemba-walkathon-crusade-of-hope-cancer-walk/, if you would like to read it.

    I love that you are loving the pixie cut, it is super awesome :)

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  10. Libby - we have never met but we have a ton of mutual friends from YL in Lexington (I went to high school in Louisville KY) and I have told so many people about your story and you. You are amazing. I can't even tell you how amazing your story is. You have such courage from finding out you have cancer to the hair cuts. You inspire me and make me smile.

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  11. amen sista! you and your family won your battle and praise GOD!

    XO

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  12. Libby,

    I can't even begin to tell you how you have made me a better person! I thank you so much for sharing your life with me and you deserve to have the best life ever!!!! I am so happy for you and your family and only wish you the best in everything!!! YOU DESERVE IT!!!!

    Love, Rachel Lambert

    P.S. Love the new do and i hope to meet you in person one day soon!!

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