Cheering For Amanda

I have mentioned little Amanda before, but in case you missed it, here's a little background. Amanda recently turned 3 years old. Her family lives in the same rural community we do. Her father grew up here, and her uncle and grandparents still live here as well. They all go to the same church we do, and Amanda and her parents always seem to sit in the row right ahead of us. She is such an adorable ray of sunshine. I'm sure like all children she has her moments of grumpiness, but I can honestly say I've never seen it. Every time I have ever seen her, she is wearing a smile that would light up a room.

This past Spring Amanda was diagnosed with Leukemia. Massive doses of Chemo began and amazingly Amanda did very well with the treatments. Round 2, 3 & 4 passed and each time She did great! Even the doctors have been amazed. And, she is still the same happy, smiling little girl she has always been.

Amanda celebrated her 3rd birthday in the childrens hospital. By this time all of her beautiful blonde hair was mostly gone. She had tubes and wires hooked up, but unless you looked closely for those things, you'd never know they were there. She looked so adorable in her princess dress and crown...and there was that well known smile. What a little fighter she is!


Today our community is holding a benefit for Amanda and her family to help with the astronomical expenses they are having to pay for to help her with the fight of her life. There are raffle items, a silent auction, meal with free will donations, and the highlight will be a basketball game. There is a team of women, and I'm sorry but I can't remember their name at the moment, but they are all I'm guessing over 50 yrs old. They play the old style of basketball and wear old style uniforms from back when they would have played (or even older). They are going to play a game against women from our community who used to play when they were younger, including my mother-in-law. The highlight of the game is not because of all these women. While they will be fun to watch, the real entertainment will be on the sidelines. There will be cheerleaders all dressed in pink, wearing "Cheering for Amanda" t-shirts and they will do cheers for Amanda and the ball players. The team captain is amazing, or so I've heard. She was the captain of her cheerleading squad when she was younger, and like fine wine, It's been said she has gotten better with age. This cheerleader has selflessly decided to come out of retirement for this benefit and I'm sure the whole town is buzzing with excitement over having the opportunity to witness greatness. Since you won't get the chance to witness her talent in person, here's a picture. And look...her old size 1 uniform still fits her.
Isn't she just awesome?!?! Ok, ok, yea, it's me and I've been horribly super-imposed onto a teeny-boppers body. While yes, I was a cheerleader "back in the day", that was many moons ago. I'm thrilled to grab a set of pom-poms for this benefit and it will be fun I'm sure. But I'm also sure that after a few jumps and kicks, this former Spartan-wanna-be will be soaking in the hot tub.

I don't want to make light of what we are doing this benefit for though. It is for a very sweet little girl who has shown more courage than most adults would. She is in our prayers daily and I ask that you keep her in your prayers as well.

God Bless You Amanda.