Meet artist and author Jane Lazenby, Sunday September 23 at The Barn at Shady Lane in Bessemer, Ala. She will be signing copies of her new book Expressions- Artwork & Stories Woven with Gracefrom 2-4pm.
If you have a love for art and an inspiring story, you are in for a special treat when you pick up artist and author Jane Lazenby’s new book, Expressions- Artwork & Stories Woven with Grace. It is a narrative of pain and process, of beauty and beholding.The coffee table style book is filled with 40 plus short stories, each with a painting and a powerful footnote from God’s Word. “I enjoy painting expressions and emotions that go with stories I have written,” explains Lazenby adding “I have a desire to connect with other women through my art and to offer encouragement and inspiration.” Chapters like “Restored by His Love,” “Pressed and Refined,” “Sweet Whispers of Grace,” and “Repurposed,” will pull on your heart strings while sharing with you the power of God’s grace.
Lazenby dedicated the book to her mother, Louise, who always encouraged her in everything she did. “It was through her illness in 2010 and her journey to her heavenly home, that I also started a journey of art and writing,” says Lazenby. Learn more about this “self-taught artist and word collector,” view her art, and order her book ($29.95) at www.janelazenbyart.com. †
In her new book, Birmingham artist and author Jane Lazenby shares with readers the inspiring, personal stories behind her art.
Monte Durham from Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta & Say Yes to the Prom will be one of the celebrity guests at the Southern Women’s Show in Birmingham. See a full line up of show events at www.southernWomensShow.com.
The Southern Women’s Show returns to Birmingham October 4-7 and is filled with four days of celebrity guests, cooking classes and demonstrations, seminars, and more. All the fun takes place at the BJCC North Exhibition Hall and the lineup includes Monte Durham from Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta & Say Yes to the Prom along with some of Birmingham’s best local and regional chefs sharing their tips on the Cooking Stage daily. Belk is bringing in beauty experts every day of the show to give guests a new look for fall. The makeover is complimentary, and each purchase comes with exclusive Gifts with Purchase. Also enjoy longstanding Southern Women’s Show traditions like the Firefighter Fashion Show on Girl’s Night Out (Friday), and the Mother Daughter Look-a-Like Contest on Mother Daughter Day (Sunday). Visit www.SouthernWomensShow.comfor show hours, group discounts, tickets and more.
To say THANK YOU to our readers, Birmingham Christian Family is also giving away tickets to the show. You have two ways to win 4 tickets to the show! Southern Women’s Show October 4-7!
Seven-Time World Champion Grayson Masefield from New Zealand will perform at Brookwood Baptist Church. Grayson has been the Headliner for the American Accordion Association and the International Accordion Association. What kind of music will he play? He’s the Seven-Time World Champion, he can play anything! The Accordion was designed as an alternative to the Church Pipe Organ. You will be amazed at the sound that comes from a box sitting on someone’s lap. This Concert is FREE courtesy of the Alabama Accordionists’ Association. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Grayson Masefield. Two performances only, 1:00pm and 7:00pm. Saturday morning at 9:30am, there will be a Workshop.
Experience Merry Market 2018 Friday October 19, 9am-6pm and Saturday October 20, 9am-3pm. Admission is $5. Benefits the Just Keep Smiling ministry.
Get a head start on living out “the reason for the season” at Merry Market 2018. As you get your Christmas shopping done early, you will be helping families in need in our community! Merry Market 2018 is October 19-20 at the Gardendale Civic Center and includes a huge array of great gifts from unique vendors. Your purchases will help support Just Keep Smiling (JKS), a local ministry that assists families who have children in medical crisis.
Be sure to stop by and visit with Artsy Amber Designs. Amber and her team specialize in affordable and trendy artwork for your home. She will be offering customizable ornaments, canvas artwork in several different styles, t-shirts, serving trays, nursery décor, and much more!
Merry Market 2018 includes a special event for children from 10am-Noon on Saturday October 20. Cookies with Characters gives children a chance to meet and take pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Cookie Monster and much more! Learn more at www.justkeepsmiling.org.
If you have a passion for fashion at a great price, you must visit with Lindsey Gamble. Her business “Looking Haute” was inspired by her love for fashion. She explains, “The purpose of Looking Haute has always been to offer stylish, quality clothing and accessories for an affordable price.”
Special events happening at the Merry Market include “Cookies with Characters” Saturday from 10-Noon. Children will have the opportunity to converse and have pictures made with Mickey, Minnie, Cookie Monster, Marshall and Chase. And before you leave, don’t forget to stop by the Merry Market Cafe and Amazing Sweet Shoppe to enjoy some delicious treats!
Dress your best for the holidays with help from Looking Haute. Owner Lindsey Gamble will give you great fashion ideas at Merry Market 2018.
The ministry of Just Keep Smiling was born from the experiences of three women in our community, Patrice Brooks, Debra Cook and Sue Jeffreys. All three women know what it is like to live with tragically losing children to a life-threatening illness. Thirteen years ago, they established the non-profit JKS that seeks to assist families with critically ill children by providing financial aid for immediate needs, emotional support based on personal knowledge of a child’s serious illness or death, and spiritual insight that conveys the solace, grace and strength found in God. JKS works with a network of social workers at area hospitals to identify families with such needs during their time of medical crisis with a child and/or children. Learn more at www.justkeepsmiling.org †
Thanks to a generous donor, Payton Ray underwent a bone marrow transplant at Children’s of Alabama and has thrived since.
Visits to the doctor are certainly not an event most children look forward to, but for Payton Ray, a routine doctor’s checkup turned out to be a potentially life-saving moment. Payton’s mother, Joy, took him in for a routine appointment with his pediatrician to check his thyroid levels. “He frequently had issues with anemia with his iron levels going up and down,” Joy said. “It wasn’t uncommon for his blood levels to be down, but they typically would go back up. This time, they weren’t.”
Not knowing what exactly was wrong, Payton’s pediatrician sent him to Children’s South Pediatric Outpatient Center for an ultrasound. Around the same time, Payton began complaining about pain under his arm. The ultrasound revealed his liver and spleen were enlarged. Payton was soon diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), which meant his body was not making enough healthy blood cells. “The hematologist recommended we start doing transfusions to try to keep his red blood cell count up, so that’s what we started,” Joy said.
The transfusions worked for a couple of years, but eventually, the transfusions were no longer keeping his levels up. Doctors also were able to further pinpoint Payton’s MDS – refractory cytopenia with unilineage dysplasia. “The hematologist was afraid that it was going to eventually transform into leukemia, so at that point we were recommended to talk with Dr. Joseph Chewning at Children’s of Alabama about a bone marrow transplant,” Joy said. “After talking with him, they started looking for bone marrow donors.”
After a few failed donor matches—and a rollercoaster of emotion for Payton’s family—an ideal donor was found. “Thankfully, the donor agreed to do it and just a few weeks later we were at the hospital with Payton waiting for the transplant,” Joy said.
Then 13-year-old Payton underwent a round of chemotherapy before the transplant, which occurred in late October 2015. Doctors prepared the family for a hospital stay of about six weeks. “Payton did fabulous and he was actually able to go home before Thanksgiving,” Joy said. “We were so thankful for that. He was a trooper and impressed us so much with how well he handled it all.”
Payton has continued to thrive post-transplant. He is still required to take anti-rejection medications and travels back and forth from his home in Odenville, Ala. to Children’s for checkups. Every day is a step toward getting back to the activities he loves like swimming. He’s also anxious to go back to school. “He’s doing just fabulous,” Joy said. “He’s doing so much more now and can actually get out and go places. We appreciate Children’s so much. They made our journey easier and they are now like family. And, of course, we owe so much to Payton’s donor. It’s amazing to us that someone would be that kind to donate bone marrow for a complete stranger. It’s incredible and we’re so very grateful.”
When acute myeloid leukemia hit Lilianna Thompson in 2011, it hit hard. Initial treatment failed. But following several courses of chemotherapy, two blood cord transplants, radiation and a bone marrow transplant, Lilianna Thompson is a walking, talking, giggling miracle.
If the big brown eyes don’t melt your heart, then the sweet, bright smile certainly will. Those are the first things you notice about Clanton’s Lilianna Thompson, a walking, talking, giggling miracle.
Lilianna was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, in August 2011, just after she turned 2 in May. While on a family trip to the beach, the toddler became ill with symptoms that mimicked a strep infection. Her parents, Randy and Anna, cut their trip short and Anna took Lilianna to her regular pediatrician who ran blood work on the sick little girl – twice. “They thought their machine was broken because the numbers were so high,” Anna said.
They were immediately referred to Children’s of Alabama where Lilianna was admitted on a Friday. She began treatment the next Monday. The chemo failed to put her into remission, though, so she was placed on the bone marrow transplantation list. In December, she underwent a cord blood transplant, but Lilianna’s little body rejected it, so she was given more chemotherapy and underwent a procedure called a double cord blood transplant in February 2012. It was successful and she was discharged from the hospital a month later. She relapsed the next day. “After that, they gave us no hope,” Anna said, “but we refused to give up hope.”
So a new chemotherapy was tried and Lilianna went into remission immediately. She relapsed six months later but that short remission still allowed time to find a bone marrow donor that matched nine of the 10 criteria for transplant. Not an ideal match, but it was the best that could be found. “It was ‘take it or leave it,’” Anna said.
They took it and Lilianna underwent more chemotherapy and total body radiation before receiving her third transplant in January 2013. “And from there, here we are!” Anna said. “She is definitely a miracle. There’s no doubt about it.”
Lilianna’s frequent clinic visits have dwindled to twice-yearly checkups and her first visit to the Taking on Life after Cancer, or TLC Clinic. There, she will be monitored for any late complications of her therapy, such as growth problems, infertility, learning difficulties, or second cancers. The goal of the TLC Clinic is to support survivors like Lilianna as they thrive and grow so they can live their best lives possible. “Lilianna inspires all of us and her story gives hope to many families affected by childhood cancer,” said Kimberly Whelan, M.D., who serves as director of the TLC Clinic.
Teens attending this year’s Anytown Alabama Leadership Summit included students from Holy Family Cristo Rey (Jordan Williams, Darren McFarland, Kaiya McCall and Jalen Chamblish), John Carroll (Erin Jenkins) and Indian Springs (Peyton Miller, Jordyn Hudson and Liam Malone.) Applications for Anytown Alabama 2019 are available now at www.ymcabham.org/anytownalabama.
Approximately 80 students from more than 33 public and private high schools in Jefferson and Shelby Counties recently spent a week making new friends, learning leadership skills in discussing difficult and pressing community topics and building their resume for college applications. The camp called “Anytown Alabama” is designed to give students in grades 9 through 11 a greater understanding of each other, and the skills to discuss their differences and similarities with others. The program seeks to help students realize that they are different from one another but can still be united. Anytown Alabama was started by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) in 1989, and since 2011, the YWCA and NCCJ have partnered to present the annual summit. Teens interested in being a delegate at the 2019 Anytown Alabama Leadership Summit, June 2-8, 2019, can apply now at www.ywcabham.org/anytown-alabama. †
While villagers waited to receive medical care, Valleydale volunteers spent time sharing the Gospel with them.
Valleydale Church recently sent a team of seventeen people to serve in Holercani, Moldova for seven days. “Our mission was to spread The Gospel of Jesus Christ and His love to the people of Moldova by serving their physical needs and spiritual needs,” explains volunteer James Sansom. “We accomplished this by dividing the team into two groups. One as a children’s team to conduct a Vacation Bible School program and the other as a medical team to address health issues and give medication.”
Two physicians and pharmacist from Moldova worked alongside the Valleydale medical team to see and care for about 350 people. “We shared the Gospel with each person prior to them entering the clinic,” says Sansom adding, “Several people of Holercani prayed to accept Christ as their Savior.” The team also distributed reading glasses, Bibles and hand-made scarves provided by the women at Valleydale. Packages containing tooth paste and tooth brushes donated by Birmingham area dentists and orthodontists were also handed out.
A team of volunteers from Valleydale Church recently traveled to Moldova to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and assist with the physical needs of the people in the Village of Holercani.
The Valleydale children’s team shared the Gospel through Vacation Bible School. The largest number in one day was 109 children. “The children really came out to embrace the team and share in the love of Jesus,” remembers Sansom. “It was a blessing to see the smiles and hear their laughter.”
During the trip, under the leadership of Valleydale Serve Pastor Ross Robinson and David Edge, the team also partnered with the Baptist Union of Moldova to help plant an evangelical church in the village. Both Robinson and Edge have been leading groups from Valleydale on mission trips to Moldova for many years. To learn more visit www.valleydale.org. †
Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration continues at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Homewood as the parish recently celebrated the 26th anniversary of the devotion. The celebration began with an open-air procession of the Blessed Sacrament from the Chapel of Our Savior to the church by OLS Pastor Rev. Msgr. Martin Muller with the Knights of Columbus leading as the Honor Guard.
Patients at Children’s of Alabama recently had a visit from Alabama and Auburn University cheerleaders along with team mascots. The visit was a part of the annual Wells Fargo Picks for Kids program kickoff. As part of the campaign, Wells Fargo will donate $1,000 to Children’s for each pass interception made by the Crimson Tide and Tigers during the 2018-2019 season. Funds directly benefit the more than 1,800 children treated each month in Children’s Hearing and Speech Center.
