St. John's Children's Hospital Visit!

Last month, I had the opportunity to visit St. John's Children's Hospital (http://www.st-johns.org/childrenshospital/main/default.asp) in Springfield, IL. St. John's is a Children's Miracle Network hospital--one of three CMN hospitals in Illinois. I've been blessed to be very involved with St. John's in particular over the past couple years as a titleholder, and my visits there have deeply impacted me. I've been able to work with Dawn Kuhn, who helped to lead a tour of the hospital facilities during my recent visit. They have done so much to make their hospital as family focused as possible, and the staff that I have met have shown such a heart for caring for the kids who come to them. I was especially moved while visiting the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit again and listening to one of the lead nurses talk passionately about how much she loves her job, what it entails, and how many babies that are able to survive as a result of this wonderful unit. I really admire the patience and dedication I saw from the people who work at this hospital, which is just another reason why I support them so much.

Several months ago, I decided to paint an original watercolor to dedicate to St. John's Children's Hospital, because I wanted to give them something to tangibly show my support and hopefully to bring joy to the children and families who take a moment to look at it. My vision for this artwork was to create something very fanciful--a whimsical painting full of imagination--and I'm so happy with how it turned out. My piece depicts a little girl sailing through an ocean of clouds in a red and yellow hot air balloon (the CMN logo) and gazing in wonder at the balloon filled sky. The other balloons are in the shapes of animals, ice cream cones, stars, etc., as if it were a scene from a child's dream.

I was glad to present this gift to St. John's, and I hope that it will brighten someone's day, spark creativity in a child, and provide a much-needed rest or distraction for the minds of anxious parents. Through all the ways I support Children's Miracle Network, I hope that the halls of these hospitals are filled with ever-increasing hope, most of all. The kids and there families deserve it.