An Exhausting Success

Hard work is...well...hard, but it generally pays off in the end!

I am happy to report that the Whole Hearts Foundation fundraiser event in Dallas, this past Sunday, was a great success!

 

After months of planning, meeting, recruiting helpers, inviting guests, and changing plans, the event went off without a hitch. 

We arrived at Medical City Children's Hospital at 10am on Sunday morning to set up and get everything ready for the guests. By 11:30, most of the stuff was ready to go, Dena just needed to put the finishing touches on everything, as she is so good at doing! Matt and his manger, Jenn, and two band mates, Chris and Mark, arrived to tour the hospital and Congenital Heart Surgery Unit. The tour was  very good and I was excited to get to hear and see a few things that I didn't know about at the hospital.

At 12:30, the tour was over and it was time for Matt to do a sound check for his acoustic performance. I knew that people would be there for the event because we had about 125 RSVP's, but the few minutes before it was supposed to start were still tense due to doubt. By 1:15pm we probably had over 100 people there to support us. At 1:30 I had to work up the nerve to step up to the mic and welcome everyone. It is so weird that I don't have a problem standing in front of a class of kids, but if you ask me to speak to a room full of adults, I get so nervous! 

Me giving my welcome

After I welcomed everyone, Devin Bruton, who is a hospital administrator, spoke a little about Medical City and then introduced Dr. Mendeloff (Tucker's surgeon). Dr. Mendeloff spoke for about 10 minutes and it was great. He shared about the past and future of treating CHDs and about the hospital's program. Finally, the moment that most were waiting for, Matt performed a few songs, including "All of Me".

Dr. Mendeloff speaking

Matt singing "All of Me"

Matt & Chris performing "The Redeemer"

It was so awesome to see everyone's reaction to the Whole Hearts mission and our plans. The support of the families and people there was surprising, to say the least. We were honored that Matt's band mates and manager took their time to join us. I was blessed to have some family and old friends who came to support us. Also, we had a few businesses that I had invited who came. 

The great crowd!

So proud of the group!

Honestly, it was probably one of the most involved, pressure-laden project that I have ever undertaken. However, it was totally worth all of the time and energy that was spent on planning, setting up, and putting it on.

I had a tremendous amount of help and support along the way. The event absolutely wouldn't have happened without my friends and "teammates" from Whole Hearts: Andrea, Matt, Brett, & Julie! Also, I had a ton of help from the people at Medical City Children's Hospital, particularly Devin Bruton, Amy Carlisle, and Jennifer Abrams. My brother, Greg, and his DJ partner, Dan, donated their services for the cause too, and that was a great help! Most importantly, Dena put up with all of the time that I spent planning and working on stuff. She also helped me make decorations, set up, and tear down. And the biggest job of all was single-handedly wrangling Tucker while I was busy at the event.

Greg & Dan with Matt

We ended the day by going to the Winter Jam concert at the American Airlines Center, where Matt's band, Sanctus Real, was performing with other groups. We had great seats and got to hear some wonderful Christian music. Tucker had a blast! By the time we made it home we were all exhausted. Tucker actually gave a little scare on the way home by having some sort of panic-attack or bad nightmare. Luckily, he seemed to be fine the next day. We aren't really sure what happened, but he hasn't had any more of those, so I guess he is alright.

I hope that you might consider making a donation to Whole Hearts to help us support families dealing with CHD. It is really simple to donate, just click this link: Whole Hearts Donation. The link is totally secure and 100% of the money will go to help families.

Thanks for listening and please share our blog is possible!

~Trent

A Piece of our Little Heart

You may not know this, but we LOVE Sanctus Real. When we found out that their lead singer, Matt, was going to have a son with HLHS, we went to their concert to meet him. We actually had never heard their music before, but we instantly fell in love with it. Even if you take away my friendship with Matt, I would still listen to their music. I have yet to find a Sanctus Real song that I didn't like.

All that being said, we listen to Sanctus Real fairly often. In fact, that is pretty much all I listen to in my truck because of Tucker. Every morning when we go to school and every afternoon when we go home, the first thing Tucker says upon entering my truck is, "Daddy...Tucker...listen...Matt...peese!" This is Tuckerese for "Daddy can we listen to Sanctus Real please?"

With all of that time spent listening to Sanctus Real, you can imagine that we know the songs well. We know them so well, that Tucker knows most of the words to the songs on their cd "Pieces of a Real Heart". He even knows the music without the words, he can recognize most Sanctus Real songs within 2-3 seconds of their start. Often times, if the music is low enough, we can catch him singing along in his sweet voice.

A few weeks ago, we were sitting around listening to music and we were actually able to catch him singing with the video camera on our phone. I have included the videos for your viewing pleasure!

Tucker isn't the only one who enjoys Sanctus Real. Since we met Matt, we have been to 6 of their concerts and have enjoyed them all. We will going to our 7th this weekend. Sanctus Real is wrapping up their tour with Casting Crowns and The Afters, so Dena and I are driving to Temple, Texas to see them. We are especially excited about this concert because Matt will be performing a song that he wrote for his son, Bowen, called "All of Me". We have seen him perform it before, but this will be the first time that we will see him share Bowen's story with a special slide-show going, and this will be a much larger crowd than usual. Here is Matt singing "All of Me" at the last concert that we went to, I know you will enjoy this:

In addition to the concert, Dena and I are taking the rest of the weekend to spend some time together. We will be going down to San Antonio after the concert to enjoy the River Walk. We are excited for a weekend away and are happy that we can leave Tucker to have some fun with Granny & Pops!

Thanks for visiting us and we hope that everyone has a great weekend!

~Trent

Heart Rock

Dena and I were lucky enough to get to meet Matt Hammitt, the lead singer for Christian rock band Sanctus Real, back in May.  Matt and his wife, Sarah, found out that their son would have HLHS like Tucker early on in their pregnancy.  When Matt and his band came to Dallas in May, some friends of ours connected us with him so that we could answer his questions and give him support in this CHD journey.  We also got to see him in August when Sanctus Real was in town again.

The group on the tour bus with Matt

We have maintained contact with Matt through Bowen's hospitalization.  Tucker & Bowen not only share their heart defect, HLHS, they also share a birthday.  Bowen was born on September 9, 2010, exactly one year after Tucker.

Matt Hammitt

Through this friendship, we have found that Matt and his band are amazing musicians and songwriters.  Sanctus Real has quickly become one of our favorite bands and most listened to CDs in the car.  One of the amazing things is that their newest CD, Pieces of a Real Heart, is full of songs about suffering in Christ, about the heart, and about the love of a family...but all of the songs were written before they even knew that they were pregnant with Bowen.  Needless to say, the music on that CD has come to mean a lot to us and we make every effort to see Sanctus Real when they are nearby.

The Afters

Leeland

Friday night was one of those nights when they were in the Dallas area with their "Hungry for Love" tour, with Leeland and The Afters.  We got the opportunity to hang out with Matt backstage for about an hour before the concert.  A big group of our heart friends were able to come too, so it was a real blessing to get to spend time sharing our stories with each other.  Matt had a lot to share because Bowen had just gone home for the first time this week.  The good times were enhanced by Leeland Mooring working on some new music at the piano in the background.

Matt singing

The concert was awesome and we were introduced to the very talented band, The Afters, and Leeland put on a great show too.  Sanctus Real was amazing as usual and the crowd really got into it, especially after Matt shared Bowen's story.

Sanctus Real

After the concert, Matt invited us to hang out for a little bit with him on the tour bus.  We shared some more stories, offered some advice, had a few laughs, and then we needed to let Matt get some rest.  We found out some of Matt's plans to raise awareness for CHDs and we talked a little about planning a get together for all of us.  It is always great to get to share our experiences and have good times with the people who have/are going through similar things as we have gone through.

We continue to be blessed by the friendships that we have gained as a result of Tucker's heart defect.  God is definitely at work in our lives and we are happy to be used as a way for him to bless others.  Also, we are thankful for the music that God has brought into our lives...if you don't know Sanctus Real, you should definitely check them out.

Take a few minutes and go to www.bowensheart.com to read about his story and their experiences.  Matt is not only a great songwriter, he blesses me daily with his insights into the Bible and how it relates to the suffering associated with having a heart baby.

I'm going to leave you with a line from one of Sanctus Real's songs, that has become somewhat of an anthem for me in the last few months:
"I don't have every answer in life, but I'm trusting You one day at a time."

Trent