December 14th, National Childrens Memorial Day: Candle Lighting Ceremony & Proclamation

Open Arms for Empty Hearts will be holding the annual candle lighting event on December 14 at London Bridge Beach.  The event begins at 6:30pm to ensure that everyone has their candles ready to light at 7pm.  As most of you know, this is an event that is held around the world and candles are lighted at 7pm in each time zone so that candles can burn continuously across the continent, in memory of our children lost too soon.  This event is open to everyone, so please pass the word.

Also note that the Open Arms for Empty Hearts will hold their December meeting on Thursday, December 11th, the day before the Candle Lighting Ceremony.

Please note that starting in 2015, Open Arms for Empty Hearts will begin meeting on the 1st and last Thursday of each month.  Since the 1st Thursday in January is New Years Day, our first meeting of the new year will be the last Thursday of the month, January 29th. 

Please note the following Proclamation signed by the honorable Mayor, Mark S Nexsen, Mayor of Lake Havasu City, Arizona:

Office of the Mayor Lake Havasu City, Arizona Proclamation

"NATIONAL CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL DAY"

December 14, 2014

WHEREAS, approximately 80,000 infants, children, teenagers, and young adults of families living throughout the United States die each year from countless causes; and

WHEREAS, the death of an infant, child, teenager; and young adult of a family is considered to be one q/the greatest tragedies that a parent or family will ever endure during a lifetime; and

WHEREAS, Open Arms for Empty Hearts is a supportive group that provides empathy and understanding in the healing process for a family that is coping with and recovering from the loss of a loved one; and

WIIEREAS, Open Arms för Empty Hearts is open to all moms who have lost a child or in some instances, children: and

WHEREAS, Open Arms for Empty Hearts observes National Children 's Memorial Day every year along with others around the world, in every time zone at 7:00 p.m. on the Sunday of December in remembrance of loved ones that have passed on; creating a 24-hour international candle lighting ceremony that encircles the globe.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mark S Nexsen, Mayor of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, do hereby proclaim Sunday, December 14, 2014 as

"NATIONAL CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL DAY"

in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and urge all citizens both in public ceremonies and in private thoughts and prayers to honor the children we have lost, the children who have lived and died and who, even in death, continue to matter.

Hug an Angel Mom Today

Today is Pregnancy, Infant, and Child loss awareness day-it makes no difference the age of the child or how they died. Take a moment to think about all the angels that have left us too soon. Hug an angel parent you know and remember, though today is a day of awareness, hope, and light, it is still very hard for a lot of parents. 1 in 4 parents know this feeling all to well. You are welcome to join the Wave of light tonight, by lighting a candle from 7pm-8pm.

The Journey Group Meetings resume this Thursday Oct. 24th 10am-12N - Join Us

For mom's in the Lake Havasu City area, we are pleased to let you know that The Journey Group will begin meeting for the Fall 2013 thru Spring 2014 sessions on Thursday 10/24 at 10 a.m. until noon at the Lake Havasu City Aquatic Center, Rooms 153 & 154.  

A schedule of up-coming sessions will be part of your 10/24 hand-out material.  Please make note of the dates and we will also note reminders of the dates here as well..

If you have a friend or know someone who is a bereaved Mother, PLEASE email or phone me.  I will make contact with her, personally inviting her to the Journey Group.  I will follow up by sending a letter and brochure.  

Also, IF you have any suggestions you would like to make for the meetings........I.E. something special you think we should do;  a project we might consider to review........PLEASE get in touch with me.  This is YOUR GROUP........not just mine.  We can do anything we choose to do to celebrate our children.   I am totally open to new and fresh ideas.   I welcome hearing from you.

Our 7th Annual Retreat will be held at the Stagecoach Trails Guest Ranch the weekend of Friday 2/21/14.......Sunday 2/23/14.   Theme is "MY HEART WILL GO ON".....     Retreat information and registration forms will be available at the first meeting.  

The annual "Lights of Love" Candlelight Ceremony  will be held the 2nd Sunday of the month of December.   Location will be Calvary Baptist LHC and the date is 12/08/13 @ 6:00 p.m.  More details will follow.   PLEASE mark your calendars. 

With this said.......I hope to see each one of you soon.  Remember in Jer. 31:13  God promises HE will turn our mourning into JOY !!!    Expect it...........Look for it!!!   It is there!!!  You just have to accept it.    

Blessings, Love and PEACE in your lives ,  Joyce Floyd

December 11th-6pm - 10th Annual Lights of Love Candlelight Memorial

Mark your calendar and please join us Sunday evening, December 11^th, 2011 in Lake Havasu City, AZ for our 10^th Annual Lights of Love Candlelight Memorial, a time to honor and remember our children who have died too soon. This ceremony is non-denominational and an opportunity for all parents, grandparents, families and friends to reflect and celebrate the lives and memories of our precious loved ones. There is no fee and the candles will be provided. The community is invited. Please plan to attend our 10^th Annual Lights of Love celebration...

Date: Sunday evening, December 11^th

Time: 6pm

Where: Calvary Baptist Church Sanctuary, 1605 S. McCulloch Blvd., Lake Havasu City, AZ

Fee: None

Notes: Candles will be provided, no charge

This tradition was begun in 1997 and continues today by The Compassionate Friends for a Worldwide Candle Lighting which unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, creating a virtual wave of light, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor the memory of children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries.

Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the Worldwide Candle Lighting, a gift to the bereavement community from The Compassionate Friends (TCF), creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died, but will never be forgotten.

The Worldwide Candle Lighting started in the United States in 1997 as a small Internet observance but has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance.

TCF has been joined in recent years by chapters of several organizations including MISS, MADD, Parents of Murdered Children, SIDS Network, Gilda's Club, BPUSA, local bereavement groups, including Journey from Mourning to Joy, churches, funeral homes, hospitals, hospices, children's gardens, schools, cemeteries, and community centers in all 50 states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico . Services range in size from just a few people to nearly a thousand.

For those of you reading our blog in other parts of the US or the world, we would encourage you to check with your local chapter of TCF/The Compassionate Friends or any of the other groups noted above for..

Many groups and organizations are also listing their events on a referral site, provided by the following Link from “The Compassionate Friends List of Candle Lighting's World Wide”:

www.compassionatefriends.org/WCL_Misc/2011_services.aspx

Lights of Love

Written by TCF Member Jacqueline Brown ~ Peace Valley TCF, New Britain PA, For a December-National Children's Memorial Day

LIGHTS OF LOVE

Can you see our candles

Burning in the night?

Lights of love we send you

Rays of purest white

Children we remember

Though missing from our sight

In honor and remembrance

We light candles in the night

All across the big blue marble

Spinning out in space

Can you see the candles burning

From this human place?

Oh, angels gone before us

Who taught us perfect love

This night the world lights candles

That you may see them from above

Tonight the globe is lit by love

Of those who know great sorrow,

But as we remember our yesterdays

Let's light one candle for tomorrow

We will not forget,

And every year in deep

December On Earth we will light candles

As................we remember

OUR 3RD ANNUAL "A JOURNEY TO JOY" RETREAT "Spreading Their Love"

 Openings: We still have ten (10) spots opens for any mother who would like to join us for  our Annual Retreat Next Month - So Please Join Us..

• When: Friday, Feb 26th at 3pm until Sunday, Feb. 28th at 12N
• Where: Stagecoach Trails Guest Ranch, 19985 S. Doc Holiday Rd, Yucca, AZ 86438 www.stgr.com
• Cost: $175.00 for weekend, which includes 2 nights lodging, meals and all materials
• Balance: Must be paid in full no later than Jan. 28, 2010 
• Checks: Please make checks payable to: "A Journey to JOY," and mailed to:

"A Journey to JOY"

Attn.: Debbie

P.O. Box 980, LHC, AZ 86405

Questions: please contact Joyce Floyd @ (928) 453-7940 or texaslady@rraz.net

We all agree this is a great spot for rest & relaxation, but we chose this wonderful spot for our annual retreat, not as a spa weekend, but a special place of healing for moms wanting to partake in all that is offered to help them on their special journey to joy.. We are grateful that each and every mom participating in this weekend agrees to take part in all the events planned, including the presentation by our special guest Carla Blowey and the Candlelight Ceremony, so that together we can continue on our journey....

Our Special Guest, Carla Blowey, has been dreaming for over forty years. At age 33, she entered the most challenging time of her life when the death of her five-year-old son, Kevin, and the nightmare that predicted it, forced her to reexamine her perceptions about grief, death and the afterlife. Dreaming Kevin became a valuable tool for healing those misperceptions and reclaiming her life. In the midst of changing diapers, facilitating bereavement support groups, and teaching her oldest daughter to drive, she answered the call to write Dreaming Kevin. Carla lives in Colorado with her husband, their two youngest children, and their golden retriever.  Vist her website: http://www.dreamingkevin.com/