Alabama Girl Displays Zest For Life While Facing Brain Surgeries

HOMEWOOD, Ala. — Elizabeth Scott believes in miracles and is convinced that she and her family won’t be handed more than they can handle — even when life seems to be giving her and her spunky 7-year-old daughter so much more.

The single mother of two children is leaning on her faith as Liza, her “fearless, bright, happy girl,” is facing a series of surgeries in Boston to address three rare brain malformations that were discovered in January. Now, barely a month after Liza suffered a grand mal seizure that turned the lives of her and her family upside down, an online fundraising effort — Lemonade For Liza— has generated more than $253,000 to help Liza and her family.

Elizabeth Scott wrote on mightycause.com that her faith has been tested since neurologists and neurosurgeons in Birmingham discovered the three brain malformations in her daughter. The upcoming surgeries — the first of which will take place next week at Boston Children’s Hospital —will hopefully prevent Liza from facing further seizures, possible bleeding, hemorrhaging or a stroke, her mother wrote.

Still, Scott believes that if anyone can handle the uncertainties that lie ahead, it’s her beloved Liza.

“If there is anyone who can take lemons and make it the most lemonade ever, it’s Liza,” Scott wrote.

As it turns out, Liza loves selling lemonade and other sweet treats. To encourage her daughter's passion, her mother set up a lemonade stand at Savage's Bakery, which Scott runs along with Liza’s grandfather in Homewood. While the small stand was set up for Liza to sell her creations, the little girl’s generosity has prompted her to give her products away for free, her mother wrote, “just because she wants everyone to enjoy.”

But the lemonade business also provided a fitting analogy for the family to live by as Liza faces multiple surgeries that will take her and her mom to Boston for weeks at a time.

“From the start, Liza has taken the lemons thrown her way and shown us all that adding a little zest to life is what making lemonade is all about,” Scott wrote.

Liza and her mother will fly to Boston later this week to prepare for the first of the surgeries that are needed to address Liza’s condition, CBS42 reported Sunday. Scott told the television station that she has been overwhelmed by the support that has come from total strangers — including more than $10,000 in cash donations, offers to pay for flights and lodging in Boston — and other gestures that have left Scott feeling loved.

“It’s kind of allowed me to step away from some of the emotions,” she told CBS42. “But at the same time, it’s emotional in a different way, because I never expected any of this. … America is really … really great.”

As encouraged as Scott has been by the outpouring of support she has received from around the country, she understands the upcoming days and weeks will be filled with a lot of uncertainty. That's where the strength Liza has demonstrated — along with the faith that has guided Scott so far through this journey — will continue to see her through the fear and questions that remain unanswered.

"I believe God heals. I believe that God allows the hard times in life to help others see His amazing love, protection and faithfulness," Scott wrote on the online fundraising page. "I believe God is glorified even in grief, heartache, sickness, and despair. And I believe — and know — that God is moving mountains around us, hears my cries for help, is my source of strength and peace during this season, radiating His goodness and His love by way of a beautiful little girl, made in His image, who doesn’t know a stranger, loves life, dances like a queen, and has defied all odds thus far."