April 01, 2008

Relay for Life Event

WELL.... It was a long night cut short and wet. The event was so much fun this year but was cut short due to rain. We had a kiddy Corral set up by fence posts and temporary orange vinyl roll for kids to come and play with the bubble station and toys then a painting raffle and memory balloons for sale as well. We hauled in tons of stuff to include sleeping bags and tents for the entire night. Thank goodness we had all setup and ready by the time the event started. By 11:00pm or so we had the little ones all down in the tent while we sold items and waiting our time to walk. About 2am as we gathered in a group for a flag walk, the feild's automatic sprinkler system started and soaked several tents on the far side of the area. The maintenance staff finally got it all shut off. It was quit wet before the event due to misting all day prior to the event starting. Now that area was a mud pit. I walked an hour after they got the system shut down. Thank goodness I got a chance to lay down to rest for the rest of the night, or so I thought. About 4am I awoke to an announcement that we were officially shutting down and most everyone but us had already packed up and were loaded to leave. While I rested among the sounds of music and laughter, it had begun to mist with waves of heavy downpours. It took us about an hour to get everything wrapped up and loaded in the vehicles to include all the sleeping babies in the tent. WE WERE THE LAST ONES TO LEAVE THE FIELD!!! Our team constisted of 12 females but only about 5 of us were still there at those hours of the night. We were all exhausted, wet, and a bit sad that we had to close up shop so fast. Several were operating on no sleep, mental fatigue from the babies, and colds and infections. Needless to say I am still trying to recover from it. I slept in on the following morning into the early afternoon but still have not caught up on all my sleep yet. I will tell you however that it was just as empowering and awaking as it has been the last couple of years. There was not a dry eye in the whole stadium when they did the survivor walk and some moving speaches during the luminaria event. It is just so amazing how many people have been effected by cancer and those that have NOT survived. We have been doing this for 3 years in our town and each year we have smashed our money gained records. I could not tell you at this point how much we raised as a city but I can tell you that we broke our records last year of aobut $16,000. So to those of you who supported me and my team and all the others too, thank you for we could not have done it with out you. Our team alone raised about $1,500 dollars and enjoyed doing it. Not to mention getting to share some women bonding time. It is definitely a women event but is not limited to just us. Several men were there and had been touched or had had cancer in their life time as well. We actually have some of our high school students form teams as well and participate with us. If you would like to know what it was about and want to know more, I would be glad to answer questions or for best results, join the fight with us all across the nation to be apart of your areas RELAY FOR LIFE!!!!

****DO YOU KNOW JESUS BECAUSE HE KNOWS YOU. God knows every hair on your head (Luke 12:6-8 NIV:Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies[a]? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows), and he gave his only son for you John 3:16 KJV-For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.)
****