Not just another festival...

I haven't posted much in the past few days. The weekend was a whirlwind, and it has taken me a few days to recover. We're also attempting to get ready for a yard sale for this weekend. The fun never stops! On Friday, the Hubs came home from work for about fifteen minutes before we headed back to the church for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. There was a terrible downpour that evening, so all of the activities were moved inside the gym, and another planned relay in the area actually moved all of their festivities to our location too! Although it was an overnight event, we brought the girls and only stayed for a couple of hours. We ate hot dogs and nachos and way too many deep fried Oreos and Twinkies. I will admit that prior to this event, I made fun of the practice of deep frying already unhealthy sweets. Never again. Hubby is ready to buy a deep fryer. I think being able to fry foods at home is probably not something we need to do...

Back to the relay... we visited lots of booths from area teams. Some had raffles. Some sold candy or sweets. Big Sister got her face painted and a temporary dragonfly tattoo (on her calf!). My friend Wendy set up a Cookie Lee jewelry booth and donated her profits to ACS. This was an especially important cause for her because her husband Randy was diagnosed with and started treatments for epitheloid mesothelioma within the past year. Cancer hit in her home. Although fortunate that no one in our house has had to fight this battle, cancer has hit me close to home more than once in my life. A little over a year ago, my Uncle George passed away after battling lung cancer. A few years prior to that, the man who was like a second father to me became ill, was diagnosed with liver cancer, and died all within the span of a few months. His wife's mother, a woman I call my Granny, is dealing with cancer as I type these words. And my grandmother is a breast cancer survivor.

There are others I can name, as I am sure anyone reading this post can think of people in their own lives touched by cancer. The Relay for Life had a moment of silence for these people the other night. It was after the girls' bedtime, so I wasn't there to experience it, but I felt it nonetheless. All night, I kept reminding myself that this wasn't just another fun festival for our kids. Seeing the survivors in their purple shirts, bumping into people in the crowds because so many turned out for the event, even watching as Big Sister sat completely still while a ladybug was painted on her face, I remembered. I sensed the Sacred and I prayed. Not only did I pray for those fighting cancer or those grieving, but I also thanked God for the lives of those lost, and the preciousness of life all around us.

And I thanked Him for deep-fried twinkies. Sorry. Had to lighten the mood a bit. I wanted to take a picture of Big Sister after all of the festivities, but the camera batteries were dead and we have no idea how to get pics off of John's phone. Just picture a thoroughly worn-out kid with facepaint, tattoos, a big inflatable caveman club (that said something like "beat cancer") and a pink ribbon lollipop. I tried as best as I could to explain to her why we went. It's a tough thing, finding the balance between helping your child to feel safe and to understand how tough things can be. Even now, I want Big Sister to understand how fortunate she is and how responsible we are to love and share with those around us. I think she gets it. She offered me a bite of her sucker, after all...


The rest of my weekend was spent getting ready for our church's Children's Musical Praise Rocks. I direct the 1st-3rd grade kids choir, and this was something we have been preparing for several months. They did a wonderful job. Here's the cast: