And again...my God is bigger

The set up for the Twilight Walk can be somewhat time consuming.  Okay, it can be very time consuming.  And stressful.  There are so many things we as a group HAVE to do to get the Bishop Carroll track ready for the kid games, the silent auction, the concession stand, the registration gate and the actual walk.  I am usually late due to a football game scheduled the morning of.  This year, my scheduled football game got put on hold a bit due to the rain, which put me behind about two hours.  Talk about stressed out. I had to keep reminding myself something that I have learned in college this year. 

Be Here Now.

Be where you are when you are there.  Allow yourself to be present, to fully enjoy and understand what it is you are doing, while you are doing it.

I kept saying...Do this for Middle.  Do this for Middle. 

When involved in something like the Kyrie Foundation, it is easy to get so wrapped up in doing good for children, that I tend to let the needs of my own slip through the cracks on these kind of days. 

Not today...not today...I repeated over and over. 

After the game was over, off we went.  Middle, Middle's friend and myself.  We raced up to Bishop Carroll where we went straight to work getting the silent auction all set up.  It took hours...no joke.  With less than an hour until the kickoff of the event, Lacie (Kyrie's Mom) came into the tent to let us know that within the hour, we were to be hit with a storm..  It was big, and headed straight for us. 

Awesome.

We'd spent hours setting up this beautiful silent auction and now, it was threatened to be ruined by the weather.  We could have sat there and cried our eyes out (and maybe we did shed a tear or two), but in true Kyrie Foundation fashion...we let nothing stand in our way.  We gathered volunteers who picked up tables as a whole and hurried into the gym to set them back up.  Once we got that done, the event was well under way and the 4th annual Twilight Walk was moving. 

Now I must say, the storm clouds that I saw on my phone radar looked quite scary.  The news stations were saying it was a good storm, but it was moving through quickly.  Talk about praying for specifics.  A friend said she prayed for the rain to break over Bishop Carroll.  We didn't care if it rained across the street, but we needed this place to be dry for two...maybe three more hours. 

As the people gathered for our 11 lap walk in honor of the 11 children who are diagnosed each day, we each got a balloon and waited for the countdown.  The sun started to shine.  I was confused.  This huge mass of scary looking clouds was coming straight for us less than two hours before, and we'd seen nothing of the sort.  In fact, there were the most beautiful clouds and sunset.  It was amazing...it was God.  As we released our balloons for Kyrie and for the other children who are fighting this battle, the tears came.  It was simply amazing.  As we walked, the storm moved closer and the clouds took over the sky.  We were able to finish our 11 laps, get everyone into the gym for the silent auction and video viewing, and the sky unleashed. 

That my friends is me saying...hey big ugly storm on the radar that threatened to ruin the night we put so much time and love into planning...

My God Is Bigger.

Thank you to all those who came out, who donated, who helped and who prayed for the success of this year's walk.  It was again, an unforgettable night and I am so grateful for those who were able to share it with us.