I have a lot to cover in this blog, so it may be a little long. I will try to shorten it as much as I can, but the reality of the situation is that there were so many good things that have happened in the last 72 hours, i don't know if I can avoid make this a bit "novel-ish". Let me start with Friday.....
On Friday, we took Micheala down for her MRI. I can honestly say that this is one of the first times in a long time that I was concerned. I did not want the MRI to tell us that we were going to need another surgery. The MRI was to see if there was spinal fluid blockage which would be the cause of the pain in her arms. Micheala took the MRI like a champ, as she always does, and after about an hour and a half was done and starting to come to again. Because we are not the type of family to "wait until Monday" for the results, we called our pediatrician and had her put the heat on the doctor for results. The good news is that we found out that her MRI was clear and that there would not have to be a discussion about a second surgery. However, we didn't get an answer. What we are doing now is monitoring Micheala for signs of arthritis. So that book is not completely closed as of yet.
I did not sleep on Friday night. I stayed up until 3am completing a set of bag boards for the silent auction. Procrastination got the best of me and I paid for it. Up at 6am on Saturday morning for the Winn'ter Kickball tournament. Besides an awful injury, the kickball tournament was great! I did have to stop and remind everyone that this was a fundraiser, as the emotions and alcohol started getting the best of everyone. It was nice to see that everyone involved with the kickball tournament dropped the attitudes after the tournament and was able to have a good time with the rest of the evening. I appreciate everyone that participated in the tournament and hope that next year, everyone can remain focused on the "cause" and not let our competitiveness get the best of us.
The chili supper and silent auction was a huge success! The number of people at the event still baffles me. People were having a good time and I enjoyed the opportunity to thank just about everyone personally for taking the time to come. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with other JDRF families and get excited about the good things they have going with their fundraising efforts. Bottom line for the day, Team Pump Princess earned $9,720.75 for the night, which brings our grand total so far to $13,337.95! This surpasses our goal of $13,001 and we are not done yet! I cannot express how thankful I am to those who sacrificed a little part of their lives to make this event a huge success.
So, Saturday night, I get in my car to drive home and couldn't help but "fist pump" all the way to Urbana! For the past 2 years, I have set a goal that has been looked upon as next to impossible and in the past 2 years, we have knocked it out of the park. The best compliment that I got was on Sunday morning on the way home from church, when my wife looked at me and said, "I will never doubt you again".
This weekend was a huge lesson for me on passion. Passion is what has been fueling me throughout this journey. I will admit that I started thinking of the scenario of what I would tell Micheala if we didn't reach or goal and I didn't like those thoughts. The good thing is that I will not have to have that conversation with her. I had learned that passion can do a lot of things, but you have to put that passion into action. Our committee put that passion into action on Saturday and we got huge results. Thank you to everyone.
Sunday was an emotional day for me. I received many "Congrats" from friends and family members. I was over joyed with a feeling of accomplishment. There was a lot of good things that happened this weekend and I want to share what happened on Sunday night with all of you.
I took Dylanne to volleyball practice on Sunday, so Heather was at home with Micheala. They were both on the couch, resting and watching television. Micheala looks over and says to Heather, "Hold my hand because I want to pray". So Heather takes a hold of her hand and Micheala starts to pray. Heather reported to me that Micheala started praying to God out loud. She prayed that "I can help raise a lot of money and get people to care about diabetes so that me and my friends don't have to have diabetes anymore". Speechless.
Heather told me this story when I got back from Dylanne's volleyball practice.
I spent the rest of the evening grinning from ear to ear.
God was very present this weekend. All praise to him.
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