My team started the weekend off right, with a little pre party! :) We had a bra decorating party at Stephanie & Kevin's house on Thursday night. We had 2-3 friends of Stephanie's that drove a van around all weekend covered in our decorated bras and basically catered to our every need. They transported us to and from the hotel, brought us sonic drinks at lunch, provided us with Starbucks half way through the morning, & were at every pit stop waiting to collect our layers of clothes that we slowly shed throughout the day. Most teams don't have this luxury and it honestly was an enormous blessing to have somewhere to stash our belongings during the day.
Day 1: On Friday morning everyone that is participating in the walk meets for opening ceremonies. This morning was exceptionally chilly and I ended up calling my daddy later in the day to bring up some of our ski gear for Saturday & Sunday morning! Anyway, opening and closing ceremonies are one of the most powerful parts of the event. It's when the national spokeswoman touches our hearts, reminds us of why we are walking, and the devastating reality of breast cancer. She also speaks of the strides & advancements that have occurred in breast cancer research and instills this burning hope in the crowd that makes me believe there will be a cure any day now. Aside from the wonderful spokeswoman and music to perfectly match the mood.... there are these really freakin' awesome flags. The flags have always been one of my most favorite aspects of the 3DAY. I love how my heart feels when I look at the words inscribed on those flags - it is beyond powerful. There are multiple sets of flags that are displayed throughout the 3DAY. One group of flags honors people we walk for: mom, grandmother, aunt, sister, best friend, wife, husband, daughter, etc. Another group honors important milestones everyone deserves to experience: weddings, graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. The final set of flags represents what survivors endured while battling breast cancer: strength, hope, courage, love, patience, optimism. Toward the end of opening ceremonies, eight survivors walk out into the middle of the crowd, up the stairs, and find their spot in the survivor circle. These 8 survivors are carrying flags and you can tell they are darn proud to be carrying them. Stephanie was chosen to be 1 of the 8 survivors that was able to carry a flag and participate in opening & closing ceremonies. She carried the word 'LOVE' and it truly could not have been a better fit for that woman. I can't even put into words how I felt when I saw her walk on the stage proudly carrying the flag. I was beaming with pride & overjoyed that the Lord has placed her as a role model in my life. She truly is the epitome of a Proverbs 31 woman. She's someone everyone is automatically drawn to, she radiates God's love, and takes life one day at a time. she lives life to the fullest because she fully knows her days are numbered by the King, not by medical statistics. She grasps the severity of her breast cancer, has faced the terrifying thoughts of not seeing her little boy grow up, has poisoned her body three times with chemotherapy while never ceasing to give God the glory. If that's not the epitome of a pink warrior then I'm not sure what is...
After opening ceremonies, we were fully inspired, energized, and ready to hit the pavement. The day consisted of: stretching at multiple pit stops, eating snacks, drinking water & gatorade, using port-a-potties, being cheered on by hundreds of joyful people in Dallas, finding strength & joy in our conversations with strangers, laughing a lot, telling funny stories, all while trying to savor every second of the 20 mile journey.
another fabulous thing about those flags is that they line the path that welcomes us into camp (day 1&2 finish at camp). After we cheered, hugged, & praised the Lord for our successful day, we scanned into camp & I was immediately filled with thankfulness. As beautiful as that sea of pink tents was, my tired little legs were extremely grateful I'd be sleeping in nice warm bed that night - not a sleeping bag :) We enjoyed a semi-delicious meal under the big tents, snapped some photos, and checked out the tents provided by the major sponsors: AT&T, New Balance, Bank of America, and Energizer. At about 9:00 pm my body was borderline frozen and ready to head to our hotel & prepare for the hardest day of the walk, day 2!
day two started off quite perfectly. we woke up in our toasty hotel room ready & waiting to battle the freezing dallas temperatures with the oh so practical scarves, neck, & leg warmers my dad brought us. These articles of clothing were the key to success & i'm not exaggerating. The morning was much more enjoyable, which inevitably created an awesome atmosphere for a morning stroll around town! the agenda for day two was the exact same as day one. we were going to conquer walking Dallas because we hope for the cure.
the cheering stations on saturday were out of control - we received endless amounts support from the community. Mandy & Amanda, who walked last year and were not able to walk this year, visited us at lunch and filled us with encouragement. It was good, so very good to see them and their precious little girls.
the end of day two deserved an even bigger celebration than day one. we walked, listened to music , asked questions, talked about school / families / jobs / church, & we did it all as a team. 40 miles down - 20 to go.
as soon as we entered camp we took photos, stretched on the mats with an instructor, ate dinner, and headed back to the hotel. the exhaustion was starting to set in.
day 3. woo hoo. we woke up a bit earlier this morning (around 4:15) in order to check out of the hotel and grab breakfast before we started walking. since stephanie was in closing ceremonies - she had to be at holding, which was located at Fair Park, by 3:00 to get ready! This meant that we had to be really serious about staying on schedule today and not get too distracted at pit stops and/or cheering stations.
we blazed through dallas and i honestly was in awe of stephanie's strength. She walked all but like 4-5 miles the entire weekend due to blisters & needing a quick nap. It was apparent that every step she took was due to the Lord's strength inside of her. The last day is full of excitement because closing ceremonies are so close -- you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. festivities that made the last day special were: Starbucks, pink firetruck to sign, cheering station at the West End, Chris being super popular in his Army uniform, & our desperate attempts at trying to capture stephanie & chris interacting together with our cameras.
once in the gates of Fair Park, we walked into 'holding' anxious to obtain our victory t-shirts && lovely rose. unforatunely, we waited about 48927439273 years in line to take a photo in front of the Day 3 sign. As soon as we finished taking our photos, it was time to line up & prepare to walk the last mile together. all of the walkers link arms & walk into closing ceremonies together, as one enormous team. as we entered closing ceremonies - the path way was lined with hundreds of fan cheering us on. there's nothing like it. it always seems to backwards to me that we have survivors in the crowd cheering us on when they are truly our heroes.
then it was time. closing ceremonies were about to commence!!! i literally had been waiting since the 3day in 2009 for this weekend and it was coming to a close. the spokeswoman told us DFW had raised $7.5 million toward breast cancer research. they praised us for our hard work & dedication to finding a cure - but most importantly we honored the ones we've lost and celebrated the lives that have been saved. we hugged, cried, & pleaded to God for the cure. I was full of tears the entire rest of the night because I just desperately want a world without breast cancer. I find comfort in His love & perfect plan for our lives. I love knowing that on the eternal side of life - we will have healthy bodies in Heaven with Him. His mercy, grace, and love are surreal. He is enough.
can't wait for 3DAY 2011.
blessed beyond measure for this experience.
couldn't be more proud to know Steph & be a member of 'The Hopefuls'
so lucky to have a BFF that hopes for the cure!
grateful to serve a Mighty God.
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