Yesterday we had the opportunity to participate in an event downtown. It was the 2011 Kids Fair. We were blown away with how involved this event was, the number of vender's and organizations represented and how many people came. We stayed consistently BUSY the entire time... and by the end we were wiped to say the least! We ran out of all our giveaways, and coloring sheets and only have a handful of books and pamphlets left! What an awesome event. I hope that our message reached many many families and is one that will be remembered.
As we always do, we met several very sweet and encouraging people. One of things that meant the most to me today was when a woman came with several of her grandchildren. She was so glad to see that we were teaching about water safety and wanted to be sure that each child took the water safety pledge, and fully understood it's meaning. She shared how she would be watching many kids over the summer and that they would be swimming as well as going to the beach. She knew the importance of water safety and shared with the kids that she would be reminding them and holding them accountable to the things that we shared with them.
This made me feel like it was all worth it. This is the reason I am doing what we are doing.
Before she left she came up to me, asked to give me a hug and said,
"Thank you for turning your hurt into a Halo"...
I thought about it for a moment and then just smiled. I had never heard that phrase before and it meant so much to me. She continued saying that me and my 'angel' would impact and save many lives.
I was so thankful for this opportunity today and was blessed in many ways... but most of all it was blessed by this woman's simple sweet words.
