Wow, what a week!

Was going to wait until I could flash a darling picture up here of my little Livvy doing the "Little Miss Good Old Days" contest. But, I just don't have the energy to make that happen, so I thought I'd give a little update anyways.
What a week we had last week. Started school and so far that is going VERY WELL. In addition, we had our annual small town festival. Always busy and fun. Like I said, Liv participated in the "Little Miss" contest with her prairie dress and bonnet (Shout out to Michelle for the dress!) on Thursday evening. She had a big old fan club cheering her on. So CUTE! She was a little bit disappointed to not be selected on the court. Mainly because Alli was on the court, so she wanted it also. But, nothing a little dairy queen from Grandma couldn't soothe!
Friday we went to the carnival and the girls got wristbands for all of the rides. They were literally the first ones in line at the ticket booth. We arrived a little bit early and when we realized the ticket booth was opening, Liv ran full speed towards it without regarding anything in her path. She WHACKED into a bench and was writhing in pain on the ground. But, she didn't want to stop for long, knowing that the opportunity to go on rides was so close. Later, she revealed the nasty bruise where she rammed her leg. OUCH! She really is a tough cookie. ANWAYS, they ran from ride to ride to ride to ride non stop until they were turned away at 11pm. The only break was to throw down some hot n ready slices that Timm brought us. Crazy!
Saturday Liv rode on the float in the kiddie parade with all the other cutie pies in their dresses. Then, we did the ping pong ball chase. Picture a thousand kids running down main street, each with a bag, chasing a bunch of bouncing ping pong balls. Each ball is marked with a prize. We won some free slushies, sodas, and crazy bread. Also, a bunch of candy from the "good old days barn". After that, we played games in the park (more candy prizes) and did a candy scramble (more candy). On Sunday we went to the grand parade, and the kids filled another bag with candy from that! For some reason, I really enjoyed the parade on Sunday. Maybe the beautiful weather? I don't know. But, I found it enjoyable and relaxing.
Maybe it's because I had gotten up and gone to church from 8am-1pm, came home and sat at the parade from 1:30 - 3:45, came home for an hour, then turned around and got ready to leave for our Communitas church meeting. The parade was the most relaxing time of my day!
Well, now I'm tired and I haven't even gotten to our Communitas stuff. We celebrated the fact that they were having their first meeting in NYC as well. And they were already expecting to have a good number of people come check them out and possibly get involved. Already growing! And then we faced some creepy giants within the group still here in Michigan. It's not an easy thing, this following Jesus thing. Some times it feels like it would be much better to give up. Jesus asks us to "count the cost" of being his disciple. The cost is everything. And sometimes, that is too much to bear. We spent some time in tears and prayer for some of our team who is experiencing the cost right now. Giving up comfort, family, friends, job, home, belongings, life. . . it's tough. But, us crazy folks, we believe that the only way to FIND your life is to LOSE it. The life Jesus has for us is so much richer and more meaningful. But, the journey is tough.
OK, I'm tired with a capital R. Good night!