Sweet moments.

Yesterday I took my little 7 year old friend, K, to the NC State football game.  She had never been to a football game before and was so excited for the adventure!  K has been through a lot in her seven short years.  Her dad died unexpectedly a little over a year ago and her mom had to go through two brain surgeries in the weeks that followed.  Most recently K had to undergo eye surgery at Duke Hospital.  To say K has reason to be anxious is an understatement!

I have spent the last 6 weeks or so spending the night at K's house to help her mom with K and her little three year old sister.  It has been a blessing to me getting to be a part of this sweet family.  Since K had never been to a football game, I thought she might enjoy the experience.  There is so much that goes on!  We make a day out of it - starting with our tailgate.  K is a really good eater and she seemed to really enjoy the grilled pork chop, brown rice, potato casserole and cole slaw.  Not to mention the cowboy cookies!!!

K has really taken to my boys too.  She loves teasing with Joel especially.  At first Joel wasn't too keen on me staying overnight with another family - even though he is almost 21!  He likes having his mama at home. :)  But once he met K he told me, "Mama, you stay as long as you want - she needs you more than I do."  Since K has never been to a NC State game she didn't have the proper attire - an NC State t-shirt!  I had planned to take her to the fan zone and purchase a t-shirt before the game started.  Joel didn't know this.  While we were sitting at the tailgate eating and talking, K noticed Joel was missing.  We thought maybe he had just gone to the restroom and didn't think any more of it.  A little while later Joel walks up to the tailgate tent with a plastic shopping bag in hand and hands it over to K.  Inside was a Wolfpack t-shirt just K's size!  What a sweetheart!  That boy is going to make a great daddy someday!

K and I decided to head over to the walk of champions to see the band, cheerleaders and team.  We just barely made it in time.  It was so fun to watch K jump up and down squealing and shaking the pom-poms she brought as the band marched past, followed by the cheerleaders, dance team and football players.  We then walked over to the big wolf statue/fountain.  K oohed and ahhed over the huge wolves.  We plated games in the fan zone where K won a football, a flag and a frisbee.  She really racked up in prizes!

Once inside the stadium K took in all the sights - the players warming up on the field, the majorettes practicing right in front of us and the stands filling up with people - mostly wearing red! :)  She laughed and cheered the hardest when Mr. and Mrs. Wuf rode out onto the field on the giant helmet and the fireworks popped as the players ran onto the field.  Her belly laugh alone was worth the price of admission to the game.  We were fortunate to be on the front row so she could see all of the action close up.  She learned to show the wolf hand signal and to cheer for "another Wolfpack - FIRST DOWN!"  I couldn't believe she stayed awake for the whole game!  Her bedtime is 7:30 and we were still in the stadium at 9:30!  She didn't miss a minute of the action though!  I was surprised at how well she paid attention and seemed to follow most of what was going on.  I'll make a Wolfpacker out of her yet!

I am so blessed to be able to be a children's ministry director and to have relationships with awesome families.  Sometimes I have to pinch myself that God has allowed me to serve this way.  What a blessing to have such a wonderful family and to experience such sweet moments.