Passion

This post is kinda long, so please persevere with me.


Okay, here goes...  

I started running (and I use that word VERY loosely) about six or seven years ago.  I lose track, so I'm not positive.  I'd never run in my life, other than to get away from something I was afraid of, but I was feeling a need to make some changes to take care of myself and to be consistent with it.  For the price of a good pair of running shoes, I could be ready to go and running seemed like it could work around our crazy-life schedule.  


When I started, it looked like this:  run a block, walk a block, run a block, walk a block.  Then, run two, walk one...you get the picture.  It was ugly, but I persevered and after three or four months, I actually began to enjoy it.  It has helped me in a multitude of ways.  Among other things, I've lost weight, I feel much healthier, it deals with the stress in my life better than any meds I could be taking,  I've met some great people that also enjoy this love of running, and I've learned that I'm capable of WAY more than I ever thought I was.

Last Fall I completed my first Half Marathon (details here).  Something I never thought I would be able to do, but with much work, support from friends and family, and more taking care of myself, it was done. :)  


Since this love of running began, I have looked with amazement at people that accomplished Triathlons, or Marathons and could not imagine even attempting it...


But now I have to imagine it.  Beginning July 1, I'm going to begin training for my first Marathon.  26.2 miles. Freakish.  I have a few friends in The Valley that are also going to work toward the same goal and I think I'm getting really excited about it.  I'm trying to be realistic, train slowly and wisely, listen to my nearly 49- year-old body, but I really want to do this thing, if God will hold all these old parts together for it.


Okay - little bit of gapping now... (hang in there, we're almost done!)


I started this blog a little over a year ago and my first post (here) was, among other things, about my desire to contribute to making a difference in the lives of those enslaved around the world, in our country, in our state. I have struggled with how that looks living in a rural area, somewhat removed from where most of the volunteer activity takes place, working part time, homeschooling, parenting, very involved in our local faith community, being a support to my pastor/firefighter husband, etc.  I still don't have very clear answers in this regard, but I do feel like God is beginning to bring at least a little clarity - a first step, maybe.


I'd like to combine these two passions, and drag you along with me. :)  


A couple of nights ago, I added up how many miles I will run throughout the course of this 20-week training, culminating with the marathon in November.  If I do everything they suggest, I will run between 420 and 430 miles over the course of those 20 weeks.  Figuring that up may have been a mistake.  I lost the ability to breath for just a few minutes afterward.  Here's where you come in...


I'd like to ask you to join me, prayerfully and financially, in combining these two passions.  I've spoken with the director of OATH (Read about 'em here) about how this idea can work.  He is developing a webpage where you can donate toward my training miles.  So, for example, you could donate $.10, (or $10.00!) for every mile that I fulfill during this 20-week training.  If you donated $.10, then at the completion of my marathon, you would donate approximately $42.00 to OATH.  The mornings I don't drag my butt out of bed and train, you would donate nothing.  The mornings I do, you would.  

While the training and marathon mean a great deal to me personally, I would like the time I spend training and running to mean something for others.  This would make it mean so much more!  The mornings I don’t want to get up and train, I can think about the girls that will be helped at the end of this through the money donated – that will get me out of bed when nothing else will. 

So be watching - in the next week or so, I'll post a link where you can join me in this journey.