What am I doing?

So, here it is - I am putting it out there... I am running the Chicago Marathon on October 7, 2012 with Team World Vision with my church {Northridge Church}.

So let me start from the beginning. A couple of weeks ago a very good friend who is a marathon runner mentioned to me that our church was going to be partnering with Team World Vision to run the Chicago Marathon to help build water wells in Zambia, Africa. My initial thought... "Wow, that is great. We will totally support you!" My second thought which followed immediately after that, was a tinge of jealously, "I wish I could do that."

I find it so hard in this life stage (4 kids - 5 1/2 and under)to actually DO more for the Kingdom. Let's face it... over the last 6 years, there has not been a whole lot of time where I wasn't either pregnant or had a baby attached to the boob. No oversees mission trip was going to happen. And life with 4 little ones is just busy!

The more I thought about this, the more I mentioned to my friend and to Jeff that I really felt like I should do this, the more it felt right. I really felt like God was pulling on my heart to do this.

Here's the kicker... I HATE to run! No, really I hate it. True Story. I have tried at different points in my life to get into the running thing, and it just never bloomed (probably b/c of my hate for it!)

So, here I am... two months since Blake's birth, I have not worked out (with the exception of some pretty relaxed prenatal video's)in close to a year and I just signed up to run a marathon.

Here's what I know. This is so much bigger than myself. I am doing this for God and for HIS children. It will be hard and it will be a sacrifice to me and my family (thankfully Jeff is my BIGGEST encouragement!) but God's children are dying and he has placed it on my heart to try and do something about it. It might not be feasible for me to go away on a 2 week mission trip right now, but I can give a couple hours a week to train and to ask friends and family to support me on this journey.

Will you please consider to support me financially. All money raised through Ridge Riders (our NRC team name) through Team World Vision will go specifically to help get clean water to those in need. Team World Vision suggests we set a goal of $1310 ($50 for every mile we run)but I would love to exceed that! I covered my first mile, will you cover one?

Please also pray for me. This will be hard. I am sure at some point I will loose sight and want to quit. I am sure Satan will have a field day - but I will not let him win!

Here is my personal page where you can make a donation:
http://support.worldvision.org/site/TR/TeamWorldVision/General?px=1205795&pg=personal&fr_id=1670

I will do my best in keeping this updated so you can see how I am doing in my training!! Thank you so much for your support and prayers!