Running For Clean Water

Well, it's been TWO FULL DAYS since I've made the commitment to run the 2014 LA Marathon.  All of a sudden, 28 weeks seems like a mere blink of an eye.  In these two days, I have questioned the sanity of my decision to run more miles that I have run in the past 2 years combined, but I haven't felt compelled yet to wimp out (ahh....that's when 28 weeks seems like an adequate amount of time to come to my senses).

Maybe I should back up a bit.  I won't be running for myself - not for some bucket list of accomplishments I can check off - not for some dare or challenge made by myself or someone else.  Getting in better shape for my own benefit hasn't been enough of a motivator for me in the past.  I don't like trying things with a high fail-rate as I'm a self-professed Type-A control freak (and us control freaks tend to avoid failure like a dead skunk on a hot summer day).  I don't take risks.  I don't put myself in positions to fail.  And I don't run.

But I couldn't help but feel choked up when I heard in this Sunday's message at church that there are countless children in Africa who walk miles upon miles to get water for their families...water that is a cloudy brown...water that I would be disgusted to see in my toilet bowl...and water that would be deemed too dirty to even wash our cars.  Many of these children can't even go to school because their days are consumed by the endless trips to polluted and disease-infested water holes.

If an eight year old girl can walk 10 km three times a day to retrieve water (barefoot with a heavy bucket to tote), I can as sure as heck run, walk--and if need be, crawl 26.2 miles.  With shoes designed for running.  On smooth pavement.  With people cheering me on.  For this girl who does this daily, there is no one cheering her on.  There are no fancy running shoes.  There are no accolades for traversing the miles.  There is no access to websites or FB for people to post encouragement for her endless journeys.  And there is no clean water for her to drink at the finish line.

I'll be posting my training milestones (as an indicator that I'm still committed to running this race with Team World Vision) for some good laughs and hopefully as encouragement and testament to you all that surely anything is possible with God.  If you feel compelled, I would love for you to consider partnering with me financially in making clean water available to those in Africa.

Thank you.