Running 4 Justice

Hey y'all!

On Feburary 12 I was able to be part of a movement and initiative so much larger than myself. It was a humbling and awe-inspiring morning. The Run:4Justice that I blogged about HERE was held at Meadowmere Park here in the Deep South. I headed all advice given to arrive early due to limited parking, getting there at 7:15 for a 9:00 event. It was cold here that day.  I'm talking bone chillling, finger numbing, lung aching cold. It was about 28 degrees when I got out of my car. I took to pouring hot coffee just so I could walk around holding it. But my own discomfort was forgotten as I walked along the wall that 121 Community Church had created detailing the abject poverty and abuse that surrounds young girls in the sex trade in Cambodia. The wall was heart-breaking and convicting all at once. Slowly the field by the starting line filled with runners and walkers, parents and singles, couples and canines, jogging strollers and teenagers.

I was lucky enough to find the two others I knew in this sea of participants and we all started together.  I kept a faster than normal pace with Chris for the first half of the race and then realized, once I could feel my feet again, that I just might die if I continued at such a pace for another mile and a half. I slowed down, took the time to pray as I ran. To pray that Satan would be kept so far from that place. To pray for the runners. To pray for the girls that we were symbolically running toward with freedom in our hands. To pray that the stitch that developed in my side would give up because I absolutely could not walk part of a 5K. Pride. I'm working on it.

The funny thing about being so focused on the race and why we were running it was followed after crossing the finishing line by thoughts of how I did, what my time was.  I suddenly and shamefully reverted to a "me, I, mine" mindset. Did I run a faster time than usual? Yes. Did I place pretty well, for me, in the field? Yes. Does any of that matter? No.

I didn't find out until the next morning how much money was raised for International Justice Misson to end sex slavery in Cambodia. As a reminder, the goal was 1000 runners who each raise $100. The total number of runners? One thousand three hundred and thirty some, it may have been 1338. And this is where our modern day miracle happened. The total raised was $133,000! Even though some people raised less than the $100 per person and some raised more, God was amazing enough to have not only our goal met but exceeded in His perfect planning!

To all of you who were able to donate financially, thank you. To those of you who could not donate but were prayer warriors, thank you. Most especially, for those of you who read my first post and may not agree with my faith but still gave, thank you. That is a modern day miracle and I pray that I will remember my first Run:4Justice and all the lessons learned until the end of my time here.