I’m sitting here full of thoughts of Saturday. Several of you have expressed an interest in knowing how the day went. It was incredible.
We didn’t make it quite as early as planned because I had to make a potty pit stop on the way. As soon as we drove into the parking lot and saw all the cars already assembling, people directing traffic, things set up, people milling around, and others lined up behind us, I got all teary. It’s not like that’s very hard for me these days, but to think that all of the preparations had been made, planned, and it was THE BIG DAY, was very emotional for me. To think that it was all done to help my family was just a tremendous overload to my emotional system. Crying is the only way to get it back in line!
Most of our extended family had already arrived and was busy at work. We signed in and got our armbands, and made our way across the bridge to where the start/finish lines were. Gideon and Scarlett had helped me make a paper chain for the finish line. We headed over to tape it up, only it was SO COLD and SO WINDY, it was very difficult to do. With the help of my FBC Everman friends, we got it up there, only losing about a foot or two of chain.
I’m so glad I brought the children coats and Jeff threw in some blankets last minute. Even with a long sleeve shirt, sweater, and light weight jacket, I was shivering within minutes of being out there. My mother to the rescue: she doesn’t believe in being cold. She brought extra layers for Beverly (my friend from D.C.) and me to put on. Thanks, mom!
I saw so many people who I knew and even more people who I didn’t know. As my pastor, Jim, said in church yesterday, “it’s easy for people who know and love (me) to attend something like this, but for those who don’t, it’s amazing.” Truly, it’s a testament of our Father in each life, pricking the heart and the desire to be a part of this amazing day.
Jeff took Gideon and Scarlett to walk, and I wasn’t sure if they’d make it the entire three miles. He left the stroller with me, so I knew they wouldn’t be in the head of the pack! The horn blew and off went the sprinters while the rest of the walkers sluggishly moved along creating a much slower pace. Beverly, Lexi, and I stationed ourselves near the finish line to cheer on the runners/walkers. The wind was blowing so hard poor little Lexi didn’t want down. I had her snuggled beneath a blanket as she lay in my arms.
20 minutes later, we saw the first two runners rounding the bend. We quickly assembled into our places and started cheering them on. Those boys were quick! The first fella broke through the paper chain, and I sighed a little sigh of relief that I wouldn’t have to worry about the tape holding any longer! The second fella, hot on his heels, was a high-schooler who was the younger brother of a family friend. He raised $500 dollars for our family. I was so impressed.
And then I turned around behind me and saw a flash of white. It was my brother, Adrian (who doesn’t tan), running like the wind. Okay, this boy has done nothing but surprise me. I remember watching him learning to play soccer as a 4-year-old. He was too busy waving to all of us to pay attention to what was happening on the field. Anyway, from my observation, it looked like he was the 3rd person. Maybe I was wrong, but I didn’t see anyone else cross the finish line (unless I missed him as I turned around).
My oldest brother, Aaron, had decided not to run, as to keep the attention off himself and on me. Very sacrificial of him. I wasn’t sure if he thought he was going to win the race or what…but I’ll keep those thoughts to myself.
Anyway, he took off running behind Adrian with his video phone recording, which, upon viewing later, was incredibly funny, Beverly and I started chanting “Adrian, Adrian, Adrian.” Ha ha. Those white legs were flying. I was so proud of him. I yelled at him “didn’t know you could move that fast.”
Nipping his heels was a high school gal (daughter of our emcee) who was super fast, too.
After that, I lost track of who came in when, but I cheered them on the last length, encouraging them to pick up the pace just a bit and then high-fiving as they came through. That was the most fun, though I did start to feel as if I were losing my voice.
My other brother, Austin, came in, as did his wife, Heather, who said she’d wanted to quit running halfway through, but knew I wouldn’t have quit, so she kept running. I wanted to be in that race so bad; it seems years since I’ve run.
Then I see my dad. Mind you, he’d told me he was walking so he wore jeans and his S.C. Gamecock puffy coat, but when I saw him he was running. I had to laugh because true to his nature, when he got close to the finish line, he started the chicken walk across the finish line. Good ol dad!
Jeff’s family came across the line, friends I hadn’t seen in years, friends from church, new friends, and perfect strangers. I was having so much fun at the finish line, I didn’t hear my name being called to take a picture with the winners. Scarlett and I headed to the stage for the picture, and Jeff was summoned, too.
We took the picture, I said a quick word of thanks to everyone who’d braved the elements (at least it didn’t rain) and then I was given a beautiful quilt that the entire HGHG committee had signed. On that note, I need to find out where to get a quilt hanger thing to put on the wall.
At that point, many cold participants left for the warmth of home and car. For those who stayed, they were blessed to hear Summer Ames perform, Jim Wilson from local KCBI, and several other bands whose names I didn’t catch. There were quite a few people who hung around long enough to hear me give my testimony, which was very kind, since it was about 12:30 when I gave it and they HAD to be cold. The children played in the bounce houses, got their faces painted, ate their hotdogs and everyone sipped hot chocolate!
By that point, I’d sent my children home with my parents because they were just frozen, and I didn’t want anyone to get sick.
Regarding my testimony: You know I like to write things out, so I had 5 pages of what I thought was a beautifully scripted story (not to toot my own horn or anything), but I knew no one out in the cold wanted to listen to me read it even though I write better than I speak, so I opted for a shortened version and asked God to let come out whatever came out. And I shared. I’m only partially disappointed that I completely neglected to talk about my issues with diarrhea! You know that’s very important to my daily life, but I totally skipped over that part. Oh well. My dad said that some things were sometimes better left unstated. I guess he’s right.
My brother, Adrian, videoed the whole thing and is working on getting it posted to YouTube, if you’d be interested in listening. I managed to keep it together for the most part and only lost it there at the end, thank goodness.
The sun finally came out and it warmed up a tad, and we had a great time with the remaining faithful few. I got to see so many of my good friends that though it was impossible not to feel the cold air biting, it was bearable because of the amount of love flowing from person to person. I gave and received so many hugs and the event was truly a success. I was able to spend some quality time with my friend, Janessa, who’d had breast cancer while pregnant with her second child. If you were there, she was the crazy one wearing all the breast cancer pink, the crazy hat with braids, her husband was dressed like Larry the Cucumber, and she had a choreographed dance caught on video. Talk about celebrating life! Why do you think they are friends of mine?
I heard (and I’m not sure if this was a rumor or based in truth) that all 500 race bags had been given away and there might have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 750 people. Once again, I’m not putting it out there as truth, for there may have been less, but it was a blessing to see so many. There wasn’t a final tally to how much money had been raised because there had been requests to keep the Helping Hands account open so people could go home and give donations, but whatever it was will be thankfully received.
When all was nearly packed up and being put away, Jeff, Beverly, and I climbed in our car and headed to my parent’s house to visit with my out-of-town brothers. I was very exhausted by that point, but determined to see the day through. I hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink all day because I wanted to spend time with people, not with the toilet, so when we got to my parent’s house, I ate. And that was a mistake, but it was so nice to hang out with family and sit in a warm house!
All in all, the day was more beautifully scripted than anything I could have ever written. Those who sacrificed their day, those who sacrificed months of preparation, those who gave so generously…it all perfectly came together, and I am so grateful to have been part of this wonderful experience. I’m not a scrapbooker, but I think I’ll scrapbook! If you have any great pictures or thoughts on the day, please send them to me!
To God be the Glory.
And P.S. One thing I forgot to add was that while the 5K was happening in Texas, a group of friends in Georgia got together and ran at the same time. How cool is tha
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