May 14 was an incredible day.
But, let me rewind a bit first. To March 14. When we only had 15 runners signed up. And the idea of losing money on the race was a very big possibility. We were in over our heads. We had never done anything remotely like this before.
Now, don't get me wrong, it was a LOT of fun to organize and design and purchase things for the race. But, what did we get ourselves into?
AND....what was God thinking asking us to do it year after year?
Would we have enough people for this to even be considered a race?
Would we have people willing to donate food, water, TIME to help us?
Would this be successful.....or a big fat flop?
I have to admit there were times when the only thing that made me stay faithful to this endeavor was knowing that there was no possible way to back out. But Mitch, being the rock that he always is, had the resolve I didn't always and knew God would prove faithful.
And He did. God did some amazing things in those next few months. He orchestrated every detail perfectly and on the morning of May 14, we had 142 runners, plenty of delicious food and water, over 50 volunteers, a beautiful and well organized park, and an average temperature of 73 degrees (say what?? this is Texas after all and that is not that common).
For me, May 14 was one of those moments in life where you feel God's presence and provision so heavily over you, it leaves you speechless. And longing for more.
It was a good day.
We ended up raising a little over $4,000 (on top of what was needed to fund the race itself). That number is not a mind blowing figure, and we still have a long way to reach our goal. But, considering there were moments when we thought we might not break even, it is an over abundance of our meager expectations. God is good. And He provides. Abundantly.
We learned a ton. We got some things right on, and we got some things dead wrong. And now we know. So that future races (which other adoptive families will benefit) will run more smoothly and hopefully just get bigger and bigger. We have witnessed God's faithfulness and can't wait to see Him do it again and again.
Thank you to those of you who gave of your money and time. We were blessed by each of you and are grateful for your love. And please know that you helped us move several steps closer to bringing our own child home.
For those of you that haven't already seen this, it is a video of a collection of pics and video from the day of the race. I hope you enjoy it :)
Look for updates here around February of 2012 for the new and improved 2nd Annual One Less 5k/3k/ and possible 10k :)
