A Season of Hope
December 1st
As far as 5Ks go, last Saturday's was hardly my most successful. Okay, that's an understatement - we were so far behind that they took the course up ahead of us and we didn't even know what course to follow, so we made our own way and I have absolutely no idea how far we really even walked. I'm sure we were a sight - Steve, with Abigail strapped onto his belly in her Snugli, arms and legs sticking out at 90 degree angles. Gracie and Emmie meandering through the streets of downtown Memphis, holding onto each other by the way-too-long sleeves of their bright, red 5K t-shirts. My poor sister, walking through the pain of a pulled groin muscle and me, lollygagging like I always do, helping Gracie pick up stones for her "most important rock collection". Now, to our credit, part of the reason we were so slow is because we had to make a "potty break" a mere 500 yards from the Starting Line - a "potty break" that took longer than it took some of the runner to complete the entire 5K.....But this walk really isn't an ordinary walk - it's about more than finishing the 3.1 miles (or the 13.1 mile 1/2 marathon like my sister and I actually did 2 years, 1 child, and several pounds ago - we didn't have to make our own course for that one
). Nope, this walk, is about much more than that...I was reminded of that when we rounded the corner to enter the stadium for the finish and I saw this picture:
This is Jake Owen Raborn, who died from Hepatoblastoma on October 5th of 2006. He was four years old. If you haven't figured it out yet, this 5K (and the corresponding 1/2 and full marathon) was part of the St. Jude Marathon weekend. The money raised throughout the weekend is for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, to fund research and support families - it is to help give hope to children who are suffering from diseases that might otherwise have no hope of a cure. It's a very emotional walk for me - when Bronwyn and I did the 1/2 marathon, my eyes filled with tears at nearly every mile marker, and they did on more than one occassion this year. We saw teams of family and friends for Emma Grace, and Hanna, and Ethan. What makes a family who has lost a child, or in Ethan's case is in the middle of the fight to save their child's life, want to help the hospital where their child was so sick? I don't know - I can't even imagine what it must feel like - but I suspect it has something to do with wanting to give other families hope - hope that eventually, there will be no such thing as childhood cancer or any of the other diseases that are treated at St. Jude.
Hope is such an important part of this time of year - there's a lot of hoping going on in my house (and most of it is directed at Santa). But, today, I want to remember the hope that Jesus brought to the world when he was born all those years ago, the hope of a better tomorrow, and the hope of a beautiful place to go when this life ends...and I want to remember those children who lost their battle with cancer, the children we honored by walking, and remember those families who still, even after a loss that is unimaginable, want to give hope to others...
Here are a few more pictures from the walk. You'll notice that there aren't any of Ruby or Craig. Well, that would be because they didn't join us in our world's longest 5K adventure - they took off running and finished with a much more presentable time!
Abigail before we started - she just looks thrilled, don't you think?
Well, this could be part of the reason we were so slow - Steve didn't realize he was going to be a pack mule...
As far as 5Ks go, last Saturday's was hardly my most successful. Okay, that's an understatement - we were so far behind that they took the course up ahead of us and we didn't even know what course to follow, so we made our own way and I have absolutely no idea how far we really even walked. I'm sure we were a sight - Steve, with Abigail strapped onto his belly in her Snugli, arms and legs sticking out at 90 degree angles. Gracie and Emmie meandering through the streets of downtown Memphis, holding onto each other by the way-too-long sleeves of their bright, red 5K t-shirts. My poor sister, walking through the pain of a pulled groin muscle and me, lollygagging like I always do, helping Gracie pick up stones for her "most important rock collection". Now, to our credit, part of the reason we were so slow is because we had to make a "potty break" a mere 500 yards from the Starting Line - a "potty break" that took longer than it took some of the runner to complete the entire 5K.....But this walk really isn't an ordinary walk - it's about more than finishing the 3.1 miles (or the 13.1 mile 1/2 marathon like my sister and I actually did 2 years, 1 child, and several pounds ago - we didn't have to make our own course for that one
). Nope, this walk, is about much more than that...I was reminded of that when we rounded the corner to enter the stadium for the finish and I saw this picture:This is Jake Owen Raborn, who died from Hepatoblastoma on October 5th of 2006. He was four years old. If you haven't figured it out yet, this 5K (and the corresponding 1/2 and full marathon) was part of the St. Jude Marathon weekend. The money raised throughout the weekend is for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, to fund research and support families - it is to help give hope to children who are suffering from diseases that might otherwise have no hope of a cure. It's a very emotional walk for me - when Bronwyn and I did the 1/2 marathon, my eyes filled with tears at nearly every mile marker, and they did on more than one occassion this year. We saw teams of family and friends for Emma Grace, and Hanna, and Ethan. What makes a family who has lost a child, or in Ethan's case is in the middle of the fight to save their child's life, want to help the hospital where their child was so sick? I don't know - I can't even imagine what it must feel like - but I suspect it has something to do with wanting to give other families hope - hope that eventually, there will be no such thing as childhood cancer or any of the other diseases that are treated at St. Jude.
Hope is such an important part of this time of year - there's a lot of hoping going on in my house (and most of it is directed at Santa). But, today, I want to remember the hope that Jesus brought to the world when he was born all those years ago, the hope of a better tomorrow, and the hope of a beautiful place to go when this life ends...and I want to remember those children who lost their battle with cancer, the children we honored by walking, and remember those families who still, even after a loss that is unimaginable, want to give hope to others...
Here are a few more pictures from the walk. You'll notice that there aren't any of Ruby or Craig. Well, that would be because they didn't join us in our world's longest 5K adventure - they took off running and finished with a much more presentable time!
Abigail before we started - she just looks thrilled, don't you think?
Well, this could be part of the reason we were so slow - Steve didn't realize he was going to be a pack mule...
Gracie and Emmie heading toward the Finish Line (now, if it hadn't been for the girls, we probably wouldn't have crossed the finish, because in actuality, we didn't finish - well, we finished something, but it certainly wasn't a 5K, but when you're 3 and 4, walking under that balloon archway is pretty important)
And here they are, actually standing on the Finish Line (nice clear picture of the pacifier, isn't it?)
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