Thanks to all of you and your incredible generosity, we were able to raise over $7,000 for GRACE!!!! (So far, but people are still making pledges!!)  With the help and support of many friends who ran with me, set up the water stops and just cheered me on, I was able to cover 41.73 miles.  This has been an incredible experience, thank you for being a part of it.

I want to pass on a special "Thank You" to my friends Jason, Vickie and Al for coming out and running with me at 5:30 in the morning.  There are no pictures of them because no one else was foolish enough to be up that early!  The hardest time I had was between about 5:15 and 7:00 and I would never have made it through that without them.  (Jason, I hope you still have those potato chips.)

Here's a video summarizing my feelings (You can tell I am still excited because I am talking really fast!)  After I finished the video I ate a whole pizza and drank a beer!  Below that are several pictures.

A video saying "Thanks" to everyone that participated.

Colleyville Courier Article

Two of the Payne girls and a tireless running buddy, Kenda

Grant, Kristi, Me, Angie (another tireless running buddy behind me), Drew, Audrey (behind Drew), Reagan, Matt and Larry

In sight of the finish line

The Isbell 5

A few new friends at GRACE

Southlake Times Article

Hey Y'all, thanks for checking out the link!

On May 10th I'll have my 40th birthday.  I'm pretty sure I'll only get to turn 40 once and I really hope to be a part of something special.  So if you are reading this then I am asking you to consider being a part of it as well. 

Here's the plan.  On May 9th I want to run as far as I can in 8 hours and I'm asking you to consider a small pledge towards each mile that I complete with the proceeds going directly to a local charity called GRACE and their Transitional Housing Program.  You can see information about their organization here.  www.gracegrapevine.org  Kristi, I and the kids have been involved in a few ministry efforts at GRACE and we feel that they really do a lot of great things for many people. 

Here are a few ways that you can help:

    - Consider a small pledge per mile.  Checks will be made out to GRACE and I've confirmed that they will send a giving statement to everyone for their taxes.  

    - Forward this to anyone that you think may be interested.

    - Say a prayer on May 9th for those that are struggling and ask God to show you how you can help.

    - If you want to run a mile or two with me, that would be great, too.  Just click here for information. 

If you're interested, send me an email and let me know how you'd like to help.  After it's over, I'll email a link to everyone that responded and let them know how far I was able to go.  If you don't feel comfortable pledging but still want to know the outcome, that's fine, too. 

My goal is to complete 40 miles in those 8 hours.  I've heard it said that the number "40" when mentioned in the Bible was to basically represent a large number.  It rained for 40 days and nights, Moses was on the mountain for 40 days, the Jews wandered in the desert for 40 years, Jesus went off and fasted for 40 days, etc.  Truth be told, 40 years doesn't sound that long.  But 40 miles?  Well, I'm just not thinking about that right now!

Click below for a short video.

A word from Deborah Lyons, MS Psy., Program Manager, GRACE Transitional Housing

Our  little families are really feeling the impact of this economy and we would be so grateful for any funds and prayers that you could raise on behalf of Transitional Housing!  I so agree with you that our people are too important to fail…. The Transitional Housing families work so hard in this Program.  They are committed to making a better life for themselves and their children.  So often we in Transitional Housing are asked what our “success rate” is.  We generally simply cite our graduation statistics.  But, internally, we know that we have been successful when our clients truly learn to believe that God loves them unconditionally and has a plan for their lives.  We know that we have achieved success when former clients (both those who graduated and those who left under unpleasant circumstances) return back to us to share with us how God is working in their lives and to thank us for the love and confidence we offered them, no matter what the circumstances. 

Please know that any monies you raise and specifically designate to Transitional Housing will be used wisely and well.  Our auto repair costs are stunning! But our moms need their cars in order to get to work, to school, to take their children to child care, etc.  So, cars are an absolute necessity here, but because of the revamped IRS rulings on donated cars a few years back, we have seen a huge drop in our numbers of donor cars.  So, we are patching and re-patching our clients’ vehicles and praying that they will last just one more week, one more month, one more semester….! 

Why am I doing this?

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