HUNDREDS unite...ONE in spirit

It's time to lace up your shoes again and run/walk for the orphans in Haiti!  Phase II of the building project is about to begin at the orphanage, Village de Vie, where we helped build the children's home from proceeds from FEET for the FEAT of ORPHANS.  This includes a school for not only the children from the orphanage, but hundreds of children in the community will also be able to attend.  The Haiti Orphan Project (HOPE) who I've partnered with at Village de Vie is having their 2nd Annual HOPE 5K (in the St. Louis area), and they've gone International.  This means that no matter where you are, we can unite and join together for a great cause.  There are teams in Haiti running as well as people from other states.  I've formed a team, FEET for the FEAT of ORPHANS, to help raise $$ for the building project and 100% of the donations will go towards the school.  So, I'm hoping you will join me on Saturday, October 6th at 8:00 am at the Concord/Civitan Park (same place as our 5K last year). I'd love to have a big crowd there....we'll take pictures and video clips and send them to be included in HOPE's Race Day video. Registration is $25 and if you register by Sept. 10th, you'll receive a t-shirt (I know, time is short, so don't delay).  Watch the video below to find out more (and be sure to look for Jimmy's "flight" with the orphans at the end). 

http://vimeo.com/48619489

If you can't join us at the park, run/walk wherever you are that day at ANY time, gather your family for a Saturday run/walk/hike, tell your running groups and run for a cause, get your childs' baseball, football and/or soccer teams involved...together, we can make a difference!  

As many of you know, Jimmy and I had the privilege to go to Haiti in April to see Village de Vie and visit other orphanages (villages). We heard testimonies from the children and I can't begin to tell you how touching it was.  They shared how their lives have been changed since living at Village de Vie.  They shared how thankful they are that they're no longer abandoned and have mamas and papas who love them and take care of them.  They talked about how much they adored the pastors of the church, Philadelphia Evangelical Church, who oversee the day-to-day operations at the village and how these pastors have shown, through word and deed, the love of Jesus.  They talked about how their lives have been transformed through the power of Jesus Christ!!  We saw them worship with their arms held high and pour out their love to God through song and dance.  We met other children in the community and you can instantly discern the ones who are not able to attend school.  And I'm convinced that receiving an education is KEY and a CRITICAL element to changing this nation.  

I've set a lofty goal of raising $7000 so together, we can sponsor an entire classroom at the school.  Will your family join ours???

To register, go to www.hope5k.org

Click the orange "sign-up" button

 Then you will go to the actual registration page. You will see "me" and "me and others" options. Choose "me."

Next will be two green button options. You and your Brentwood/Feet for the Feat team choose HOPE 5K International option.

Go thru the usual name, address, etc. and then come to the page where it will ask you for a team name. Type in FEET for the FEAT of Orphans.

If you want to register additional family members/participants, you will see a grey box that says "another" - click this and go through the prompts as you did before.

Once you're finished entering all the participants, click checkout

If you're interested, here's another video that shows some of the children in Haiti who will attend the school.  

http://vimeo.com/48010333

Let's do this....our FEET can make an imprint in these children's lives.  Join me in Brentwood or wherever you are...We'll be united in spirit with the HOPE team in St. Louis, others around the US and in Haiti

 Together, we can be the hands and FEET of Christ...making a difference and giving these children a brighter future

Home Sweet Home

I'm overjoyed that some of these children now have a place to call home and a caretaker to call "momma". I am way behind on updating the progress since the race, but am SO excited to tell you that the children's home is BUILT (thanks to so many people who made this possible, and truly, to God be the Glory!) and these children have a firm foundation to live their lives. 12 boys and 12 girls now have a solid structure to protect them, a new hope to stand on. They are being given a firm, spiritual foundation in The Word and will know how much very Jesus loves them. The man with the yellow shirt and the big, handsome smile in the picture above is Pastor Innocent of the Philadelphia Evangelical Church. Pastor Innocent and the church oversees the day-to-day operations of the orphanage, "village", and of the children.

The name of the village is Village de Vie which means Village of Life. And how fitting is that! It's located in Gonaives, Haiti. I've partnered with The Haiti Orphan Project (along with The Global Orphan Project) in sponsoring this home. You can go to their website www.haitiorphanproject.org to read more and you will see a post about FEET for the FEAT of ORPHANS.

Anyway, there are so many exciting things to share, but for now, THANK YOU SOOOOO much to everyone who helped make this project and this burden on my heart a reality!!!!! Words can't express my gratitude! My eyes fill with tears just thinking about this fresh new start for these children. The Haiti Orphan Project (HOPE) posted from one of their trips to Haiti where they met with Pastor Innocent and the children, and the boys and girls shared some of the dreams they had. They had dreams of becoming doctors, lawyers, etc. Until their own school is built in the village, they are attending a nearby school and what a tremendous blessing to be able to give these children the opportunity to meet their dreams! They now have a foundation to build upon these dreams. Lives are truly being transformed! And it's my heartfelt prayer that they know God's unfailing love and stand strong on His Word and promises in Jeremiah, " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' "

Showers of Blessings...

It's so hard to even know where to begin in this post. I've experienced such a flood of emotions in the last week and I come away from race day so grateful, so humbled, so amazed, so full of joy, and....very tired! For those of you who don't know, but can tell from the picture, it RAINED. Not only did it rain, but at about 7:20-7:30 am, it started thundering and lightening, and I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. At just the time that those people who had not yet registered should be arriving, the sky was opening up, my heart began to sink and I just felt sick to my stomach! I knew that God had called me to plan this race and after so many months of hard work and planning, I didn't want it all to go down the drain. I was looking forward to watching God's plan unfold, seeing friends, family, and total strangers gather together to help make a difference in the lives of children. We had planned a fun morning involving the whole family and I wanted it to go EXACTLY as planned! The tents that were supposed to protect us from the hot sun were now protecting us from getting completely drenched! People were texting me, calling me, asking me what we were going to do. I truly just wanted to cry! But God was still in control b/c those people standing under that tent with me were just the ones who I needed to be there with me. Guys (John, Jim, & Tim), making jokes about wishing they were stuck under the bagel tent - they kept things humorous. Sherry, my "right-hand man" who had helped me so much in preparing for race day, remained calm and started helping me put another plan in motion. And Tracey, Julia & Susan - their smiles & reassurance kept me from losing it! And of course, I was in constant contact via phone with my husband,Jimmy, aka my "weather-man" about what the radar was showing. If he had been with me under that tent, I probably would have cried! He reassured me that the worst was passing, it might still rain a little, but that we could go ahead with the race! And sure enough, Praise God, He moved the storms out, the people began to get out of their cars, come into the park, and I felt the love and support of friends and family in such a powerful way! Instead of just rain, I now saw showers of blessings! The scripture for our race, Romans 10:15, "...how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the Good News.", took on an even greater meaning for me. I stood at the start line and as the runners and walkers began to pass by, their feet pounding the pavement with a little extra "squishy-ness" from their water logged shoes, I watched the faces of friends, family and people I didn't even know go by, and I was so moved. Despite the weather, they still came out to use their feet as a voice, to support children in need, to put aside their own comfort so that instead they can soon give comfort to the children in Haiti. Families were walking together, having fun. Kids' were cheering each other on and enjoying a few splashes in the puddles. I was so proud as I saw those people cross the finish line of their first 5K! The race didn't go exactly as I had planned, but God's plan was still accomplished, which is all that really matters. When God began to place this burden on my heart and began calling me to organize a 5K, it seemed like such an impossible task for me. I struggled with the courage and strength to surrender. But, as I was studying Nehemiah at the time, the study notes in my Bible said this, "God's men and women, joined together for special tasks, can solve huge problems and accomplish great goals. Don't let the size or the length of time needed to accomplish it keep you from doing it. With God's help, it can be done." So, here we are months later and the race that I couldn't even imagine organizing, is over. So many of you were used as God's instruments to help me in organizing it and funding it. You encouraged me and supported me and truly blessed me. And most importantly, YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE - you've helped me with a very important task to fund the construction of a children's home in an orphanage (village) in Haiti. You're helping to solve a huge problem facing so many orphans today and your FEET will bring

life's basic necessities to 10-12 children. Your FEET will help bring a message of hope to the hopeless and your FEET will make a lasting imprint in the lives of sweet children. I can't thank you enough!! I wish I could name off each and every person who used their time, talents and resources, but there's simply too many! But please know how truly grateful and appreciative I am to ALL of you! You have no idea how much you have blessed me through this process.

I'll be posting pictures & sharing more details from the race soon.

BE something, DO something, LEAVE something

I'm encouraged daily in our community by those who simply want to do something to help those in need. My daughter's gymnastic instructor asked the kids to collect their change and bring it in a container to their end of the year performance. They were collecting money for children in Japan and it was awesome to see those jars, bottles and containers line the stage! I love getting my kiddos involved and helping them see outside of our "bubble". With the recent tornadoes in AL, TN, & MS, friends have taken it upon themselves to collect clothing, school supplies, food, toiletries, and this one is cool....unused makeup (us girls get this!)...and so much more! Individuals giving a small amount of time to drive to those places impacted by this crazy weather and help in clean-up efforts. Recently, I heard about individuals organizing food packing events and from that, feeding 50,000 malnourished people in Haiti and Africa! Now, that is awesome!

Every one of these people are acting on this quote, "Be the CHANGE you wish to see in the world." God gives us all a heart for something...and we are here for a purpose! Small things can make big changes in people's lives...not only here on earth but for eternity! We can take what God has given us a heart for, make the most of it, and make a positive change. No matter where we live or what our position or age is, we all can do something GREAT with our lives. "Being someone" to someone in need will cause us to be remembered forever. We can all do something...we can use our God-given talents for good and we will reap rewards for our diligence and faithfulness. And when we BE someone and DO something, we will LEAVE something...how we influence those around us can touch the next generation. Go ahead, step out...you're gonna do great things (listen to #17 on the playlist, "These are the words I would say"

Like us on FACEBOOK

I just created a page on Facebook. Go on and "like" us and keep updated on details and the latest developments in the race. Awesome things are happening and can't wait to share soon! :) Happy Weekend Everyone :)

Weariness turned into Blessedness

Last week, I crashed, I was tired, and I grew weary planning parts of the race. As excited as I have been about it, there are just certain aspects of organizing the race that frankly, I don't enjoy. I've had to get out of my comfort zone and conquer fears , but I know this is all part of God's plan too. Anyway, one morning, as I was struggling with my to-do list, God so sweetly reminded me of this scripture, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9. And I had to remind myself that my small struggles are NOTHING in comparison to the struggles of millions of people who simply spend each moment of every day trying to find clean water and small morsels of food, and sweet children who simply want someone to hug them, play with them, and love on them. Seriously, these are all basic necessities that I take for granted every day!! I thought about that scripture in Galatians all day and it truly helped me when I desperately needed it. Then, as I shared my day with my 9th grade LifeGroup girls that same evening and read aloud Galatians 6:9, you could immediately see that this verse was ministering to them as well. It just uplifted me more to see how God was using this to help them. They all shared how this verse was speaking to them at that very moment and helping them realize that the things they are struggling with, the battles they face...are opportunities to stand strong to their convictions, and when they do, it will be worth it in the end! God is going to be on their side and even when they desperately want the approval of their peers, they know that if they stand their ground and do what is right, it will pay off in the long-run.

We all grow weary, we all want to give up sometimes through those dark and stormy hours, but if we will lean on God's truth, he will see us through and at the end of those storms is a beautiful rainbow with a pot of gold at the end. In this case, as I continue to step out in faith, relying on God to equip me and strengthen me, and as I press forward in organizing the race, that pot of gold is 10-12 children being blessed, given a ray of hope and the basic necessities to help them simply LIVE! God's perfect love will be pouring into the hearts and lives of abandoned children.

And I have to say that in the past week, I have been so humbled, overwhelmed, and over joyed with the responses, sweet emails, encouraging words and support from friends. While working through my weariness, I have been so blessed by so many of you at a time when I needed it the most. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Register your FEET to be a part: https://go.missionsconnex.com/FEET

Register for the race

So excited to announce that you can officially register for the race now! You can register to run, walk, donate, or volunteer. It's going to be a FUN, FAMILY event, so get your entire family involved! Form a team and/or have your kiddos sign up for the Kid's Challenge. Grab your shoes, get your feet into motion and make a lasting imprint in the lives of orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti.

https://go.missionsconnex.com/FEET