When I was thinking about doing the NYC Marathon and considering being a charity runner, I felt a huge weight on my shoulders.
Matt (my husband) works for Young Life and it is a charity. We ask for donations for a significant portion of the year for the services that ministry provides to Asheville Young Life. It is no small task for me to step away from a ministry that I believe so deeply in and spend so much of my time and energy devoted to high school students to then ask my friends and family to believe in this other organization as well.
AND I didn't want to do it. It is MUCH easier to simply run a race. Not raise money. Just get pay your money. Race. Do nothing for anyone else. I was about to enter the lottery for the NYC Marathon to do just that and hope against hope that I got in.
But then this word was given to me:
Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Proverbs 19:17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.
And it was shown to me that this was an incredible opportunity--not for the families that will benefit from the money raised, but for the community around me to watch this happen. To watch money get raised. To see this process. To watch me struggle and strive for a goal that is WELL beyond my capabilities. At the same time that I am trying to raise $5,000--Asheville Young Life has a goal of raising $5,000 that will be MATCHED if people who have never donated to Asheville Young Life donate to them.
Crazy right? But here I am. Working away. Pining away to see money come in and meet my goal that is a sacrifice for you and for me to work towards.
But then we will get to see this at the end:
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