The count down has begun! 13 days till when the 'Holder Team' will be running in the Chosen half-and-full Marathon for Adoption to raise funds for our Ethiopian adoption!! wahoo! big day. Scott and I have many dear friends and some complete strangers that will be joining our journey on Oct. 23 to help us bring home children from Ethiopia. We feel blessed.
THE HOLDER TEAM:
We've got a committed caravan of dear friends driving 890 miles from St Louis to join our team on race day-- big thanks to Jon, Sara Elizabeth, Erick, Beth, Sara L. and Garrett. Love you guys! The dedicated and fellow gluten-free pasta eater Mara is flying in from Cleveland, Ohio with her cousin Bess joining us from Brooklyn! What do I mean by dedicated? During training, Mara ran 2 twenty mile runs - alone. As you know runners, that's a lot of alone time to endure. Our public relations man Madison worked hard not only to train for the race, but to spread the word about the Chosen race to all manner of friends, runners, and total strangers down in Houston. In Dallas, my sister Brittany posted race flyers and told her friends. Another teammate joining us for the race, is the hardcore-marathon runner Judy coming from our adoption agency Gladney in Fort Worth. My favorite pumped-up, running-buddy Taylor is on our team. She and my terrific husband Scott kept my feet going on those long HOT runs this summer! And Rebekah who I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting in person is from San Antonio. She found our team on the Chosen marathon website and kindly wanted to help us!
Through this race, Scott and I have met a lot of big-hearted people that are giving up their time, and resources to help orphans and over 20 families raise funds for their adoptions. Some of those big-hearted people include our friends at Church of the Cross in San Marcos who are adding their support and prays for us and others on their adoption journey. While Scott's longtime training buddy Joel and many other friends work hard to keep all us runners hydrated during the 26.2 mile event. Yea water stops! Jenni Lord first dreamed up this life-changing race one year ago, and it's been a pleasure getting to know her and the whole race planning committee of volunteers that's making it happen in less than 2 weeks.
We've got a rock'n team, a mass of race volunteers and today Scott and I's hearts are brimming over from the support these folks and the many others have given to our adoption journey. Having so many loved one and new friends come out and take part on our journey is overwhelming. We're definitely feeling the love.
Our team is looking forward to crossing that finish line. And Scott and I are thrilled to be one step closer to bringing home our children from Ethiopia!
