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Well, some of you have asked me why I haven't posted an update on our March Of Dimes (4.2 mile) March For Babies walk yet from this past Saturday. Well, today is the first day since the walk that I can actually type without a muscle hurting!! :) No, really, I am kidding. It wasn't THAT bad...


Saturday started off very soggy, but the rain moved out of the way for us just in time. The whole gang was there. Our dear friends, Wade and Jennifer, and their precious girls, showed up to walk with us. Well, they were kind of 'obligated' since they had volunteered to walk with us about 2 months ago. In that same conversation from 2 months prior, we all agreed we would do some training to 'get in shape' before the big day, but how much training did we accomplish? Well, that would be NONE!! We had not trained one teeny, tiny mile!!! But, we were planning on walking 4.2 of them Saturday, all at ONE TIME!! Did you READ that last part- ALL AT ONE TIME?? I think we were INSANE!!


"The Walk" (meant to be an endearing term) started at 10 AM and the kids were SO EXCITED!! My 2 were walking and running back and forth (they hadn't figured out that doing this would add up to about 6 miles before it was over). Wade and Jennifer's 2 were riding in the stroller! (They really ARE smart girls!!) Okay, so the beginning was tough because, well, we had 4.2 miles left to go!! The end was PROMISING, because we could 'see the proverbial light' at the end of the tunnel - the FINISH LINE! But, the MIDDLE, well that was an ENTIRELY different story!
You see, we realized we were 1/2 way there because there was a stinking sign there to tell you this FABULOUS NEWS!! It read, 'You are at the 2 mile mark!' Well, that didn't do us much good, because that is when you realize that you are at the 2 mile mark of the famous 4 mile Dalton 'Loop'! So, here are your choices when you are smack dab in the MIDDLE of the BIG 'Loop':


- You can turn around and go BACK to the starting line- which is JUST as far away as it would be to just keep on going, hence being at the 1/2 way point.

- Pass out right then and there and pray that some kind friend in a car driving down Tibbs Rd will have mercy on you and stop and pick you up and take you to the nearest hospital. (I know some of you saw us walking and had pity on us! You told me so yourself!!)

- Stop right there to take a break and ask your walking buddies to finish the race and come back and get you! (One member of our team, who will remain nameless, actually asked us to consider this, but in the end, changed his/her mind and marched on to finish the race.)

- Or, just 'Stick With it and Push On Through' until you cross that finish line!!


  • Well, if you turn back, you waste all of your energy on retracing your steps and you have accomplished nothing.
  • If you pass out and pray for someone to come and get you, well you pretty much just gave up on finishing the race!
  • If you stop there and wait for those who stick with it to finish and come back and get you, well you miss 1/2 of the journey of just getting to the finish line! You spend all of your time 'waiting on the sidelines'!
  • OR, you can take a moment to realize that you are directly in the MIDDLE and the only way around it is to 'stick with it and push on through' until you cross that FINISH line! Well, thankfully ALL 8 of us chose to cross that FINISH line! And, shin splints and sore muscles aside, we are all glad we did!!! It was such a WONDERFUL feeling of accomplishment to know that we DID IT!! We finished the race and we didn't come in last place!!
It was an amazing feeling to come together for one cause to raise money for the March of Dimes and for the millions of babies' lives that have been touched over the years!! Our team raised around $725.00! That is FANTASTIC!!! Thank you so much to those of you who gave so generously to our walk! We are so very grateful! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!


Thank you to Wade & Jennifer and the girls for being troopers and walking with us! Also, thank you to Joe and Anna Grace and Austin for sticking with it and for putting smiles on their faces even though I KNOW they didn't feel like walking Saturday morning--- well, Anna Grace mostly rode in the stroller!! But, you get the point! Finally, we are so grateful to God that Anna Grace is a healthy, happy 6 year old little girl who has no long term effects of being a premature baby! All the time, God is Good and God is Good all the time!!!


On a serious note, one family team walking Saturday had about 25 immediate family members, extended family members, and friends walking. They wore bright red shirts with initials on the front and their personal family relationship to the child printed on the back (mom, sister, dad, grandma, aunt, friend, etc.) You couldn't miss this large team. I wondered which child was born premature that all of them would be out walking for this event. I wanted to meet this child with such an awesome family and support system. So, I asked whose initials were DL and was that child walking today? The response I got, from the mom, no less, was this, 'His name is Daniel Lynn and he is not here today. He was my son born 12 weeks premature weighing 1 lb. 5 oz. He only lived 3 days and then he died. We walk in his honor every year so that other families don't have to go through what we went through.' My heart broke for that mother. I cannot fathom her pain. Now, THAT is the essence of STICKING WITH IT AND PUSHING ON THROUGH my dear friends!!!!

Whatever you are in the middle of today, STICK WITH IT AND PUSH ON THROUGH! I PROMISE you that you will be glad you did! We are SO glad we DID!!

This entry was posted on April 9, 2008 at Wednesday, April 09, 2008 and is filed under , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

9 comments

I don't know who that unnamed member that wanted to give up was.....!!! No---Really----it started sprinkling and my babies didn't need to get wet....But once again it quit and we ALL finished...

PS- I love the after pics...LOL

Thu Apr 10, 09:22:00 AM 2008
This comment has been removed by the author.
Thu Apr 10, 09:41:00 AM 2008

Jennifer, I am so proud of you!!! You did AWESOME and I KNOW you didn't want to walk! I think we all came through it OK on the other side. But, I still say, NEXT YEAR, we ARE going to TRAIN before hand!! :)

Thu Apr 10, 09:41:00 AM 2008

You mean we have to do it again...LOL

Thu Apr 10, 10:39:00 AM 2008

What a great family event for a wonderful cause! Congrats on your BIG accomplishment and stickin' with it!!! Hoooray!

Chelle

Thu Apr 10, 11:40:00 AM 2008

I'm sure proud of y'all too. The kids will remember it forever. There is certainly something to be said for perseverance. Congrats!

Shana

Thu Apr 10, 01:52:00 PM 2008

It's better to finish last, than not to finish at all. Way to go!

Fri Apr 11, 01:44:00 PM 2008

You guys are awesome! That really is something your kids will remember forever. Way to go!

Fri Apr 11, 02:19:00 PM 2008

Thank you for the sweet message. I really needed to hear that! As Tuesday approaches, I feel the emotions starting again. It is very comforting to know that I have you guys praying for us.

Congratulations in sticking with it and pushing through to the finish line! I'm so proud of you guys!

Sun Apr 13, 12:53:00 PM 2008

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