Last Saturday, the day of our 5th annual 5k race, I awoke at 5 a.m. to the beeping of my alarm. It was dark. The rain was pouring down outside. It was cold. I admit that the temptation to pull the covers up a little higher was definitely on my radar. “So disappointing,” I thought, “all that work put into today, and nobody is going to show up.”
I stand corrected.
Yes, it was cold. Yes, it was rainy. Yes, we had to move inside for registration and awards. But nobody showing up? That didn’t happen. As I joined in with the amazing 5k team at 7 a.m. to work to get ready for the day, participants began to show up. And show up. And show up some more! It was amazing! The weather was dreary for sure, but that certainly did not dampen the spirits! Everyone was so good natured about the weather, crowding together, and joking about their strategies for running in the rain. What fun!
I came away that morning feeling like it was our best race ever. There were a great many smiles, much laughter, and a real sense of team spirit as everyone looked forward to winning a prize, and then broke into laughter as their prize may have not fit their personality. (Why yes, grandpa will look great in these Kermit the Frog leggings…)
What a joy to use our gifts and talents to partner together, bless kids in Ghana, and make camp a reality. Over $7,000 was raised on that rainy day, and that will go a long way in making camp a reality. The smiles on race day mentally transfer in my mind right over to the smiles I will see when my little friends in Ghana jump off that bus for the camp experience they have been looking forward to all year!
A special thanks to all of the volunteers who made the day possible. I certainly can’t name you all, but I will name a few. Thanks to Greg Grove and Kirk Belmont for heading up the race. Thanks to Karmen Friesen for putting multitudes of hours into helping us dive into our new adventure of crowd funding. Thanks to Keith Franz, who was our top crowd funding participant and brought in $1,000 for Arm of Hope! Thanks to all of you who came out and made the day possible! It is an absolute joy to partner together in the amazing things God is doing in Ghana!