This post is about two of my themes for this year. And making a decision in the haze of Much Ado About Nothing opening that will shape my new year…

The two themes it deals with are Everyday and Endure.

And my decision takes what I’ve done with these themes this year to a whole other level. See, I signed up with Team Worldvision this weekend. To run a half marathon. In February. After my legs ached for a week from completing my 10k. Is it uncool to admit I’m really nervous? Because I’m not sure nervous even covers it. I had to push through some major fear to hit that register button. I’ve never been an athlete. I’ve been starting to run consistently for less than a year. It felt like the thing I wanted to put off until next year to run in 2020 instead of in just a few months. But I don’t know what I’ll be doing by then or what artistic or familial commitments I’ll have at that time, and I can plan a few months ahead, so I looked my fear in the face, and I registered.

WHY? I can’t put it any better than one of the team’s tagline: “to help provide life-changing clean water to children and communities in Africa.” I have always loved world vision as an organization, but I had not heard of their program where people run races to raise money for clean water until last year when two women came to my MOPS group to tell us about women who walk 18 miles a day to find clean water for their families, some just a few days after giving birth. That hit me square in the gut. I was so inspired to see some of my friends/fellow mamas sign up for this team and the thought of joining has been in the back of my mind for over a year, but I let fear hold me back again and again. But recently, I felt a prompting about it everywhere- one friend posting a picture about it on instagram, another asking me if I was running with the team and I just felt really sad inside when I said “no”, remembering the work that another friend did in raising money for schools in Africa through the impressive feat of climbing Kilimanjaro, and another meeting me with unbridled enthusiasm when I tentatively asked if joining training a bit late in the game (I definitely couldn’t start before Much Ado was over) was maybe a recipe for disaster.

Here’s the thing, there’s a lot darkness in the world. There are so many things that need our help and kindness and attention. I’m deciding to jump in and do this because I’ve never had to worry about giving my babies clean water, or if the gallons of water I chugged while nursing my daughter could cause us all to get sick. And for such a serious cause, I am so impressed at what a bright, positive environment Team World Vision has been for my friends who did it last year. So I’m embracing the “kind of crazy”, lacing up my running shoes, and getting to work to bring awareness and ask for help to reach my goal of $100 per mile. I truly don’t think I’d sign up for a half marathon just for me, but thinking of others walking even more miles on a daily basis inspires me to take up this challenge.

If you want to find out more or if you’d like to help me reach my goal, you can check out my fundraising page by clicking HERE . You can also help by sharing my page on social media. My reach is admittedly a lot smaller since I gave up facebook and twitter, so anything you can do to boost the signal would be amazing.  I’m willing to learn to endure a little more so that other mothers out there can live with one of the most basic everyday blessings I take for granted- clean water.

Here we go… send your prayers for good health, strong legs, mental stamina, and a whole lot of determination.