Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Lacing Up the HERO Shoes- St. Jude Half Marathon

When 2011 rolled around, I had no idea how much my life was going to change this year.  I always thought it would be SO COOL to be a runner…to just strap on my shoes and hit the road.  I decided to begin doing Couch to 5k with some of my teacher friends towards the end of January.  We met 3 times a week in the frigid, FRIGID cold to begin our walk/run combo for the day.  I can remember thinking, “How will I ever run for 5 minutes straight?!”  Once I did that, I couldn’t imagine 10, 20, and especially 30!  Wow…that seems so long ago!  Since then I’ve run in several 5ks and put countless miles on my shoes for these overpronating feet!  (I didn’t know what THAT meant 7 months ago, either!)  Running has changed my life!  It has been one of the single most rewarding things I’ve ever done for myself.  It takes a lot of motivation, but it has also GIVEN me a lot of motivation.

I have plans for a couple of 5ks and a 10k this fall, but I’m MOST looking forward to running the St. Jude Half Marathon!!!!  I know…I can’t even believe those words are coming out of this girl’s mouth.  The only “marathon” I’ve ever known is a Jack Bauer filled 24 Marathon, complete with a sweet tea and cookies!  Those days are over, folks!  (ok, ok…I’m not going to completely give up 24—or cookies for that matter!)  I am SO looking forward to running those 13.1 miles, and  I'm honestly pretty excited to train for them as well.

Last night, I finally got the information to create my page to begin collecting donations to help support St. Jude.  Wow…I’ve always been impressed by what I’ve heard about this place, but it really hit home with me last night.  I hope that you’ll take a moment to visit www.stjude.org to read some of these interesting facts.  Most people are aware of the fact that patients at St. Jude don’t have to pay what their insurance doesn’t cover.  No child is ever turned away due to the lack of their own personal funding!  How amazing is this?!  Did you know that it costs 1.3 MILLION DOLLARS to run St. Jude for just one day?!  JUST ONE DAY!  They really depend on the donations they get from companies, teams, and everyday people like you and me.

I hate asking people for anything, especially money.  I feel more at ease in asking for your help in this endeavor because it’s not for me or about me…it’s for the children of St. Jude!  I have chosen to raise a minimum of $500 in my efforts as a St. Jude Hero.  I think this is a totally attainable goal and I know that this can be achieved with the help of you, my friends.  If every person who reads this post gives 5 dollars, I know that my goal could be reached by tomorrow.  If every Facebook friend that I have gave a quarter or 2, this goal could be reached within an hour! HAHA! 

Are YOU willing to be a hero for the children of St. Jude?  You can choose to make a one-time donation OR make monthly payments.  Please visit www.mystjudeheroes.org/bhiggins to make your donation.  They accept debit/credit (which is easiest because you can do it on my site) and check and you can even get documentation for your taxes!  No amount is too small!  Although money is what makes this place run, God is who heals these sick children.  I ask for you to keep me in your prayers as I begin training, but ESPECIALLY PRAY for the sweet little lives that are affected by cancer and other childhood diseases and the doctors who tend to them.

Running for them through Him,
Brittany Higgins

WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES
Physical therapy per hour: $360
One day of oxygen: $435
Average cost per inpatient per day: $5,593
ICU daily room rate (room only): $2,950
Average cost per outpatient visit per day: $2,446
Platelet count test: $44
Complete blood count: $55
Chest x-ray, one view: $ 136

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Will I Be Victorious?

I finally have the chance to write about the AMAZING WEEK I had in Hattiesburg, MS last week. I was able to chaperone at Kensington Woods’ REACH campaign! God used us to knock 11,200 doors, set up 436 Bible Correspondence Courses (these are lessons which help you study the Bible), set up 28 in- home Bible studies, and collect hundreds of prayer requests. It was one of the most spiritually uplifting weeks of my life, and I’m so thankful that I had the opportunity to work side-by-side with other Christians, spreading the Good News!

Are you saved? I want you to take a moment and think about your spiritual life. Answer these questions either in your head, on paper, or even as a comment or message to me. I would love to hear your story! When were you saved? Where were you saved? How were you saved? Why were you saved? I believe the most important question of these is HOW you were saved.

I want to use an example that I heard last week from David Shannon, an amazing preacher of God’s word from Mt. Juliet, TN. There was a guy who loved to run. He loved it so much that he decided he wanted to run a marathon. There was one coming up in just a few short weeks. He knew he would not be physically prepared to run this race, but he wanted to get a feel for what marathons were like so he could be familiar with them when he finally was able to participate in one. He decided that he would wait halfway at the 13.1 mile mark. The first guy came running past him. Everyone was SO excited and SO happy for him that they yelled his name and gave him many encouraging remarks. Then the next guy came by…same thing! The crowd was going wild for these people who were putting their all into this event! It was such an exciting time for the guy waiting on the sidelines that he couldn’t take it anymore…he slid under the tape and began running with the rest of the racers! People standing nearby shouted, “You can’t do that! That’s illegal! You can’t decide to join in during the middle of a race!” Once he rounded the next corner, the shouting stopped. Nobody even realized that he had just jumped in mid-race. He felt GREAT! He actually looked like a real marathoner! He was sweating profusely, stopping at all of the water stations, and even got bleeding blisters on the back of his heels from his new running shoes! He looked as if he’d been with these runners from the very beginning. The last couple of miles were really tough for him. He could tell that he wasn’t prepared for this race, but the closer he got to the end, the louder the cheers got! “You’re doing so great! Keep up the hard work! You look like a superstar runner!” This helped to motivate him to get to the finish, ignoring the fact that he did not start the race with the rest of the pack. FINALLY! HE CROSSED THE FINISH LINE! An official met him there and asked for his race bib and time chip, but neither could be found. “Oh, that’s ok,” the official said. “Just tell me your name and I’ll find you on the list to give you your official time.” The guy told him his name, and much to the official’s surprise, he couldn’t find it. “You DID sign up for this race, didn’t you? I can’t seem to find your name on our list of racers.” “Technically, no. But don’t I look like I started the race in the beginning? I worked so hard! I sweat more than I ever have in my life! I’m bleeding and I’m pretty sure that I’ve lost a toenail! You’ve got to let me have a time because I feel like I really and truly deserve it.” The official threw his hands in the air and said words to the boy that he would never forget. “I’m sorry, but you were never even a part of this race. I can’t even disqualify you because you were never even a part of this marathon. If you had started this race with the rest of the group, you would have made it and received your award. I’m sorry, but you need to move out of the way now because I need to work with the people who are actually IN this race.” The guy walked away, devastated. He could have felt so much victory if he had only begun his journey in the way that was laid out for him. It didn’t matter that he looked like many of the runners, with sweat, tears and blood flowing. He was never even a competitor.

In our lives, we are a slave to someone: the Lord or satan. Those are our only two options. Romans 6:16 says, Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? Every master is taking us on a journey. Every journey has a destination. We know that our sin separates us from God. But your iniquities have separated you from your God: and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear (Isaiah 59:2). Sounds pretty serious, huh? It is, but the GREAT news is that God has given us a gift. Romans 6:23 reads, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. God has given us a GIFT! What kind of gift? ETERNAL LIFE! What an amazingly comforting thought! Now we have the question of receiving this gift. Will it automatically come to me at a certain age? Was I born with it? Do I need to do something to receive it? BINGO!

Matthew 7:21 states “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Who does the Bible say will enter into His kingdom? He who DOES THE WILL of God. Let’s read on in verses 22-23 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” I want you to think about these verses for just a minute and see if we are understanding clearly. Is the Lord actually saying that many people who do things in His name will be told to depart from Him? How will He differentiate between those who are lost and those who are saved who do these things in His name? It goes back to verse 21 where He says “He who does the will of God.”

It is clear that He has given us a form of salvation. You cannot finish right if you didn’t begin right. Just as the guy who jumped in the marathon halfway, who looked the part, acted the part, and even FELT the part, didn’t get to receive an award for all of his hard work, the same is true for us. Many of us do SOO many wonderful things in the name of the Lord. It can be providing food, shelter, love, a listening ear, visiting nursing homes, giving money, and many other great things. We may even give God all the glory for our efforts. But what if we never even began our journey towards Him in the way that He instructed?

So back to my original question...HAVE YOU BEEN SAVED?  If yes, HOW?  I’m SO interested in hearing from you about becoming a child of God. I believe that it is the most precious honor and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. It is my prayer that we will always look to the Word of God as a pattern for every part of our lives.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Watch Out World...I've started a blog!

I spend a lot of time on the internet, as many of you do.  Okay--let's be real.  We all spend a little bit more time than we'd care to admit.  Lately I've found myself reading a lot of articles, clicking on one page that would take me to the next...and the next and the next.  I've found that I really enjoy reading blogs, whether they belong to friends of mine from college or strangers from across the globe!  I've gotten a lot of useful information, had a few laughs, and read a lot of things that made me feel like I'm not the only crazy person in this world. 

So here's to helping someone else out there feel a little less crazy!

I ran across a verse not once, not twice, but THREE times this week.  Galations 5:7 reads, "You ran well."  The first time I saw it I perked up a little bit because of my current obsession with running.  I don't hear those 3 words together very often, so I got excited...and may or may not have told my husband that the Lord was telling me GOOD JOB on my run that day! Ha!  Then when I heard it again in another class, I thought man, that would make a sweet t-shirt or encouraging card for one of my running buddies, even though it's totally being taken out of context.  Finally, *DiNg*!  I decided it would be a great inspiration for my blog!  I, of course, have found a new love in running.  Who'da thunk it, right?!  I enjoy talking about it, looking up info about it, and thought it would be fun to keep people updated on what's up with it on here.  Or even if nobody else reads this, I can go back and look at it ;) 

What's most important to me isn't setting personal records for my best mile, 5k, or even completing a marathon in killer time.  I want for others to know me as a girl who loves God and is a runner for HIM!  Shouldn't we all be?! Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews:12:1  Let's not get caught up in the things of this world and let them hold us back from being the Christians that we ought to be.