Sunday August 2nd

"Jesus said to the father, "You said, "If you can!' All things are possible for the one who believes." Mark 9:23

Praying
It's been almost two weeks since I last wrote in here, for those who are reading I'm truly sorry. The other day I woke up and realized that I needed to pray to God to help me get close to him again. I felt like I had drifted apart from him and I needed to be reminded of who he is and that he Loves us no matter what we do. It's always amazing that when you pray how quickly he can come back with a answer. For example, at Church last night he told me the following things:

• God is faithful when we are not
• God always gives us more than we deserve
• God loves to throw a party when we are successful
• God wants us to pursue others extravagantly.
• "Love people when they least expect it and least deserve it." - A core value of National Community Church, Washington D.C.

And then today when I was watching my regular Sunday morning shows I heard the same message. "Be a healer, seek out others that need your help and support." So now we'll see who God puts into my life for me to help, he works in such magical ways. I'm so excited about the coming days ahead to see what happens.

MS Update

I have decided to run for the Myelin Repair Foundation.

Myelin is the insulation that coats the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Multiple sclerosis damages myelin, causing a range of symptoms from paralysis to cognitive disorders. Finding a way to repair damaged myelin has the potential to stop MS in its tracks.

Unlike the National MS Society, 85 PERCENT OF THE FUNDS RAISED ON THEIR BEHALF ARE USED FOR RESEARCH!! MS Society supposedly on uses 33 percent.

So that's what I'm doing!! Over the next couple of weeks I hope to have everything set-up so I can start collecting donations. We still have a long ways to go, but I want to make sure and use ALL my available resources. So stay tuned.

Running Update

The month of July was tough but very productive. I logged a total of 73 miles this month which was the highest total all year. That number will increase steadily over through the end of December. My training focus has changed now from getting faster to becoming stronger and more consistent. It's all about maintaining a steady and consistent pace that will help me reach my goal of finishing the marathon.

I plan to do this by giving Glory to God on all my days whether my training is successful or unsuccessful. There are some tough days ahead. August is typically the hottest month of the year. Humidity is a huge issue as well so staying hydrated will so important.

For the most part, I feel pretty good. My track workouts on Tuesday nights have been very productive. The other workouts have been pretty good for the most part. There have been some bad days but I'm ok with that. The ankle is manageable and seems to be holding up. I finally got my shoes broken in so maybe that has something to do with it.

As a side note, I'm using Coach Dana's program which is broken in to two parts. The first is geared towards Ten Mile Texas which is the second week of October. From there we will transition into the training program for the Marathon. The program is tough because I am running at a minimum 5 days per week, and if I feel better, that number could bump to 6.

I will finish this I know that for a fact, I have done it before, the difference this time is that Jesus will be with me every step of the way!!!

God is Great!!!