Day 8

Before and After

I even calibrated it to 3.5 so I don't know why Nike doesn't like to agree with me...

My time: 37:10

I finally got to change routes today! It was nice to have a change of scenery. Going around in circles forever gets somewhat mundane. (Ooh, I can make an comparison here!) That applies to our everyday lives as well though. We get caught up in doing the same routine over and over and over. Sometimes that can be comforting, but after a while things might not have as much meaning to them. When we start going through the motions of our faith, we lose the spark and just do it because we feel like we have to. But Jesus didn't die for you and me just so we could routinely read our bible for maybe 10 minutes at night and a quick prayer before bed. That's not something worth dying over. Especially when the actions aren't done out of love, but instead out of necessity. Personally, if I were to die for someone else-the most torturous death ever-and they just gave me a quick thanks every once in a while, I'd be a little upset and feel unappreciated. But isn't that what we're doing?

Routine cam be comfortable, but we weren't called to be comfortable. We were called to live outside of our comfort zone, to do exciting things for the purpose of expanding the Kingdom of God. And sharing your faith is exciting! It can be nervous or awkward at first, and sometime the process is long, but I cannot express the joy I feel in words when someone who I share my faith with decides to accept Christ. (But remember its not you that changed their heart, God works through you so He can change their heart) Sometimes the uncomfortable is a feeling-as in sharing your faith one-on-one, other times it is completely physical. I can tell you sleeping on floors and campsite showers aren't comfortable, but when you're helping expand a church, it's worth it. I can also tell you running 3.5 miles every day isn't comfortable (and it's barely been a week since I started), but if it means I can make someone else happy and better-off, it's worth it. God doesn't want us to have a mundane, routine faith. Will you let Him spice it up a little? Pray that your relationship with Him will have meaning again, and put in the effort to make it have meaning. He may have something crazy for you in store, and you don't want to miss it because you weren't listening.

Please pray for me as I continue to run that I will have strength to keep doing it; that I am protected from sickness and injury; and that God will bless the project.

Day 8 challenge! Donate if you can, but my challenge is for you to text or email 8 people about the project and give them the link to this website. Preferably people that don't already know about it :)

~Haley

Day 7

Sorry the first picture is really grainy! It was really early in the morning and the weather wasn't the best...

I've been running the same route for a week. It's 3.5

It's been a whole week! Part of me feels like it flew by, but I also feel as if it took forever! I just hope God will give me the strength to keep going. 68 days left! For me, that is. For these people, they're still going to have to travel that far to get their water, they don't get to be done. Unless we help. Will you donate today, so they can have easy access to water?

~Haley

Day 6

Before and After

I guess my pace was so slow you cant even tell I walked a third time... 

My time: 43:46

Well. Today was not a good day. I have a confession and then a word of advice for any runners out there. First of all, I have to confess that I walked about 3 times. Not for too long, but I did walk. See those dips in the graph? Yeah. My advice is this: do not eat at all for the hour before you run. Even if its only a few bites. I ate just a little bit if oatmeal this morning and didn't start running until a whole 30 minutes later, but apparently that's not a long enough wait or something because I got the worst stomach cramps ever. I've had them before , but I have not been in that kind of excruciating pain in a long time. My pace slowed down drastically because I was bent over jogging in pain. And then I had to walk. It got only slightly better towards the end. I found myself pleading with God to give me the strength to finish, and He did. It was a humbling run.  

Oh and I had an interesting warm up today. My dog got out of the house right as I was walking to the place where I run. She is insanely fast and I had to chase her all the way around our huge shared pond. It took me and a couple neighbors bribing her with treats to catch her. So thank you Bella, for helping me warm up my legs. Just kidding, I'm still irritated that you got out. Too bad it's hard to stay mad at you and your cuteness :)

Stay tuned for some long, thought-out posts coming up! I am working on a couple of them.

In the meantime, is God calling you to donate today?

~Haley

Day 5

Before and After

My time: 38:07

It's a little hard to believe for me that I have already run 5 days. The whole thing feels kind of surreal. I've been waiting for months and I'm already 1/15 of the way done! It took a lot of self-motivation to get up and run today. But it's kind of hard to back out of something when you have over 100 people holding you accountable. (I'm basing that number on the amount of daily page views and the number of people who I've told about this project)

Want to motivate me by donating today? :)

Also, thanks to everyone who has already donated, I've been contacted by several people, who said they have or plan to. So thank you so much! I am going to try to have a total up by the end of this week, if possible.

~Haley

Day 4

Before and After. 

Apparently I'm only allowed to calibrate every other run or something. I promise it was 3.5. I ran the exact same route I ran days 1 and 2.

 My time: 35:59

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone is enjoying their vacations, or family time, or even time to themselves but please remember everyone who doesn't get that. Pray for those serving and for the families who have lost someone serving. They do so much for our country.

I can't wait to get back in shape like I was during track season. These runs have been so draining. If I could describe my thought process to you during these last four runs, it would be something like this:

"5 laps left, no four laps left, wait how many have I run, oh never mind I have 5 left, almost done, hurry, why am I so slow, I can't wait to be done, I'll be done in like 10 minutes, 10 minutes are you kidding me that's an eternity, do it for the people who need it, 2 laps and then I'll have one lap left, *sings along to the iPod*, keep going keep going keep going, finally I have one lap left, hurry you're almost done, can I please just stop, no keep going, finally!!" 

Will you make it all worth it and donate today?

~Haley

Day 3

Driving to the refuge, scenery, and the before and after pictures

As you can see, my pace was pretty slow going up the mountain, but sped up a lot going downhill!

My time: 52:30 min

Let me explain my time. I actually ran up a mountain today. My dad woke me up at 6:20 to go run up a mountain in a wildlife refuge near our house. The mountain is 2.4 miles up, and we went up and down, so we actually went about 4.8 total miles. That's what the graph shows. That's why my pace was slower: it was a longer distance and up an incline. I noted my time at the 3.5 mile point, which was the 52:30, but my time for the whole thing was 1:09:11

The run was very pretty. My dad and I got to spend some quality time together, and he helped me with my technique. I was hoping to see a pretty sunrise, and I did see the sun start to come up, but then we ran into a huge cloud and could see barely anything except the road in front of us. It was ridiculously humid. I started the run with dry hair, and when I finished my bangs were drenched and the rest of my hair was extremely damp. Unfortunately, while I was running, my heels got horrible blisters. I didn't think it was that bad until I took off my shoes and my shoes, socks, and heels were soaked with blood in a few places. I'm not posting a picture of that.

Think about it though. I'm wearing good Nike running shoes. I know these people don't have nearly as good of shoes as I do. Yet they deal with the pain to retrieve one of life's most basic needs. We have so much money and so much time, what is it really going to cost us to give today to help someone? Donate maybe? :)

~Haley

Day 2

Before and After

Once again, I DID run 3.5, but for some reason my iPod wouldn't let me calibrate this time

My time: 37:03 minutes

Worse than yesterday, but I kind of expected that.

The wind today was terrible. Then, unfortunately, the wind stopped and it got SO hot. That's no excuse for my time, but just to state that why I was extremely tired afterward, which you can probably see from the "after" picture...Haha.

Knowing that I am on day 2 of 75 feels a little weird. On one hand, I feel like I have so much to run; but on the other, I feel like the summer is going to just fly by. I have so much going on, but I love everything I am doing! I get to help out with my church's Vacation Bible School, go on my second mission trip ever (Colorado!), go to a church camp, and volleyball camp, and some other things too! That means I can post what I am learning through all these experiences. All that plus the running and blogging. I can't wait.

I also wanted to thank everyone for all the support I got yesterday! I got so many encouraging messages and it really made me believe that we can do this. Since its day 2, why not find 2 people who you think might donate to text/email/etc. and tell them about the website and the project? 

Did I mention 2 is one of my favorite numbers...? (;

~Haley

Day 1

Before and After

Stretching, and then sharing times

My time: 34:29

Her time: 30:10

I really did run 3.5 miles! The calibrator on my iPod actually says 3.5 (and I've measured the distance myself) but for some reason it showed up on Nike+ as 3.49, and on the graph it rounded down...

I told you she was going to beat me...

My good friend Olee (pronounced like "Ollie") and I woke up pretty early to run today. Taking pictures was fun, but the running was exhausting. I know that will get better though.

I guess I can introduce her now. Olee and I have become really close over the past two years, being in athletics together, and sitting by each other on the bus. Her goal is to compete in the Olympics, and I have no doubt that she can do it if she keeps working hard. Remember you heard about her here first!! She went with me to a weekend church retreat back in February and she accepted Christ. I am so thankful to God for answering my-and several other people's-prayers about that. This summer, she has a goal of running 500 total miles. Good luck! That's more than I'm running...

You know, I am running 3.5 miles every day and then going home to gulp down cold, clean, purified bottled water.  These people are traveling that distance carrying heavy pots of water, and they have to conserve it as much as possible. And it's not even necessarily clean. It's hot, and they're tired, but they have to save the water so they don't need to make another trip. Doesn't everyone deserve a basic necessity?

Will you help? If 5 people donate $20, we could start this thing off with $100. That will repair 10 pump handles, or pay for 1/5 the cost of a well. (Remember, I only receive updates about once every 2 weeks, so it might take awhile for your donation to show up on here.)

~Haley

It Starts Tomorrow!

The project starts tomorrow! I can't believe it's already here. I've been planning, and praying, and preparing for months and it feels like it's flown by. I'm a little nervous, to be honest. 

                             

                               

I also can't believe it's the last day of school! That's exciting. I didn't think I'd be sad, but I really am going to miss everyone... I think I did pretty well on semester finals, hope everyone else did too! 

I always come home the last day and I have no idea what to do. I can't relax those first few days because I feel like I should be doing something somewhere else. I just come home and sit down and think, "what am I supposed to do now?" I guess I'll have something to do every day this summer though! :) 

                             

Last day of school pictures! My wonderful friends Caitlin, Olee (photo bombing the top picture!), Kaycee, Danna, and Nick

I think I'm going to provide my running stats through Nike+. I think I might be able to reset my information, and then have it keep a graph of my times, pace, etc., and maybe at the end of the summer I can post a graph to see how my times improved, if at all. (Surely they will!)

Tomorrow, one of my good friends will be running with me to kick off the project. We are going to get up early, and get started! A warning ahead of time though, she is an AMAZING runner, and a LOT faster than I am. She is most likely going to come in somewhere around 6-7 minutes faster. Haha.

Also, I have a confession to make. I was actually in pretty decent shape a month ago, but since track season ended a month ago...I've slacked off. So be prepared for a time that is not so good for this first little bit of the project. Tonight marks the last night I am drinking any soda for the next 75 days, and I'm going to cut back on junk food too! I would stop tonight, but hey, it's the last day of school and I'm celebrating-with some Dr. Pepper and Oreos and movies :)

Please mention the project on Twitter and Facebook, or any other social network tonight! I want to get a good start to this. And please pray as well! Let's get water-physical and Living Water-to these people! Donate tomorrow if you can!

~Haley

Notes on Leadership

5 days until I start running!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I've been really busy on weekend trips, semester finals, etc. I actually went to a leadership camp this weekend with some others, and I thought I'd share the top three things I personally got out of it:

• No one can take away your values. They are yours and no one can change that
• Service leadership is about leading through helping other people. I personally took that as leading by example. If you are serving others, people will see that and respect you. Also, traditional leaders are at the top of the pyramid. Servant leaders are at the bottom helping everyone else.
• Integrity is doing the right thing, even if no one is watching.

Going back to values, one of the quotes I saw was this, and I think it applies to our faith too.

      "Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom, and   

       power"

                 -Steven Covey

Is God at the center of your life? If he is, your light will shine before everyone. HE will be your security in times when you feel unsteady. HE will guide you when you have no idea what to do or where to go. HE will give you wisdom when you are making a decision, if you ask. HE will be your power in times of weakness. But only if you are willing to give yourself up to him. I know for me, I have trouble letting go, and I think that's the case for a lot of people. The thing is, for me, I tend to trust in my own ability when it comes to things like school and academics. I like I think I can do it on my own, and He is revealing that to me more and more.  For others, it may be things like what you do when no one else is looking, or when your around non-Christians. But I can promise that God is so much more satisfying than all of that. He is more satisfying than my personal success or anything else. Is He your top priority?

Another quote that stuck out:

       "Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and 

        make a brand new ending"

                -Carl Brad

Jesus can wipe your slate clean. Even if you've done the most horrible thing you can think of, he can change your "ending" and you can end up in a much better place for eternity.  You may not be able to change what you did in the past, but you can change now and be renewed by the grace of God. 

                 

                           

                                                  

Thanks for a great weekend, guys.

  

I'm going to try to post some more these next few days before this project officially begins. It might be a little hard though, with studying and all. I have finals Wednesday and Thursday, which are my last two days of school, and then Friday is the first day of my summer vacation when I start running! I'm so excited and nervous! Good luck to everyone who's testing soon!

~Haley

Happy Friday!

It's Friday guys! And in case you didn't know...

Yep, that's right! Only 21 days until I start running! I can't believe it's coming up so fast! I'm a little nervous to be honest...

And now for your Friday amusement:

IT'S LIL' BUB!! How adorable is this cat?! It has some sort of condition where it will have the body of a kitten as long as it lives! And it's little tongue hangs out because it's teeth never came in! I don't know if there are any bad effects from it, but just from those facts, this doesn't sound like a bad condition to have...

Here is a smiling lamb for you...

...And here is a dessert. I made this a couple days ago! It's just a brownie and ice cream but its SO good. The brownies were just a gluten-free store bought mix, the ice cream is Moolinneum Crunch ice cream-it's vanilla with little nuts and pieces of chocolate and caramel. I don't even like nuts and it was great. I think it might be limited time though... I also topped it with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and sprinkles! Yum.

What your coffee says about you:

I actually drink lattes (caramel!), coffee-to-go, cappuccinos, and frappuccinos...and all those descriptions fit me perfectly...

Last but not least, my favorite verse at the moment: (photo by me!!)

Why yes I do like photo filters, why do you ask?

Have a great day!

~Haley

Connections

Everything is connected, it seems.

I have about 5 or so blogs that I keep up with regularly, and many others that I check occasionally. But I think it's funny that it seems like everything I read eventually comes back around. For example, the other day I clicked on a link and progressively traveled through about 5 more websites and ended up at another blog I follow. I read the Rebelution blog occasionally, and through them I found the misselainious project. Today I got a book in the mail that I ordered and I have been reading it. (Uncompromising by Hannah Farver-I might review it along with the other book I got in an upcoming post!) I think someone told me about it somewhere.When I read it I realized the Rebelution blog co-author actually wrote the forward, and I was like WOAH cool! And then later in the book I came across the name Christa Taylor. I knew that name, I just didn't know how, so I googled it and came across her website. I wasn't until I read that she was a photographer that I realized she is Miss Elaini's friend and photographer! Maybe it's just the side of the blogosphere I keep up with, but where I'm at its all one big circle.*

Here's the point:
We are all connected. Maybe not in the same way as the blogs, but we are at least connected in one way: we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) We're all sinners. So why do we treat each other as if we have nothing at all in common? We judge because people do not have the same sense of style or interests as us. ** We push people away because we think no one understands or actually wants to help. And the reality is that Jesus died for all our sins and our sin isn't any lesser than someone else's. (James 2:9-11) You're not better than anyone else and I'm not either. We're called to love each other regardless. Embrace the connection and love others the way God loves us.

~Haley

p.s. I would like to thank everyone who has been talking about the project and getting the word out, there are only about 3 weeks until I start running! And thank you for the prayer as well. Keep it up! (:

*{Sidenote of the day! I don't know why, but lately everything is an analogy. I can't seem to help it, but every situation now has a deeper, underlying meaning, even if its not that meaningful. I actually had no idea where I was going with this post until about halfway through that example, but I knew I would figure something out! And the other day (just kidding, more like six months ago) I was walking my dog and it struck me how walking the dog is like us walking with God. We see something shiny and go sniffing at it, and God has to tug us back onto the path.}

**{Another sidenote! There is a difference in judgement and helping others discern between right and wrong. We are called to help the fellow believer and make them aware when they have fallen into sin-the thing is, we ourselves can't be above them helping us. The problem arises when we tell everyone else what they're doing wrong but we don't like it when they bring our sins to our attention. I'll admit, I'm guilty of it too. All the time. Also, judging people based on the looks, or clothes, or preferences, etc. IS wrong. But trying to help someone overcome sin, IF you are doing it in a loving way, is not. My Bible taught me this last night :)}

Photo credit: ME!