First and foremost, I would like to give God ALL the honor and glory for this fundraiser.   Without Him, none of this would be happening.  Next, I would like to thank Bro. Ric Blazi for just being an awesome person and a great man of God.  This also would not be happening if it were not for his love of God and his desire to reach a lost world.  I could not have picked a better person to be my road buddy for this trip across Georgia. Already it has been a great success, regardless of how much money is raised.  I believe it has brought awareness, sparked a new interest, and hopefully a little excitement to see this vision become a reality.  Thank you all for your support and prayers!

A year ago, when Ric poured out his heart on a Sunday night sharing what the vision meant to him, my heart also became burdened. I walked to my car, sat down looking out towards the vision, and asked God what can I do?  How can I help this happen?  Through much prayer and discussion with Ric, we came up with “The Duathlon for the Dream” which is a 200-mile, one man, run and bike across Georgia.  It was an event to raise money through pledges and donations to reach the vision.  I was eager to get things started and I thought it would happen last summer, but that was not God’s timing.  So many times we want something right now and get upset or discouraged when it does not happen.  If we just wait on God we’ll see the blessing so much more.  With more planning and prayer, things started to come together.  We set a date and the church was very supportive with sponsorship money.  I contacted the newspapers to try and reach out to the community to bring awareness to all about Prays Mill’s vision.  Finally, the day came on April 23, 2009; the day more than just a fundraiser began.

It was two and half days and 200 miles of running and biking.  It was an awesome experience to say the least.  I faced some of the biggest hills I can ever remember traveling on one road.  These hills were brutal.  Sometimes I would look up and see the next hill in front of me and think to myself, “I’ll never make it!”  This is when I learned the most important lesson of this trip.  It was a lesson I have learned over and over before, but it never stuck the way it has now. The Bible says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.  I realized God had given me the abilities that I needed to complete this trip, but even then I still needed to rely on Him to get me up those hills.  I remember asking for God’s help when facing the hills, asking for His strength to go on.  I had to surrender myself and let Him take over to get me up the next hill.  I know now that the words in Philippians 4:13 do not just talk about physical strength, but apply to every aspect of our lives.  I have to learn to let him take me through all the hills in my life whether it is physical, spiritual, or emotional.  This includes when I’m being a dad, a husband, an employee, or serving Christ. We are going to face challenges every day.  Whether or not we choose to do it ourselves, or allow God’s mercy and grace to intervene, is up to us. I can only hope that when you read this that you get the same out of this trip as I did.  I will never be the same because of this fundraiser.  I hope that Prays Mill will never be the same as well.  My prayer is that we can learn from one man’s experience, and desire to let God be in control of All!