Thursday, April 22, 2010

Steel Magnolias and buckets full of love

I spent the entire evening crying last night, mainly because I watched the movie Steel Magnolias for the first time. That's not really anything to do with anything, except it was just so sad. Oh Sally Field, you never let us down. I felt so good after a good cry - pregnancy, thy name is unnecessary sadness...

ANYWAY...

So its Thursday today - I hope you guys have all managed to see Zach's video blog update on our YouTube channel - or on the website (www.lengthenyourstride.org) I know he is getting super excited about recent activities - he met with the Lt. Governor of NC yesterday, Walter Dalton - it was awesome to see the support of our local leaders. Friday ooh that's tomorrow - He is going to have some fun - Lets just say Duke have been extremely generous to the cause...


Zach with Lt. Gov. Dalton

I have to say though, the biggest set back so far in the journey has not been my lack of sleep - nope. It has been the amount of donations we have received for the amputees of Haiti. Thank you to all of you who have already donated - There was so much amazing support, and still is, and many people have been so generous, but alas, it's still not enough to make a difference to these people. This project hopes to achieve a fully equipped prosthetics center. Not just that though, Physicians for peace's whole out look really is a long term goal. The money we raise will enable Physicians for Peace to train Haitians to treat Haitians, meaning that long after we've gone, your money and support will benefit these people for decades to come - the trained Haitians train more, and so on.

Dr Lawrence told us this story about a sinking ship, with hundreds of people on board. Slowly but surely this boat was filling with water. The people on board were running around screaming, clambering for lifeboats and floatation aids. One man, whilst grabbing out for a flare, noticed a small boy with a bucket, desperately trying to empty some water out of the vessel. The boy relentlessly heaved the bucket time and time again, not stopping to look around. The man cried out to the boy - "Son - what are you doing? Come with me, and save yourself!" The small lad looked up, and said earnestly "I'm doing my part - please sir, grab a bucket - then we could save everyone, and not just ourselves."




I hope I got the story right - but it really touched me, it rings of truth and really parallels our lives. Yes, Haiti may seem to be a sinking ship, but if we all grab a bucket, we really can bail the water out, and the Haitian people can make it safely to shore. Your ten dollars, or what ever you can afford, be it more or less, truly is your bucket - by itself, 10 dollars would be just a bucket of water, but if EVERYONE you know grabs a bucket too - following your example, in no time at all, the ship will be back above water.

Really, this is an awesome project, and we are having a lot of fun, but its all for nothing - if no one else grabs a bucket.

On a brighter note, Zach is on track to reach his target of 400 miles by the end of Saturday - it will be a truly momentous occasion, a lot of blood, sweat and smelliness will have gone into those miles - the latter of which I alone had to deal with... hahaha. I did laundry yesterday at a laundromat - I felt like a real American... not sure why, but it was like I was on Friends... look at me, all American. And thank you to the man who gave me a scoop of his detergent - the machines at the cleaners were all out - it was a true act of Christ-like service, and if Mr. Man you ever read this, please know what a difference it made to my day, and to Zach's cycling shorts... eek.

We have now stayed 2 nights at the Sleep Inn, fully comped, and I have to say its been lovely - Reid, the attendant that made it possible, was really a wonder, and super cute, ladies - call the Sleep Inn in Wake Forest to talk to him - (he's probably married, but if not he is lovely!)



The breakfast was fantastic and the bed was super comfortable... and even though they were fully booked, they still comped the room. What a fantastic way to send a message - you can ALWAYS keep giving. Thanks so much Sleep Inn, Wake Forest - WE LOVE YOU! Oh and one more note on the breakfast - Their cereal comes in little tiny packages specially made per person... I ate 2 this morning, but that's not the point. Amazing service too - everyone was so lovely, right down the lady who was cleaning up breakfast, and because I was late out there, she waited for me to get what I wanted  - The turnip and I really appreciated that Mrs. Lady, so thank you indeed.
Mmmmm. Delicious


Zach and Reid

Also, and lastly because I know that this post is getting kind of long, and most of you have lives and what not - or at the very least jobs.. :) we met Zach's Aunt Cindy for the first time ever last night - even Zach hadn't met her before (shes not technically his Aunt - shes his mother's cousin) but she is so gorgeous!!! We loved her and her husband, it was so fantastic to meet them, and we are going to try our hardest to see them more often when we come back to Buena Vista.


Me, the bump, Aunt Cindy, and Zachary



OK well that's all from me for today - but please PLEASE, pick up a bucket, the biggest one you can manage, and encourage others to do the same.

See you on deck! :)

CLICK THE DONATE BUTTON NOW! http://www.lengthenyourstride.org/

(By the way... Zach says he'll do ANYTHING for your money, so please leave comments and ideas of things you'd like to see him do along the way... I've got a few ideas... I might make him shave his legs for five bucks. - Maybe it will make him walk faster?)

3 comments:

  1. Sarah, you are so awesome! I love reading your blog!

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  2. Don't tell anyone, but Zach's dad used to shave his legs back in his cycling days - something about wind resistance and speed ... who knows, it might work for Zach! So far to go - "must go faster"!

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  3. Sarah-
    I just posted about Zachs walk for Haiti on my blog. I hope it helps!
    http://cherryblossomsdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/1000-miles-for-haiti.html
    Love ya~!

    ReplyDelete