I learned something profound last year. At age 51, it's still possible to do something completely different, to surprise myself and others by opening and filling up a brand new chapter.
"He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him." (Psalm 40:3)
And if I can do it, you can too.
A few years ago, I noticed a friend posting on Facebook about training for a marathon to benefit people in Africa who lacked clean water. Her enthusiasm for the training and the cause was fun to watch, and I ended up donating a few times. It was fun to see her progress and cheer her on as she ran and completed the Twin Cities Marathon in 2014.
In February, 2015, I was at Eagle Brook's Spring Lake Park campus and saw a kiosk bearing the same logo my friend had posted on her Facebook page, with smiling children and an orange background. Team World Vision was again organizing people to run the Twin Cities Marathon in order to bring clean, sustainable water to the world's neediest people.
I looked through the information because I loved the cause and I wanted to give again. The woman at the booth said, "You should run." I laughed out loud. Nothing was further from my mind. Of all the things I could involve myself in, running was dead last on my list."I am happy to give to the cause, but there's no way on earth I'm running."
Sandra Dunigan, an Eagle Brook attender and a former non-runner, said, "Hey, that's great. You can give, and it would help. But just imagine how much more you could raise if you ran. If this cause is doing something in your heart, why not make a huge difference?"
She helped me think about the story I could tell. Non-runner, cancer survivor, bald 50-year-old goes after impossible goal because of a cause he's passionate about. Because of the work I do, a lot of people know me; I could actually get people's attention in a big way. And the fact was, I've always wanted to do something to help people in need, but I've never known how I could make any sort of a difference.
That Sunday, I walked away, ready to wash my hands of the whole thing. And for a few days, I forgot about it.
Tuesday morning, before dawn, I was awakened from my sleep by a phrase. "What if you did?" This never happens to me. I lay there, and for the first time I really thought about it. I shook my head in disbelief as God did his gentle but persistent work. By the end of the week, I was signed up and set an audacious goal of raising $10,000 for clean water.
I trained for eight months with the most amazing team of people I've ever met who encouraged me along the way, gave me advice, encouraged me in my fundraising, and ran the group runs with me every Saturday. There were people older than me, people younger than me, athletes, first-timers, teenagers and smokers, and people just as nervous as I was. And we all worked our butts off for the cause.
We imagined children halfway around the world who had to walk three miles each way to gather water for their families. Dirty water. Water that made them sick. World Vision doesn't just dig a well and leave. They enter a community, find out the unique needs, work alongside community leaders and workers, and not only help build the infrastructure, but also teach how to service, repair and sustain the project for years into the future. People from my team have seen first hand the results of this work and met the people it's helping.
More than four hundred people ran the Twin Cities Marathon with Team World Vision, and this group of normal folks raised over $500,000 this year alone. And because of the good people I know, I raised $14,500.
I'm doing it again this year, and you can donate to my run by visiting teamworldvision.org and search "donley." Better yet, you should run. The website will show you how to do that too.
But here's the point. As long as you're breathing, you have the opportunity to sing a new song to the Lord. Like, a whole new song. What if you did?
