The Lemonade Stand
So, the Rim-to-Rim For Eyes that See Challenge.The one where I'm running the Grand Canyon on September 15th so that we can rescue 50 Ethiopian girls (mostly teenagers) who are currently being trafficked.The one where we're trying to raise $50,000.Honesty time - It feels a little overwhelming. The run and the $50,000. OK, a LOT overwhelming.We're sitting at a little over $23,000, which is unbelievable and outrageous and completely unreasonable, considering this has been a Facebook and Twitter wildfire, and a few hundred of you have become lunatics for these Ethiopian girls.But in my conversations with myself, sometimes I think...We still have over half left. You are going to vertically climb one mile, after running 18 miles, in 100 degrees. I really am a lunatic, and not in the good way. This was a fun idea, but how in the world will it ever happen?To be honest, as thrilled as I have been about the response, I am left wondering how in the world we'll ever get it done.And then there was a lemonade stand. A mom and her kids. Just a family in my neighborhood who cares, and who wanted to help. Bella (four years old) asked, "Are we going to see him jump over the Grand Canyon?" (That girl is brilliant, I thought. I love her. Let's do THAT).They began talking as a family about women in slavery, and the kids began to understand how unbelievably wrong that was, so they brainstormed what they could do to help. The 7 year old (Maria) said, "I can't run." Her brilliant mother said, "Yeah, but you can make a lemonade stand, right?" Maria's eyes lit up.
So they did it. Isaac (the 9 year old) made the first donation: $7. I'm crying right now, actually, as I think about these kids. It's unbelievable. They're lunatics. Complete, utter lunatics who think they can save women from slavery.
So, fellow lunatics. We have come so far. We still have a ways to go. Will we get there, to the $50,000? I'm not sure. But these kids make me believe that there just might be a few more lunatics out there who are willing to bring what you bring, and do what you do, so that Ethiopian teenage girls who we don't know can understand how unbelievably beautiful and worthy they actually are.In it together, friends.To read the story of how this whole thing began, click here.To donate, click here.