My feeling is that any day that I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy.

So proud of Kate for finishing all 26.2 miles of the @RunRocknRoll #CMM Kid’s Marathon, including the last mile tonight.  This was her 5th kid’s marathon completed!! Way to go Katerbug!!!

Kate getting ready for the @RunRocknRoll #CMM Kid’s Marathon #fb

Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it’s all about.

@Kate_Agee in a really, really big chair.

Kate with her playoff beard getting ready for game 6 of #Preds vs #Ducks #fb #NHL

Most mistakes in a race are made in the first two minutes, perhaps in the very first minute.

http://nhl.cdn.neulion.net/u/videocenter/embed.swf

Nashville Predators – Highlights from the unbelievable overtime finish to the Preds vs. Ducks game last night.  Weber ties it, Smithson wins it!!!

To say that I’ve never been a big fan of Ray Lewis would be a MAJOR understatement.  However, I was blown away by this speech he made to the Elon Phoenix football team.  Wow! (Note: in the video there is a swear word yelled by one of the players after the speech is over)

Getting ready for the Purity Moosic City Dairy Dash 5k & 10k tomorrow.

It’s very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.

My grandmother, Viola Smith (“Nanny”), passed away last Saturday night at 99-years-old.

Playing with my daughter Sara

Her funeral was Tuesday, and during the service, the preacher read two poems that were written by my cousins Kathy and Cody Haskins (Grand-daughter & Great-Grandson). I thought both of these poems were very special and wanted to share them. This first one is from Kathy, and I will post the one from Cody in a couple of days.

Granny, A Best Friend

What A Life You Have Lived.

What A Life You Have Shared.

A Great Example For All,

In The Way That You Cared.

With Only A Fifth Grade Education,

The Teacher You Have Been,

Not With Books And Paper,

But With Your Helping Hands.

We Can’t Thank You Enough,

For The Values You Instilled.

A True Christian Lady,

With Drive, Determination, And Will.

You Answered When Called Upon,

To Help In Times Of Need.

It Might Have Been To Babysit,

Or Show Us How To Plant Some Seeds.

We Will Hold On To The Memories,

Each And Every Day,

That Began In 1911,

On The Tenth Day Of May.

I Can See Your Blue Volkswagen,

Out In Front Of School Each Day,

I’d Climb In With Excitement,

For I Was Going To Your House To Play.

Biscuits Were Your Specialty,

Coconut Pie Such A Treat,

Cake With Chocolate Icing So Good,

Your Cooking Was Hard To Beat.

You Taught Me How To Sew.

You Taught Me How To Cook.

You Taught Me How To Iron,

No Matter How Long It Took.

Thanks For Being The Grandmother,

Everyone Would Love,

I Promise To Pay It Forward,

While You’re Watching From Above.

Your Journey Here Has Ended,

Tired You’ll Be No More,

You Go Home To Glory,

On That Bright And Peaceful Shore.

Kathy Haskins

April 3, 2011

My thoughts on the 2nd annual Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg, TN

Oak Barrel Half Marathon
April 2, 2011
www.oakbarrelhalf.com

My Run:  Overall, the Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg was my seventh half marathon. This race was capped at 1000 entries, and there were just under 900 that made it to the finish line.

I went into this race with a lot of uncertainty about how hard I could push myself.  During the fall and winter, I ran four marathons and one half marathon in a five month span. At the Murfreesboro “Middle Half” marathon in October, I set a new PR of 1:31 (6:57 pace).  After completing the Mercedes Marathon in February, my body was pretty trashed and I decided to re-evaluate my training plan and race schedule.  This included a re-commitment to P90X/Insanity, and not scheduling another marathon until October.

Kate getting to hang out with one of the Cats @TPAC

Well today has been another eventful day in Honduras. We found out around noon that our Tuesday flight on American Airlines has been cancelled, and there is no indication of when the flight between Tegucigalpa and Miami would resume.

While everyone is safe there are a few things that are becoming critical such as individuals running out of prescription medications. After exploring multiple options, all 22 members of our group have been rescheduled on a 12:47pm Delta flight to Nashville through Atlanta.

This rescheduling means that we will incur a significant additional expense, but we are hopeful that our travel insurance and the credit from American Airlines will cover most, if not all, of the additional charges.

The group made it safely back to Tegucigalpa tonight, and we will head to the airport early tomorrow morning.

Please continue to pray for our safe return!

Our group has now been in Honduras two days longer than planned. We are currently at the Mission Lazarus Posada/Refuge on a cool morning in the mountains.

As of now we are scheduled to fly out of Tegucigalpa at 2:20pm tomorrow afternoon. I know the situation in Miami is still uncertain, so your prayers continue to be appreciated.

We made a slight change in plans last night and will now be traveling to Tegucigalpa this afternoon instead of tomorrow morning. Our plan is to have a small clinic in Jayacayan this morning, and some of the men will be working on a construction project at the Posada. Shortly after noon, we will pack up and head north.

I am still grateful that everyone is safe and that we have a place to stay and food to eat. God is good!

The Maple Hill group was supposed to return to Nashville this afternoon, but our flight out of Tegucigalpa was cancelled. This was due to a fuel tank explosion that occurred at the Miami airport. The plane that was supposed to leave Miami was not allowed to leave, so no plane for us to board in Tegucigalpa.

This has created quite a backlog of people trying to get out of Tegucigalpa and we have been unable to find an alternate flight for our group until Tuesday afternoon.

Instead of staying at a hotel in Tegucigalpa, we decided to make the 4-hour drive back to the Mission Lazarus Posada/Refuge in San Marcos to save money.

We have now safely arrived back at the Posada and are sitting in front of a nice fire. The plan is to worship with one of the local congregations tomorrow. On Monday the ladies will be setting up a small clinic in one of the local villages, and the men will be helping with a construction project.

Our plan for Tuesday is to drive back to Tegucigalpa for our 2:20pm flight to Miami. We would appreciate prayers that these new travel arrangements will come through and that our group will remain safe.

Even though this is frustrating, I’m extremely grateful that everyone is safe, and that we have a place to stay.  I’m also grateful that the problems are in Miami and not in Honduras.  With the political unrest that occurred last year, we know that things could be a lot worse than they are.

I’m also grateful that we had an amazing week. Nothing that has happened with our travel plans can diminish that. As I close this post, I’m thinking about the 21 souls that came to Christ during the brigade. We should pray for these new brothers and sisters continually that God will bless them with the strength to remain faithful. The following are the names which need to be lifted up in prayer:

*Carmen Maria Darce *Gladis Darce *Gladis Johanna Darce *Tomas Darce *Oneyda Bricano *AmParo Aguilera *Sindy Castro *Yerika Castro *Mari Oneyda Fuentes *Selvin Cordova *Emilson Cordova *Osman Peratia *Meylin Cardenas *Rut Castro *Norma Matute *Rixa Jarquin *Pedro Munoz *Darwin Munoz *Christian Armas *Wendy Estrada *Gabriela Mendoza

Our final day in Namasigue was almost beyond words. I’m emotionally overwhelmed, and incredibly sad to be leaving this community. I also have great joy because of how good God is, and how powerfully He has worked in Namasigue this week.

Today the medical team treated 180 more patients in the clinic which makes a four-day total of 655! Great work by everyone who participated in the brigade and made such a HUGE impact on this community.

The evangelism team had an overwhelming day. We began by studying with a couple who had invited us into their home. The husband plays soccer with Javier, and asked us to come and study.

Studying with Meylin Cardenas and her husband…

All of us had the opportunity to teach, and the wife decided to commit her life to Jesus Christ. The husband could not be convinced and said that he would wait for his wife to lead him. This was very curious to all of us since he had invited us to their home.

Baptizing our new sister in Christ…

After the study we went down to the river, and I was blessed to be able to baptize her into Jesus Christ. Praise God!

Later that day, we visited with a young lady who is the sister of Sindy and Yerika that were baptized yesterday. We studied with her for a long time, and she kept saying that she was not ready.

Studying with Rut Castro…

Javier said the we should go, so everyone started to head toward the van, but Espartaco kept teaching. Javier came back and the two of them continued to study with Rut. She decided that she wanted to commit to Jesus, and again we headed to the river. Dondi was blessed to be able to baptize her into Jesus Christ! Praise God!

Dondi baptizing our new sister in Christ…

From there we visited with a family to drop off a sack of food. Javier had explained that the children of the house had been faithful in attending the local church since it was planted, but the mother had never committed to Christ. He said that he hoped she would be open to study in the future.

As we came to the house, Javier asked me to pray as we dropped off the food. I prayed that the mother, Norma, would open her heart to the study of God’s Word, and ultimately commit her life to Jesus. As I finished the prayer, she said that she was ready to study right now, so I began to teach her.

Studying with Norma Matute…

As I was studying with Norma, Javier went across the street and began studying with another family. I had only been teaching for 15 or 20 minutes, and could tell that she was very open to the message. I asked her if she wanted to commit her life to Jesus and be baptized for the remission of her sins. She immediately said YES, and gave me a big hug!

As we were taking Norma to the van to head toward the river, Javier came and said that a woman named Rixa from across the street also wanted to be baptized, and that there were others on the same street that wanted to study.

Espartaco, Wayne, Dondi and I headed to another family down the road, while Javier and some of the young men studied with a gentleman across the street.

We studied with a man named Pedro and his mother. Pedro’s wife was already a member of the church. As with Norma, I could tell that Pedro was very open to the message, and very shortly asked if he wanted to commit. He also said YES very quickly.

Studying with Pedro Munoz and his mother…

Pedro’s mother said that she knew what she needed to do, but would do it later after thinking about it for a while. All of us studied with her at length about the urgency of making a commitment, because none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Unfortunately, she could not be convinced.

As Espartaco, Dondi & Wayne were studying with her, I headed across the street to where Javier was studying with a young man named Darwin. He had spent eight years in America, and had just recently come back to Namasigue.

Javier studying with Darwin Munoz…

While Javier was studying with him, Darwin said that he wanted to commit his life to Jesus Christ and be baptized. We also received word that one of the men on the evangelism team, Erminio Armas, had a 13-year-old son who wanted to be baptized.

Baptizing Christian Armas…

The evangelism team traveled to the river with the five who wanted to be baptized. I was blessed to be able to baptize them into Jesus Christ! Praise God!

Baptizing Rixa Jarquin…

After the baptisms, Javier exhorted the two men who were baptized to work towards being leaders in the local church in Namasigue.

Rejoicing with our new brothers and sisters in Christ…

From there we delivered several food bags to various members of the local church. We also visited with the mother of a young lady who had been working with the evangelism team, Yeny Guevara. Yeny’s mother is suffering from Leukemia and will soon begin chemotherapy treatments. Javier offered a prayer for her mother, and told a story about a critical medical condition he had earlier in his life that God had brought him through.

Kaitlyn Jamison from Maple Hill was with the team in the afternoon, and was able to share with Yeny that her mother had also had cancer. Yeny, and most of the members of the evangelism team began to cry. It was quite an emotional moment in the midst of a very emotional day.

Next, we visited with the Armas family. With the baptism of Christian, and the repentance of Hector earlier in the week, all of the members of the Armas family are now christians. The father, Erminio, asked that we pray to thank God that his entire family were now servants of God.

We came back to the church building well after dark, and began to say our goodbyes to everyone. As we were packing up the van, Javier came back and said that there were two more young ladies who had been studying and wanted to be baptized. He asked me if I would stay and baptize these two girls.

Baptizing Wendy Estrada…

It was well after dark, and not possible to go to the river, so Javier said that we could use the wash area inside his house.

Baptizing Gabriela Mendoza…

Being able to baptize these two young ladies was another great ending to another awesome day, and an incredible week. In all, 21 people committed their lives to Christ and were baptized this week. Praise God!

It was really tough to leave Namasigue, and to say goodbye to Javier, Espartaco, and the rest of the evangelism team. There is a part of my soul that is in Namasigue, and I can’t wait to go back again.