As many of you know, for me and my family, the second weekend in February will forever be known as Donna Weekend. The girls quote this when asked where Mommy is and it’s how I tell others where I’ll be going.
When my precious friend Lolli, as Little Man so fondly calls her, asked me to run a half marathon with her. I laughed. Hard. Anyone who ever played ball with me, anyone who ever coached me, can attest to my extreme lack of motivation when it comes to running. I am NOT a runner. But there stood Lolli, telling me she wanted to cross it off the bucket list and I couldn’t tell her no.
You see, Lolli has breast cancer. And she is a warrior. She fights like no one I’ve ever known. Her body hurts EVERY minute of EVERY day and she doesn’t complain. She doesn’t use her pain as an excuse for not living life, instead, she lives life to the fullest. So, I agreed. “Ok, we’ll do it!” And we did. Alongside many of her other fabulous friends, we crossed that finish line together.
Yesterday, I had the privilege of crossing the finish line with her again. The moments of watching from behind as she crossed the line with her Mama are forever etched in my memory. Watching as her sweet baby ran to join her to receive her medal are priceless to me. I am humbly honored and grateful that she chooses to allow me a part in these beautiful memories.
What’s even more humbling is that our Father chose to give me a friend like Lolli. When I met her, I had no idea what she’d been through or that she was even sick. I just knew she liked riding bikes around the island and so did I. She also loved croissants and pastries. A girl after my heart, right?!? What’s better than a friend who enjoys riding bikes and letting the ocean breeze blow through her hair and a pastry to finish the day? Not much. Except, there is better. The more I came to know about her, the more priceless her friendship became to me. She is a light in a dark world and sometimes those people are difficult to find. Jesus sent her to me when I was low. I was fighting to find who He’d designed me to be, to figure out what He wanted for me and how He wanted me to walk that out. So…he sent Lolli.
He sent her because He knew I needed to be stretched, far beyond my comfort zone. He knew I needed a reminder that life, every single life, is precious and it matters to Him. Jesus knew I needed a swift kick to remind me how fragile life is and that He’s only given me one. My Father knew I needed to see that miracles still happen.
So, when I watch her cross the finish line, I am gently reminded that He is watching over every detail of all our lives. Donna Weekend is about more than running a half marathon, more than hanging out and spending time with people I love, more than checking off a bucket list item. Donna Weekend is a reminder that every single day matters. That every beautiful, tragic, hard, ugly moment counts. A reminder that there is so much grace for the weary and the broken-hearted. Grace for survivors and fighters and those who can’t take one more step. And that grace goes beyond a race, friends. That grace seeps into my everyday. That grace has begun to consume me in a way I never could’ve predicted.
When I arrived on the island, I made a plan to go walk the beach Saturday morning. I had a bagel with a precious friend and then I did just that. There was such a fog, I literally couldn’t see in front of or behind me. Only what was right there. I stopped and took a picture of my feet with the water spilling over and around them and I tagged my picture on FaceBook, #happyplace. And in that moment, I realized my happiness is no longer based on a place. My happiness, my hope, my joy come from Him. The fog was such a picture of not looking forward, not looking back and just taking the next right step. This weekend, my next right step was feeling all the emotion of the weekend, absorbing grace like a sponge absorbs water and then carrying all that back to the Rez with me. My #happyplace is with the beautiful people God has so graciously placed in my life. People from AL, MS, VA, GA, the Rez and everywhere in between. Having a #happyplace is no longer a destination but a fulfillment of a promise and a testament to the greatness of my King.
I have always known, since meeting Lolli, that our friendship was special. I’ve known He used her to push me outside my comfortable little box. This weekend, He used her to show me that His grace is more than enough for me and for you. He used her to remind me that finishing the race doesn’t always look like what we planned…the important thing is that we finish because that is what He’s called us to do.
I anxiously await my arrival home. On the Rez. Because His presence, His grace, His love and His mercy are there. My #happyplace is Jesus and that’s not a destination…
Beautiful Harvest Project 