I accomplished my dream and ran my 2nd Full Marathon in VA for Meg this past weekend, 11/14/15. As my shirt says, "I run for Meg because she ran for Him." I run for God, and I run to support a grieving family who miss this dear Christian woman (Mother, Daughter, Wife) daily. I can relate to grief and loss. My Mom passed away in July 2009, in fact here is that story: Out of the Blue and I lost my oldest brother to Melanoma in July 2011, here is that story: Paul's Passing
While I was in the trenches of my own grief I started running for Meg and to support her family. Meg's Miles is the group that got me to look outward at others. To share in their pain and their grief journey has helped me in my own. Since my first Meg's Mile run on 1/18/14 I have felt myself pulling out of my own grief spiral, and now I see the hope of Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." The "cloud of witnesses" in this verse include my Mother, Paul, and Meg. Anyone who has faith in Jesus as their Lord and savior, and has gone before us from this life to the next, is included! As I look up at the clouds I now see them smiling down on me, as I run this race of life for God. They look on with approval, waiting to cheer me across that final finish line of Heaven. And that is a day I look forward to with hope and great anticipation!
Today I want to talk about my run in VA, not the race... but a run that happened the morning before. It was on the road by Meg's memorial location, Hickory Hill Rd.
On the way to the 2 mile pre-race run my van got lost! My dear friend, bless her heart, was being told to turn down a dead end road and we couldn't figure out how to get to our destination. We ended up with about 4 phones calling out 4 different directions to turn different ways, and then finally we found the street!! We were about 20 min late and 6 miles away. We were getting very discouraged, but kept pressing on. We were on the look out for a group of runners... and that is what we found! This gaggle of runners on the road running right toward us! Kimberly, our driver for the weekend, stopped and said, "Get out and go run!" So a bunch of us filed out of her van and joined the group.
It was so surreal! I am part of the Facebook page called "Meg's Miles Supporters" and I recognized all these faces as I was running down this road toward, in the middle of VA! Here I am all the way from CA and I am seeing people from states like, Texas, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Colorado etc. that I had only ever seen online through a computer screen! Crazy!
As I kept running I saw the image of a woman I knew very well from the Meg's Miles page... Meg's own Mother, Pamela Cross! The moment her eyes locked with mine she smiled with joy, ear to ear, ran towards me and threw her arms around me. I had heard stories of this woman's amazing hugs, and I have to tell you they are all true! Her hugs are amazing!! Then she put her arm through my arm and started running with me back towards where they had started, Meg's memorial. She said to me, "My prayer warrior!" I couldn't believe it! She knew who I was and she knew I was praying for her. That is all I have ever wanted, for Meg's family to know I am praying for them every day and that I am here for them, for support and to offer some sort of comfort. As I looked into her bright blue eyes I saw her precious smile and I said, "You have Meg's smile." She looked right into my eyes and said, "So do you." Wow. The truth of that statement really struck me. All this time the hash tag #megsmiles has read "Meg's Miles" to me, and that is what the page is called. But that day "Meg Smiles" is what I started to think about.
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| Pamela Cross and Anna Dwinger running down Hickory Hill Rd in VA. |
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| This is Meg's widower, Scott. The most precious smile is to see his. God bless him. |
I could write about many more moments from this weekend, the Meg's Miler we will forever refer to as the "accidental marathoner" , or the time I spent with Pamela Cross and her husband Wirt at the memorial on Sunday. But each and every moment was more of the same, lots of smiles and memories shared of Meg. And I know that this weekend God was peeling back the clouds for Meg to peer down at all that was going on, and she was smiling on all she saw being done, said, accomplished, and honored in her memory.
I got to hang my first pair of marathon shoes on Meg's memorial in person. I came to VA for this reason, but I took away so much more. Our group has a motto, "We run as one" and you know what, this weekend has really shown me that we truly do! Collectively we are Meg's Smile.
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| A moving moment for me. To leave my footprint of love on this tree of runner's shoes. Runners who share their love through their miles and smiles, for Meg. |
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| Meg's Mom Pamela Cross and Tracey Outlaw. #MegSmiles |
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| Meg Smiles |
I met them on Hickory Hill Rd. Strangers who were my friends. Friends I had never embraced, but felt like I had known for a million years. We met on the road to Meg's Memorial. This journey was paved in sorrow. Pain that we would trade in a second to be strangers once again. But somehow this tradgedy has turned into something good. Through the power of a mighty God, evil has not won. Hope peaks its head through the clouds of sorrow, like a beam of sunshine piercing through the clouds. Filling our lives with His light. The light that shone through Meg's smile.
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