Friends are replaceable.  Family, is not.

If you lost a family member, you will never be able to fill that void.  All you can do it learn to ignore it and remember them.

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

Proverbs 17:17

If you’re not familiar with the L.I.V.I.N.G Ministry, it’s an organization dedicated to serving the homeless and needy in the Pittsburgh area.  They have a few outreach programs that range from a large clothing drive event in the fall, job fairs, preparing breakfast for labor hall workers at 5am, Bible studies, and the biggest is Project L.I.F.E.  With Project L.I.F.E., 4 men are able to live in a house, that the ministry bought and renovated, and focus on building life skills such as budgeting and cooking, they rebuild relationships with their families, and they also learn discipleship.  The ministry just bought the house next door and they are working on renovating it with a similar plan in mind for it.

As for the race, on Saturday, October 16th, I’ll be in Chicago for the Men’s Health Urbanathlon.  I ran the 12 mile course last year, but this year they changed it to 9 miles and added more obstacles…like getting up and over a bus.    Throughout the course, I’ll be climbing over marine hurdles, over taxi cabs, and up and down the stairs of Soldier Field (where the Chicago Bears play).

My goal is to raise more than $1000. If you can make a flat donation of any amount, that will help me reach that goal.  If you want to get inside my head for a bit of motivation, you can do something like:

Give me $1 for every second under last year’s time (120 minutes.)
Since I’m also racing in the Great Race again this year, $1 for every second off my total time there (60 minutes)
• Give me a big bonus if I run the Urbanathlon in a mile/minute time that is better than my Great Race average mile/minute this year.
• Get creative!

If you’re not able to support me financially, some words of encouragement go a long way as well.  If you want to learn more about the ministry, or possibly getting your church involved in volunteer workdays, reach out to volunteer@livingministry.org.  I’ll be glad to talk with you as the chair of the board for the ministry too, if you have any questions or want to become a regular supporter.  Please send this to anyone who you think would like to participate!

Thank you all for your support, encouragement, and prayers!

Josh in the Urbanathlon 2009