Last minute endeavors and fund raising

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I had decided to do a half Ironman this year with Cadre. I started training a month before the race, (something you probably shouldn't do)

Well the race was on Saturday and I made it through! My body felt pretty good through the whole thing except the last 10 miles or so of the bike and the end of my run. Other than that my body held up wonderfully. I finished at 3:28p.m. and got to go shower and eat a burger and hang out some before all the full Ironmaners started showing up at the trail for the run. 


Something you should know about me is I have a very serious condition called anti-sit-and-watch-people-work-itus. (That's the technical term for it) Which basically means that if someone is working or doing something difficult, I'm unable to sit there and watch them do it without helping or doing it too.

So after watching the students run about 2 laps I couldn't stand it anymore and jumped back on my bike and started biking next to people as they ran.
After finishing my half marathon earlier that day I decided that no one should ever have to run this stupid trail by themselves. It's miserably lonely and I was determined that no one else would have to suffer that fate.
That worked out great until my "sit bones" were too sore to sit on the bike seat anymore. So that meant that I had to run. 

Now one of the dangers of anti-sit-and-watch-people-work-itus is that when you're working (or in this case running) next to people you forget about your own body and pain and keep going until everyone is done; that's when accidents happen...Like accidentally running 15ish miles and biking 15ish miles after already swimming 43 laps and biking 56 miles and running 13.1 miles.
Accidents happen....


I also found out that night that I was going to have to work at the church the next morning after all due to not having enough volunteers with Cadre out. So I left a little early to get some sleep before having to be at the church. My body hurt so bad that next morning I had to stand in one place and make the coffee drinks and let Brittany do all the walking. 


BUT! Today I can walk totally fine with almost no pain! All the soreness is gone! Praise the Lord! I have never recovered that fast before! 




Well that was my weekend!


In other news, I'm selling Tshirts to raise money for my trip to Russia! 

The actual shirts I'm selling are grey with white letters instead of white with grey letters so just imagine the colors switched! (don't know why they gave me this photo if it's not what we're using...but oh well!) 
The shirts are $20 and there are men's and women's sizes.
The way they're doing the ordering for the shirts is they're ordering once a month just how many shirts we have requests for, so that we don't have tons of leftovers. 
So if you would like a Tshirt, please email, txt, call, facebook, tweet, carrier pigeon, whatever form of communication is your favorite, and I'll get it put in for the next order and get your shirt to you as soon as it comes in. To pay for the shirts you can write a check to me or cash is also an option.


Here's how to get a hold of me depending on your preferred method of communication:
Email - zford@newlifechurch.tv
Phone - 214-212-7648
Facebook - ZuZu Ford
Twitter - @ZuZuGrace
Snail mail - 3235 Lakeview Dr Conway AR 72032 


If you know of anyone that would be interested in buying a shirt please let me know. 

Also, here's the link to my online giving page again: www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/zuzuford
(please do not pay for the tshirts on the first giving page. I have to turn in part of the money for the cost of the shirt and will deposit the rest of it.)

 Thanks for reading!
 

Russia!!

We had our first Russia meeting on Sunday! It's going to be a really awesome trip. 
Let me tell you a little bit about Change 30 which is the ministry we are going to be working with. 
There is a couple that was very involved in New Life Church here for a long time and they had adopted 3 Russian orphans over the years and felt called to move to Russia.
In Russia, orphans are seen as outcasts, lower members of society that are not worth anything. They are sometimes refused service at restaurants they are looked down upon, they are forgotten. 

• Russia has more than 10 million children-at-risk, most of which live in a government supported orphanage system
• 135,000 children are orphaned yearly – creating an epidemic
• Orphans carry a dreadful stigma throughout their life (unwanted, unworthy and cursed)
• Between 15 and 17 years of age, these orphans “age-out” of the system (graduation)
• Statistics reveal the average life span of a Russian orphan is 30 years of age

Change 30's mission is to change that statistic. 

http://vimeo.com/change30/whyweexist




So like I said in the previous post, I'll be leading a team there the first week of August. So far my team is pretty small but I'm believing that more people will join as the date grows closer. 
In the mean time, I'm working on raising money. The cost of the trip is $2800. I am working on some ideas of things I can sell/services I can offer to help raise money. 
If the Lord lays it on your heart to support me I would be so grateful for whatever you are able to give. Whether its $5 or $500, every cent counts. 
But even more than that, I would appreciate your prayers over this trip. I've never led a team by myself before and this is a big deal so I will need all the prayer I can get. 

I have an account set up with First Giving to make it even easier to support me financially! No more checks and envelopes and stamps and walking to the mailbox! Just go online to...
www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/zuzuford
And you can give online with your credit card and it is tax deductible and you don't even have to get up off the couch! 

I will keep you all updated on what kind of fund raising I will be doing. Thank you all so so much for your continued support! 
God Bless!