good always wins

***Paige Dorr is a No Longer supporter, advocate for adoption, marathon runner, and she loves the Lord.  We asked her to be a guest blogger to tell us why she ran the 2013 Boston Marathon and to remind us all that good always wins.***

 

 

I am sitting down to write this after running the Boston Marathon, a lifetime goal of mine, much as it is for many serious runners.  Here's a little background about me...  I am 35 years old and am married to a precious man named Eric.  We have three sweet girls: Hannah, age 7, Emma Kate, age 2, and Chloe, age 1.  We love the Lord and are passionate about adoption.  We felt God's call to adopt three years ago and followed through when we adopted a beautiful baby girl from Jacksonville, Florida.  She has totally blessed our lives!  The entire, miraculous process of adoption has changed so much of how we think about Christ and how he has adopted us into His family.  Shortly after adopting our sweet Emma we found out I was pregnant with Chloe, and that is all a miracle in itself and a great story for another time!

I have always loved running.  I ran my first marathon twelve years ago and have been addicted to the sport ever since!  It is my stress relief and my time with girlfriends to chat.  I look forward to every morning I can rise and run with my friends!  I have run several marathons, but I have never run to raise awareness for anything I was passionate about until the 2013 Boston Marathon.  I really wanted to do something to help my friends, Gary and Amanda Knotts, who are currently in the process of bringing their twin boys home from Haiti.  Being the mother of three small children and with so little time on my hands, in my heart I felt the Lord telling me to use my love of running to raise awareness about adoption!  And, of course, I said YES!

Isaiah Kevenel and Isaac Kelley live just outside of Port au Prince at an orphanage called Three Angels. They just celebrated their first birthday a couple of weeks ago.  Gary and Amanda have an amazing story of how God placed them together with these precious boys, and it is awesome to read about the little miracles He has performed along the way to have them ready for each other at exactly the same time.  The fact that they wanted twin boys and decided to go through an orphanage with only a few kids living in it, and then there "happened" to be twin boys is only one of the many miracles!!  You can visit their blog at www.knottsfamilyjourney.blogspot.com to read their full story, and I encourage you to do this because it will bless your heart.

I ran the Boston Marathon in honor of these two boys to raise awareness of adoption and this family's personal story.  Prayers for Isaiah and Isaac as they wait to get home to their family are greatly appreciated!  I also ran to raise funds for this family.  They are currently paying $800 every month for their care in the orphanage until they bring them home.  The Knotts are also paying for multiple bonding trips to visit the boys in Haiti out of pocket.  Anyone interested in helping them can contact me and I will give you information about how to make a donation.  The money goes directly to care for Isaiah Kevenel and Isaac Kelley.  I, as well as the Knotts family, appreciate all your prayers and support.

Little did I know when I woke up Monday morning, planning to have the "race of my life," that all of this evil would occur!  I finished the marathon about an hour before the bombings and thankfully had just met my husband a couple blocks away when we heard the boom.  All we saw were people running with fear in their eyes.  We went in the same direction they were running, away from the smoke, not knowing what had happened.  As we were walking, a lady shared with us what she had witnessed and we were awestruck.  She showed us pictures of where I had just run past moments before, and it sickened me that someone could do this at such a happy event and one that is so near and dear to my heart!  What should have been a day of celebration and happiness turned into such a sadness that I can't find the words to explain.  We heard so many stories from people who were right there when the bombs exploded and so many miracles of how their lives were spared.  My heart breaks for those who were affected and the families of the victims.  What I do know is that we live in a fallen world and there is evil all around.  A friend of mine shared this verse on Monday and it sums it up best:

"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Please join me and continue to pray for Boston and for the Knotts family, as well as for the safety of Isaac and Isaiah. 

Thanks for all of your prayers while we were in Boston! 

We are so blessed!

-Paige Dorr

 

 

***Since Paige is too modest to brag on herself, we thought it would be fun to share her final time in the Boston Marathon.  As the first woman and third overall to cross the finish line at the No Longer 5K,  we were all cheering her on as she traveled to Boston.  So it should come as no shock that Paige crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon at the 3:26:40 mark.  That is keeping a sub-8:00 mile pace for 26 miles!!  Absolutely amazing and the No Longer family is celebrating the accomplishment with you, Paige!***