March 26 - “Hike for Hope”

Divide and conquer day. Chris headed off-Island to Kel and Ezra’s karate graduation. Josiah and Micah were also performing. I hated to miss that, but I committed several months ago to say an opening prayer at the Hike for Hope 5K here in town. The hike was organized to raise money for suicide awareness campaigns. Since the Galveston Fire Department had lost one of our own to suicide recently, I was asked to represent the department as chaplain.

 

Thing was, I hadn’t heard from the event organizers since that first contact. I found their website and got the information I needed about a start time and location.  After that I decided to just show up in fire department garb and see what happened.

 

I met with the organizers when I arrived. Apparently, we had a lot of missed communication. They already had several other speakers on tap, so I assured them I was fine with stepping aside. I spent some time with the fire department crew that was there to direct traffic. I also talked to quite a few of the folks on the Gonzo’s Gobblers team. They came in second only to the two organizers in the fund-raising part of the event. Nathan and Cailyn and her friend Griselda came for the walk, as did several of the off duty fire fighters, not to mention several hundred others. The Ball High Tornettes provided a tunnel of sorts for the walkers to head through at the start of the walk. There were also quite a few food trucks and other vendors on site. Probably the most unexpected thing, though, was the Pleasure Pier opening up their parking lot for free.

 

After the walkers left, I headed back home. I drove down the Seawall, and honked as I passed the cluster of Gonzo’s Gobblers. I could tell it was them by the distinctive color of their t-shirts. Cailyn and Grizzy were further up, though, so I honked at them as well. They knew the truck and waved back. Great event.

 

I stopped by Randall’s on the way home. I had to pick up a prescription and a sub for lunch. Chris got home an hour or two later. She said the karate demonstrations were impressive. And of course she beamed as she showed me her videos and photos of the events and the award presentations. Truly a proud Mama and Nani.

 

Galatians 5:24 says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Father, please honor the efforts of those who worked so hard on the suicide prevention event. Bless them.  And please watch over those who are feeling depressed. Send them a listening ear. Amen.