My Buddy Jocelyn

Back in September I mentioned a group called IRun4. This is a group that matches runners with special needs children and adults. The runner dedicates all of their miles or workouts to their buddy and helps bring awareness to a special cause. When I signed up at the end of September I was informed that the waiting time to be matched was about 6-8 weeks time. At that time the group was just over 4000 members strong. That includes runners and buddies. Everyday I would read through all of the encouragement on the Facebook group page and feel overwhelmed by the love and support that everyone gives to each other. The support doesn’t just stop at running and working out, after the tornadoes hit the town of Washington, Il. this past November there was an outpouring of prayer and love for all of those affected. This group is truly a family that stretches across borders, lakes, oceans, and continents. As of today (December 30th, 2013) there are 11,815 members currently in the group, and it groups exponentially everyday. There are still approximately 1,800 runners waiting to be matched with their very own running buddy. I can’t express the magnitude of love this group holds for everyone.
After enrolling to be matched with a buddy, my wait both flew by and drug on. I felt like the day would never get there to finally be matched. Well my day came. The night before I checked the waiting list and I was about # 12 on the list. I knew if there was a group of matching the next morning I would be on it. The next morning when Addie woke me up to nurse, I quickly grabbed my phone and walked to her room. I checked my notifications and nothing was there. I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. I felt like a little kid waiting for Santa Claus. As I was sitting there a message from one of the Admins messaged me. That was it! I was matched. I looked through the list of matches and found my name. I was matched with a child named Jocelyn. I thought, how neat is that. My daughters name is Addilyn and we are running for a little girl named Jocelyn. I did a little digging to find out as much as I could about my new running partner. She is 2 days older than Addilyn and just precious. Please go read all about her story at her Facebook Page.
Jocelyn is such a fighter and an unbelievably strong little girl.

Isn’t she a cutie? I am so blessed to be able to dedicate miles and my running to Jocelyn.
If you would like to know more about IRun4 please visit the website: www.whoirun4.com.
If you would like to learn more about Jocelyn please visit her website: www.facebook.com/eighthmiracle.
I will write a post soon introducing you to Jocelyn’s struggles in her young life.

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I am sorry I have been away for so long. I have been testing the waters with another blogging platform, but I decided I like this one much better so with this new year my goal is to write a post at least 2 times a week.
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