Four Miles Accomplished

Yea!!!! I made it! My friend Karen and I walked 4.3 miles this morning. We decided to go back to Wal-Mart and walk there. We started out a bit earlier and it was pretty deserted. I was worried about feeling tired or having to take a break but we kept up a pretty good pace and finished in about an hour and fifteen minutes. I didn't think that was too bad for too people who are not regular walkers.
It really helped to have someone to talk with while I walked. It really made the time go much faster. The same is true when I listen to music. I kind of get lost in the music and forget about the time.
I was breathing a bit heavy when we were done but it wasn't too bad. In fact, four miles didn't feel much different than three miles. We'll see if this holds true next Saturday. The training schedule says that I have to walk five miles next Saturday.
We are expecting another winter storm this week here in the Cincinnati area. I'm not sure how that is going to impact my walking schedule. It's nice to know that I can go to Wal-Mart to walk if I need to. I had thought about joining a gym on a month-to-month basis during the training season but I really don't want to spend the extra money. I guess Wal-Mart is my health club for now.

ANSWERED PRAYER: I asked this past week for your prayers for my recruiting efforts to find new Habitat Partner Families in the city of Hamilton, Ohio. Well, the next day I got a call out of the blue from one of the leaders of the Head Start program in the city of Hamilton. She invited me to come and speak to the Head Start parents' meeting for the morning class. She called me a few days later and asked me to do a second presentation to the parents of the children in the afternoon Head Start program. I'm grateful to be able to do this and to hopefully families.
In addition to the Head Start opportunities, I found out that one of our Family Services volunteers works at a technical school in Hamilton. I have been meaning to figure out how to get the word out to students at this school but didn't have a clue where to start. This volunteer said she would make some phone calls and see if we could distribute fliers to the students. This is just another way that God answered our prayers.
I would appreciate your continued prayers for family recruitment in Hamilton. While these are some really good leads, families still have to take the step to fill out an application and return it to the Habitat office.

Thanks for your prayers and for being a part of my journey!