I'm doing a marathon for the Marathon Mom's who will be attending our 3rd Annual Mom's of Near Drown Child retreat in October. Would you like to help:-)

Call me absolutely crazy but I’m going to complete a marathon on September 29th, not a regular marathon where I try to run and win, but a marathon where I’m going to be raising money for our 3^rd Annual moms of near drown children retreat, which happens to be 4 short weeks away, October 4^th – 8^th.  I am excited to tell you that once again our retreat is growing and adding 3 new mom’s this year, that with all the mom’s returning puts our number at 19 mom’s plus one grandma, oh my goodness that is amazing!!! Because of the amount of Mom’s we have coming this year we will not be able to fit into the generously donated Vara home that we’ve been able to use these past two years, which will mean we will need to rent a room in the Lodge for some of the mom’s to stay at this year, that along with the cost for the food for the weekend and the gas for all the trips to the airport is adding up to a lot more money that I need to raise this year. 

You see my vision for this retreat is to keep it FREE, yep you heard that right the only cost for these moms to come is buy their own airline ticket and if I could help those mom’s that are working soooooo incredibly hard to get their tickets I would and perhaps I will be able to if I raise enough money.

I have been dreaming about doing a marathon for a few years now and I wish that I could say that I’m able to run it this year, but no I’m not in that good of shape, perhaps I will next year:-) This marathon will be made to meet the specifications of what it’s like to be a Marathon Mom, a mom who is in the middle of her marathon journey towards keeping her child alive. This marathon will be 26 miles long, I plan to walk half of it and ride my bike the other half. The bike ride will represent our kiddo’s that cannot walk but have to be pushed in their wheelchairs. Did I mention this is not a race? I don’t care if this takes me most of the day to complete I will with GOD’s help complete it.

So what is a Marathon Mom exactly??

•     It’s a Mom who has a child that had a near drowning accident that is now unable to walk, talk, move or do anything for themselves. She changes that child’s diaper, even though they are way too old for diapers, she feeds that child because without her help that child would starve to death, she bathes that child which means she has to pick that child up and carry that child into the bath or shower and regardless of the pain she feels in her back she can’t give up on the care of their daily needs, because it’s a necessity that needs to be done. 
•     It’s a mom that is dedicated to being sure that her child is receiving all the care and treatments that are available for that child to receive, no matter what the cost or time commitment is. 
•     It’s a mom who no matter how tired she is and let me tell you she is definitely tired most days from either constant alarms going off at all hours of the day and night or perhaps she tired from getting her child to numerous medical appointments, while at the same time juggling her husband and other children at home, she keeps on going.
•     It’s a mom who constantly tells herself to not lose hope even when the medical community has told her on numerous occasions that their child would be better dead than alive, yes most of us have been told that a time or two or they are telling her to just give up, but she refuses to stop believing in her child.
•     It’s a mom who is in this journey for the long haul, it isn’t a sprint, its a marathon. And even when they can’t even see a tiny speck of light at the end of the tunnel they do not lose hope in thinking that their child will do better tomorrow, but tomorrow sometimes never seems to come.
•     It's Annie Pettigrew Izzy's mom, Lindsey Black Santana's mom, Shauna Quintero Christian's mom, Tiffany Vara Abbie's mom, Erin Wright Aidan's mom, Kehau Edgamin Caleb's mom, Teresa Jewkes Samuel's mom, Julie Stafford Joey's mom, Jill Hostetler Seth's mom, Lisa Churek Brock's mom, Amy Vinson Jake's mom, Janet Ritenburgh Travis's mom, Sabine Summerville Michael's mom, Kahne Siedel Sam's mom, Joanna Barona Ethan's mom, Gina Harbison JP's mom, Cierra Sonetti Austin's mom, Dawn Gough Collins mom and myself Sue Searles Luke's mom. 

Even though we Marathon Mom’s share similar journey’s we all come from different families, different parts of the USA and have seen and will continue to see different outcomes for our special children.  NOT one of us would of chosen to be a part of this Marathon Mom’s group, we didn’t get a choice. But now that we are living this life that’s been chosen for us we definitely need a break from the ongoing stresses that we face year by year, month by month, week by week and day by day. We all come together for this special weekend to take a much needed break from the daily stresses we all constantly live, we laugh together, play together, do a little shopping together, we learn from each other and even shed a few tears together. Most importantly we Marathon Mom’s all feel safe together being with other moms who “get it” our lives are hard and it’s comforting to realize once a year that we don’t walk this journey alone. 

Ways you can help with our retreat this year:

•     Your prayers are much appreciated and needed for the mom’s as they leave behind their special child and their families to fly to Washington for the retreat. Specifically be praying that their child will stay healthy and for those few mom’s that have never left their child before not to feel anxious about coming. 
•     Would you consider donating to our retreat this year, as I briefly mentioned above the costs of putting together this retreat is significant. Would you sponsor me as I walk/ride the 26 mile marathon, a dollar a mile is only $26, two dollars a mile would be $52, three dollars a mile would be $78, four dollars a mile would be $104 and of course $10 a mile would be $260 . . . I figure I need to raise about $2,600 this year to cover the cost of the room in the lodge, the food, the gas for all the trips to and from the airport, the maid cost of the house that has been generously provided for our use, gifts for our annual BUNCO game. . . As I mentioned my goal for this retreat is to keep it FREE for the mom’s and with your help I hope to accomplish this goal.

Thank you for considering to help make this retreat a reality once again this year, I truly do appreciate your prayers and support. If you would like to make a donation please e-mail me for my address, which is sgsearles@yahoo.com.

Love in Christ,

Sue Searles