Thankful And Weary

Today was the Holiday Thanksgiving in Canada. I put away the lawn furniture, had my second family dinner of the weekend, and spent a stressful few hours at a Vet with our nervous cat Rosie, who we hope will be healthy.

This weekend I ate too much of the wrong foods, slept too much, yet laughed and enjoyed stepping off the treadmill that has become my life.
Nine years ago today I went to Church with my beautiful family, content with my life, content with my world. Nine years ago my life was changed for I found out about young children in Cambodia being sold as sex slaves and how Ratanak International was helping these children and were looking for others who were willing to help.
My life has and will never be the same!

I am a volunteer for Ratanak International who seven years ago discovered a new "talent" I never knew I had. The talent is the ability to run a long distance without stopping. I am a volunteer who has become a marathon runner to raise funding and awareness. I have ran six full marathons, and am training for a seventh in the spring.
I have found that by running a few smaller races spread out before the full marathon is a good way to break up your training and also a good way to make sure you are ready on the big day.
I have always thought the time to quit running marathons will arrive when I pull up lame in a race. Possibly I will have an injury and may have to limp to the finish line with an incredibly slow time, yet also an incredible moving story. This would be as if God is saying enough, time for me to move on.
Two weeks ago I realized the mental part of preparing for a marathon may stop me long before the physical, my mind may give up long before my body has the chance.

The definition of weary: physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain etc.
Matthew 11:28
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
 and I will give you rest."

Exodus 18:18
"You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves
 out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone."

"together we are called to be modern day Moses who God is sending forth to seek justice on behalf of the oppressed into places like Cambodia, a hot bed for sex tourism and sex trafficking.
This battle is not for the fainthearted, it can wear you down, it will disturb your spirit when you hear and read of man`s inhumanity to a child, it will require more than you and I can ever give but none the less, it is worth it- it is a fight for life, it is a fight for dignity, it is a fight for freedom, it is a fight for hope, and it is a fight for love."
This quote is from Lisa Cheong Country Director for Ratanak International after scaring away a French man wanting to purchase a young girl for sex.
It is a fight I dare not lose!

Two weeks ago I was weary. Definitely more mental and spiritual than physical. I am in serious training for a half marathon in November.
On "easy" days I was training on an elliptical machine to give my legs a break from the pounding of running. I was going home from the gym exhausted on these days, for these days I was stuck with a television in front of me turned to an American news station showing me the news, all the news, especially the bleak, disturbing pictures, the experts and their commentary, replay after replay.

I thought back to a few years ago. I missed running in the Boston Marathon by 10 seconds, I picked The Cleveland Marathon instead. That is the year the bombs went off in Boston. On the same piece of fitness equipment at my gym I saw the bomb replays hundreds of times. Three weeks later I saw the story of the man in Cleveland who kept the three girls captive for ten years. I saw the story, heard all the details.
 
One day while running I wonder why does this station cover news like this? Is this what people want?
Not to trivialize the loss of many at the Boston bombing but why did this same news station not run some of the inspirational stories, such as some who actually overcame great loss and ran last year`s marathon.
Why has the same news station not told of the recovery of the three girls in Cleveland? Why not mention the trust fund set up by generous donors around the world to help the girls with their recovery? Why has the news station not mentioned how this house of evil was levelled and destroyed right down to the ground, nothing left.
Why will this news station not mention a future story, a story where a rich donor buys this land and builds a center to help teen age girls recover from their trauma. It will be named after the three girls kept captive.

"Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay it`s price."
Sun Izu
Victory for me is finishing a marathon healthy enough to resume work within three days. I have four different types of runs that have allowed me to accomplish this. Most weeks I run one of each.

Long run
A run down my ravine now the time is around 1 hour 40 minutes, later on in training over three hours, possibly four.

Moderate run
A run down my ravine now the time is around 1 hour later on in training about 2 hours.

Moderate run with hills
A run again down my ravine but with hills. The time is now around 1 hour with 5 hills, later on in training around 2 hours with sometimes 15 hills.

Treadmill run
Least favourite by far. Not even close. Can you hate an object? I think I do.
I have ran 55 minutes so far, later on in training possibly 1 hour 20 minutes.

I never regret an outdoor run. I never look forward to a treadmill run. I sometimes have to run less than I want to outside. I always have to force myself to run on treadmill days.
Each run serves a purpose and without the difficulty of training on the treadmill I do not think I could have finished my last two marathons ran in extreme heat.

On my longest run of the year I was thinking of how long I am going to run as this is a day I work after my run. As I run down Burnhamthorpe road out of the corner of my eye I see a woman running at me frantically waving a piece of paper. I stop to see what she needs.
She is lost, she tells me she wants to go to High Park, her husband nods sheepishly at me from their car.
I am busy but as someone who gets lost a lot I feel sympathy for this woman and try to get her to her picnic. A car horn sounds (15 seconds straight) I look at her husband`s car (he is blocking nothing) so I resume. Another 15 second blast. A woman from the honking car gets out of the passenger side (looks at the lost lady with the most disgust in a look I have seen in my life) and says "this is a parking lot for people who go to church."

I tell her this lady is lost and I am helping her. Church ladies husband gets out of the car and delivers the same look as his wife.
Later on thinking of this couple I was so grateful for not having them as neighbours as I pictured them looking at every house on their street where a by law infraction may have occurred and calling the by law officer every day.
I sent the lost couple on their way and resumed my run.

I thought of this lost couple seeking help at a church and being rejected. I thought of Jesus speaking to religious leaders
Mathew 23 27
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like white washed tombs, which are beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men`s bones and everything unclean."

I jokingly thought of paying a visit to this church, yes today your guest speaker will be sweaty running guy to tell you his take on what happened on your church grounds, just before the service started. I was running along chuckling to myself at walking into a church of everyone with the same expressions as this couple when my thoughts changed.
As with an earlier story I wrote about witnessing a young girl in traffic, one minute earlier, one minute later I am not a witness to this story.
As I run I think of Heaven I think of faces that know me and my family. Young Cambodian girls know us, this was shown to me in a very tough moment of an earlier marathon.

As I think of Heaven some people seem to be missing, names and faces are absent.
I realize some people may miss out on Heaven because of the poor representation some are of us are of Christ. I than wonder have I or will I turn someone away from Heaven? Imagine if my actions could possibly keep someone from entering Heaven. Very sobering.
 
Live each day as if it is your last, never shy away from truth, never compromise your integrity, never judge, never hate, and always love.

Larry
 








 

The Path That Leads To Seven

September is here, the Summer is over and my children are back in school. My youngest daughter likes a singer from the boy band Five Seconds Of Summer. This summer had only 5 days when the temperature reached over 30 degrees celsius. Ironically enough one of these days was Sunday May 25 the day I ran The Ottawa Marathon.

The suicide of Robin Williams caught me and a lot of other`s by surprise. To think of the mindset of anyone who is so alone, so desperate that they think the world would be a better place without them is so sad. About this time I was listening to a Christian radio program that dealt with addictions. Two ladies called in both pouring out their heart`s about situations involving their spouses. The guest specialist gave advice, talked about his experiences, and some of his successes with other`s who had similar problems. The host of the radio station just listened, saying very little, offering to pray for the ladies. The specialist was not acting out of malice, but he was not as helpful as the host, in fact one of the ladies hung up on him. 
Bruxy Cavy pastor of The Meeting House asked once "when did we as Christians decide we had to be the people with all the answers?"

In the Bible the story of Job is about a man who suffered.
Job 2:11 When Job`s three friends, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes to sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they began to weep aloud, and tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

Unfortunately the friends did not stay quiet long as the next 28 chapters are a debate in which the three friends tell Job he must have sinned to deserve such bad things happening to him, and Job has to defend himself.
God lets the three friends know what he thinks of their actions.
Job 42:7 "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has."

An African proverb says it is better to have a friend like an Elephant than a Hippopotamus. Elephant`s have big ears and a small mouth, while Hippopotamus`s have small ears and a big mouth.

Sometimes listening can involve more than our ears. My family attended a soccer game this past summer. We had the aisle seats which allowed us to get in and out of our row fast, but we also had our view of the game interrupted every time someone wanted by. One lady went out many times and I was bothered by her as she was large and would be right on top of us. Into my head came the thought "she may be large because she is eating to try to forget a traumatic childhood, she takes comfort in her food."
Much like Job`s friends I was humbled.

I don`t make new year`s resolutions, however since that week I have tried and will continue to try to listen with my ears, and with my senses.
For the world needs more listeners and less experts.
The world needs more listeners and less talkers.
The world needs more compassion and less judgement.

While drinking a coffee and "recovering" in a Chapters in Ottawa last May; not from the marathon, but an afternoon of shopping with "my girls." We heard a song And The Beat Goes On.  It was originally written by Sonny and Cher this version was by Emilie Claire Barlow. The version on youtube is 5 minutes long, in Ottawa the version we heard was over 15 minutes long in which we heard the words and the beat goes on at least 100 hundred times.

This to me sums up the events that will come about from the June 7 5km Walkathon for Ratanak International that took place at Erindale Park.
In the movie Thor, I remember a scene in which Thor struck the ground with his hammer and caused an almost earthquake like effect over many miles. I feel the same as the walkathon but The Holy Spirit and not Thor was moving the ground far away from the actual event.

The obvious 300 people attended, over $42 000 raised, someone even gave me a check a week ago, someone I had not asked for money. Great number for a marathon runner in which 42.2 km is the distance.
In the next two months I believe there will be one and possibly two articles in major Canadian Running Magazines partly mentioning the walkathon, as well I have another interview for a work related magazine.
The walkathon was mentioned in the house of Commons.
An elite Canadian marathon runner is following this blog. (elite in that she is Canada`s fastest ever, she came fourth in the Commonwealth Games, yes elite enough to even impress my daughter Isabella.)
A group of runners in England has been in contact and are looking to try and have their own walkathon.
What I look most forward to are the stories we will hear about years later of people who first heard of  Ratanak and it`s work leading up to the walkathon or being part of it.
I was sent three examples of people who attended this year`s walkathon who had first heard about Ratanak through Kelita Haverland a woman who had a series of concerts to raise funding and awareness for a Ratanak program to benefit exploited children in Cambodia.

I have picked a Spring marathon for 2015. It is in an American city my family has never visited. It is a popular event organized by a not for profit organization. The date is earlier than my last three events hopefully I can avoid the heat.
This is an elevation picture of the course, flat courses do not show elevation pictures.

                     This means the course has many hills.

 

This means that these two hills will be a regular part of training leading up to next spring.
This will be my seventh marathon, the title of the blog means the path I will take and write about leading to number seven.

For King & Country has a song Fix My Eyes that talks about what a man would do differently when looking back on his life. I liken this to my involvement as an volunteer for Ratanak International. I am not perfect and make many mistakes, however in the pursuit of true freedom for the children in Cambodia I would change very little from my life these last six years. Many things have to fall into place to allow me to train and successfully complete my seventh marathon but as long as I fix my eyes on Him things will be okay.

Fix My Eyes

I`d love like I`m not scared
Give when it`s not fair
Live life for another
Take time for a brother
Fight for the weak ones
Speak out for freedom
Find faith in the battle
Stand tall but above it all
Fix my eyes on you

Larry






 

One Plus One Plus One Equals Five

September seems to have come early for me as I thought I was going to take the Summer off writing and even said as much in my last blog post.
Some thoughts have came to mind that will shape the rest of this blog.
The title to me means things are not always as they appear.
I base my life on logic and rational thought. I look for patterns and use routines to get me through my every day life. I realize this is practical to a point but I have come to realize that I have to look beyond and try to see past what my "logical eyes" see.

The Ottawa Marathon was ten weeks ago and my body has almost recovered. That is one of the reasons why I do not like running a marathon. Running has became my respite from the craziness of this world. A full marathon puts a great deal of stress on your body and I fear losing the gift of running.
Here are some of the lyrics from three songs that I heard during this Summer and my thoughts of them refined while running down my ravine.

How To Save A Life   The Fray

Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

I read this is a song about suicide. Reading comments on the webpage I realize my ignorance about our youth and their struggles. Thank you Clara Hughes for your bike ride across Canada bringing awareness to the issue of depression in Canada`s youth.

My first thought when I heard this song. I pictured a child in Cambodia in a brothel. I saw a large group of people such as the recent Ratanak 5km walkathon. I saw all the hard work, the funding, the awareness of all involved allowing the child to cross over from the brothel to a place of safety. 

My next thought was whose life is actually saved?
Matthew 10:42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to 
                one of these little ones, I tell you the truth, he will
                certainly not lose his reward.
Matthew 25 31-46 40 The King will reply, I tell you the truth,
               whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine
               you did for me.

I am not a theologian but an strong argument can be made for final judgement and "what we do for the least of these" as having a big say on where we spend our eternal destination.


This week while watching a Police press release a name appeared that I know. Someone I had played Hockey and Baseball with is being charged with serious crimes, some involving vulnerable
children.

I have not had any contact with this man for many years but I wondered how do people end up so far away from where they belong?
I thought by spending time where God intends us possibly we are prevented from leaving the trail and ending up far away from where we are intended to be.

Brian McConaghy (Director of Ratanak International) once told me that some men give gifts of money and food to poor parent`s in Cambodia. Brian went on to say how a trap is being set in which the children of these parents are going to have closed on them.
The men who set these traps and abuse these children are stepping into their own traps, of which they will not escape. If they are fortunate the trap may spring on Earth giving them time to repent. If not the hands that close their traps will not let them escape.

God is indeed no man`s debtor. My eight years of volunteer work for Ratanak International including running six marathons may have helped save a child`s life, but I believe this time has saved my life!

Slumber   NEEDTOBREATHE

But hearts are stronger after broken
So wake on up from your slumber
Baby, open up your eyes.

First thought on these words was that I saw a speaker at a conference explaining the lives some of Cambodia`s children live. I saw a picture of a child appear on a screen I saw the speaker calling the people at the conference to action. I was the speaker.
A project at my former place of employment went wrong. Somehow somebody had measured the building space wrong and a machine could not fit where it was supposed to. The manager said to "be careful when you point a finger, four point back at you."
The next lines from the song I omitted.

All these victims
Stand in line for
The crumbs that fall from the table
Just enough to get by
All the while your invitation
Wake on up from your slumber
Baby, open up your eyes
Wake on up from your slumber
Baby, open up your eyes

I saw a long line of children in Cambodia as the ones receiving my giving and realize I am giving crumbs. I must give more. I have started a process to give more.

 

Matthew 6:28-29 And why do you worry about clothes? See how
                             the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or
                             spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all
                             his glory was dressed like one of these.

One day while running I came across this type of snake. This is a picture from the internet; as I would not go close enough to take a picture as I thought someone had lost an exotic dangerous snake. I read later this type is called an Eastern milk snake and is found in Mississauga, thankfully they are not common. With smaller snakes, like garter, and sand I stamp my feet and they slither off. Two stamps of my feet did not move this snake and I wisely decided to change my course for the rest of this run. I thought of seven years of running at least 600 times down this ravine and this being my first encounter with this type of snake. I thought of Pastor`s encouraging members to read their Bibles daily as they do not know what may be revealed today which was not yesterday.

Brave   Sara Bareilles

Everybody`s been there, everybody`s been stared down
By the enemy
Bow down to the mighty
Don`t run, stop holding your tongue
Maybe there`s a way out of their cage where they live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
I want to see you be brave

The first part of the song I see the words as an encouragement to keep on whatever you are doing to make a difference in the world. The ending where I change the words is a statement or a proclamation that I have been told cannot ever happen.

I just want to see you
I just want to see you
I just want to see you
I just want to see you free

I hope to see you
I hope to see you
I hope to see you
I hope to see you free

I will one day
I will one day
I will one day
I will one day see you free

View this song in this light and see the day when all the exploited children in Cambodia are set free.
http://youtu.be/dyAfjUHlFSM

Larry




            
          

Reflecting Back Looking Ahead Living In The Present

It is Saturday June 28 2014.
Thinking about the yard work I have to do I may have let out a small sigh.
Things I should have started in early May I am starting now.

This is a small section of a large backyard over run by weeds.
As I started pulling these weeds in my backyard I thought of one of the reason`s why I am always behind yard work at this time of year.

I thought to myself "in a perfect world I would not run a full marathon, and two weeks later help organize a walkathon." In a perfect world these events would be spread further apart allowing me the chance to recover fully from the marathon and to be able do my share of the yard work.
Yet, in a perfect world little girls would not be sold into a life of sexual slavery in Cambodia!
So until my world becomes perfect. I will always be playing catch up with yard work at this time of year going forward.

Even mundane tasks such as pulling weeds have their rewards. As I perform this task I can see my favourite possession from the past. It is not a medal I have had hung around my neck after finishing a particular race, no it is my 13 rocks picked up a few years ago on my long runs in training for a marathon. This was my hardest marathon ever. The rocks to me represented 13 girls in Cambodia, rescued from a life of slavery. If I did not finish this race the events on June 7 at Erindale park this year are not possible with my involvement.

For those interested the story is called Just 13 girls, last year I put it on my blog. 

 

The final total raised for the 5km walkathon is $43 108 I set an aggressive goal of $20 052 and somehow God was able to more than double it. 
Thank you everyone for your support especially Paul. I hope to take the Summer off of some things, especially new writings, yet I will be updating my blog with some stories written a few years ago realizing I have a new audience.

This is the first. I hope to release two more before September when I will be hopefully back in the swing of things.

It took me a week in my spare time to pull all the weeds, time to move on to other projects.

Two

I titled this Two because it is a story of two different people, two different cultures, two different sexes, two different lives, and possibly two different eternal destinations.

  

My prayer for the future is that my daughter`s could live to see the day that the "Marys" of this world cease to exist. That is a day when girls have childhoods as God intended them to have, not the perversion that is forced upon them so often in the world that I live in.
 

This story came together during a Sunday church service a few years ago. This in itself was highly improbable as my mindset was anything but creative that day.

My youngest daughter was very ill and had a fever for the past two days. If these conditions were present that Sunday our family was taking her to the doctor.

She still had her fever on Sunday morning, but she and the rest of my family were sleeping soundly so the trip to the doctor would have to wait until after I attended church.

I also was not really looking forward to the service as the pastor had announced it was a service dealing with how to raise up Godly offspring.

In the past The Holy Spirit had used this pastor to point out areas in which I could improve on raising our children.

As I drove to church that morning I was hoping above anything else that this was not such a day for me.

There was also a baby dedication that morning. As I watched that proud father pass his daughter to the pastor to be blessed, and before the end of the next song I thought up this story. 

Although it took me significantly longer to write everything out, this story was finished beginning to end in my head in about 10 minutes, usually I change some of the words around in things I have written in the past. This is virtually unchanged from that Sunday.

She was born in Svay Park in 1995. Her verbally abusive father told her she was an accident many times as she grew up. She was the oldest of  four girls which added to her father`s wrath. 

Translated into English her name was Mary, the same as the Messiah's mother.

Her family never had enough food to eat. Her father found work occasionally as a fishermen. The best fish were sold at a market that supplied one of the hotels outside of Svay Park with fresh fish.  Later in life Mary would meet some of  the men from this very hotel in a very different way.

Health care was unheard of in her village. If a child became ill there was a good chance they would not survive. Although it was supposed to be a democratic nation most of the politicians were corrupt, the police force only served the rich and affluent people in her Country. Families like Mary`s were actually terrified of the police, and with good reason.

The only happy memories of Mary`s childhood where when her aunt would visit. Her aunt was called a "born again." 

Mary was very young at the time but she remembers placing her head into her aunt`s lap and listening to stories of Jesus. Her aunt told her that Jesus had given up his place in Heaven to come to earth to save people. Mary felt an incredible warmth flooding through her body as her aunt would talk passionately about this Jesus.

When Mary turned eight a man came to the house and argued with her father. They were discussing money but she couldn`t understand what they were arguing about. This went on for three weeks.

Then the day her life changed! One day she came home and found all her belongings packed into a little bag. The man pointed his finger at her and told her you have been bought I own you now. You are going to a new home to meet other little girls. As you can guess Mary`s father sold her to a pimp to pay off a debt. 

The pimp did indeed take her to a new home to meet other little girls. Mary`s new home was a brothel that men from other Countries liked using, as the girls were a bit younger and thus less experienced than some of the other brothels.

In the Gospels it says Jesus was spit on, Jesus was beaten, Jesus was mocked, Jesus was humiliated, before being put on the Cross. 

In the brothel Mary was spit on, Mary was burned, Mary was tortured, Mary was beaten, Mary was mocked, Mary was humiliated, and Mary was raped. She was raped many times by many different men. Her pain and shame was not measured in days, but years. 

One day rolled into the next. She never had a good day, only terrible and even worse days. Her sixteenth birthday came and went, she didn`t even know it.

Mary felt different now.  Although she always was thin she had been losing weight. She had trouble keeping her food down. One day a Doctor came to see her. Mary didn`t know it but one of  her customers had left her with a gift he had given her HIV Aids.
 

The next day Mary was forced to leave the brothel, for many years she had dreamed of being rescued, or leaving her prison. However now Mary was terrified as she had not been outside in the last eight years. Although the brothel was hell on earth it was the only place  that Mary knew.

Mary made her bed beside the garbage dump. She would have starved long ago but a baker in town took pity on her and brought her bread and a tin cup of water every night.

Mary woke one morning feeling very different, she was even weaker today. In her heart she felt that the end was very close. She was seventeen and looked fifty.

Although her body had literally wasted away, she felt a warmth surging through her that she had last felt when her Aunt had visited.
 

That night Mary passed away.
 

The kind baker took her frail body and wrapped it in a blanket and dug a shallow grave for her.

Mary awoke to the most beautiful noise she had ever heard. She had lived her whole life without hearing singing. Her Aunt told her later that this song was a song of celebration where thousands upon thousands of Angels sing with joy for the one lost sheep who had come home.

Next Mary saw a radiant whiteness walking towards her. She saw it was a man, strangely she was not afraid.

As the man came closer Mary looked into his eyes she saw compassion, kindness, tenderness, goodness, and most of all she saw love. She now understood that the warmth she had felt with her Aunt had came from this man.

  The man looked her in the eye and spoke:

  Blessed are the poor in spirit,

  for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

  Blessed are those who mourn,

  for they will be comforted.

  He went on to say:
Mary I created you in your mother`s womb you were no accident. I created you in my image. I numbered the hairs on your head before I set the foundation of the world into place.

I have Loved you with an everlasting Love.

Mary I tell you the truth, today you have entered into paradise to be with me.

    

He was born in Toronto, Canada in 1973. He was the joy of his family as his father had always wanted a boy and now he had one.  As many parents in this part of the world do he was given a name from the Bible, he was named John.

As he grew up he was treated with dignity, and respect.

One of his father`s favourite saying was the world is your oyster"  He was told to stand up for his rights, and to make sure that no one took advantage of him. Another statement he often heard from his father was "only the strong survive."

His family was upper to middle class for Canada. This put his family in the top ten percent of wealth when compared to the rest of the world.

He had access to free hospital care. He was never hungry.  Although far from perfect he grew up in a Country with a democratic process, he had a right to vote. 

When he turned sixteen his father bought him a car.

When he was eighteen he was accepted at the University of Toronto. He graduated top of his class and choose a career with a top accounting firm. He attended a local church.

John had just recently celebrated his 40th birthday. He was well on his way to achieving his dreams. He thought of how proud his father and his friends were of his successes. He had recently been promoted to partner. 

On the surface he had everything that he had been told would make him happy, there was just one problem he wasn`t.

Both of these people are fictionally characters. I know a few "Johns" and I suspect many people I know who have been to Cambodia have met many "Marys."

One day I looked at a picture of skeletons and skulls from the Killing Fields of Cambodia.

A strange thought entered my head.

I saw the men of North America as those bones. They have flesh, but in a lot of areas that God is concerned about these men are dead, they just don`t realize it. 

I thought the girls in the brothels of Cambodia are prisoners, but so are these men. The girl`s prison bars are made of concrete and iron, the men`s are more spiritual in nature, and may be more difficult to escape from.

My bible calls Jonah a reluctant prophet, in some ways I can relate to him.
 

God`s heart is with both of the fictional characters I wrote about.  While mine is with the Mary`s of this world. When I feel led to do something to help the girls in the brothels I jump up like Isiah did when the Lord asked who could he send, I immediately reply send me.

I find it tragic beyond comprehension what happens to girls like the Mary I wrote about.

While men born into a Country like Canada in which we have won the lottery of life (I include myself) cannot seem to figure out what is important in life are at best foolish, and pathetic, but in my eyes not tragic.

Lately I have been asking for God to open my eyes to see people as Jesus sees them.

Last week the story of the King who gave various talents to the servants came to my mind.

I believe with everything that I am the fictional Mary I wrote about will end up in Heaven.

I know Jesus`s character was made up of goodness, grace, compassion, justice, and mercy. I also know that it says in the Bible that Jesus has the final say on Judgement day.

If I believe in his word (the sermon on the mount.)  Then I conclude that the girls in brothels will be at the wedding feast.

What is sobering to me is the result for the man who wasted his talents, and the second half of the Beatitudes.
 

  But woe to you who are rich

  for you have had your comfort.

  Woe to you who are well fed now,

  for you will go hungry.

  Woe to you who laugh,

  for you will mourn and weep.
 

I have came to the realization that a lot of people in North America are in danger of not going to Heaven.

As by the sheer economic benefits that we enjoy in our part of the World. We are indeed like the servant who was given much, I hope that we are not burying our talents in the ground. (so to speak)

So an argument could be made that John`s life was indeed more tragic because he was given everything while he was on earth, but if he missed out on a relationship with Jesus than he may end up spending his eternity without Jesus.

Mary on the other hand was given the worst possible life while on earth. But like the thief on the cross, none of this matters because she is spending her eternity with Jesus.

I end with a question.
 

Do you know where you are going?

Larry

 

 

 

Ratanak 2014 5km Walkathon

Revelation 1 13 and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were a blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars. And out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword, His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

An artist started trying to paint this description of Jesus. After many unsuccessful attempts he gave up as he could not capture the image properly on canvass.
 
This spirit/man/saviour/Son of God surrounded the events at Erindale  Park in Mississauga June 7 2014 as we took part in the third annual Ratanak 5km walkathon.
I am in so far over my head, as I will try my best to describe the events leading up to and the actual day itself as I update this blog.

While running outside in the winter as I prepared for the upcoming Ottawa Marathon I came up with the unusual number of $20 052 as our goal. Trusty sidekick Paul who actually organizes about 80 percent of the walkathon, and gives me 100 percent of the credit came up with a neat little thermometer on our web page that would roll up each time a donation was made. 
I had no stress about reaching this goal as this goal was unrealistic for an average group of people without any major business sponsorship. I knew if this goal was to be reached it was far out of our hands and into God`s.

That is not to say I did not have my moments of  doubt. The Tuesday before the walk I felt like Peter did while walking on the water with Jesus. I started looking at the waves and wind and started sinking a bit. The thermometer was at about $8 000. My math was off a little bit in my last writing as I ran in the Ottawa Marathon, unfortunately this time it was right on. I calculated the goal was over $12 000 away with 4 days left. $3 000 dollars a day seemed impossible and yet I knew I had to trust God.

1 Samuel 13 9-13 tells the story of Saul worrying about how long Samuel was taking as Israel prepared for war.  Saul offered up the burnt offering which was only reserved for priests. Samuel appeared and chastised Saul for doing an act he was not supposed to do, the end result was Saul lost his kingdom to David.

Waiting is hard! I wanted to re email potential donors, potential sponsors, politicians, corporations, media outlets etc. And so I waited for I had a sense something was at work far greater than I or my amazing organizing team could even begin to imagine.
I shared with some people that I had a sense of when you go outside and you can feel the dampness, you sense the rain is coming although you cannot see it you feel it and you know rain is on the way.
I felt this about the event, that we were going to have something far beyond what we could ever hope for happen.

Wednesday I thought to myself how smoothly things were going on my end, in fact I was ahead of schedule. The person responsible for lending me the key for the gate at the park had responded and I had set up a meeting to pick up the key.
No frills (our sponsor) had a sale on water and I had been stockpiling water all week and had just purchased my last case.

Friday morning beautiful wife Gloria and myself picked up the rental van from Thrifty (thank you for the great price when I mentioned it was for a charity event) We then proceeded to shop for the snacks provided at the walkathon. After finishing in the fruit and vegetable section Gloria turned the cart towards the checkout. I remark "we are not finished." As I think of a friend who will go unnamed (pylon lady) and what her reaction would be at a table without some sweets.
We are home at 10.30 a.m.  I so wanted to surprise Neil Boron on his 100 mile walk from Buffalo to Mississauga and finish with him, yet I realize I am stressed and overly tired. Later on this day we have a live broadcast for WDCX 99.5 at the Twin Fish restaurant in Mississauga, starting at 3.00 p.m. Tomorrow morning is the big day, sorry Neil I choose to relax while I could.

2.40 p.m. My brother Randy calls with a question about the walkathon. I abruptly brush him off as I have somehow lost my wallet, (memories of last years lost key) and driving a rental van without my license does not seem like a good idea. I find my wallet and drive to the restaurant.

What an amazing day. Ann (the owner) is so kind and has such a servant`s heart. So many people were coming to Neil with donations. What struck me most was a lot of the donations were cash. Ratanak International is a registered Canadian charity. If a person makes a donation providing a mailing address they will be sent a receipt that can be used at the end of the year for tax purposes, also they will be sent a thank you note. When you give cash there is no record of you, and we cannot acknowledge your kindness. But like the story in the Bible of the widow who put everything into the offering. God sees and will reward you.
Two girls sing a song and give Neil the money they have raised. Neil calls me over and I am choked up a bit as they are so small that I think of what girl`s their size in Cambodia are going through at this moment.
           

Neil interviews me and I mention I saw his walk in the light of a song by the group Proclaimers 500 miles. I changed a few words but mention Neil walked 100 miles willing to take on some pain to alleviate children`s pain and Neil would have been willing to walk 100 more.
Neil had told me at another event that he had been sexually abused in his youth. I told him this walk is bringing healing to children in Cambodia, healing to himself, and will help him become a voice and example for others who have been abused to help in their healing.

Dinner is excellent! Neil wants to pay (he provides) a white ticket to hand in to the restaurant as a way of tracking whose dinner is covered by him. By the time I leave I think Neil has provided a white ticket for every person in the restaurant. What a show of generosity! Many examples of kindness and selfless giving I see this day. One stands out the most. A man walks in with a vest on, and waits patiently to speak to Neil. Neil is making the rounds and talking to everyone. Neil notices the man and starts talking to him. The man`s name is Clive, he is a truck driver, he is on a 15 minute break, and he gives up his break to drive to the restaurant and make a very generous donation. As I witnessed this I think about people telling of seeing Angels. Clive was my Angel this night.
This thought came to me the week after the walkathon. Our goal was $20 052. 
The story of the boy from the Bible with his 5 loaves and 2 fish. Jesus feeding of 5 000 men.
5km walkathon/ Twin Fish restaurant, which is again the numbers 5 and 2. Jesus showing up at a park the next day in Mississauga and totally blowing everyone away.

At home I check, recheck my lists of duties for the next day. I make a big mistake by turning on the computer, as I check my emails I see a friend has had trouble donating to my participant name. I click on the 5km website to try and solve this problem and see the thermometer sits at over $25 000. I am so overjoyed I have trouble sleeping this night.

Saturday of the event. I wake up early pick up my brother Peter and arrive at the park. Paul is going over all the plans for the registration. Being the only runner in our core group I take Pete and start the process of marking the course. 8.10 a.m. I drive my Mother and sister Linda to set up the water station which is the turnaround point 2.5 kms from the start.

I arrive back into the parking lot and am overwhelmed by how many people I see in line. 8.45 I find Paul through the masses and tell him "we cannot possibly start at 9.00 let me know what time you want to start?" Paul tells me a politician is looking for me.
I invited three politicians, two confirmed, and one showed up.
Wladyslaw Lizon is his name (please don`t ask me to pronounce his name again.) I have butchered it at least twice publicly. Wladyslaw shakes my hand says some very complimentary things.  Not being camera shy he poses for a few pictures. Wladyslaw paid for his registration and even purchased a Not Forgotten shirt.

Wladyslaw invited me to run the Army half marathon run in Ottawa in September to support wounded soldiers, and told me to send him information on our event (as soon as possible) as he was going to try to mention the walkathon in the House of Commons. Later that night Jessika sends me the information and I pass it on not thinking much about it.

As I reflected back upon these moments I wonder. I picked the Ottawa Marathon for the reason my family had never been to Ottawa and I try to reward them for the amount of time that they lose their father as he trains for a marathon, with a family visit to a City we have never been to. I wonder did the prayers offered up to protect me as I ran on this course prepare Wladyslaw`s heart? Did my families walking outside the building he delivered this speech set something in motion? Did my running down the street across from The Parliament building in pain, and struggling to finish this race shake something loose in a world I cannot see?
I will never know.
Imagine my surprise coming home from work Tuesday and opening this link.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=495635023869943

Another person I met was a principal from a school in Mississauga. She brought a organization to her school (Girls on the run) to help Grade 6 to 8 girls with their self esteem and also to learn how to run a 5km race. Unfortunately a girl in this group was having a birthday party the same day of our event and many of the members attended the party. The principal handed me a cheque and I remember my original thought for this day was "young girls in Canada walking/running for young girls in Cambodia who cannot." Next year I hope to have this organization use our 5km walkathon as the day of their event.

9.30 Mary calls the people towards me where I am to explain some rules and thank them for their participation. The crowd is huge the megaphone is not to my liking so I try to shout. Neil being an experienced radio guy tells me to stand on a picnic table. I thank everyone for coming tell them of the pink thread that I tied last year to a tree as a symbol of young girl`s and their innocence, and my belief that event`s like today may not give them back this lost innocence but can at the very least bring them healing, and a new start in life. I tell them the money from today will go to the Ratanak Achievement Program (RAP) which is a program Ratanak funds. All of the girls in this program have faced much abuse. In September five of these girls entered University. I relate how four young ladies in Cambodia all in this program, in the last week have been deemed healed enough to be reintegrated back into society. I finish with a quote someone left on my donor page late the night before.
"Larry as you pound out those running steps, remember it is the pounding of the little hearts of those children that you are setting free from Bondage-- Go with God.

Neil then gets up on the picnic table and talks about many things and how he has been brought healing from his past abuse. A picture comes to mind and I see the actual act of abusing a child. It is so ugly, so vile, so degrading, so evil.
The many years of pain and suffering that affects some victims well into their adult years. I think of a song The Broken Beautiful and how only God could take what has happened to Neil and use it in a way that brings healing to many. Truly Beautiful!

As Neil was talking I thought of how I first came to know of Ratanak International. Eight years ago Lisa Cheong spoke in my church about young children sold into a life of sexual slavery in Cambodia. Something broke within me as she spoke. Lisa mentioned Isaiah 61 1-3 as her vision.

 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to preach good news to the poor.
    He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
    to comfort all who mourn
3  and provide for those who grieve in Zion
    to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
    the oil of gladness
    instead of mourning
    and a garment of praise
    instead of the spirit of despair.
Today I believe Lisa`s vision is being fulfilled in Cambodia as we participate in Mississauga.   

I call the participants to the start line and am again overwhelmed by the crowd. A group of people start singing:
Let my people go!
Let my people go!
Let my people go!

I think of our walk compared to a military march. A walk is very calm, not impressive, or threatening, or intimidating. Yet as Moses walked across the Red Sea, as Martin Luther King Jr. walked for equality. Holding a child in slavery to be abused over and over again is the worst thing a human can do to another. We have one Cambodian person present that I know of, and yet this evil has united many who do not know each other from many different backgrounds in the belief that walking in this park will make a difference.
We walk enjoying our freedom, thinking of others who are not free.
We walk today and demand of evil people and the evil one satan himself. LET OUR PEOPLE GO!

The rest of the morning is kind of a blur. Our generous sponsors have donated amazing prizes which is a fun way to wrap up the day seeing those participants who have given of their time and money getting excited about the prospect of winning something.

I wish I could end this blog with the final numbers of participants and the total amount of donations yet I have a story to tell that happened away from the park, a story I am not proud of.

My responsibilities were over, it was about 7.30 p.m. I had purchased my dinner and was driving home looking forward to three things. One eating, two relaxing, three checking the website to see the final amount of money raised.
As I drove home something like scene from a bad movie occurred right in front of me. A young girl between the ages of 1 and 2 years old stepped down from the curb and walked directly into a busy street with four lanes of traffic. I scanned the sidewalk to look for a parent and saw no one.
Myself and two other cars pulled over. Another man got to the girl first, picked her up and carried her safely to the sidewalk.
We all were shaking, the woman were sobbing.
A neighbour came out and told us this happens all the time, her parents do not seem to care. One lady called the police and we waited.

The girls Mother came 15 minutes after we saw her daughter in the street. We told her the police had told us make sure she was to wait there for the police to talk to her.
The police came, took statements, thanked us and sent us on our way.

In the car I was angry at God for allowing me to see this scene play out. My thoughts "Why God why? Why today? Why now of all times? Can I not have one day without seeing a young girl who probably has a bleak future ahead of her?  Why show me this now?As I thought of what trouble awaited a young girl with no one to watch out for her. 
I want to go home and remember the sights, the sounds, the feel, and the taste of this amazing event today. I give you all the credit and glory for today`s success. But why now? Why today God?

Mark Buchanan says we rage at God loud and boisterous. He goes on to say God answers in a still, small voice.
Monday morning I think these thoughts.
 
When is it a good time to rescue a child? When you have the time? When you are not too busy? When you are not too slow? When you are not too happy? When you are not too sad?
This child was sent your way on this day at this time to be rescued.
It is always the right time to rescue a child!

In closing we had 300 participants. $41 598 was raised, $42 less than $42 000 which is a great number for a guy who uses Larry42km as a nickname.

June ? 2015 where will you be? Why not join us?

Wladyslaw`s words in the House of Commons.
"What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning with uplifting people who are there to raise much needed funds but also to raise the spirits of children so far away. It is a true privilege to support organizations like Ratanak whose work changes people`s lives."

It is always the right time to rescue a child.

Larry





 

2014 Ottawa Marathon Blood Sweat And Tears

While picking up my race bib for the recent Ottawa Marathon race a volunteer asked if I was superstitious? I was given an unusual number 1717 and I suppose he figured I may not like it. I actually really liked having this number.
5kmwalkathon.com 
Participants information Larry52

Lining up to start the race I think of a theme that started three weeks ago. A man who donates every year prayed for me "that I run fast." As he prayed I actually smirked and thought to myself "my fast or what my daughter Isabella would consider fast?"
The day before the race I received many emails wishing me luck. A friend from work encouraged me and said "Larry hope you fly the whole 42km."
A radio host from Buffalo (Hi Neil) told me he "was praying for me, and also added that I had to make sure I win the race for my daughter."

Today I will try to qualify for The 2015 Boston Marathon, which is the only marathon you have to run a qualifying time to be allowed to participate. For me this year my qualifying time is 3 hours 25 minutes, next year it would be 3 hours 30 minutes. The biggest rewards sometimes come with the biggest risks so I will try to strike a balance of running as fast as I can for as long as I can while trying to make sure I still have enough energy left to finish this race.

Today I changed my outfit a bit. The camouflage shorts remain the same. I believe black does attract the Sun so I have traded my old black shirt for a new white one, which was purchased at a lulu lemon. Not a store that is used to customers such as myself I am sure.

Bruce Cockburn
"But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight.
Got to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight."
I feel that the five marathons I have ran have been for the purpose of going into the darkness to help children, today if I finish my sixth marathon I believe I will bring a child  from the darkness into the light.
The start is uneventful as I line up further back than where I am supposed to hoping to avoid going out too fast.

5km I run past many four feet traffic pylons set up to guide the runners, and I cannot help but contrast these with the ones we used at the first Ratanak 5km walkathon, and hopefully never have to use again, sorry Janice.

7km I see a young boy holding his hand out by the side of the road  to high five approaching runners. I see his eyes light up as I touch his hand and think he doesn`t know who I am, for all he knows he just high fived a famous runner.
A wise Pastor friend of mine talks often about "visible reality" and "spiritual reality." Today my body is running up the streets of Ottawa. Many times today my mind  will end up somewhere else.

As I touched hands with the young boy in Ottawa. I think of a young boy in Cambodia. My passion is for the girls who are abused, yet I have been told sometimes it is a harder road for the boys to recover. I pray that a young boy in Cambodia is freed from the hands of his abuser at this exact moment.

9km I pass a store with the name Larry loans and jewellery. I am in a funny mood today for I think of those cheesy commercials with the guy singing "I`m the cash man." and picture myself as him.

10 km I hoped to be at       47 minutes
                         I am at       45 minutes 10 seconds
Around The Bay I was at   48 minutes 13 seconds

17 km I am starting to get discouraged. This happens every marathon at some point, sometimes it is earlier than this, if you are fortunate it happens later.
The reason for the discouragement is that the pain is starting to take over as well as the feeling of being very tired. Mentally you think I have run 17 km I am very tired and I still have 25km to go. 
I started looking forward to the 32 km mark as usually by then you figure out you only have 10 km left and you start thinking you are going to make it.

21.1 km mark Halfway point
I hoped to be at 1 hour 40 minutes. 
I  am at              1 hour 38 minutes 6 seconds

27 km A lady in Quebec holds up a sign that makes me laugh it reads "you are running better than our government."

28 km I run onto a street named Princess Avenue and think of the story I was sent a few years ago from a friend in Cambodia. Some girls from the NewSong center in Cambodia who were victims of abuse went to California to testify to help convict a man from The United States. On a day off from the trial they were taken to Disney and dressed up as the Disney Princesses.

29 km Running up my usual side of the road, the left. A six inch piece of circular wire left on the road by the recent construction (I believe) catches my left foot like a snare and I go down very hard.
Isabella my daughter uses the word "dag nabbit" when she is upset, I cannot tell you the word that came out of my mouth but it was not this one.
Another runner comes over to see if I am okay. I jump up right away as lying on the asphalt with over 9 000 runners in a race may be worse than falling in the first place.
I look at my scraped hands and think of the one whose hands were pierced for me.
I resume running and think this is going to be an interesting finish.

30 km I hoped to be at  2 hours 25 minutes
                         I am at  2 hours 22 minutes 24 seconds
    A.T.B. race I was at  2 hours 26 minutes 15 seconds

31 km I notice a stinging pain from my left arm and look at my left forearm
      

I also notice a sharp pain from my right quadriceps muscle that is causing me to limp a bit (I believe a bruise caused in the fall) 

32 km I think a few thoughts at this time these are some of them. I think if I run another marathon I am going to take my nutrition during training more serious. I have had people tell me I am crazy for running marathons, but I thought of the people who do more than one a year and they are really crazy. After today I am going to take a very long break.
I am so discouraged at this moment. I know time heals all wounds and eventually I will forget some of the emotions I was feeling. I know my stride has changed, I have the usual pain associated with running a marathon, and now the fall has added pain in spots usually not associated with running. I would love to just stop and go lie down somewhere but I know I cannot.


33 km This is a picture taken of a statue around Parliament Hill.
I was struck by this and Gloria took a picture of it with my two daughter`s and myself on it. This is my first thoughts of the statue. I saw myself as the man on the top he is looking ahead, oblivious of the figure below him. The figure below him is looking up, hand held out, hoping for help that may never come. The figure on the bottom is a child in Cambodia stuck in slavery, waiting, hoping, desperately wanting to be rescued. It took me 40 years to look down and notice the child underneath but knowing this child exists brought me here today.

34 km Every step is becoming a bit harder. As I look at this marker I try to do a little math to encourage myself. I figure I have 8 km left and on my worst day I should be able to average a little over 5 minutes a km or 8 minutes a mile. I usually am very good at math, not at this point. For I multiplied 8 km by 8 minutes instead of the 5 I should have. Instead of the 40 minutes I had left which would have encouraged me I thought I had 64 minutes left and was overwhelmed once again and wondered how I was going to be able to run this long.

36 km As I approached the statue above up close I had other thoughts. I noticed the figure on the bottom was not as small as I thought it was, in fact it was far larger than my daughter`s or myself. Also it was watching the man on top who was looking out on the horizon. What I also didn`t notice until I was close up was that this figure carried an enormous sword that`s handle was larger than my legs. I thought of myself again as the man on the top of the statue. Now that I know of the children in need I am scanning the horizon looking for any and every opportunity I can to make a difference in their lives. The figure on the bottom is a mighty Angel, he is sent to protect me and my family. He is watching me to see if danger is approaching, at other times he clears paths for me to follow. His sword is not for show it is used for protection and battle.

My whole right side of my leg is starting to really hurt as I believe by changing my stride I am putting more stress on the other muscles on this side, especially my right calf.
My wry sense of humour seems to still be intact despite my challenges as I thought if the figure on the statue wants me to finish this race he might have to run behind me and prod me with his sword.

42.2 km I run over the finish line and am so relieved that I finished this race. I always say I run for the exploited children in Cambodia this year I have collected money in advance and I thank God I have never had to give any money back because I could not finish a marathon. I ran 3 hours 26 minutes 12 seconds. I am 1 minute over a Boston Qualifying time. I am mildly disappointed but this does not last long as I see my beautiful family waiting for me.
The blood you saw, the sweat is very evident because Gloria is the only one willing to put her arm around me. The tears came at the moment I saw the family I Love and know, Glo, Kiki, and Izzy. They make sacrifices that allow me to help a family that I don`t see, but also Love. The exploited children in Cambodia are this family.

If people want to come out and walk on June 7 the website is below.
If people care to make a donation 
my participants information is 
Larry52
5kmwalkathon.com

Larry


5kmwalkathon.com