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“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If they stumble, the first will lift up his friend—but woe to anyone who is alone when he falls and there is no one to help him get up.”  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

One of the goals of Inheritance of Hope (IoH) is to connect families. Families who are grieving a life-changing diagnosis, struggling with fears, and facing new realities draw strength from each other as they share experiences and burdens.  Through IoH, new friendships are often formed that offer a depth of understanding many families can’t find elsewhere.

The support that is shared is sometimes intangible and immeasurable, yet always tremendous. Sometimes, the support may be tangible yet also tremendously immeasurable, as was the case when Heather Crawford donated a wheelchair van to fellow IoH family Craig and Dana Loner.

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John Raneri was the first male half marathoner to cross the 2016 Hunter Subaru Legacy Run finish line, with a time of 1:08:41. A native of New Fairfield, CT, he attended the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and has been running for 11 years.

What are some races you have done recently?

-U.S. Marathon Olympic Team Trials - 50th Place 
-Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon - 1:04:29 - 8th place 
-Philadelphia Gortex Marathon - 2:18:06 - 3rd place 
-Stanford Invitational 2015 10k - 29:16

[This post was originally published on May 2.]

Mother's Day 2016 is only a few days away. Hallmark will claim record-breaking sales, and florists will hire extra delivery staff to make sure that the roses and daisies make their way to the doorsteps of moms old and young, new and seasoned.

I recently sat for hours going through my own Mother's Day cards… or as my youngest used to say, “polishing and tumbling the memory agates,” alternately smiling and weeping. Smiling over the stories and weeping over the ever dear and precious words in cards, notes, and letters over five decades. Joybox after joybox. Words of encouragement, words of gratitude, tender words of love and appreciation for being an example in hard times… for pointing them to Jesus… for loving them unconditionally.

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Haylee Bunner turned in her Inheritance of Hope volunteer application as soon as she could--the very day she turned 18. She had been waiting for the chance to serve families like hers for quite some time. Haylee, her brother Cameron, and their parents Matthew and Kim attended an Orlando Legacy Retreat® in May 2012. Kim passed away a little over a year later.

“I knew that volunteering was something my mom would have done had she been healed.“  Haylee describes Kim as someone who loved to help other people. “To know that her death gave me the ability to understand much of what these families are going through would have given her peace.”

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Shawanna White was the first female half marathoner to cross the 2016 Hunter Subaru Legacy Run finish line with a time of 1:24:17. She’s been running 17 years and has participated in many races, including Cooper River Bridge (SC), Mercedes Benz Marathon (AL), and Get In The Pink 10k (SC).

I am originally from Atlanta, GA, but I currently reside in Columbia, SC. I graduated from the University of West Georgia with a BS in Physical Education. I started running in 10th grade because my high school coach saw me in the office one day and asked me to run track. I told him he would have to ask my grandma. She said yes, but only if he brought me home because it would be too late to ride the bus and there was no family car to be used. 

What’s your favorite race?

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Strebe Family at their Legacy Retreat®

The Strebe family—Jon, Donna, Luke, Ryan, and Emma Kate—attended an Orlando Legacy Retreat^® in February 2014, shortly after Jon underwent a bone marrow transplant and thoracic surgery. At the time, he was battling stage 3 testicular cancer metastases to the lungs.  Donna remembers that the trip to Orlando came at a very emotional time.

“It had been a tough year, and the volunteers served from the bottom of their souls and blessed us. We said from that point forward we would serve as long as we were able.”

Fear - it’s a powerful emotion. Have you ever experienced fear so intense that you couldn’t move - that you couldn’t breathe? Maybe had a panic attack? We all experience fear, but God has an antidote for it.

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Thanks to your continued support, Inheritance of Hope reached a new milestone at the Orlando Legacy Retreat^® in January - it marked our 300th family served!

The retreat also marked another record - 12 family members served returned as volunteers!

As I began to prepare my mind and spirit for the January 2016 Inheritance of Hope Legacy Retreat^®, I was also preparing my two boys for a music camp that they would be attending the weekend I was away.  Each of my boys is fairly musical, and this camp’s focus was on “musical improv.”  Up until this time, the boys’ instruction had been extremely methodical, rote, and memorized.  I was eager to see how they would do with this new introduction to flexibility and freedom.

One day, they told us, an enormous snake—much longer than a man—slithered its way right through their front door and into the kitchen of their simple home. Terrified, they ran outside and searched frantically for a local who might know what to do. A machete-wielding neighbor came to the rescue, calmly marching into their house and decapitating the snake with one clean chop.