you can’t handle the truth

A week from today, I’ll be hosting a 5k race called Run For Their Lives.

Run For Their Lives is a Run/Walk that aims to place the spotlight on sexual slavery worldwide. The home site is in Lynchburg, VA and includes a 10K race, 5k run/walk and Youth Run.  Around the country and in Canada, people are racing on October 29th to raise money for this cause!

Some stunning facts:

• It is estimated that two children are sold into slavery every minute!
• There are more than 300,000 prostitutes in Thailand alone.
• North Carolina ranks 8th in the nation for human trafficking!
• These women and children produce an approximate annual income of $27 billion.
• Close to $300 million is transferred every year to rural families by women engaged in prostitution in urban areas.

All of these made me sick, but the fact that North Carolina is number EIGHT in the nation made this problem so real to me!  In fact, the problem in the U.S. is so serious, that Barack Obama has declared the month of January – National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

Sex trafficking often goes unnoticed and overlooked because of the revenue that it produces for local governments and persons in high authority.  People are paid off to keep quite.  Women and children are often stolen, drugged and then sold – often used for prostitution.

Right now, as you read this, women are sacrificing their dignity and self worth in order to provide for themselves and their families!  This is an issue of poverty.

Right now, as you read this, children are losing their innocence to a corrupt and evil system.  This is a crime against humanity.

Right now, as you read this, organizations and churches are raising money to combat this problem.  Evil is being fought.  Good will win.  This is a problem that has a solution.

If you would like to see if there is a race being held near you, go here.  There is still time to sign up.

If you feel led to donate money to help out, go here.

If you have a passion for women’s and children’s issues, please help spread the word and blog about it (or link back to this post)!!

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Now for some lighter truths…

Here are the results from yesterday’s post!  I’m sorry I really couldn’t respond to your comments, because well, I didn’t want to give anything away.  Just know, they all made me laugh and I love you all!

1. I can run a 6 minute mile. Well actually a 6:24 minute mile. I’m actually faster now than I was in high school cross country. How can I do this?? I resistance train – pushing 60 pounds of toddler meat is hard work! [TRUTH – I can.  What I CANNOT do is MAINTAIN this pace for any longer than one mile.  But I can hoof it if I need to.  Most recent 5k: 21:32.  For my half-marathon this past April, I maintained an 8 minute mile pace (1:42:57).]

2. I was the one who asked Travis to marry me. I had just graduated college (Travis is one year behind me). We had talked about marriage before and it was one of those things that we knew would happen, but didn’t know when. So one night, I picked up a pizza from Papa John’s, put a note inside the box and delivered it to his dorm. When he finally opened the box to grab a slice, he saw the note that read, “Will you marry me?” He obviously said yes.  [LIE – And if I were to ask him to marry me, it surely wouldn’t have been with pizza.  It would have been with brownies.  Travis proposed to me and that’s a story for a different day.  It was romantic and surprising and I cried.]

3. I can clap with one hand. Coincidentally, it’s not the hand with the piece of pencil lead stuck in it. [TRUTH – I couldn’t help but laugh at all of you guys trying this yesterday.  And YES, I do have a piece of pencil lead in the opposite hand.  I can wiggle it back and forth.  It’s super cool.]

4. When I was little, I got to skip kindergarten. Even at 5, I was awesome and smart and pretty and really good at shapes and colors. Not much has changed. [TRUTH – Not much has changed.  Except my hair.  I no longer have bangs…just dead ends.]

And there you have it!  That was a fun little Friday game that I’m sure you’ll see more of.  I hope that you are all out enjoying the beautiful Fall weather!  The Wright’s are headed to our town’s PumpkinFest…pics tomorrow!

splendid…lindsay