For Esperanza and Love Runners…

Down the block, or around the world, the need is desperate.  Love Runners seeks to be a community resource dedicated to meeting the needs of others, both locally and internationally.

We are “loving on” groups or individuals, one cause-driven project at a time. We desire to partner with organizations in an effort to help them do what they do better.  We are committed to making a real difference in the partners and places we invest Love Runners funds.

Here’s the thing. I worked on these great, inspiring, succinct (this is my biggest struggle – I like words so much) mission statements that have lots of buzz words in them and wrap up my whole idea in a tidy little package and you can find them on the official Love Runners website, but let me just lay it out like this for you here. The world is a mess and my heart is breaking over the children who are caught in the crossfire of the myriad of ways that we’ve failed them. Kids sleeping on the streets, little ones digging through the trash for food, babies having babies, children forced into adulthood by the very fact that there is no adult there to take care of them. The kids on the fringes, outside our circle of our playdates and overnights and quiet neighborhood safety. But as my heart breaks over these things it is spilling out Mom Love.  It is getting all over my nice, comfortable, unmessy existence and really mucking things up.  Love in action has become the driving force in my day. I don’t want to continue living in apathy and indifference because we are not here to make an impression but instead to make a difference. I want to make a difference to these hurting, neglected, abused, sometimes prickly or troubled, often unnoticed kids.

I just want them to know how much they are loved. 

For Esperanza is what Love Runners looks like in action. Love Runners led me to Guatemala, to a children’s home, Casa Beranabe and here is what I have learned.

WORLD CHANGING LOVE FOR ONE WILL NOT ONLY CHANGE THEIR WORLD BUT YOURS AS WELL.

Two worlds collided back in January of 2017 when my daughter and I boarded a plane by ourselves to take on Guatemala and Casa Bernabe children’s home with nary a Spanish phrase between the two of us. Over the years the stories and experiences that have touched our hearts have been many. We have laughed, cried, and been on “medical emergency” flights out of Guatemala. We would love to share it all with you. You never know where the path may lead. I never thought mine would lead me back to Guatemala.

For Esperanza has become a release of sorts for us, a way to process our thoughts, share our experiences, and shed light on the amazing ways a children’s home in Guatemala is providing hope and healing for some of Guatemala’s most vulnerable children. Learn more or follow along with all of our travel adventures at For Esperanza.