Meet "Run The Race Together" Founder:
Through training and personal experiences of loss and trauma, God has equipped Halee Wood to teach and share hope-filled, practical messages. The woven storyline of redemption God has written in her journey of abuse and loss is an incredible testament to how He meets us, picks up our shattered pieces, and restores our broken hearts.
As a certified life and relationship coach, Bible teacher, and inspirational speaker, Halee is the founder of Run the Race Together. She serves clients individually and couples together with her husband Ron, a licensed professional counselor and licensed alcohol and drug counselor, offering Christ-centered support and tools for healing.
Halee is the author of Sorrow's Voice: 90 Prayers for Your Grieving Soul and the co-author of Covered: Finding Hope for Heavy Emotions. She serves on the preaching team at Highland Park Christian Church and is a teacher and coordinator for Steady On University within Steady On Ministries.
Here are a few fun facts about Halee:
- Halee lives in Northeast Oklahoma with Ron, their two boys – Reese and Hyun, and Louie, their howling, oversized Beagle.
- She is a former chemical engineer and worked in the oil industry for over 15 years.
- Storytelling, good belly laughs, and long runs are her jam.
- She is quite a talker and was diagnosed with ADHD late in life... totally made sense to almost everyone around her!
A more personal side of my story...
I am the youngest of three, and I grew up in a small, impoverished community in Texas.
Sexual abuse, abortion, and the death of my best friend - these three things plagued my 14th year of life. In the years following these events, I desperately tried to control everything in my life to avoid further disappointing those I loved and to eliminate any possibility of someone hurting me so deeply again. Dreams regarding the child I aborted (which was a girl in every dream) caused years of dreaded nights.
This lifestyle was exhausting - the hours spent working and not sleeping, the lies, the lies about the lies; it felt as if I was dying inside. During my college years, I began searching for something bigger than myself, but I desperately wanted the answer to be something other than "God." I was so angry at Him (if He existed), and I despised some who called themselves Christians.
Nonetheless, God did not let my perceptions of those individuals or my hardened heart interfere with His pursuit of me. One day, I was handed a simple piece of paper with Philippians 4:11 printed on top: "I have learned to be content no matter the circumstances." It called out to me... "Go see what this person knows that you don't!" To learn that the man who wrote this, the Apostle Paul, actually wrote it while being imprisoned, implored me to devour all his words, which led me to the real Jesus.
My love for Jesus was almost instantaneous, but changing my behaviors and healing the pain in my heart was a process. Part of the process included forgiving the young man who abused me, and laying aside the shame and heartache regarding the child I aborted, whom I now call Livvy Diane. About four years into my journey with Christ, I met Ron, who had also been on a journey all of his own, and we were married in 2003.
There was no way to predict the triggers that occurred in our early days of marriage. I routinely put the face of my abuser onto my husband - deeply wounding both of us and our marriage. It was through Celebrate Recovery and blessed mentorships that God continued to heal and strengthen us. I wouldn't trade the marriage we have today for anything in the world.
We welcomed our son Reese into the world in 2007, while I was working full-time as a Chemical Engineer in the oil industry and while Ron and I were serving together as Ministry Leaders of a Celebrate Recovery. Life was full of "holy cow" moments as we watched our family grow and others receive jaw-dropping recovery at the hands of Jesus.
On December 21, 2011, everything we believed and were teaching through ministry was put to the ultimate test. I was very pregnant with our second son, Elliot, but when I arrived at the hospital we learned through an ultrasound that he was no longer alive. That day, I gave birth and we held the shell of what should have been our boy. A few months later I faced a 7 hour surgery due to health issues, and a few months later my mother passed away at 58 years old.
There are no words to express the hours, days, weeks, months, years that followed. In brief, if I tell you only about the grief we experienced during that season, then it wouldn't do our joy justice. If I tell only about the joy, it wouldn't do our grief justice. Both existed simultaneously as we kept our eyes fiercely focused on Jesus rather than trying to numb the pain. Today, we still miss Elliot, and our understanding of heaven and what it means to love God with all our souls has forever changed. It has created a bold confidence in our faith and walk with the Creator.
Almost a year after saying goodbye to Elliot, we began pursuing adoption. This journey lasted three years, culminating in 2015 when we were finally able to bring home our then three-year-old son, Hyun. This journey was hard - his transition was hard - the realities of his life can be hard... but what an absolute joy it is to be family. It was during his transition that our family made big changes - we took a 2/3 pay cut as I resigned from my career, and we said goodbye to ministering through Celebrate Recovery.
The harsh experiences of my past, whether of my own doing or things done to me, ultimately do not define who I am, my present or future. I am a child of God, and through His Son I have been given the ability to "overwhelmingly conquer" all these things (Romans 8:37). And, here's the thing, He didn't give it to me because I deserved it or because I earned it - He did it all for me while I was still a complete and total screw-up, trying to do everything my way rather than His way (Romans 5:8).
I only tell of the things of the past, so you can catch a glimpse of how big He is, how capable He is, and so that, just in case you need a little hope today, you can borrow some from my story as your story continues to unfold. Our experiences should never be what ultimately defines what we believe, but utilizing the truth of Scripture to help us have a clearer perception of these experiences can create an abundance of joy, peace and complete awe as we wait to join Him on the other side.
I pray today, that for each person that comes to this website or that I come into contact with, that you will experience the joy and strength of the Lord - no matter your circumstances. You are incredibly loved by the Creator of this universe.
"For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out 'Abba! Father!'" Romans 8:15