hi again

It is insanely hot right now.

I love where we live except for the end of June, all of July and first part of August. Then I start dreaming of living in Canada or Alaska. And I begin counting down the days until fall, wondering if it is possible to have your shoes melt to the pavement? Is it also possible that if I sat and cried over this, would actual tears come or would they just evaporate as steam?

For some reason this summer has been wacky busy and full of doctor appointments, both planned and unplanned. I am hopelessly behind on Bible in 90 days*. I made it to day 45, but sputtered to a stop as we have been doing school most days (because it is TOO hot to do anything else) I barely find the time to get food on the table, keep our clothes and dishes clean and take care of Tanner. With three in school in three different grades, it just does not leave a lot of extra time for anything else. The last time I weighed I had lost 11 pounds (YIPPEE) and although I am running (inside) a bit, I do not really expect to get back on a serious schedule until the end of August. I have (unfortunately) struggled this summer with hydration issues/over heating, so have taken a break from running/training daily.  
*I am reading daily, just not enough chapters to keep up with/finish within the 90 days schedule.

I did finish a book I began three years ago :) called Island of the World. This book is very heavy and very sad, but really, really worth the read, the picture of redemption and healing after such agonizing pain is so incredibly breath taking. The author, Michael O'Brien is such an incredible author. The book was 800 + pages long and never once did he lose his flow, or say too much or too little, it was beautifully composed. I look forward to reading another book of his at some point in the future. I am continually amazed/surprised the more that I learn about World War II. I honestly had no idea – no concept of the the events that unfolded in Yugoslavia/Croatia/Serbia – I remember hearing tidbits on the news through the early 90’s – but had no idea of the suffering that took place there during World War II.

Well for the month of August I want to jump start my writing again, so I am going to challenge myself to write something every day for the whole month.


Here is a small tidbit of some words/thoughts that ran through my mind as we drove yesterday:


I asked my husband to drive the path that I will need to run when I am ready for the full 26.2 miles. As our tires rolled endlessly from one town to the next, the trees looking incredibly thirsty and dry providing small bits of shade here and there, I alternately felt the dream so close I could touch it and yet so far away and so impossible that I will never achieve it. I am not sure why this dream of running a marathon is so important to me, except that it was born from a season of such hopeless frustration in regards to the health of one of my children. I remember each night sitting there beside my child as she slept, begging God to do SOMETHING to fix this, take this struggle from her and to give us some answers, any answers at all. I remember the gut level frustration and helplessness piling higher and higher until one day I wanted to run. Not run away from the situation, just run to burn off some of this heaviness. So I began Couch Potato to 5K and the more I ran, the more that the dream to someday run a marathon (then just a teeny tiny seed of a thought) began to take root. Now two years later I am getting ready to turn 36, and this is my year to run that 26.2 miles. Despite the setbacks and the heat and the time off, this is my year. As we drove from one town to the next, I felt the quickening excitement build, it will take a lot of time and I am still far from actually being able to run miles in double digits, but God willing I will get there.