Seeking the Finish Line

Happy (belated) New Year!    I am trusting 2011 will be a banner year for fellow families on the adoption journey.  I am excited to see the months unfold and I am getting pretty antsy in the process. :)    So much so, that I have decided I need to focus my impatient energy into a productive place.    If all goes as planned, my husband Jim and I are going to run our first marathon!    I am a runner anyway, and although I have completed 3 half marathons, a full 26.2 marathon was not something I envisioned doing in the next decade.  Due to the time commitment of training, I've always thought it was something better left for a time when our kids were older.    However, with so many unknowns with the upcoming year, I virtually cleared my calendar, stopped accepting speaking engagements, MC opportunities, and left everything open.   With the vague timeline of our adoption, I wanted to cover our bases.    What I realized last week is,  it also opens up a window of opportunity to train.   Also, with homeschooling the boys, we are together almost all day, so the guilt factor of going out for a 2-hour run in the evening is lessened.   Anyway, the only hiccup would be if we signed up and trained, but missed the race due to being in Poland. I am fine with that though!!  No problemo.    We thought about possibly running for donations or raising money for an adoption charity but I'm not sure. If we did end up missing the race, it would put us in a predicament so we are still thinking about that. We are planning to run the Cleveland Marathon in May. A great course! It's where I completed one of my half-marathon's a few years ago:




It's kind of crazy to embark on yet ANOTHER endeavor in our lives, but it feels right.  I have prayed about it and God has given me a healthy heart, lungs, legs, body and I am going to do my best to honor that and give Him glory.  I have learned that a marathon mimics the journey of adoption in many ways as well.   I smiled as I read a snippet from Kristin Armstrong's blog that really underscored my belief in that, as well as echoed my blog title   Kristin is the former wife of Lance Armstrong and a runner.  Here is what she says about "joy in the journey:"   

"Oftentimes the precursor to joy is a lot of hard work, which seems to oppose joy at the outset if you aren't careful or intentional. We have to find joy in the journey, not merely the fleeting accomplishments."


Also, this week we received a phone call from Lifesong for Orphans.  We applied for a grant and they are reviewing our application.   Praying, praying!   The Lord's will be done.