Acts 1:11 "This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

I've been reading the newest book of David Jeremiah's, "Agents of the Apocalypse". I love end times fiction. (I love disaster movies, too). There is a lot of theological disagreement surrounding the end times. I am not educated enough in this area to talk knowledgeably about it. I know what I believe, and I know why, but some things are not worth arguing about, and I rank this one up their with gay marriage, abortion, and church worship styles. I know what I believe. I know what I read in the Bible. But there is so much division in the world (and in the church) and I would really like to see the church come together and love each other and put in practice the "iron sharpens iron" and discuss why we believe what we do and give thought to opposing ideas. This would tend to make us do one of two things. 1. Defend, at least, to ourselves, why we believe what we believe, or 2. realize we are wrong and change.

Tomorrow is election day. Our chance to make our voices heard. To take a stand for what we believe in. And this year, as most, I'm confused. All the candidates are telling us all the things wrong with the other candidates, don't know who stands for what. The chance to change the country's leaders. Maybe the direction our country is going. And I don't know many people who are okay with the status quo.

I find comfort that "this same Jesus" is alive and well and living here in the hearts of Christians. No matter the outcome, I know we're in his hands, and because of that, everything will be all right. Until he comes back in the same way he left for Heaven. Then, we are really going to see change.

I've missed this...

I've missed writing. I've missed my blog. It seems like the perfect time to pick it back up because, well, I want to.

Steve and I just got back from vacation. I thought about all the adjectives I could use to describe our vacation, but they all seemed trite. They might fit, but trite, nonetheless. I told my boss before we left, when he asked what we were going to do, that we were going to eat good food, see interesting places and do cool stuff. And we did. How could you not have a great time with 3.5 days in Niagara Falls? We could see the Falls from the corner of our hotel. And then 3 days in Hull, Massachusetts, a peninsula that connects to Boston. We stayed right on the North Atlantic Ocean, 50 yards away.

Ran the Niagara Falls International Marathon. Took a ferry ride into the Falls. Went to Niagara on the Lake and toured the historic district and wineries. Walked the Freedom Trail. Saw the USS Constitution, Old North Church, Paul Revere's House. Went to Plymouth and saw Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower (2) and a got a guided tour of the area by a tour guide. Ate at Cheer's, Wahlburgers, Planet Hollywood, Barefoot Bob's, Mikes Sandwich shop, and IHOP (lol). Saw friends.

Redeemed one more of my "tainted memories". I've been on a 3.5 year mission to replace hurtful memories of places with new good memories. I have one place left, and I'm excited to head there in the spring. It's surprising how much this process has worked. Everything from restaurants, churches, vacation spots, and local Wichita locations, I've been able to take the bad moments and memories and make new. So when the trigger comes, I have a replacement.

Vacation was exhausting. And fun. And interesting. And informative. I learned about our history. I saw beauty. And I'm glad to be home.

I finished my 5th marathon. Got a medal and a shirt. Suffered. Chafing that still hurts a week later. Two black toenails. Seriously fatigued legs. I'm so glad I went. So glad I did all the stuff.

Tomorrow I start a new healthy eating plan with Steve (his request, I figure if I'm doing it for him, I'm going to benefit too), another week and I start my next marathon training. I go back to work tomorrow after 11 days off. I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving break.

So if anybody is out there after my 3 month break, glad you are here!

Running with friends

Saturday was 6 miles. Sheila came over and we drove 7 miles out to meet Steve and run home with him. He ran twice as far as we did. I haven't felt that good running in a long time. It felt good, it was easy and it was fun.

I'm sure I will make up for that in the weeks to come.

I have a young friend who is wanting to run a 5K so I've been searching for them, there are 3 in August for her to pick a weekend she can run her first, I'm kind of excited for her to get to try it out.

It's 14 weeks till Marathon Sunday, so mileage will start increasing dramatically on the weekends. Call me a masochist, but I'm looking forward to it.

Conversations with Whitney

I haven't shared pictures in a while, here's my beautiful girl