Sacrifice

Cary would say his marathon of a season for sacrifice began April 23, 2005 (our wedding day).

We were driving to our flip house this morning for some serious yard work and I just thought to myself "what has happened to my life?" Cary is putting in some incredible hours to cleaning up/renovating a condo which was left a disaster after some tenants left quickly. We have a flip house we are trying to finish but it seems to be going at snail speed. I have a job site and clients who haunt me in my sleep and take hours of my Saturday. Then there is marathon training and work. I feel like I don't even have time to clean my own house! I dream of the day when I can have lunch with some girlfriends, go shopping and feel care free. Yes, everything we are working on is temporary. There will be a day when we can reap the benefits of all this hard work, but until then, tis the season for sacrifice.

Hormones

Tonight after dinner (and 2 glasses of wine), Cary told me he wanted to go for a run and get it out of the way so he can start working earlier tomorrow. I burst out into tears. I'm talking the uncontrollable sobbing, cant catch your breath, definite tear duct over processing tears. Yes, it's 8:00 at night and I am worried about him, but I also know that the Lord has to be the one to take care of him. So I have his cell phone b/c he took mine on his run. The sobbing has to be an indicator of some crazy hormones. I would just find it hard to believe that 2 glasses of wine could produce such an emotional reaction....

Reflection

Yesterday I felt like a failure. But today I realized that there are times in life when you feel like a failure but the Holy Spirit is working in you and in those around you. So how is that failure?

Living Proof Ministries Blog

"Hard times come and go, hormones rise and fall. But when the foundation of daily surrender and the filling of the Spirit are there, getting through the day is a lot easier and more enjoyable."

The Week In Review

We had so much fun last week hanging out with our friends in the Outer Banks of NC. Some of the highlights include:

• Staying in the guest house
• Biking with Courtney before Cary woke up
• Margaritas almost every night (soo yummy)
• Brownie bites after lunch almost every day
• Ice cream Sundays almost every night
• Pride & Prejudice in the theatre room
• Playing with the kids in the sand (and water if it was no deeper than my calves)
• Talking to Rebekah about her daily school routine
• Carrying Bailey and Mason
• Watching Jacob sign “drink” to Chari
• Countless fantastic conversations with the girls
• Lots of laughs

Beach Pictures

As promised...

A view from our balcony

All the girls, with the exception of Stacie Eagan.

Bailey liked to play with her baby stroller by the pool. On a couple of occasions we found the stroller in the bottom of the pool. At least it was the stroller and not Bailey! How cute is she?!

Bailey loved jumping into the pool as long as Pat or Cary caught her.

Brian, Mike and Michelle worked so hard on this sea turtle. I think it turned out pretty good. Funny thing is, the turtle was in tact the next day we hit the beach.

It’s quickly becoming a tradition to take the kids for a go-cart ride one night and then get some ice cream...

I really think Rebekah is in love with Cary and to be honest, I can see why.

Last year Joshua was a bit intimidated on the go cart, but not this year… he did so well and had fun.

Courtney and Bailey while everyone else was on the go-carts.

Ice Cream Social

Some pictures of us chowing down on some delicious ice cream after the go-cart ride.

Courtney and Bailey sharing ice cream.

EJ, what else can I say? By the way....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Classic Brian...

Chari and Jacob

The kids...

Back to work

A few thoughts from the day already...

7:15 (brushing my teeth) "....Oh Crap! I forgot to post those vacation pictures. Hey, where is my camera...."

8:30 "...Man I love Starbucks....Hmm, 'The most important thing in life is to stop saying 'I wish' and start saying 'I will.' Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities." The quote from David Copperfield on my non-fat vanilla latte from breakfast.

8:45 (filling my gas tank and listening to a new CD) "Sweetie really does love me" (remembering finding the new Kenny Chesney CD under my pillow last night while crawling into bed).

"....I can't belive I'm actually looking forward to going to work! How long will this last?..."

9:55 (sitting at my desk listening to more of this fantastic CD) "....is it really almost 10 AM and I still haven't done anything really productive?"

Off to get some real work done. I promise I'll post the pictures....

Home Sweet Home

We are officially back. Arriving last night from Greensboro, NC and man was it glorious to sleep in my own bed. I am sad that we have to get back into the groove of working tomorrow. I'm even more sad that I wont see our friends from the beach for a while. I will download the few pictures I have and post them later today. Until then we have lots of cleaning, grocery shopping and errands to run. Thank goodness Cary had the foresight to get us home last night so we have the whole day to switch from vacation mode to life mode.

Bit It

What a day! Almost too tired to type this post but I'll do it anyway...

The run went surprisingly well. Several girls ran together and our pace was faster than usual. I would guess that's probably why our legs and feet felt like they were going to fall off around mile 10. I was so ready to have that task checked off my list at mile marker 10. The biggest story of the day was when I bit it on the run. Coincidentally enough, somewhere about mile 4 or 5 I thought to myself (and was about to say it out loud but didn't for some reason), "Man it's about time someone took a tumble. Last year this time several folks on the team bit it. I don't think I've seen any skinned knees once yet this year." Well, well, well....about 1/10 of a mile away from the finish line I was forcing myself to continue to run the last hill. A couple of ladies behind me decided to quit walking and talking and to "finish strong." Normally I would cheer myself on to not letting them pass me, today I could have cared less. No more than one minute after they had decided to conquer the hill, did my right foot decide to get a bit too lazy and down skidding on the concrete bridge I went. The seconds I was down felt like eternity. I thought "oh my gosh, I'm actually skidding...Hmm now this is interesting. Not fun, but interesting. Lord don't let me break anything!" The hill conqueres decided to rush over to me (like 2 feet) and check if I was okay. Immediately I had to recover and act all sportsman like, so what did I do? Jump up and firmly announce "I'M OKAY, I'M OKAY, I'M OKAY....LET'S GET THIS THING DONE!" Off I went down the hill and paying a little more attention, round the corner and through the finish parking lot. Thank God that is over and I survived....Now I'm going to bed!!

A quick shot of my knees. Nothing too exciting. My hands seem to be more painful, but then again my hands come in contact with a lot more pressure and objects than my knees. For some reason the camera didn't want to take a good picture of my scared hands....maybe that's a good thing.

15 miles

That's the distance I'll be running with in the hour. I guess I slept o.k. last night but would have much rather slept past 6:00 on a Saturday morning. When I get up for marathon training my first task is to make a PB & J then sit down at the computer and look at the route. Here is the link to our route today

http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=160680

Good Lord this is long! I don't remember dreading 15 miles last year.....

Once that is done (and I can walk again), Cary and I will be doing lots of errands and project which need completed before we head off on vacation. One of those errands will be putting some time in at a work jobsite and rental property jobsite (even more fun than running 15 miles). I just need to focus on the fact that tonight I'll be eating Mexican food with a Jumbo Margarita and then we are off to the beach. Good times are soon to come....

Charlie Brown

These are my grandparents; "Grandpap and Grandma Brown" as they are known in the family. They live in Daytona Beach Florida. As a child I grew up spending weeks of summer vacation and spring break visiting. I will never forget running into the ocean with my grandpap and we would watch for the waves. As soon as one came upon us he would lift me sky high in the air so as to keep me safe. I would laugh so hard and squeal with excitement every single time. My grandpap was and is one of my favorite people. I still experience the same joy and excitement when I talk to him today. Every once and a while I get the urge to call and check in on him. When he answers the phone I always say "Hi Grandpap! It's Leah!!" As soon as I hear the shear excitement in his voice from my phone call he makes my heart soar. I have yet to find someone on this earth that can make me feel so loved and adored. In that moment, it's as if he was lifting my heart out of the mud of daily life and letting my heart soar in a clear, sunny sky. I just absolutely adore him.

Prayer is definitely a part of every conversation. He is the prayer warrior of our family and that is a God given gift. When Grandpap prays, the earth shakes and tears fill my eyes. I am so blessed to have a grandparent who prays for me daily and I know that God listens. What in the world would I do with out my Charlie Brown? Thankfully, I don't have to know the answer to that question. For now I will just enjoy every precious moment I have with him and thank God for his life and his love which makes my heart soar.

Lord Help Me!

This has been my prayer when the sun rises and when it sets. He has shown me that I have control over nothing but myself and my attitude. Every single day I face a mountain of negativity from others around me and from within myself. And in the midst of it all I seek Gods guidance and direction. He is faithful to bring me to the end of each day and no matter how tired and emotionally drained I might be, I continue to pray for His peace and acceptance. Through it all I must be diligent with every single task I am given. I must make the conscious decision to believe that His will is prevailing. And then He blesses me with glimpses into the life of friends, those who are experiencing the first day of school with all the joy, excitement and a different sense of anxiety. Another way the Lord leads people to trust Him. So tonight I go to bed with my heart full of love for the families who have embarked on new journeys with school, a tired body from a long day of work and a hope that tomorrow God will show himself faithful one more time.

Stress Free

8:30 Sunday morning Amos began barking and there was Chad, ready to cut down some dead trees. We've been waiting almost a year for the right time to cut down several trees in our side yard. Every storm this summer brought an added stress and the thought "Oh Lord, will one of the trees fall on the house?" Thankfully we can now live tree stress free!

Chad attached the rope to the tree and our Explorer and Cary just drove off while the tree came down into the driveway. Very cool, and loud!

The final product.