Sweet Sabbath

"To work in accordance with the Sabbath way is to protest by resisting the identity lies and cultural forces that fuel our anxiety, busyness, and distraction. The Sabbath way also invites us to play with life, to experiment and try things out so we can embrace slowness, gratitude, and delight." ~Travis West, 

"The Sabbath Way: Making Room in Your Life for Rest, Connection, and Delight"

My seed order arrived! And the free seed packet Baker Creek sent me is "Alice's Dream". There is no way they could have known our first grandbaby will be named Alice! I'm looking forward to playing and experimenting in the garden this spring and summer so I can "embrace slowness, gratitude, and delight".

 

Turkey Trot

Even before cancer invaded my life, I had been chasing the elusive 5K. In the Solomon Islands or in America, jogging without stopping just felt impossible.

Until now. Once again, I recruited my unstoppable cello student and gym buddy, Evan. His enthusiasm is contagious.

And once again, my family somehow realized how important this race felt. Post-cancer recovery includes physical healing, but this milestone felt emotionally raw as I attempted to finally meet the goal of completing a race without stopping to walk.

My amazing daughters made signs and picked a spot where they could cheer for me both coming and going. I got high fives, too!

The different circles of my community intersected at the race. Former and current orchestra students (something about cellists and running!) braved the chilly morning. I didn't get a picture with Mr. Speedy, the former student who is now a fantastic young man who owns his own business and runs FAST, he won the entire race. And my goal is still to run twice as slowly as he does :)

I also didn't get a picture with Amy, my gym buddy. I didn't know she was running the Turkey Trot until I saw her just in front of me at the beginning of the race. I stayed within sight for the entire race, and with just a few hundred yards to go, I caught up. We chose to run across the finish line together, which seemed appropriate because she has been one of my biggest cheerleaders through cancer and my recovery. 

What a meaningful way to begin a day devoted to thankfulness. To be reminded of the encouraging people God has brought across my path. To meet a goal that I thought I would never, ever conquer. To revel in this fearfully and wonderfully made body that has carried me through so much over the last 50+ years.

April (1st half)

April was an incredibly busy month for our family, but we still tried to start each morning with some Lenten devotional thoughts.

Katherine finished her biology dissections for school.

We soaked and planted beans as soon as we were safe from frost.

The first weekend in April, some old friends, the Havenga family, came for a visit.

John is an extraordinary runner, and when he saw that the 20k trail race "Hoof it for Heifer", held at Petit Jean State Park, was the same weekend as their visit, he signed up.

The morning began very early, Aaron and John left to get John to the race in time,

and Lori and I came later with all the kids. After the race, we enjoyed exploring the Cedar Falls trail and waterfall.

The first weekend in April was also Palm Sunday, and the CBC string quartet played for a worship service in North Little Rock. These guys give so much of their time and energy to serve their community!

The second Sunday in April was Easter, and once again we enjoyed a house full of people.

Sarah came up from Dallas, and Olivia brought several of her friends to celebrate.

The dogwoods bloomed,

The firepit cheered.

And the kitchen hummed with life again as everyone pitched in to help.

We made our traditional Resurrection Cookies.

And even though Hannah and Benjamin needed to stay in Houston,

we enjoyed a sweet Easter celebration with lots of lovely young ladies.

And lots of extended family, too.

Quite different from our Easters in Marulaon Village.

Also different from our Easters in Honiara.

But always celebrating with coconut cake!

Global Running Day

Global Running Day was a big success!

All ages and stages joined in to steward our bodies well.  The youngest participant was four and the oldest was, shall we say, middle-aged.

We finished up our morning's activities with breakfast. My mom's breakfast casserole recipe and sweet fellowship to get our Wednesday started well!

Global Running Day

The first Wednesday in June has been declared Global Running Day.  You can join us in running a virtual race or you can look for a race near you next week to celebrate being good stewards of our bodies.  We're pretty slow around here, especially as we navigate the gravel, the potholes, the humidity and the dogs, but we're all about "slow and steady wins the race" in every area of our lives.

Weekend Wonders - Race Day

For Olivia's PE final this year, we signed up for the Rockin' the Cradle 5K sponsored by Conway Cradle Care.  We've been working to bring our times down little by little since last summer's race. 

 Sometimes seeing progress in any area of our lives can be difficult, but we've found that if we look back over the long haul, God uses the mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical bits and pieces of faithfulness to add up to big change!

This particular race was super small, which meant trophies were abundant, and each member of the Choate family ranked high in his or her category.  One of my favorite things about the race was that a friend from our favorite class at the gym ran along with us.  

She was the fastest woman running that day, so she cheered the rest of us on as we crossed the finish line.  What a beautiful picture of the Body of Christ.

Race Day

Last year, we set a goal of running the Toad Suck 5K together as a family this year.  Part of our "get healthier and stronger" plans for America.

Sarah had freshly arrived back home from college, so she was the hairdresser for the event.  Several orchestra students participated, too:  the high school "orch dorks" who ran.

And this is the talented junior high orchestra crew who participated.  I should note that four of the five of us are cellists.  Just saying.

Aaron's mom also volunteered to run alongside Katherine and scored a personal best in the process!

None of us are speed demons, but we do enjoy races as a way to set personal goals and see growth as we steward the bodies God gave us.

Easter Monday Fun Run

 

 

Unlike previous years, for this year's Easter Monday Fun Run, SITAG only sent four participants.  The moms and some of the kids walked over to the race to be cheerleaders and take pictures.

 

Running up Cemetery Hill ain't for sissies!

One of our colleagues paused for a round of high fives from his kids and wife.

We found our friend Barbara in the midst of the runners as a sweet surprise!

After we watched the runners go by, we walked back to SITAG to wait for our conquering heroes to return.

Finally we saw them down at the bottom of Tanuli ridge on top of which SITAG perches.

Their final obstacle was "Jacob's Ladder", a very long and step flight of stairs along SITAG's border.  Benjamin carried Timmy piggy back all the way up, and the dads showed their stamina by running up the steps to meet their adoring fans.