Curve balls

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a curve ball - literally or figuratively?

You think things are going to happen one way and they end up turning out differently?

It seems to happen around here all the time. It happened this week. Mark and I lost a good friend the other day. This is one of the worst kinds of curve balls. He wasn't a friend we saw every day or even every week. He is someone we met a while back through one of our race events. It was our 2nd race event that we had ever directed. We were still quite new at the whole thing. I remember it clearly:

The race was going well. We were directing a 5k walk/run and half marathon. We were very excited. Outside of a few hitches, it was turning out to look like a successful event. The 5k was wrapping up, the winner of the 1/2 had come across the line and here came #2 and #3, running fast and strong. It was a beautiful day - hot, but beautiful. 2 and 3 come across the line and I instantly know something is wrong. They are frowning and fussing. Something went wrong out on the course. We didn't know what exactly went wrong and who was to blame. At the same time, there was a problem with the 5k race results and people were getting antsy to find out how they placed. We were at a loss and did not know what to do. We were on the brink of having to deal with a lot of frustrated people and no one really knew what was going on with either situation.

In steps Richard. Come to find out, Richard, who had volunteered to help out at the start and finish, knew exactly what to do. Unbeknownst to us, he had the very race experience that we needed at that moment. He got to work and helped us figure out just what was going on with the race results and was able to deal with the aftermath of a 5k (it can be quite hectic!). He worked tirelessly that day to guide us and help us through a very frustrating experience. From that moment on, Richard became part of our race team as well as our friend.

We worked together to put on 2 more successful races. We were just about to start the final stretch for our next event in October and received the sad news that Richard had passed away. Richard was always ready with a smile, a laugh, a word of encouragement and always the truth. I will miss him.

There are some people in this world you may not see often, but are always blessed when you do. Richard was one of those people. I will be forever grateful for his willingness to step in and help. I will forever cherish his encouragement and belief in what Mark and I are trying to do with Marathon Makeover. Thank you, Richard. Your life blessed mine and I am a better person for knowing you. Thank you, God, for Richard.

Time passes and we don't do or say the things that really matter. Then we get one of those curve balls and it reminds us what is truly important in life. People don't know if you don't tell them. I told Richard "thanks" many times. I just wish I could tell him one more time.

They're gone...and so am I!

Well, it is done. Both girls are off to college, are getting settled in and have started classes. Within the span of a week, we moved both girls to two separate campuses and said good-bye. It was definitely a bittersweet experience. I know they are ready and it is time, but I still marvel at how fast the time passed. At times during these past 18 years, it seemed that I would always be running after them, always have a mess to clean up and never have any time to myself. While I do still have a child at home, I do not have 3 at home, which is a HUGE difference. I have never had 1 child at home. NEVER. I was blessed with 2 the first time, so we have always been a group.

It is quiet now. Quiet. Hmmm.....I'm not sure that I like it. I like times of quiet, but I also like a houseful of people. I guess I'll get both now - just more quiet than full for most of the time. I can deal with that.

I said they are gone, but the really good news ;-) is that I am, too! I am back out on the road running. I have had to sit out for the last couple of months due to some tendonitis in my foot that just refused to go away. It feels good to be back out there. I have needed it. Nothing replaces the feel of running. There's something about being out there on the pavement in the open air.

I am still working on becoming more regular with this blogging thing. I am never sure which direction to take. So, I am going to start blogging most days about life and the many turns it is taking. Hopefully, whoever might read this will enjoy, relate to and possibly find some encouragement in it. We are, after all, in this thing called life together.

:-)

Until next time, or should I say "tomorrow",

Robin

Sunrise, sunset...

So, can someone please tell me where the time has gone?

As I look around my house I see piles and stacks of stuff. Sheets, towels, pictures, bookbags, mirrors, lamps, all of the "stuff" that is ESSENTIAL in making a dorm room a home. As usual for us, it is x2! When you have twins, you grow accustomed to multiplying everything times 2. Preparing for college is no different. We buy twice as much of everything and we say goodbye to twice as many.

I know they are ready. It is time. I have wondered for the last 12 months if I have prepared them properly. I wondered if I had taught them everything they need to know. The answer, I have discovered, is "No.". The worry of what will happen to them when they are gone has been replaced with the knowledge and peace that I have done all that I could, the best way I knew how and now it is their turn. It is their turn to get out there and see what's what. There are just some things they will have to learn on their own, in their own time. From the time they were born (and before) I have prayed wisdom for them. I will trust in those prayers and, more specifically in the One who answers those prayers.

People ask me all of the time, "How are you going to manage letting them go?". Well, I suppose I will manage it like you manage a disappearing rope, gradually slipping through your fingers. I'll hold on just enough to know it's there for as long as I can and when it is gone, I'll be thankful for the time the Lord entrusted to me the task of holding tight and hope against all hope that I fulfilled my purpose.

All the while I'm feeling this rope slipping away, I am looking towards new days. I look forward to the visits, the phone calls, watching them grow into who they will be and all of the fun we are yet to have together.

Just another season...