The Sun'll Come Out

I know I'm just repeating the choruses of everyone in Middle Tennessee's praises for the weather the last couple of days, but it's been awesome. For serious. There's nothing that lifts the gloom of rainy outside in the world and rainy inside the heart kinds of days like the sun.

Last week was hard for me, in a lot of ways. And hard for Cliff, too, as both a catalyst and a companion through some difficult challenges. But we're surviving, and we're thankful for God's provision of warmth and sunlight to remind us that there are reasons for both rainy and sunny days.

The weather got us out on Saturday, cruising around Franklin on our nine-mile training run. I'm running a lot less and walking a lot more on these long runs, I must admit. I started to figure out that I run only a little faster (13 min/mile) than I walk (14:30/mile) when I go long distances and walking saves my knees a whole lot of pain. But even mixing up nine miles can hurt. We're still sore, but it's the good kind. That, mixed with my new dance yoga routine courtesy of a recently purchased workout video, has me recognizing feeling in muscles that have probably never been worked out... ever.

Sunday was class and church, which were both really great, and then a quick lunch at home and paddling the Harpeth. We decided after trips all over the place, we might as well check out the portion of the Harpeth practically in our backyard. So we did, and it was nice. We put in across from the Franklin Country Club and went 4.7 miles to the Williamson County Rec Center. Lucky for us, we had our first experience portaging, as we came upon an unfortunate discovery on the river close to Pinkerton Park. If Cliff has ever had a fantasy of seeing me mud wrestle, it came true on Sunday. I ended up hip deep (only on my left leg) in the mud as we struggled to get out of our kayaks and up a slippery slope - it was me against nature. We laughed it off, though, and quickly found our way to the other side of the bridge, rinsed off in the cold water, and continued on our way. We saw Canadian geese, a great blue heron that led us all the way down the river, a bunch of kingfishers, and even a huge beaver that just eyed us from the bank. There was so much evidence, though, of the damage the growth in our area has done to the river. I only hope we can work to continue to preserve such a great addition to the landscape and enrichment of our area.

So we're back at it again, Cliff hard at work and me hard at preparing for what's next. I have my last class of my masters career this weekend which will involve a presentation of our group marketing plan, and then in two and a half weeks, that marketing plan, along with my Practicum binder and paper are due. And then that's it. I'll be done with grad school and will graduate two weeks later. ...crazy.

Please continue to pray for me, if you are already, as I prepare for what's next. There's been some changes in my perspective lately, and with Cliff's leadership and the wisdom of a close mentor, I'm re-evaluating my heart and the motivations I've had through this whole job search process. I'll probably have more to write on that later, but God's still dealing with me and I'm okay with that.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!