13.1 Miles in 3:02:36 (unofficially)

Our ears hear them. Our mouths speak them. Our eyes read them. Our hands write them. All on a daily basis. Yet how often do we stop and think about the blots of ink and the sound waves that we are barraged with or that we spew out every day. Occasionally through the inundation something sticks in our mind: indelibly imprinted for years to come.
In an instant our lives can be changed by them.
It’s cancer. The node was positive for Hodgkins Lymphoma
– Dr. Cathcart after all the tests had come back.
Our minds soften their message with repetition. It seems that the things we hear the most from the loved ones closest to us often times lose their value. Words I hear from my husband on a regular basis become commonplace and I mistakenly take them for granted. Then the same words spoken by someone else can stick in my mind forever.
You’re beautiful.
– Karla, friend at camp just seconds after I had finished shaving my head, relinquishing what was left of my hair to chemotherapy in hopes to save my self from the emotional despair of losing my hair.
Our spirits are comforted by them. In times of trouble, our souls are placated by the words of others. Our troubled beings reaching out for something in our surroundings to let us know that we’re not alone in our trials.
I’m with you.
– On the back of countless photos I received during chemotherapy from friends far and near and friends of friends whom I’d never met.
Our hearts believe them. And not only do we believe the words we speak or read, but the words uttered by others. Heard and unheard. While I will never know the words uttered to Most High on my behalf in my heart I believed.
We’re praying for you.
– Innumerable friends after I was diagnosed.
Our souls find hope in them. Be it words from the airplane pilot that we will land early or from the weather forecaster that sunny days are on the way. In a time surrounded with much violence and turmoil in the world, I cling to hope.
The CT scan was clear. No enlarged nodes.
– Dr. Cathcart, (after only 2 cycles of chemotherapy when 4 were originally prescribed.)
Our minds contemplate them. A clip on the news, a sermon, a comment by a friend. Every day in passing something will catch our ear that will make us think, to question to meditate or ponder.
The only reason I can think of as to why I had cancer was to glorify God through it all.
–Friend in Durango and fellow cancer survivor who was our hostess when I was diagnosed.
Our lives are guided by them. Decisions we make often are weighed against the words of others as we seek counsel or brainstorming. Once spoken or written our words serve as a source of accountability that we will complete that which we have set ourselves out to do.
Sara has her eye on completing a half marathon in March in Kaitaia, New Zealand
– our Christmas letter 2005
Future Stop: Rock n’ Roll Marathon – Phoenix, AZ – 13 January 2007 to support Leukemia Lymphoma Society. More on that later this year!