Our Life in the Yellow Brick House

Tomorrow, thousands of runners will flock to downtown Oklahoma City to take part in the Memorial Marathon. One of them will be Lisa. I don’t know Lisa’s last name and probably never will, but I am praying that she has a wonderful race and that her energy helps inspire those around her tomorrow. I met Lisa a few weeks ago at the Redbud Classic in Oklahoma City. We each lined up somewhere along the 10k starting line with the sun beating down on us. At 2 p.m., we were off. This was my first-ever 10k, and I had been training for it off and on since August. I knew I could complete it because I had run this distance several times on the streets of Stillwater. Running has become part of my routine and every Saturday, Oliver and I head out on a miles-long journey. But this race was different than all those mornings. It was an afternoon, which happened to be the warmest day in a while. Lucky us! I could tell it would be a challenge when I stopped to walk around the 2-mile mark. I ...

A week after we got back from Mexico, Kyle and I ran in our first 5k. Our running journey started in August when I got Kyle to agree to train for a half marathon with me. He had talked me down from a full marathon, and I was convinced that a half would be a piece of cake. Then we went running for the first time. I discovered just how out of shape I am and how much I hate running. Two seconds in and my face is beet read, I'm dripping in sweat and sucking in air like every breath might be my last. I like being good at things so it's been annoying that this doesn't come more naturally to me. It also doesn't help at all that Kyle could run laps around me from day one. Nevertheless, we pressed on with the goal of our 5k in sight. Finally, the big day was here. We met Kim and the rest of the crew in OKC for the Heels for Hope race. Kim has been organizing a team in support of Diane for several years but this was our first time to get to be a part of it, and I am so gl...

Today is a good day. Our running goal this week was to hit 3 miles, and we did it! My time wasn't great because I'm still having to walk a little but I'll take a 12:50 pace for now. So to celebrate this small victory, I thought I'd share some happy memories from the last month. I'm so glad God gives us reminders of how sweet His love is even in the midst of dark days. On July 18, just ten days before her actual birthday, we got together to celebrate Ella's first year on this earth. The party was at a park in Rose Hill, and it turned out to be a great day. The wind was a little strong but that cooled us all down as we watched the kids have a BLAST playing outside. Ella's first birthday really snuck up on me. It doesn't seem possible that she's already a year old and starting to walk! Where did the baby of the family go? She is a pretty sober little girl most of the time, and she makes you earn her giggles and smiles, but she had plenty of those fo...