marathon recap

About three years ago I started to run for a workout. Harkening back to my high school days, I was pleased to make it two miles without stopping, and thrilled to cover anything over three miles. After a few months of my new routine, the thought of running a marathon crossed my mind (this usually happened while I was running down a hill). I would chuckle to myself, but then think about all the people I know who have completed one...maybe it was possible.

This thought process continued for the following 2.5 years.

Then, when we moved to the 'burbs, I increased my run slowly but surely...all the way up to 4 miles!

With the flexibility of my schedule, my lack of significant (local) friendships, and my looming physical decay (read: 24th birthday), the marathon kept popping into my mind as a possibility. Someday. Maybe.

Well, I got a (sucky) job shortly after the move which required a lot of work hours--kicking the idea of a big 26.2 to the curb. 

Through some pretty awesome providence, I was able to quit that job and transition into a (better) work situation that was more flexible, less hours, and actually relating to my field of study (thank you, Jesus). And right around the same time, my sister-in-law announced that she was running the Go!St.Louis Marathon on April 10.

Well, add one more person to the list of "if they can do I probably could too!" 

And the rest (freezing cold training runs, many sore muscles, taste testing Gu flavors, etc) is history.

We left for STL on Friday in our swanky rental car, and arrived that evening. On Saturday we had a great breakfast with above-mentioned sister-in-law and her bf, then she and I hit up the expo. What a crazy thing! A few delicious meals and one anxiety-filled sleep later, we were at the starting line.

It was 70deg at the starting line, already 20deg above any of my training runs, but I was feeling optimistic anyway! I had a time goal, and was fairly on track until about half way, after running more hills in 3 miles than I had in 24 weeks of training...ugh. I won't go into all the details, but let's just say, it was a really hot really "ouwie" day for a 26.2 mile run. I had some back spasms, and near calf cramps, and eventually gave in and alternated running and walking a good distance of the second half. After about mile 16 I realized my time goal was as good as dirt, and aimed to finish the darn thing.

AND FINALLY IT CAME!

my parents traveled all the way down from W.Mich to cheer me on and run with me for a brief while, just when I really needed it. What can I say--they're the best.
(My in-laws are clearly awesome, too.
They were there for the whole thing, just not according to our camera)

And here is a happy picture, after I realized I was not going to spontaneously combust.

What a crazy thing to do! 

My brother (who I don't believe has ever run recreationally) warned me that marathons are like crack: "once you start you can never stop." I doubted him right up until the moment I woke up this morning when all I wanted to do was go at it again!

Judging by all the middle-aged people on the course, I'd say I have a few more years of functioning limbs, lungs, and heart to try again and maybe reach my time goal. Maybe.

a hilly leg of the journey

Dear Mr. Johnson, you are now officially tied with my parents for my biggest fan in the world. Thanks for making sure I had enough water and food last week, standing in the blazing sun for five hours to watch me run/walk, and letting me sleep on the comfortable side of the bed last night. Dear Enterprise, even though the whole purpose of us renting a car was to save money on gas, we enjoyed the free upgrade to the ultra-comfortable riding brand new taurus--I've always had a little place in my heart for Ford. Dear Sister-in-Law, thanks for inspiring me to Go! and for your enthusiasm for the last few months. Dear Better Half, one major event (Easter travels) to go between now and the end of this semester. We can do it!


Love,
Christy

following footsteps

A few months ago I started following a fantastic blog: Today's Letters.

The format and content of TL is short, funny, quirky, short, affectionate, positive, short...did I say short?
Well, in all seriousness, the way the authors use their blog to write short letters to each other has inspired me to celebrate life, marriage, family, friendship, and smaller things like music and food. Another bonus, I feel like I can write a blog in this style!

 It's been many moons since updating--partly because of how intimidating it is to update our lives in semi-interesting ways, partly because we've both been kind of depressed with life! BUT, I am going to try a new approach--thanks to Today's Letters.

I'm not quite sure what the plagiarizing rules are here, so maybe the Johnson's blog should be called something like..."From the desk of Mr. & Mrs. Johnson"


Dear Mr. Johnson, last night our ultimate frisbee team lost and you were disappointed, but I know that you are an ultimate stud. Dear Churches Looking for a Youth Pastor, you may or may not have gotten an e-mail from us last night--I know Mr. Johnson is a stud, but he is not too good to be true; I promise! Dear Marathon Cheerleading Section, thanks for all the encouragement you and you and you send me regularly! Dear Better Half, you let me take a nap last night while you made spaghetti dinner, and then were patient with me when I couldn't fall asleep because of that nap. In two words: thank you.


Sincerely, 
Mrs. Johnson

the rear-view mirror

It seems fitting to reflect on the old year past and the new year coming.




If we were being honest, we would say that the last year (particularly the last six months) has been a disappointing struggle. It started with missing some job opportunities in Grand Rapids. Then the cloudy decision to pursue grad school. Once we decided to move for school, there was disappointment after disappointment as Andrew searched for ministry jobs, which inevitably leads to questioning vocational calling. Our lack of a church home leads to isolation and anonymity.


If we were being honest, we would also say that the last year has been filled with the blessings of relationships. We were surrounded by good friends in our apartment complex in Grand Rapids throughout the summer--good nights of shared meals and playing games. We went on vacations with both of our families. I saw my best friend four times over the last year. We visited friends in N.C. and spent time in Iowa and Michigan over the holidays. Several friends have come to visit us here in the windy city and we have also been blessed by my uncle's family who lives nearby. My classmates are wonderful, friendly and fun; we've enjoyed playing games and having meals with them too.


Over the past few months, though, we have been most blessed by each other. When we were packing up our GR apartments, I realized how relieved I was to be making this transition with Andrew. Our lack of good friends in our daily life has definitely challenged in our relationship, because we are really the only people we see on a regular basis, but overall we have drawn closer to each other and are even enjoying each other more!


It's crazy that we are already preparing the next stage of life. I will be finished with my studies (at least the work I need to do on campus) in May, and so we are hoping to relocate this summer sometime to a place where Andrew can be in church ministry in a healthy and supportive church. I will finish my MA work through distance correspondence--after my last intenstive class in July, I will only have 2 classes left!

almost a third down the road

We had a wonderful week of Thanksgiving spending a lot of time with friends and family. Our celebration kicked off a week early when we travelled up to GR for a housewarming party of friends who just bought their first house the weekend before Thanksgiving. We spent the weekend with friends and I had some good time with my siblings. Another couple of good friends also just bought a house so we got to tour that also (from the outside, with a flashlight, around 1:00am). Andrew stayed up in GR while I came back down to the windy city for class and some group project work the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Once that was finished, I made a beeline back up to W.Mich and spent some time in Holland on Tuesday and Wednesday. Andrew came down on Wednesday and we spent more time with the siblings and made it to a service at the church where we used to work. Also snuck in a showing of the newest Harry Potter movie...we were not disappointed.

Our Thanksgiving Day was jampacked with family activities. First church with my family in Holland, then noon-time dinner with my Grandpa's extended family, then another meal with Andrew's extended family. We were blessed to be able to see so much family in such a short period of time, but were definitely exhausted.

The rest of our weekend was spent celebrating the wedding of two good friends. Andrew was a groomsman and I accompanied the service. It was a beautiful, joyful night of dancing and laughter with good friends.

Unfortunately, times like that never seem to last long enough! We headed back down to Chicagoland with a few tears in our eyes and have been readjusting for the last several days. My transition back to "real life" has been (and will continue to be) rocky, since I have approximately 55 pages to write in the next ten days. It's going to take some major discipline on my part.

We're already looking forward to joining our families and friends in a few short weeks to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, but I am trying to keep myself focused on Christ's advent this season instead of idolizing friends and family. When I find myself longing for that fellowship again, I am reminded to anticipate more the celebration of Christ's coming to earth.

With prayers of Thanksgiving for you all,
ACJ

Three Months Down the Road

The last several weeks have been both busy and quiet for us.

At the end of October, I left my job with the non-profit working in Europe for a job on campus at Wheaton.  Even though my old job was a blessing to have, it was not a great fit as far as my strengths, passions and convictions about ministry. The hours were also too intense for me to stay on top of school and other responsibilities.

This job on campus popped up right when I was starting to feel like I should seriously think about leaving my old job. In the course of three days I had interviewed on campus, been offered the new job, quit my old job and started the new one. It was an interesting experience, since I've never actually quit somewhere before...they were very gracious and let me go without any fuss.

My new job is a part of the Student Development office and I work with students who are on chapel probation (meaning they aren't meeting the attendance requirements for chapel). I am so thankful to be there because it means that I get to sit down with students, hear about their lives and their thoughts on chapel. I am not a proponent of mandatory chapel, myself, but it is still very interesting to hear what students view to be the purpose of chapel, what their experiences have been with the attendance policy and how that affects their whole campus experience. My meetings with students would be a great base for a research project...hm...I just might have one of those due at the end of my program :)

In the past few weeks we've made a trip to Iowa and had many guests here in Lombard. On Halloween weekend we went to Iowa for the Hawkeye football game against MSU. It turned out to be a blowout, but we had a good time anyway. We were also able to see some extended family and friends and enjoyed time at home with Andrew's parents. Then, the following weekend, my sister and mom came down to go to a Taize worship service in a suburb closer to the city. Just this past weekend, friends came in for the Iowa football game at Northwestern, which was a major disappointment and frustration.

Andrew is heading to Michigan this weekend for a bachelor party. He's standing up for a very good friend over Thanksgiving weekend and I'm playing the piano for the same wedding. We're really looking forward to seeing friends and family up in Michigan over the holiday.

In other news, I've started training for the St. Louis marathon in April. My sister-in-law is running it also. I've been thinking about a marathon for a few months now, and when my job change happened, I knew I would have more time to devote to training. It will be a huge challenge, but I am very excited to push myself to reach the finish line!

quickly

We've gotten ourselves into a routine lately.

I am working about 20 hours at a small non-profit organization that works to support evangelical leaders in Europe. School is getting very busy with group projects, large papers and presentations.

Andrew is still searching for a job...pray for encouragement. We've attended a local anglican church for a few weeks now and will probably continue going there.

It's football season and we are enjoying watching the Hawkeyes play...except during painful losses. We're headed to Iowa City next weekend for the MSU game.