Volunteering for a year..

Unfortunately, I have no new mileage to report for the past few days. Thursday, I went to go see the Dark Knight – for those of you who haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. Then on Friday, my friend and I headed out to Maryland to look for apartments for her. She will be going to Loyola College in September in order to get her degree in Montessori teaching. Right now I am typing this blog post from my car as we try to drive straight through to IL.

Alright, so for my big news, I have decided to volunteer with the Christian Appalachian Project in September. I will be moving to Kentucky and volunteering in their Family Advocacy Program for one year. So, I gave my notice at my office on Wednesday and my last day at work will be August 20^th. I then will take a week and half to move my stuff to storage, say good bye to family and friends and head down to Rockcastle County in KY. I will be in Rockcastle for a month and then I will move to McCreary County for the rest of my service year.

I am excited and nervous to be doing this. Volunteering is something I have wanted to do since I started college and finally I am fulfilling a life long dream; however, I am nervous because it means not having a stable income and being far from all that is familiar to me. However, even though I am very nervous, God is providing me a sense of peace that this is the right thing for me. So let the countdown begin…..42 days until I go.

Decisions

Today’s run = 5.5 miles

Decisions. We all have to make them, some of us several times a day – what do I eat for dinner?, what do I wear?, should I go for a run this morning or sleep in?. Thousands of decisions get slammed at us – at me each day. Many of these decisions I make without even thinking about it. Do I eat eggs or toast? Do I walk or drive? But then there are those decisions that we sit with for hours, days, weeks, months, years – I am actually encountering one such decision in my life. While this decision should be fairly easy to make, I have been waiting for months to officialy say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Why? God has given me all the signs, I feel it inside, I know what I must do…but I wait. Wait for confirmation, wait for more signs, who knows, but I keep waiting.

Well today, I am waiting no longer. I am so tired of weighing the pros and cons of this decision and going back and forth with it, that I just need to officially declare the ‘yes’ or the ‘no’. So, I have made the call, sent the email, and declared my ‘YES’ to this decision. Let the waves of peace wash over me.

I know what you all are thinking – what did you decide on? Unfortunately, I can’t reveal that just yet, but in a few short days, I will be sharing it with everyone. Just hang in there!

A Great Run

Today’s run = 6.5 miles

Today, I went out for an unplanned 6.5 mile run. I was actually planning not to run today and to take it easy, but when I got home after meeting a friend for coffee, I just had the urge to go out and run. I love those days were you just run to run – you don’t run for miles, for time, for PR, none of that – you just RUN! And those usually end up being some of my best runs. Today was no exception – I felt strong, smooth, light, fast, everything lined up just perfectly. I probably won’t have another run like that for awhile, but when I do, I am sure it is going to feel great, just like the one today.