200 miles and 2 mountain passes for BETHANY KIDS

It's been a long time since I've blogged but my new adventure of 200 miles and 2 mountain passes is worth sharing! Read on to learn more. . .

I am competing in another race and using this race to raise funds for an organization I am very passionate about. I believe in the mission of Bethany Kids because I witnessed the life-changing impact that this organization has on Kenyan children at two different locations I worked at during my medical missions trip to Kenya in 2014: Kijabe Hosital and Joy Town, a school for kids with physical disabilities. Kijabe helps kids from all over Kenya and Eastern Africa that require complex and expensive medical procedures for hydrocephalus, brain tumors, and spina bifida, etc. Joytown allows kids with similar diagnoses to get an education and learn how to manage their disabilities because they are often neglected in the African culture.  If you followed my previous blogs (May – Sept 2014) last year, you read about Joy Town as I asked friends and family to support this cause while I was training for my Half Ironman 70.3. I was completely blown away when friends and family gave $3000 for this worthy cause!

I am doing some fun triathlons again this year, including some with Athletes in Tandem (competing with individuals of all ages with disabilities). 

But my new exciting adventure is called Wild West Relay (http://www.rltrelays.com/wild-west-relay) -- a 200 mile running race from Fort Collins to Steamboat that goes over two mountain passes. I will be completing this over a 36+ hour period with a 12 person team of close friends that I've met since moving to Fort Collins, CO. Each of us will run 3 different legs of the relay with varying distances and elevation gains. I will personally be running 18.5 miles with a 3,500 ft elevation gain and will be running over one of the mountain passes! We will start at 5am on Friday, July 31st and finish in the afternoon on Saturday, August 1st, which means some of the legs will happen late at night and early in the morning.  I am the team captain and it has been a lot of work to coordinate all the details; we have to carry all of your own food, water, first aid equipment, maps, and safety supplies. It will be a very physically challenging endeavor but my friends and I are very excited for this adventure together!

This past month I received an email from Bethany Kids that alarmed me. Bethany Kids is low on funds and they might have to dramatically limit their services to kids with disabilities in Kenya if they don't raise more support. They need $90,000 of additional funds in order to continue services for kids at Joy Town and Kijabe hopsital. Surgeries are the most significant expense for Bethany Kids and they will have to reduce the number of surgeries if funds don’t come in. The newsletter told about a recent patient named Grace who was found with a brain tumor at the age of 10.  Her family did not have the funds to have the aggressive brain tumor removed but a Bethany Kid surgeon was able to remove it successfully and her latest scan showed no tumor! This is one of the thousands of stories about how Bethany Kids ministers to those in need. There are hundreds of recorded inspirational stories online but I would HIGHLY encourage everyone to watch the two minute video on Joy from Joy Town (http://bethanykids.org/blog/changing-lives-joytown). Watching the video clip brings tears to my eyes! I recognize the locations and I even recognize the patient Joy in the clip and the physiotherapist who is caring for her.

(Little Job at Kijabe hospital for physiotherapy) (finishing therapy at Joy Town with John and he didn't want me to leave!) 

I am writing to ask friends and family to support Grace and Joy and all of the children at Bethany Kids by giving toward every mile of our relay. Would you consider partnering with us? Would you be willing to give a $1 for every mile? Or a quarter? Everything counts! And everything will be used to help change the lives of precious kids in Kenya! Thanks so much for your support of Bethany Kids and the kids it serves.

Please send your checks to 4408 John F Kennedy B302 Fort Collins, CO. Make the check out to Bethany Kids so that all the donations will be tax deductible. Please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions at all (annagreenwalddpt@gmail.com). For more information on the Bethany Kids organization, check out http://bethanykids.org/

He's Home

While being surrounded by my family, seeing my brothers for the first time since Easter since they were both abroad all summer, I had this profound desire to wrap them in my arms and never let them go (I almost envision it as a loving choke hold because it's that strong of a embrace). When I see my dear cousins lose their brother my heart breaks even imagining what that would feel like. I appreciate their honesty in stating how difficult it really is but also always proclaiming the hope that exists for Will and all of us in Jesus. My initial response to this tragedy is to move “home” and never let my family leave my sight. But here's the thing...we can't live life like that. Living at “home” and clinging to my family with the death grip is not my story and it’s not how God has called me to live. When we surrender our lives to Jesus we surrender all of us- our families included. My cousin Caroline, amidst tears, shared her wisdom with me on this. We can hold as tight to the things in this world that bring us security but we can’t stop the brokenness, sin, and death in this world. My family is what I love most in this world .They are incredible and I am so blessed. But they’re still not my home.

Yes, Iowa is a great state and it’s my “home”, and more importantly my family is “home” but those things will never fully satisfy and they are never guaranteed to exist. So what truly is home? It's Heaven. It's where my cousin Will is celebrating right now. It's where I can't wait to join him someday.

In Prodigal God Tim Keller talks about Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son who goes away to find a better life but he is disappointed and longs for home. In the book Tim Keller discusses how if we go back to where we call home we will always be disappointed. “The strong feelings that surround home reveal a deep longing within us for a place that absolutely fits and suits us, where we can find and be our more true selves. Yet there is no real place or family that satisfies these yearnings, yet many arouse them. Here on earth we are always traveling, never arriving. Home always evades us. We were created to live in the Garden of Eden and we don’t. We have been living in a world that’s not our home and we have become subject to disease and death. Though we need love that lasts, all our relationships are subject to the inevitable entropy of time and they crumble in our hands. We have a life-long nostalgia, a longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we’ve been cut off, to be on the inside of some door from which we’ve only seen from outside.”

Will is home. He won. Those of you who knew Will know how competitive he was with his Nichols blood. He beat us to the feast with Jesus and now he experiences true joy with no pain or hurt.

But why are we all hurting so much? Why do our hearts ache? Why are the tears unending? Why is it so hard to return to normal life? Why isn’t the world put on hold so we can mourn? Because we’re not all Home yet.

So what do we do? Just sit here and wait to get to our true Home? No, that’s not what we’re called to do and that’s not what Will did. Will led us well. He was not perfect but he loved his wife and family, worked hard and served others. And because of him others know their true Home and will join him there someday. I praise God that Will is welcomed Home and someday he will welcome all of us there if our lives are in God's hands.

So with heavy hearts we say "Happy 28th Birthday Will".

You, my beloved cousin, are Home.

"For the Christian, death is not the end of an adventure but a doorway from a world where dreams and adventures shrink, to a world where dreams and adventures forever expand."

Randy Alcorn, Heaven

*Rev 21:4 “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain-for the old world has passed away.”*

I encourage everyone to look into the book Prodigal God by Tim Keller or Heaven by Randy Alcorn if you want more information on the Home I refer to. Also, feel free to message me with any questions or read my cousins blogs on their families mourning with Hope (http://nblo.gs/10js9k)

Half Ironman Joy Town Support Raising and Race

I am completely blown away.  My entire Half Ironman experience has been an incredible journey. I am humbled by first of all, God's dream that he gave me to compete and support raise for something that I am so passionate about. And secondly, I am humbled by the support and encouragement of my friends and family.

6 months ago when I landed back in the US from my time in Kenya I had no idea what the Lord had in store for me. I knew I was moving to CO to start my PT job in Ft Collins but I didn’t know how my life in Kenya could ever relate to my life in the US. The worlds felt like polar opposites and it seemed like there were no similiatires between the two. I remember talking to both friends and family about how I could possibly connect the two worlds. What was I supposed to do about the poverty and despair I saw in Kenya? How was I supposed to live changed in the USA when we live in a society that takes almost everything for granted? I started praying that there would be some connection between the two extremes- the life full of hope and new beginnings in CO and the life full of poverty and brokenness in Kenya. 

Exactly 4 months ago I heard of the organization Athletes in Tandem and I was overcome with excitement! I was able to put all of my passions together: both love for individuals wth disabilities and love for the outdoors/exercise. While I was online signing up for one of the many races I've done with them this summer I saw a fundraising tab on the race website. At that moment God put the idea into my head of competing in an event where I could raise support for the kids that I worked with in Kenya at Joy Town, a school/orphanage for kids with disabilities. I am still amazed to this day of how God just gave me a lightbulb moment and told me what I should do. Since then there has only been four blog posts/emails sent out to family and friends. Through those I have been able to raise awareness of the conditions of Joy Town and raise exactly $3,000.00!!!! I personally think that is a lot of money here in the US but it is WAY more money in Kenya.  I emailed the lady who is in charge of the support raising for Bethany Kids (which is in charge of the therapy for the kids at Joy Town) and she was so excited by the donations. I can't wait to hear about (and someday see in person when I return to Kenya) the changes that they are able to make at Joy Town with these donations.

I want to thank all of you for playing a role in supporting me but most importantly for supporting these precious Kenyan kids!  Also, I want to thank everyone for encouraging me and cheering me on with my training and race. The process of training was difficult with being new at all 3 sports, moving to a new city and starting a new job, lots of traveling and some bouts of sickness, but it was an incredible experience to train for something way beyond myself. 

For those of you who are curious about the race...it went well! I feel like it's just an extra bonus on top of the support raising that I was able to compete well. I was able to place 3rd for my age group and top 10 out of 156 total females with a time of 5:35 mins (25 mins faster than my goal time!) It was a pretty tough and long competition. All 3 events were difficult- since I'm not experienced in any of the 3 events all of them had there difficult aspects. One of the toughest parts was especially the bike ride with the last 20 miles being against 20 mph headwind with lots of hill climbing. But the most difficult part was the half marathon run after the bike- every step of the 13.1 miles felt like an eternity in the hot blazing sun! I am so very thankful for my mom, aunt, cousin and 7 Ft Collins friends who traveled far distances with their neon clothing and posters to come cheer me on!

 

 I wanted to share the finish line photo below (taken when I was just getting off the slip n slide at the race finish) and I'm posing next to the poster that says "running, biking, swimming for JOY TOWN" If I look tired in this picture it's because I was ; )

Thanks again to everyone, both near and far. My encouragement to you all is to never doubt the surprises that God has in store for you. I guarantee that He has things planned for you that will completely blow you away.

Joy Town Support Raising- 2 weeks until race time!

This will be my last update on my support raising for my 1/2 IronMan 70.3 mile competition and I will include some details on Joy Town (the location where all the money is going!) and a brief update on my training. 

Memories from Joy Town...

Last Friday when I was back in Iowa City I was able to speak to the University of Iowa physical therapy faculty and students about my trip to Kenya. It was really neat because I got to share with them lots of stories from my experience working at Kijabe hospital and at Joy Town. If at any point you would like to see the powerpoint presentation that I shared with them then please let me know because I’d love to either share it with you in person or if that doesn’t work then I can send you the link to watch the live version. If you want to see the powerpoint that I presented then please feel free to go to this link- there are lots of pictures and videos that are pretty priceless! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1y55b2KCcE1iJoG-y5zOrRrRcf9vOxLDoZCw1sZtawFk/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=5000

I learned a lot about giving aid to 3^rd world countries while in Kenya. I want to share 2 examples that I saw firsthand at Joy Town:

1) There is a wheelchair race course at Joy Town and the kids love the course and have races often since most of the kids there are wheelchair bound. If you look in the background of the picture below you see a stadium seating area…someone generously donated it to Joy Town but they did not have the foresight to make it handicap accessible.  Since the majority of kids at Bethany Kids are in wheelchairs then a large portion of the kids can’t use the stadium to cheer on their peers that are racing.

2)  An organization donated a pool to Joy Town because they thought it would be helpful for the kids to have a pool to do aquatherapy in to help them with their disabilities. Unfortunately, now there is a pool at Joy Town but there aren’t any physiotherapists that are even remotely trained in aquatherapy because that type of therapy doesn’t really exist in Kenya. The kids at Joy Town do get to go occasionally swimming but the upkeep with the pool is extremely expensive and difficult since ~1/5 of the kids do not have bladder/bowel control due to spina bifida and other neurologic disorders.

My point with these stories is not to discourage you to send money to organizations in 3^rd world countries. However, my point is to encourage you to do your research and investigate before you give. I have seen Joy Town with my own eyes and spent a long enough time there to know that the money that you have all donated is going to be used in order to improve the physiotherapy for the kids at Joy Town, which is a huge need.

Support raising- With all of your help I've now been able to raise $1,381.46 for Bethany Kids at Joy Town! Thanks so much to all of you who have helped support me! My goal through the 1/2 IronMan campaign was to raise at least $1,000 to send to Bethany Kids in order that more lives can be changed there. I really hope to raise more support these last two weeks because I can't wait to see the changes that they'll be able to make at Joy Town with all of the donations.

Training- 2 more weeks to go! It’s been a crazy last 1.5 months since I’ve written- unfortunately, I’ve had some sickness which has gotten in the way of my training and I’ve also been doing a lot of traveling back to the Midwest which has also made training difficult. However, I have gotten in a couple of ~60 mile bikes,~8 mile runs which were very difficult and long but they were good to build my confidence for race day. The most exciting part of my training has been that I was able to do a triathlon with Athletes in Tandem. 

The individual with disabilities that I raced with was 19 years old and she had never done any type of race before so I met with her for several times beforehand to make sure that her caretaker and her  felt comfortable with all 3 events and the transitions between them. Her caretaker was nervous how she would respond to 3 completely new things that she hadn’t experienced before but she was a ROCKSTAR. We had so much fun cheering on everyone that we passed during the triathlon…she would typically let out a holler and clap. While doing activities she frequently finds a song that she likes and sings one line over and over again- sometimes it’s Happy Birthday, sometimes it’s Hotel California or another oldies song. She absolutely loved the bike ride because she enjoyed going fast and I guess every day since then she has said “go for bike ride” on repeat because she really wants to go again. I hope to race with her again because I built a great relationship with her, her caregiver and her family through the process and it was an extremely rewarding process!

I am now tapering for race day and I would appreciate prayers for health the next 2 weeks before my race so that I can race both safe and strong and have fun!

To wrap it all up I want to say THANKS AGAIN to all of you for supporting me but more importantly for supporting and loving my Kenyan friends. You have no idea how much it means to me and how much of an impact it will have on them! The next email you will receive from me will be my last in that I will share the total amount raised and I will let you know how the race went!

If you are interested in supporting Bethany Kids at Joy Town the details are below:

I encourage you to support me for every mile of my half ironman race which is 70.3 total miles- 1.2 swim, 56 bike, 13.1 run! I am asking that you choose to donate a certain dollar amount for every mile I complete, 1 quarter would be $18.00, 2 quarters= $35.00, 3 quarters= $53.00, 1 dollar= $70.00. However, if you want to donate any other dollar amount that is fine as well.

If you are interested in donating then please send a check written out to Bethany Kids with Joy Town in the memo and send it to my address at 4408 John F Kennedy B302 Fort Collins, CO.

JOY TOWN- asking for continued support

Like I promised, every month until my big race I am going to share a brief update on my support raising for my 1/2 IronMan 70.3 competition and I will include a story that I witnessed at Joy Town (the location where all the money is going!) and a brief update on my training. The good news is that it has been a GREAT month...both for support raising and for training! 



Memories from Joy Town...

The first time I went to Joy Town there were a lot of things that stood out to me. One of them was the way that physiotherapy is the highlight of the kids' days- all the kids have physio scheduled into their weekly routine and a bunch of them will be scheduled at the same time so they will make the long trek there together. It isn't a very far distance from the school room to the physio room but because all of the kids are physically handicapped and are in wheelchairs or use walkers, it takes a while for them to get there. Also, there aren't a lot of hills around the school property but the grade is steep enough to make it challenging for the kids using wheelchair and assistive devices. What's incredible is the way that the kids form a line and start pushing each other in whatever way possible. The kids with walkers will help push the kids in the wheelchairs and they'll keep helping eachother the whole way, even up the hills, until they reach the physio room. If you want to see the most inspirational type of teamwork then you have to see the way these kids help and support eachother everyday along this commute!

While in the Physio room at Joy Town I realized how blessed we are with the quality of our PT care here. There were at least 12 kids doing physio at one time- a lot of them were propped into an extension position (due to their medial conditions they are in flexion most of the day in their wheelchairs and etc) and coloring, one had actually fallen asleep. Since the school is so poorly funded they only have 4 physios and a couple assistants that are tasked with the job of seeing 300 kids all 2x/week for physio. The staff there are having an incredible impact on the kids and are dramatically changing the kids' abilities to move and function but just imagine how much more they could accomplish if they weren't so understaffed! My dream is that they would be able to staff at least two more physios so that there would be at least a 1 physio to 2 student ratio at all times.

 

 

Support raising- I've now been able to raise $1,019 for Bethany Kids at Joy Town with all of your generous donations! Thanks so much to all of you who have helped support me! My goal through the 1/2 IronMan campaign was to raise at least $1,000 to send to Bethany Kids in order that more lives can be changed there. I can't believe that I've already surpassed that goal within only two months. I really want to continue to raise more and more support because I can't wait to see the changes that they'll be able to make at Joy Town with all of the donations.  Please join me in this mission! 

Training- 2 months down, 2 more to go! I've been continuing to do smaller races with Athletes in Tandem. Every Wednesday night there is a triathlon series at Horsetooth Reservoir (which is the most beautiful part of Fort Collins and only a couple miles from me) so I have been doing that with them. Also, I have been doing some running races as well. It is really difficult to pull athletes on the bike and also to push with the run but I would have to say swimming is the easiest event to complete with them once you get started moving forward. One of the running races the guy that I was pushing (190 lb man- aka HARD WORK!) kept saying "Wo Wo Wo" and his friend told me that means "Go faster" which was an issue because I couldn't run any faster! haha I gave him all I could and we had a lot of fun together!

  I've also been able to complete an olympic distance triathlon (1 mile swim, 27 mile bike, 10k run) It went well and I finished in 2:35- I dropped 8 mins off my time from the first olympic tri I did in Iowa that I won 1st place at but here I got 8 out of 80! The race results show what stiff competition there is in Fort Collins/Boulder/Denver area! I wish I could go back to Iowa and compete at sea level because I know I would place better but I have to remind the competitive side of myself that it's not all about winning ; ) But training has been fun, for the most part, I have gotten caught in a couple rain showers/hail storms on my bike which hasn't been ideal.

Overall though I am honestly getting burnt out by training...it takes a LOT of time to weekly go on 50+ mile bikerides and run 12+. Most people say you need to at least train 15+ hrs a week which adds up and leaves your body feeling exhausted!

 

To wrap it up I want to say THANKS AGAIN to all of you for supporting me but more importantly my Kenyan friends. You have no idea how much it means to me and how much of an impact it will have on them!

 

If you are interested in supporting Bethany Kids at Joy Town the details are below:

 

I encourage you to support me for every mile of my half ironman race which is 70.3 total miles- 1.2 swim, 56 bike, 13.1 run! I am asking that you choose to donate a certain dollar amount for every mile I complete, 1 quarter would be $18.00, 2 quarters= $35.00, 3 quarters= $53.00, 1 dollar= $70.00. However, if you want to donate any other dollar amount that is fine as well.

If you are interested in donating then please send a check written out to Bethany Kids with Joy Town in the memo and send it to my address at 4408 John F Kennedy B302 Fort Collins, CO.

JOY TOWN...something worth donating to

Today I am writing to raise awareness and support for a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. This winter my life was changed when I set foot at JOY TOWN in Nairobi, Kenya where there are 300 kids with physical disabilities who both go to school there and receive rehabilitation for their disabilities. The Salvation Army runs the school at Joy Town but Bethany Kids runs the rehabilitaiton program for the kids and they need the funds to be able to support the rehab services for these kids. The rehabilitation staff is incredibly important in that they teach the kids how to handle their disabilites and they help them achieve their goals of wheeling their own wheelchairs, walking with a walker, being able to self cath so they don't wet themselves, and etc. The kids have all different types of physical disabilities such as spina bifida, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, and etc.

 Here in the US we are so blessed to have government instituted programs that provide therapy for kids with disabilities but in Kenya such a program is not in place. If the 300 kids did not live at Joy Town then they would not receive any therapy and instead they would be shunned and neglected by their community, often either being abandoned or poisoned to death. The kids at Joy Town get to gain an education and reach their physical goals while at the same time learning about how they are loved and created them for a purpose. If you would like to know more about how kids with disabilities are treated in Kenya then I encourage you to read my blog http://annadventur.blogspot.com/2014/03/joy-town.html. It is very moving to read about Francesca's story and to watch it on youtube as well. 

Even though I am back living in the US I want to sponsor all the kids that I interacted with at Joy Town by helping raise the much needed funds for Bethany Kids. Without fundraising efforts the 300 kids would not be receiving the quality rehabilitation care that they both need and deserve. As many of you know, I love training for various races and triathlons and so I have decided that I am going to train for my longest and hardest race yet, the Harvest Moon Half Ironman on September 7, 2014. (http://www.withoutlimits.co/#!harvest-moon-triathlon-duathlon--aqua/c1hxw) Please help me support these precious kiddos by supporting me for every mile of my half ironman race which is 70.3 total miles- 1.2 swim, 56 bike, 13.1 run!  I am asking that you choose to donate a certain dollar amount for every mile I complete, 1 quarter would be $18.00, 2 quarters= $35.00, 3 quarters= $53.00, 1 dollar= $70.00. If you want to donate any other dollar amount that is fine as well. I firmly believe that we are all blessed in order to be a blessing to others so I highly encourage you to support these kids with me. My total goal is to raise $1,000 because the costs to give 300 kids 2 PT sessions a week is very expensive. Bethany Kids runs mainly on donations so anything that you are willing to give would be much appreciated!

If you are interested in donating then please send a check written out to Bethany Kids with Joy Town in the memo and send it to my address at 4408 John F Kennedy B302 Fort Collins, CO.

If you are interested in more information on Bethany Kids then I encourage you to check out their webpage at http://www.bethanykids.org/. There are numerous inspiring stories about the incredible work they are doing to support kids with disabilities in Kenya.

Also, please don't hesitate to contact me via email or phone if you have any questions. I am very passionate about what Bethany Kids is doing to provide therapy for the kids at Joy Town and I would love to talk to people more individually about it!

 

Miles Smiles

Whenever I move to a new place and new people ask me about my family I always respond by saying that my brothers are my life heroes and my best friends. And it’s true. My brothers are my heroes because I learn so much from them in the way that they live their lives. They’re also my best friends because they’re extremely supportive and encouraging. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with 2 amazing brothers!

Today is Miles 23^rd birthday so I want to dedicate this post to him…

I appreciate how Miles is such a great leader. He has always been a leader- whether it was on the highschool football or quizbowl team, or if it was on the Wheaton tennis team, or for the Stars group (organization that he was in charge of at Wheaton for the mentally and physically handicapped.) Miles has a very unique ability to lead his peers and earn their respect with his confidence and humility.

I appreciate how Miles is such a hard worker. Miles has always worked extremely hard in his sports and in school. A good example of this is few years ago we were on a family trip and Miles was preparing for the MCAT so he would take half the day and study even though we were all on the beach playing with the family. That’s the difference between Miles and I…This past family vacation I was studying for my PT licensure exam and I could barely get myself to study because I wanted to be outside with the fam. I just don’t have the same work ethic and drive as him, and honestly I don’t know many people that do. Miles has always worked hard in everything throughout his life.

I appreciate how Miles is a great friend. I remember being at Miles and Emily’s wedding last summer and looking around at all the friends who care about him and appreciate him so much. Miles is someone who would drop anything in order to help out a friend in any way possible. Miles is one of the most loyal guys and I can tell that all of his friends feel that and really appreciate that about him.

I appreciate how Miles loves his family. He is a super busy guy trying to do med school well, be a good husband, and have a social life but yet he always makes time for Vince, my parents and I. He’s always making time to talk to me about life and give me encouragement and support on whatever I need. A good example of his love and sacrifice for his family is that Emily and him drove back to Ames for a less than 24 hr trip with the sole purpose being seeing me after I returned all jetlagged and sick from Kenya and before I moved out to CO the following day.

I appreciate Miles’ marriage with Emily. 1) I appreciate how he chose such an amazing wife because now he has an incredible woman to spend the rest of his life growing and learning with, but more selfishly I have an awesome sister-in-law ; ) 2) I appreciate how he loves and serves his wife. It has been amazing for me to see Miles become such a godly husband who pursues his wife and puts her first. I love seeing how their relationship is focused on Christ and it’s really neat to see a relationship that demonstrates the relationship between Christ and his bride, the church, so well. He lives out what Tim Keller says in The Meaning of Marriage “Marriage was designed to be a reflection of the saving love of God for us in Jesus Christ.”

I appreciate how Miles is devoted to his relationship with God. He has always been so faithful in spending time with the Lord every day. If you’ve seen Miles’ bookshelf before then you can tell that he loves digging into theological books. He is always reading deep Christian material in order to grow and be challenged in his faith.

I appreciate Miles’ hearts for missions. After spending one month in Kenya doing medical missions I’ve realized how much I admire his heart for doing the same because I realized how hard it is. He spent a whole semester in Ecuador apart from Emily (his girlfriend at the time, wife now) volunteering at a mission hospital because that is where his heart is. And now he’s going to Peru all summer to do more research and medical missions. It’s a big deal for him to give up his last summer ever to do that, especially when his wife doesn’t get to be there with him for the first month of it. The strong passion and calling he feels for medical missions is obvious with the amount of sacrifices he’s willing to make in order to serve on these trips.

My heart is full today with gratitude. I am thankful for my brother Miles and I am so proud of him for the man of God he has become.

(The above collage Miles made me for a Christmas gift recently! My favorite pic is the leotard one in the center)