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.