Six more months until Kaden is FOUR! I got a coupon in the mail to celebrate Kaden's half birthday with some free ice cream. (Well, free as in buy one get one free... tricky tricky. hahah!) I can't believe Kaden is three and half. It seriously seems like yesterday I was just pregnant with him. He's SO funny at this age... learning how to joke around, be silly and make us laugh! He's loving school. I think he would go every day if we let him. He enjoys playing with his new "best friends" and learning about everything in sight. I love watching his little mind process the world.... everything is still a race and has to involve his cars in some manner. He loves races...
So, this last weekend we went into downtown to cheer on the Portland Marathon runners. We had some friends and family running the race. Last year Joel and some other friends ran it and so it's very near and dear to our hearts now. It's such a beautiful thing... it's not just a run. There's a lot of stories of hope and challenge and perseverance in the people running it. There's old, young, man, woman, and every race & ethnicity. I think the part that gets me every time is that every runner has a running bib with a number and their name printed on it. Strangers are calling out names, cheering for each individual. How important names are. It gives the runners a boost of energy... it gives them some sense of hope to be called by name. How awesome names are to us. And how much God calls us each by name. How we knows us inside and out, more than we know ourselves. When he calls our names we run a little harder, we go a little farther, we are stretched and grow. He knows we are capable of more. Even at the 26 mile marker when the end is in sight... we start to fade a little but that extra personal touch allows us runners to know that the end is near...to run the race to finish strong. We need help in running the race, the most trained runner still needs a community behind them cheering and loving them through the run. There was even a few people at mile 26 being held up by family and friends to finish the race. Sometimes we have nothing left to give, and God brings people alongside of us to carry us through the rough times... the hard parts of life. That this isn't meant to be done alone. Congrats to our friends and family that ran the marathon this last week... I saw that glimmer in Joel's eyes... I think he might attempt another marathon in his life. Maybe when we are done having kids we will run the next one together.
