Commonplace.

I bought more books today.

Shame on me.

Perhaps I should change the title of this blog from The Adventurist to Compulsive Book Buyer Extraordinaire.

I'm currently in Eugene, Oregon. I ran a half marathon this morning. And now I'm rewarding my body for all it's hard work by slapping it around with some caffeine. You guessed it, here I sit, in another lovely coffee shop. Allann Bros. On West 5th Ave.

The feelings in my heart are mixed up and scattered all over the table. I'm sitting, sorting, collecting them up and cherishing them because they're really just too good. One of my dearest friends, Rachel Myers, has rubbertramped (aka driven) her way to the Northwest to play and run with yours truly. My heart is full. She ran her first half marathon today, and I'm really just too proud.

About three months ago I made training schedules for three friends, not really anticipating that they would follow through. It happens often that I recruit someone to run with me, they get really amped, I make a rather aesthetically pleasing scrapbooky sort of schedule/training calendar for them, they follow it for about two weeks, and then life gets in the way, they stop training, and the aspiration to run a race of any sort just floats out the window. It's unfortunate and my heart can't always handle it, but I think this day makes up for it.

I had momentarily given up on the visually stimulating training calendars of days past and I instead made 6 really ugly black and white calendars on my Mac. Super plain. Super uncharacteristic of me.

And low and behold, three of those calendars were utilized to their utmost ability. Tex Piper, Hunter Hamilton, and Rachel Myers ran their first half marathons today. They followed those petty calendars right to the finish line where they had their very own rendition of a knighting ceremony in which they had a volunteer of choice bestow upon them a solid and rather stupendous commemorative medal. I'm really impressed with the quality and character of the medals this year in Eugene. They've really stepped it up since I ran this race in 2007.

Needless to say my heart is full. Although joy is not circumstantial and pride is never encouraged, I find these circumstances pumping my veins with both as I dwell in the memories of this morning.

Congratulations friends. You did it. I'm so very proud of you.

Ready for a full marathon yet?

Ok, now that I've refreshed you on this day, I need to rewind and take you through some pretty providential happenings of the past couple weeks.

I told you about Janet awhile back, my old lady friend from the local Dairy Queen. Well she pretty much made my intern year the other day, so I'd like to tell you about it, if you'd be so kind as to keep reading.

So more and more the Lord is revealing to me the woman that He has designed me to be. That said...I think I'm called to be involved with old people, in some capacity. I feel so whole and full when I'm in the presence of an elderly person. I lived with now 80 yr old Maxine for two years, I spend, on average, two nights a month with 70 something yr old Marianne, and I buy ice cream approximately three to five times a month from pushing 70 yr old Janet. I love them. And I think it has something to do with their depth of knowledge and experience. I could sit at the foot of an old person and hear their stories all day, every day. I often tell my friends that I can't wait to be old. I know, weird thing to say, but I really am so excited to be an old person who loves on young people, an old person who's still running marathons, roller-blading, and skate-boarding, an old person who still lives life with child-like curiosity. Ok, I guess I can wait.

Back to the point.

Janet. Almost 70. Been working at Dairy Queen for 9 years. Widowed. 6 children. 1 dog. Proud owner of a Pontiac Grand AM and a faith so big it will move you to tears. Daniel, Sonia, and I had been visiting her for a couple months and then our whole intern group met her one night. I told you that story awhile ago. So I invited Janet to come to our Women's Retreat mid may but she has prior plans. So we invited her to just come out to camp to visit sometime. Little did we know that she would take us up on that offer so much sooner rather than later.

She showed up at camp last Thursday mid morning.

The lady interns were helping deep clean a condo for a family that's moving in this week and Janelle, one of our housekeeping bosses, got a call asking if I could come up to the office really quick. The reasoning was not provided.

I thought it had something to do with the reimbursement receipt I had just turned in.

Little did I know that my old lady friend Janet was sitting in the lobby of our main office. Bouncy and beaming, waiting for my arrival.

I was floored when I saw her. This beautiful old woman from Madras had driven the long lonely hour of a drive through the desolation of central Oregon to get to Washington Family Ranch and I couldn't stop smiling the entire time she was at camp. I took her on a tour, telling her a little about the majesty of camp and then I brought her by the condo we were cleaning. Not only did she come to visit, but she wanted to help us clean.

Janet and I cleaned windows together for an hour and talked life. And it changed me.

I made her an elegant lunch of grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup. She shared with us about the way she decided to integrate the Sunday school program at her church to include the elderly people of the community. The old and the young love on each other with the love of the Lord and I want to be a part of it. If only I didn't work Sundays.

Needless to say, I love Janet. I love old people. I love grilled cheese, and I love this year.

Please don't hesitate to find God in the details, in the commonplace, in the ordinary. He is there. Identify it. Declare it. Cherish it. And share it.

It is well with my soul.