Very quietly last week Run and Be Still celebrated it’s 3rd birthday.  It’s amazing how fast time flies and how much can change in the span of a year.

Life is fluid.  Like the waters constantly meeting the shoreline, shaping and molding, so are our days.  Sometimes they pass gently and lazily.  Sometimes with such ferocity they steal bits of us as they go, washing them away, reshaping who we are.

This has been a majorly reshaping year for us. So many changes, forcing us out of our comfortable routine and into this grand new adventure.

Isn’t it ironic how the future and the passing of time makes us desperate for our memories? At least that’s where it finds me.  Milestone markers open the archive of memory banks and old photo albums and I try to hold on just a little longer, remind myself so I’ll never forget, the way things used to be.  I don’t want to go back, I really like the “me” I am becoming, I just want to remember.  And it would only be fair to admit that the memories I cling to are most certainly revisionist, glorified, and edited.  Even (probably especially) the bad days.  The passing of time has dulled their sharp edges.  Their bitter taste comes part and parcel with the sweet ones.

This past year has found me trying to answer the question, “What am I going to do with myself?”  I suddenly found myself with extended blocks of time on my hands. (No more kid shuttle bus duty.  It’s all very bittersweet and as you know I am working though it.) Then there came a deep desire to really make a difference.  Someway, somehow.  I needed to do something. There was a hole that needed filled.  I don’t think this is some mid-life crisis. (Although you may be reading this thinking, “Sister you are kidding yourself.  That’s exactly what this is.” I’ll just keep pretending, thank you.)

Move. Touch. Share. Love. It’s my new mantra. Love in action has become my cure.  Love Runners and do Good have become the vehicle. They are my “Just Do It.” I have a tendency to become intense and obsessive when I am passionate about something.  One of the biggest lessons that I have learned in trying to get this off the ground is that this isn’t everyone’s dream.  This isn’t everyone’s cause.  But oh my, the opportunity to be God’s hand and feet in this endeavor makes my heart beat faster and I am not going to give up on that! And so it was with great anticipation that I launched the online studio last weekend.  We are officially Open online! Will you please check it out and pass the word? It would mean so very much to me! Love Runners and The do Good Studio.

Launching Love Runners and The do Good Studio reminds me of the days when Run and Be Still was brand new.  Stalking the analytics and statistics, wondering if anyone has visited and if anyone even cares.  And then here we are in the blink of an eye, 3 years later, and you’re here and I’m still here.  When I started out I didn’t know what I was going to write about, how long I could keep this up, or if anyone would even read it. To date, there have been 237 posts, 17,525 views, and 9,188 different visitors from across the globe!  It’s amazing to me.  Humbling. We’ve shared a lot of life together and over the course of those years the continuous lapping of the water has reshaped me and the course I thought I was on.

In Love Does, Bob Goff says, “Accepting the invitation to show up in life is about moving from the bleachers to the field.  It’s moving from developing opinions to developing options.  It’s about  having things matter to us enough that we stop just thinking about those things and actually do something about them  Simply put, Jesus is looking for us to accept the invitation to participate. Each of us gets to decide every time whether to lean in or step back – to say yes, ignore it, or tell God why He has the wrong person.”

That, has been in a nutshell, what the last year has looked like. From opinions to options.  From mere thoughts to real actions. Big family milestones. New house. New mission. New adventure.  I guess you could say year 3 was the “Year of the Yes.”

Happy Birthday to us!  Let’s do Good this year!