The Half-Marathon Man

For the past 5 months, Jonathan has been training for the Kansas City Waddell & Reed Half-Marathon. We actually both began training and signed up for the race as a fun goal to accomplish together. When we found out I'm pregnant, Jonathan continued the training on his own.

We got downtown to the Hyatt around 6:15am where Jonathan took the opportunity to stretch before the start time of 7:00am. It was a cold, dark morning in KC but there was much excitement in the air.

There were 10,500 runners and a large amount of spectators. In fact, as much as we tried, we were unable to spot Jonathan at the start or middle of the race.

Fortunately, we squeezed into a spot toward the finish line and were able to cheer Jonathan on as he sprinted toward the end. He is the one pictured here in the white shirt and black running shorts.

There were so many people waiting at the finish line. As soon as we saw Jonathan coming, we ran back past the finish to try to meet him.

We finally met up after he walked through the food line to grab some oranges. What a relieved and accomplished expression!

Check out the frost on Jonathan's face and hair! He was cold and soaked in sweat by the time he finished.

Jonathan completed the half-marathon in 2 hours and 4 minutes which was one minute faster than he anticipated. Dad and I were so glad to be there to see him accomplish this feat and show our support for all his hard work and dedication to achieve his goal.

Meets and Bridges

My cousin, Andy, had a cross country meet in Terre Haute, IN. We were able to go see him run and meet up with the rest of his family there. The nearby Parke County was hosting its annual Covered Bridge Festival so we stopped by to enjoy some hot cider and kettle corn. It was the perfect autumn weekend and such a treat to cheer Andy on with the rest of the fam.

Saying Good-bye to "Tarai"

When Jonathan and I were married in 2001, his brother, Nathanael, gave me the nickname "Tarai." He said it was like Sarah in the bible who was barren and when God told her husband, Abraham, that she would have a son, He changed her name from Sarai to Sarah. So Nathanael decided to call me Tarai until Jonathan and I had children.


In 2006 we actually started trying to achieve this goal of parenthood, but after several months that turned into years, I began to realize I might have a bit in common with Sarai...I was experiencing barrenness. After doing lots of testing that resulted in the discovery that Jonathan and I are both perfectly healthy, we realized either it just wasn't God's timing for us to conceive or maybe we were being led to adopt.



Since we moved to Anna, IL we've been living in a tiny apartment that we knew wouldn't pass an adoption home inspection. So we decided to look for a house to buy and thought that if we weren't pregnant by the time we found a house, we would hit the adoption route full-swing.



God's timing is always perfect, no matter how much it may seem to differ from our own ideas. On the morning of July 28th, 2009 we went to the bank to close on a house. That afternoon we found out we were pregnant! Then it took us a couple weeks to realize it was real... and still some days I look at my stomach and say to Jonathan, "I can't believe there's a baby in there!"



We are praising God for the miracle of this new life and grateful for Him bringing us through what was possibly our greatest trial thus far. It was a hard road and it is tough to describe the pain that accompanies this journey. We watched so many friends and family members conceive and wondered when our turn would come. Some of them even met, dated, got married, and had babies in the time we were trying. The main tool that helped me get over the sadness was a book given to me by my friend, Beth, Rain on Me by Holley Gerth. This 40-day devotional brought me from feeling abandoned by God to feeling enveloped in His love...and it made me realize I was letting the devil scheme in my life and bring me down when I have so much for which to be thankful.



To anyone dealing with a trial that at times seems unbearable, I recommend Holley's book and encourage you that "God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." 1 Corinthians 10:13



And to anyone who may be a family member, friend, or acquaintance of a young married woman and feels compelled to question or pressure her regarding her timeline for children, I implore you to hold your tongue. You never know what that woman is dealing with and the respectful, courteous thing to do is to let her bring the topic up if she so chooses. Just as it is inappropriate to imply a young, single gal should be considering marriage, it is equally inappropriate to suggest when a married woman should have children. Having been through this trial myself, I have been given a whole new outlook on what it means to have sensitivity and compassion on others. It is much more beneficial to be an encourager than a meddler. My mom and two of my aunts each at one point told me that they believed we would conceive our own children. They couldn't explain it; it was just something they knew. The faith of these women is at times what carried my hope.

Although I adore nicknames and felt it endearing of my brother-in-law to call me "Tarai", I am happy to hang up my "Tarai hat" and be called "Tara" from here on out as I am WITH CHILD! :) We appreciate any prayers for the health of the baby and for a quick, natural delivery. We anticipate the arrival of our little one around St. Patty's Day, March 17th. We have decided to be surprised regarding the baby being a boy or girl and plan to surprise everyone with the name when he or she is born. Be sure to check back on our blog for more updates and thank you for rejoicing with us!

Small Town Rumors

So some folks in town told us that sometimes rumors get started about people out of nowhere. Today, we were the recipients of two of them.

Jonathan was talking with a guy from our church and the guy said, "So I hear you're going on study leave soon." Jonathan responded, "What?"
Guy: "Aren't you going on study leave next week?"
Jonathan: "No, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Guy: "But you're not going to be here for the high school football game Friday."
Jonathan: "Right, because we're going to Terre Haute for a couple days to see Tara's cousin run in a cross country meet."

Rumor number two went like this:

Lady from church: "It's too bad you guys are leaving us, we really enjoy having you at the church."
Jonathan: "What are you talking about?"
Lady: "Well aren't you moving to Mexico?"
Jonathan: (laughing) "Um, no. We love being at the church. We bought a house here."

You're probably wondering how in the world these ideas get into peoples' heads then spread around town. SO ARE WE!!!