Some R&R- Running and Retreating

So, it's official...all four of our house members are runners.  (Jon ran three miles non-stop last week, so I think that classifies as official.)  And it's also official, that our ultra relay team for the Portland to Eugene Relay is complete!  We actually have six members now, which is ever so pleasing to Ben and I!

This past week Chelsea and I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago, well actually Dickson Valley, which is a camp near "Sandwich" (Yes, that's actually the name of a town) for the BVS mid-year retreat.   We had various sessions, with one focusing on "vocation".  This is a topic that always intrigues me, because I'm still trying to figure out what my vocation is meant to be.  The definition of vocation that I liked was "it's the place where what makes your heart sing and what the world needs of you intersect".  One suggestion for trying to figure this out is to highlight some things in each day that you are grateful for and some things that you aren't grateful for....and hopefully over time a pattern may start to emerge.  My grateful and ungrateful list for the week:

This week I was grateful for...reconnecting with friends from grad school, running on rural roads, watching a pink sun rise above the fields, afternoon naps, Ben's new job in California- even if it takes him away from the house until June, being challenged to think about what the bible means and doesn't mean to my faith, sunshine and 60 degree days, my housemates and the fact that they take seriously this idea of living simply and trying to tread lightly on the earth, the start of the NCAA basketball tournament (I love March Madness!), daylight till 7 in the evening!

This week I was not so grateful for...white bread (I prefer wheat), oatmeal packets (I prefer real oatmeal, not oat dust), and gray clouds over Portland upon my return (an obvious one- I prefer sunshine!)

And I'm concerned about...the people in Japan and the situation in Libya.  Because we don't have a TV in the house and we didn't have much access to news coverage at the retreat, I feel a little out of touch, but I've heard enough to know that there are a lot of people suffering in both places.   That makes white bread, oatmeal packets, and gray clouds something I shouldn't ever complain about.
-Heather