A portion of a note a sent to my nearest and dearest this last week...

A Marathon Epiphany
As some of you know that I ran the Kansas City Marathon on October 20, 2007 and I am so thankful for this opportunity. Typically, I pursue any athletic endeavors with an individualistic mindset. What can “I” achieve or accomplish? I won’t lie and say I didn’t fight these inclinations before, during and after this race as well but something different happened. My friends and family came, cheered me on, ran with me and I realized in a very real way that I am who I am only in relation to others and God. Praise God’s name. I am not alone. And for the first time in a very real way I cried out to my friends while we were finishing our last mile that I needed them and begged them to not leave me. This has been a cry deep in my heart for a long time, but I’ve never been brave enough to just say it. Praise be to God that God makes us known to ourselves so we can invite others into our deepest victories and our deepest fears!

God’s Rest
After this realization during my marathon race I felt I had broken through something that was holding me captive. Maybe the cries of my heart had been heard but I wasn’t sure in what way. This week has proven this to be true. In the matter of a few days, I have found a little house to rent with a dear friend (near Trinity church), put in an application for the house, been accepted and realized that it is time to let go of the safety of Apartment B. It is time to share my life with others in a new way. It is time to trust that my relationships with the people of the 2732 Troost Apartments although changing, will always be with me. I will never, could never be the same.

As I was driving down the street contemplating all of this I began to become nostalgic. This is not a bad thing, but can become a self-centered thing quickly. God, knowing that I am a passionate person who lives with purpose quickly ran to his servant’s rescue and led to me the first chapter of Joshua where I found a new promise.

“ Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: “The Lord your God is giving you REST and has granted you this land….You are to help your brothers until the Lord gives the REST, as he has done for you and until they too have taken possession of the land that the Lord is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise,” Joshua 1: 13-15.

God has called me starting on a plane ride home from California with Montague, Jared, Nick, Buddy (the KCUYC team), to let him give me rest. I had no idea what this would mean but I knew God would fulfill God’s promise because he makes his covenant known to those who love him. So, I feel called to follow God into a land and to live with a new people (this new land is about 10 min. from here but its new to me nonetheless). God has promised that “the land” or for me complete immersion in urban life is something I will return to but that I am to go and live life with my brothers and sisters living in the amazing, diverse Rosedale neighborhood.

My Hope
My hope in sharing this with all of you, my friends and family, is that God’s name would be praised and that my life and my life decisions would become less and less about me and more and more about God’s movement. I really believe the only real thing we offer one another is ourselves. So many of you have offered yourself to me and for this I am eternally grateful and you will never know the extent of my gratitude. There is no possible I can thank you all, but know you are receiving this e-mail because you mean so much to me and I want you to continue to share in my journey. Thank you for journeying with me thus far. Thank you for yourself.

Trusting,
Diane