It has been a while since I have updated the blog. Lots of little adventures have happened in the last month, some noteworthy, others just day to day living.  Even though I pride myself on having avoided Facebook, I have to laugh that I am a blogger. What is the difference, really? 

Hopefully, though, our message is not about romanticising our life in an array of picture showcases, but of the honest path that we are on.  My hope is that as Ian and I continue to learn about our hearts desires, it may stir yours as well. 

However, I must explain the pictures, right? In September myself and 10 other teammates ran The Klondike, a 120 mile relay race from Skagway, Alaska to White Horse, Canada.

The entire race took us just over 24 hours to complete. I ran leg #4 which was 14.2 miles. Although I am not accustomed to waking up to run for two hours in the middle of the night (at 1:00 am), running in pitch darkness and rain was actually not too bad. I would even say therapeutic. Go figure.

Like a continuous game of hide and seek the drivers would meet us every 2-3 miles fueling us up with water or snacks (or a toast of champagne at mile 6) before heading on to the next check point.  Part of the fun was scouring the road in the darkness for headlamps and flashing lights.

Afterward we stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast located on a hillside lake ( I cannot for the life of me remember the name!) As usual, the scenery during the race and on the drive / ferry ride home was gorgeous.

Not long after my race Ian took Miles, our little, zip lining.  Almost 7 months ago Ian and I joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.  Rock climbing, whale watching, hiking, and cooking has kept us pretty busy.

Ian is an absolute natural with children, admittedly, better than me.  Its fun to watch him and Miles imitate Top Gun / fighter pilot, the childlike play and innocence if refreshing.

Still, some of my favorite times are being alone in nature with Ian. Some of our best talks sping from the quite stillness that nature brings.

A few weeks ago we went on a hunt for hieroglyphics tucked away on the ocean coast. After a quick hike we found the giant bolder with what actually appeared to be ancient carvings. Unfortunately my camera did not get the best picture so you will just have to take our word for it.

So that pretty much sums our recent month of adventures. Most importantly a lot has been swirling around personally.  I have been absorbed (and I mean totally absorbed) in some humanitarian novels that I have recently read. My dear friend, Laurie, sent me a book for my birthday that I have been meaning to read for sometime but was too cheap to purchase, Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder.

It is the true story of Dr. Paul Farmer and his work in Haiti. Not only was this book timely as I will be heading to Haiti next May, but it sent waves into my slowly calming ocean. And, I am so thankful that it shook things up again.

One of my greatest fears is becoming comfortable, stagnant, and unaware. I love how Bernard Shaw, the Nobel Prize winning journalist and playwright puts it:

This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish clod of ailments or grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

Life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die  -  for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

Life is no brief candle, it is a sort of splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handling it over to future generations.

Those three paragraphs are a pillar in my life.

I just finished a story about the Lost Boys of Sudan, the thousands of presumably orphaned children age 3-10 who were displaced by the second Sudanese Civil war from 1983-2005. Somehow they traveled over a thousand miles through the deserts of Sudan amidst starvation, dehydration, sickness, disease and attacks by animals and soldiers to seek refuge Kenya and Ethiopia.

I wept through most of this book, this could have been me or my brothers, Jason or Blake.  We are (were) the same age during that time.  And,  this kind of life is not over for most of the world. We are now living in a world where 1/6 have too much for their own good and nearly 3/4 starve for basic necessities.  Daily, wars rage endemically and natural resources are both rapidly degraded and selfishly used up.

Why is this happening? What can I do?

St. Augustine, the 4th century saint, knew the answer even back then, it is better to need less than to have more.

As we prepare to enter this material smorgasbord holiday season, may those of us in the top 1/6 become more aware of the bottom billion around us, and be moved to do something about it.  May our conscious demand us to exchange our monthly Starbuck habit to sponsor a child.

And above all, may we strive to be thoroughly used up when we pass our torches on.

Blessings, peace, and above all love

- Sarah 

p.s. If you want to sponsor a child, I have a wonderful organization that I use. 90% of the proceeds go the children for food, clothing, education, etc. For only $25 per month you can change the life of a child and their generations to come.  Torch by torch we can!