I surprised Sarah in two ways this past week. First of all, I won 2 golds and two silvers in the world joggling championships in Lexington, KY (I got in the local paper too). Joggling is the sport of running and juggling at the same time. I won a silver in the 5k (overall), a gold in my age group for the 5-ball 100 meters and two more medals in some relays. My wife is a great runner and I usually give her excuses why I don’t want to run in the mornings. So news of me actually winning something came as a surprise to her. You don’t have to be fast to win at joggling, just consistent (including being somewhat proficient at juggling). To read about the guy that beat me in the 5k (and has joggled 24 marathons), go to www.justyouraveragejoggler.com).
The other way in which I surprised Sarah this past week was by driving 8 hours from Lexington, KY to Richmond, VA just to see her for 36 hours before heading out to my next juggling ministry location. I was going to spend the weekend in Lexington at the International Juggler’s Festival. But I had already been there all week. I did not want to miss out on spending time with my lovely wife for just a few more days of juggling. In fact, half the fun is being with her and the other half is knowing the joy it brings her to surprise her in such a fashion. Call that egotistic, but I think its a mix of egoism and altruism. When my wife is happy, I am happy. So when I see her full of joy, it brings me joy. It’s amazing how God made us that way.
I got home late Friday night, so most of our time was spent together on Saturday. She made a huge green-leafy salad with angel hair pasta and sauce for lunch. Then she took a nap in the afternoon while I caught up on e-mails. In the evening, we made a picnic dinner and went to an outdoor jazz concert at the Wilton House, an historic home overlooking the James River in Richmond. We sat on the lawn, ate kale with olives (with dates and almonds for dessert) and listened to the wonderful jazz by the river. I even indulged myself with a cold Coke (Sarah, jazz, and Coke – ahh). We loved watching the family in front of us. The newly walking child kept running from Dad while he chased her around the lawn. She was hard to keep up with!
My summer tour comes to an end in a few weeks. I’ll see Sarah on the weekends until then. After that, I’ll have a long stay at home with my wife. I’m looking forward to that.
