Day 36: Miles.

Did you know that the fox in Sonic the Hedgehog is named Miles? Tails is a nickname...because...tails. His real name is Miles Prower. I grew up reading it, then you say it out loud and roll your eyes.

I bet you really wanted to know that. I share that, simply because I walked a lot today and it came to my mind.

Anyway. I woke up today and went for a run. I ran 5 miles! It was much harder during the day than it had been at night. Something about the sun. But, I lived. I did walk a couple of times, sadly. Final goal will be to run all 5 during the day, without walking, without distracting myself with music. There's levels, ya know?

After I ran my 5 miles, I stretched (always stretch) and sat and drank water and then showered. Then I walked another mile and a half to and from the AM/PM to get some saldo. Apparently, Movistar, the stalwart phone company, got bought out by a company called Liberty. Or, I guess, Liberty. Sounds French when I try to say it in Spanish. I saw Manny again, but didn't notice at first. We talked for just a minute. He was pleased I remembered his name. Me too!

On my walk back home, I met a guy named Armando, who asked me for money, but I didn't have any to give him. He didn't believe me, so we walked together for a while. It was nice getting to talk to him a little. Eventually, when I showed him my pocket jingling was keys, not coins, and he realized all I could offer him was conversation, he bailed, but said we could be friends.

I came home, made sure the saldo worked, then went out walking again. I walked for 3 miles down Avenida 8, which varied pretty widely in that stretch. Some of it went through busy downtown streets (i didn't get run over), some of it went through quiet neighborhoods (i met an American lady walking), some of it was by a park. It was hot and uphill walking, but that just meant it would be downhill on the way back.

When I was about 3 miles away from home, it started raining (as the Costa Rica do). I ran some errands and got some stuff done, then headed home. The rain mostly was done, then ended completely. The 3 miles back home was downhill and much less hot. I listened to worship music the whole time I was walking, and enjoyed the heck out of the scenery. I saw some fun graffiti, some cool government buildings, a Costa Rican sign language center, and lots of people.

I got home shortly after Izzy got home from her adventure, and well before Matthew returned from his. I think Matthew talked to, like, 10 people and remembered their names and stories when he got home. I love his heart for connecting to people.

My feetsies were tired of traveling, so I tried to nap (not success) and just chilled for a while.

We ate dinner as a team, then Katie and Izzy watched a movie while I got to zoom with Alexis. We ended up talking for around 4 hours, which was awesome. We talked about some stressful stuff, some scary stuff, some fun stuff, some exciting stuff, some cool spiritual stuff... you know, the stuff. We watched an episode of a tv show together, which has been surprisingly fun. I thought that tv over zoom sounded terrible, but it's been really cool.

Today, I read Isaiah chapter 49 (I'm working my way through). I really love verse 2, where Isaiah (speaking of himself, and, prophetically, Jesus) says God has concealed him in the shadow of his hand, made him into an arrow and kept him in His quiver. The context is that God, for Isaiah (and Jesus), had a plan and knew exactly what the right time was to send him out into the world. Isaiah, in verse 4, says he feels like his life and work has been in vain, but is then reminded that God has a reward in the proper time. It is reminiscent of Galatians 6:9, to the point that I wonder if Paul was thinking of this verse when he wrote Galatians. Then, it gets even more exciting when God tells Isaiah (and prophecies for Jesus), that his message will not just be for the Jewish people, but for Gentiles, to see his salvation go to the ends of the earth.

I love these verses, because they encourage me that, even in times when I feel stuck or like I have wasted my time; God has a plan for me and in his timing I will operate in my purpose (or come to understand what it has been). And, of course, gotta love the all-nations flavor of the verse.

Anyway, here's the wordle. I got super lucky.

Wordle 365 3/6

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PRAYER

-for us to walk in step with the Spirit

-for good team dynamics

-for us to connect well with the friends we'll see tomorrow

-for our rest to always come from God

-for good leading on how to do the devotional/discipleship times with the kids

-for us to survive what may be a crazy week