Life here is moving right along.  We are getting into our summer groove, enjoying longer days, and a more flexible bed time.  We are pretty strict, or at least try to be, with bed time during the school year.  But summer brings with it a sense of ease and a lack of anywhere to be early the next morning!  :)  Although, this does not mean my children believe in sleeping in.  My oldest is up by 6:30 every morning, and that is because we make him lay there until that is what the clock says!  My husband and I often wonder when do kids start wanting to sleep and wanting to eat.  There is not a day in my adult life that someone would have to force me to take a nap or eat a meal!

My husband has taken on the challenge of completing a half triathlon in September.  He will complete 70.3 miles of combined swimming, biking, and running.  Needless to say this is an event that will take some training!  And not just a little training.  His workout regimen has beefed up quite a bit as a result of this upcoming race.  I am really proud of him for taking on this challenge, but I also recognize that it comes at a cost.  All that training takes up a lot of time.  He works out for hours a day, and we are only at the beginning.  I am in full support of his decision and realize that I have a role in his dream.  No, I'm not training with him, thank goodness!  But, I do need to be supportive of him by allowing him the time to train, encouraging him along the way, and providing him the correct kind of nutrition.  Some may think I am crazy, and a lot probably think he is, but I want him to be successful.  I want him to accomplish this goal.  I want him to know that I'm right there with him.  And that although I am not completing a 70.3 mile race, I am setting goals for myself during this training time as well.

• I will not complain about his workout schedule and the time it takes.  (read time that I usually have his help with the boys that now is eaten up by training)  Instead, I choose to encourage him and be his biggest cheerleader.
• I will involve our whole family in his race.  What a great example of setting a goal and accomplishing it for my boys to see!  They will be there on race day.  :)
• I will provide proper nutrition for him.  Dinner time will include the nutrients he needs to keep up this crazy training schedule!  And I will make sure to have healthy carb rich snacks available to him such as homemade granola and granola bars.

So, here's the deal.  I think that all of this sounds great right now.  We are at week two or three of training.  We have a long way to go.  And I keep thinking about how I have all these great intentions and then my human nature creeps in there and gets the best of me! I need to get over my selfish tendencies and remember to put my husband first.  That is what I am called to do as a godly wife, as a submissive wife.  (I know, I threw the "s" word in there!)  It is an act of obedience.  As I have been reading Genesis, God at one point tells Abraham that his obedience is a "continual responsibility".  (Genesis 17:9)  I love that!  Obedience doesn't just happen once. It is something that needs to happen over and over.  I expect that out of my own children.  Obviously, this is something that God expects out of us as well.  But as easy as it sounds, it doesn't always work that way.  I don't get to just not complain one time about the time consumed by training.  It is my continual responsibility to be an encouragement.  It is my continual responsibility to be obedient in my role as the wife that God has called me to be.