Weekend with the sisters

12:56 PM

I feel like my sisters are my best friends and lucky for me, I have lots of them!

Back in September 2018 I was into running and was tracking my miles on Nike run app. I then saw that my sister Alice-Anne was also logging miles so I asked if she wanted to run a race with me. This got us talking about running a race and doing a sisters retreat. I then asked all the other sisters if anyone was interested. It's amazing how it all fell into place. It seems like we have tried to put these together before and it just hasn't always worked out but this one was perfect. Looking back on it, we see how needed this weekend was for all of us! It was a huge bonding moment for all of us especially as we rally around my sister Vivinne during this hard time in our life as she is going through a divorce.

One night we were there, Ondalynn shared about the woman elephant and how they rally each other especially during times of birth and hard times. While the mother elephant is in labor, they protect the mother and baby by surrounding them and kick up lots of dirt so predators can't see of the new baby elephant. I love this imagery of surrounding around each other and being there for one another!

pretty much our whole trip consisted of food and lots of talking!

senior picture re-enactment

we ate this amazing seafood restaurant

On one of the mornings, Ondalynn and I ran a half marathon. I was excited and dreading for this day. I had dealt with such bad shin splints a few months before my trip and was discouraged that I wouldn't be able to do it. I decided to take it slow and do it anyway. 2 miles into it, my shins were hurting so bad. When I started running pain would be shooting down my leg and it would leave me limping part of the way. I decided to just walk it. I was so frustrated! I had felt like I had done everything to prepare for it and here I was in so much pain. I kept thinking the thought "this is not the race I wanted to run" I was in tears for a few miles as I struggled in pain. I was feeling so jealous of all those who were running ahead. And then I saw this walker who was so happy overtime I saw her. She waved and cheered everyone on. I realized that I could either enjoy my time walking or feel sorry for myself and be miserable. As I swallowed my pride and walked on with my head held high I realized that my sister Vivienne (who we were dedicating our race too) was "running a race she didn't ask to run". She was doing all she could do in her marriage and yet the choices of others put her in this position of the race she never asked to run. And yet she still races with her head held high with strength and positivity to accept her circumstance.

On my way to the finish line I was 2 miles away when I saw my SIL Tiffany who ran the course to come find me. She knew I was in pain and wanted to be there for me. I almost burst out in tears when I saw her. I love that as sisters, we have each others back when we are struggling and can't seem to do it on our own.