Rock on Jim

     My Husband....Can I just tell you about my wonderful husband? I don't think I share enough about him. I am always talking about ME and my lemons, but the truth is, God uses Jim in amazing ways to turn my lemons into some of the absolute best lemonade!

     This weekend Jim ran the Memphis St. Jude Marathon. We had decided that we were done with marathons when he started cutting minutes off his 5K time...He trained hard and cut 45 seconds off in a matter of months! His coaching friend gave him a new marathon training plan that he wanted Jim to test out for him and asked him to do it for the St. Jude marathon. He reluctantly signed up, thinking, oh well, at least we will have a nice weekend at least. This was our 4th year to do Memphis. Jim's best marathon time was 2 hours and 51 minutes. For this race he set the goal of anything below 2:50. I always try to challenge him and promised him all kinds of special promises if he ran it faster than 2:46......When he came through at the half, 13.1, He was 1:21. I thought, hmmm, he is either going too fast and will hit a wall at 20 or he's doing really good. We waited at 26....I wasn't expecting him when he got there. When I recognized him I started screaming. It was way too early for him to be coming by. When he saw me he began pumping his fists and smiling SO big. He looked great! He gave me a high five. I told him to finish hard....He put the pedal to the metal and ran those 26.2 miles in 2 hours and 43 minutes!!!!
     One thing that Jim doesn't lack is determination. He is so focused, it drives me crazy sometimes, but if it wasn't for that determination, he wouldn't be who he is today. He's as serious as can be. He has a lot on his plate right now and I admire him for his desires to serve God first and foremost. First of all, he is a political reporter for American Family Association News {http://www.onenewsnow.com/}, Co-host of the AFA Report which airs online and on the air everyday at 12 noon central. He teaches one of the Adult 2 Sunday School classes in our church, spending at least an hour every day preparing for the lesson. Most recently, he has added a new desire under his belt. He will sign a full-time contract with Modern Woodman of America as a Financial Representative in January. He's been working part-time for them for the last few months. He's still going to keep his day job, but do this stuff on the side. He LOVES it. It takes him away from the stress of the news. Then on top of all that, he does an incredible job of being a husband and daddy to 2 of the most adorable boys ever.
     When I was waiting for God to bring Jim into my life, friends would say, "Candise, do you really think God is just going to put him right in front of you? Do you honestly think that you can just look at him and say, he's the one." I always responded, yes. Jim's a yankee! He's from northern Illinois. For some reason I was a Mississippi snob and thought that if there was any guy in MS that was the one for me, then I would have surely met him by now. I was right! haha. The first time I laid eyes on Jim, I thought, I could marry that guy...I quickly changed my thoughts to something different, I didn't want to jinx it. Then after the first conversation we had together, under the back porch of our church, for 3 hours, we both knew--we had met the one!
     I love him more and more everyday. He is smart, he knows all the intelligent stuff like politics, theology, sports, finances. Not so much about any of the other stuff! But that's okay, I know some of that stuff! He's the most honest guy I know. He's definitely the nicest guy you'll ever meet! He has integrity, dignity and eloquence. I have to pinch myself just about everyday, just to make sure I'm not dreaming! Amanda posted on her FB one day, You know you are in love when reality is better than your dreams-Dr. Seuss. I don't think I could have said it any better myself doc! Congratulations Jim, I am soooo proud of you!

How the kids entertained themselves during the race!