For one nearly 36-hour period, we were a local animal shelter, taking in two dogs who formerly resided next door. There is a long back story which I will not delve into here.

Guess who was especially thrilled at this notion?

There are animal lovers…and there are ANIMAL LOVERS. Ruthie would be in the latter camp.

We agreed with our former neighbors to hold their two abandoned dogs for a week while they prepared to ship them to their new home.

Like I said, it’s a long back story.

Jim and Ruthie went to the Aurora shelter to pick up the dogs on Friday. The dogs were in terrible condition, so Jim went to work right away scrubbing, soaping, and snipping fur.

This man has a generous, compassionate heart.

Though we loved on the dogs by keeping them fed and watered,

and walking them,

it was clear after one night that we did not have the capacity to care for them and re-train them. So Jim and Ruthie loaded them back into the car and returned them to the Aurora shelter. There were many tears shed that day.

Waaaaay back in the fall, my mom signed Jake and me up for the Soldier Field 10-mile run that was to take place Memorial Day weekend.

10 miles sounded so doable back then. I figured I’d have several months to train. But after a long, nearly non-running winter, followed by a not-very-motivated-to-run spring, 10 miles began to seem like a big looming mountain; I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to cross the finish line before they closed the course. I had sorry images of being trailed by the police car with its lights on, announcing to all that I was bringing up the rear, the last one of 18,000 runners.

Well, we all finished (far from last). And I thoroughly enjoyed running with my mom the entire race.

Here we are before the race commenced.

I’m sure there are devotional books out there relating running to the Christian life. If not, there should be, because in many ways running is an allegory to walking with Jesus. For those who are interested, here is a quick list off the top of my head.

1. I used to run marathons. Those would be 26.2 miles long. Yet 10 miles was a big challenge for me because so many years have passed since running long distances. When it comes to muscles, if you don’t use it, you lose it. I have found that it’s no different with disciplines of the faith: prayer, knowing the Bible, obedience, etc.. If I stop praying regularly, that ‘muscle’ diminishes.

2. Running with a partner makes the race so much easier! I know for a fact that if I ran the 10 miles by myself, I would have been more tired at the end, probably would have been tempted to give up a few times along the way. God made us to be in community. We were never meant to journey through life alone. The journey is actually easier when we are walking with others.

3. During the entire race, my mind is on the goal: cross the finish line. This is what keeps me persevering through pain and discouragement. As a Christian, my eyes are fixed on Jesus in this life. I know that I will see Him face to face one day. That keeps me going, no matter how much pain and discouragement I may encounter along the way.

4. Training is key to running a race well. Oh, there are so many analogies within this one topic. You must build up the miles gradually or you are at risk for injuries. Training strengthens those muscles that you need for the race. Training develops the habits you need to finish well. When you train hard, the race itself becomes easier.

Of course, at the end of the day, any physical discipline pales in comparison to the importance of spiritual discipline! Physical training strengthens this temporary body; spiritual training strengthens the soul, which is eternal.

“For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)

Between birthdays and Mother’s Day, we’ve spent lots of time with family over the past couple weeks. Mother’s Day was filled with baseball, paper airplanes,

and toads.

Pretty girls holding toads.

The following weekend, Jake took a time lapse video on our way to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

We had Grandma’s famous applesauce cake two weekends in a row, and in homage to a new business in the family, Peter took a picture of the cake after the Corner Mouse got to it.

(More to come on the new business once they get their website up and running!)

We are continuing the made-up word titles on our blog with the latest post.

Now that classes are winding down for Jake, our kitchen counter and table are consumed with chemicals and wires.

His latest project (in my own laymen words) required a solution of liquids

along with copper wires and a 9V battery and graphite from a pencil.

Finally, he put a nickel in the solution, and after a few minutes, the nickel became copper-plated.

From a distance, it looked like a penny, so Jake named the result a “pickel”.

You’ve heard of CARA.

We are JARA–the Johanik Area Runners’ Association.

With the weather warming up and the ground thawing, the kids and I are enjoying the opportunity to run outside. And to make it even more fun, Derek and Peter have joined the Asics shoe club.

Here is the group on a recent neighborhood run.

You gotta love the entourage!

Each morning, Molly makes the rounds to each of us who are scattered throughout the house. She sits within arm’s reach and stares at us until we acknowledge her and pet her.

According to Derek, she is pleading, “Here am I, pet me.”

How can you resist a face like that?

Our family loves to eat sushi.  However, we do not like to pay for sushi.

We were feeling adventurous earlier this week and decided to try our hand at making our own sushi. Seaweed is the key ingredient, and it is quite inexpensive.

We heated it up in the oven for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, we cooked up some rice. After a little research, we found that a little rice vinegar and a little sugar make the rice sticky.

Then the concoctions began. We had filling ingredients like cucumber, red pepper, crab meat, avocado, tuna, salmon, and cream cheese as options.

Peter took charge right off the bat.

Ruthie enjoyed “cleaning the counter” as he went along.

Then Derek stepped up to the plate to create his own sushi roll.

He put a little of everything in his, affectionately calling it the Loaded Joe.

We laid all the rolls out on the table so we could each sample all of them.

Aren’t they pretty? Peter–always conscious of the presentation–curled some cucumber skin and arranged it with some pickled ginger.

Fun!

Tasty!

And easy on the grocery bill!

When we finished the meal, the food artist in Peter was awakened, and he asked if he could make some fruit pizza for dessert.

Um, yes.

As a Christmas present, Aunt Judi bought Peter a Wilton Cooking Class. She thought he’d enjoy it more with his favorite cousin, so she paid for Hannah to join him.

Thanks, Judi!

They were eager to show off their creations when they got back: cupcakes, fruit pizza, apple cobbler, and mini oreo cheesecakes. Yummy!

And the rest of us were eager to eat their creations!

The next day, Peter made more cupcakes using his newly learned skills.

Delicious!