Joyce and I before the Half Marathon on Sunday!

+JMJ+

Ave Maria! What a surprise to get a call from All Things Considered this afternoon! Melissa Block was generous enough to include me in today’s show. Check it out here!

The irony is before I was really serious about God’s call to religious life, I thought I would be a professional journalist. I used to spend a great deal of time listening to NPR, reading alternative press, the New York Times…you name it! When I realized God was calling me to serve Him as a religious sister, I stopped pursing a career in professional journalism. So, as you can imagine, it was a tremendous honor to be on NPR!

I am doing well post race and really looking forward to the next distance run. I’m not sure what it will be yet, but stay posted…I’ll let you know once I get news!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support! Know of my daily prayers for you…God bless you!

Me training on Tuesday...running over the 35th Street Bridge! Thanks to Karen Callaway of the Cathoilc New World for the awesome picture!

+JMJ+

Ave Maria! This will be my last chance to post before the race!

Chicagoans: Chicago Half Marathon Info The race starts tomorrow, Sunday Morning Sept. 13 at 7:30 AM CST! We’ll begin at Jackson Park, essentially run North on Lake Shore Drive to 31st Street then loop back south…come out and cheer on Team Nun Run…we’ll have white T-Shirts on that say “TheNunRun” on front and have a cartoon of a running nun on back!

My bib number is 4817!

Chicago Tribune coverage is HERE! Thank you Many and Heather–what a gift!

Catholic New World Coverage is HERE! Thank you Joyce–you have been an amazing gift during the last several months of this journey to race day!

Drew Mariani Show Update: I’ll be a guest on MONDAY at 4:45 CST to give an update on race day…Relevant Radio, Chicago 950AM!

If you haven’t yet, please consider making a donation to Fund NUNRUN!

Thank you so much for all of your tremendous support and prayers over the past few months…and, Fear not! Even after tomorrow…the NunRun is NOT OVER! I’ll keep working and praying…and hopefully running–literally and figuratively–events to raise the money needed to pay off my student loans so that I can serve God’s people on the West Side of Chicago as a Francsican Sister!

Above all, I praise and thank God for His love, mercy and generosity! Know of my prayers for you…and I’ll be offering up some of my run for your intentions! God bless you!

+JMJ+

Ave Maria! It is hard to beleive that the Chicago Half Marathon is 3 days away. The months and more recently weeks leading up to the race have been particularly eventful–and I am just so grateful to God for His generosity, mercy and love!

To date, nearly $11,000 in donations have been made to the NunRun Fund! While this is a significant amount of money, it is still very short of what I’ll need to pay off all of my student loans. But, God is faithful to His promises! I am absoultely confident that in God’s time, this debt will be cleared away and I’ll be free to enter Religious Life.

On Monday August 31st, I took the next step toward religious life by moving to the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels. Please visit the Catholic New World (http://www.catholicnewworld.com/cnwonline/2009/0830/4.aspx ) to find out more.

Above all, I am so grateful for your prayers! Please keep them coming. Know of my daily prayers for you. God bless you, and keep the Novena up…I’ll post more soon!

+JMJ+

Ave Maria! What a gift…today I was a guest on the Drew Mariani show on Relevant Radio! Drew was generous enough to spend time with me on the air, so that I could share about the NunRun and my vocation–he’s even linked this website to his page!

**If you didn’t hear the segment, it will be aired again TODAY (Thursday) at 5 PM CST on Relevant Radio (AM 950 in Chicago)!

I can’t tell you how many beautiful gifts God has given me in the last few days. On Monday, I moved to the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels. Along with Kate and Eric, I am now living in community and experiancing the joy of “dwelling in the house of the Lord,” which includes a beautiful prayer schedule–and a Holy Hour–every day!

The Cathoilc New World published an article on our community at the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels this past weekend…take a moment to check it out!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support for the NunRun! Please keep the health and saftey of all the runners in your prayers as we gear up for the race next weekend. Tomorrow I’ll be posting a special novena that I invite you to pray with us leading up to the run!

If you haven’t already, plese prayerfully consider donating to the NunRun. Click on Donate Today to find out how…above all, I count on your prayers. Know that you are in my daily prayers. God bless you!

+JMJ+

With the encouragement and help of Joyce, today we’ve begun to promote the NunRun to local and national reporters and news sources. Please help us get the word out! Click here for the PDF of the press release.

I’m delighted to report that Headline Bistro has published the release on their site!

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A little running related action: Today I worked late but didn’t want to skip the run, so decided to take my usual 4 mile rout. Never again will I run along Rogers Avenue between Ridge and Clark after sunset. I had the benefit of witnessing several CPD cops chasing a suspect, along with at least 5 squad cars coming in as reinforcements after I had gotten beyond the area being questioned. Thankfully I was alright…but an important lesson learned about running at night.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. You are in my daily prayers…less than 18 days until the race!

One day soon...I hope to run in my habit, just like this Poor Clare Nun!

+JMJ+

I am sorry it has been such a long time since I’ve posted! Training is going well…and spiritual and financial generosity abound:

• I reached the 10 mile mark this past weekend, running consistent 11.5 minute miles
• I finally met Pegeen, who is running with Joyce, Rosemary and I! Check out TeamNunRun for some updates and photos on the team
• St. Paul has really been interceding for me. I was having some knee troubles recently, and my prayers were really answered, and training continues!
• I don’t have a count for donations online or via mail to the Laboure Society, but to date I have received over $1,000 in checks written to me personally! These are from friends who do not have giant incomes…and are generously sacrificing to help me say YES to Jesus.

As we work toward the September 13 Chicago Half Marathon, please keep myself and TeamNunRun in your prayers. Not only are Joyce, Pegeen and Rosemary helping me by promoting TheNunRun and running with me: many others are helping as well! My Mom, Grandma and friend John-Paul have been wonderful in spreading the word, T.J. is working his media connections for some national coverage and friends like Kelly, Marcella and Linda are planning local fund-raising parties.

Every day I am more clearly aware that a Vocation is not just for an individual, but for the entire people of God. As a Franciscan Sister, every day I’ll have the opportunity to invite others to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, as I grow closer and closer to Him. The support and generosity of all my friends who are helping me with TheNunRun is a witness to just how beautiful friendship and community are. I could not do this without God’s grace and their generous spiritual, financial and practical support.

Please join us in this effort! Visit Donate Today to make a tax-deductable gift (follow the directions and embedded links)! Above all, keep TeamNunRun in your prayers…God bless you, and know of my daily prayers for you!

Bananas...what more can I say?

+JMJ+

It might sound a little funny, but every day I should thank God for bananas! When I started training, I didn’t realize that as the miles increase, so does the appetite. Eating a healthy, balanced diet is probably the challenge of nearly every person on this planet–and, may we never forget the millions of children, women and men who go hungry every day!

I am not sure if bananas count as a ‘perfect’ food, but I’ve been the beneficiary of banana energy lately. If Chicago were a tropical region, I would definitely advocate for growing bananas here in the city! Other dietary staples include Hummus and Pita, PB & J, PASTA, Oatmeal, fruits and vegetables (and I’d be dishonest if I didn’t throw in an occasional Subway Italian BMT!). Drinking plenty of liquids is crucial, too.

Each day I am grateful to recognize parallels between caring for one’s body and one’s soul. Just as we must eat well and (try to) get enough sleep, so too must we give attention to our spiritual lives!

This past weekend my friend John (who is a seminarian and Mundelein) and I spoke to nearly 200 youth and young adults about the need for prayer in our lives if we truly want to know where God is calling us. During his April 2009 visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI gave the youth a challenge: make time for SILENCE in your lives…spend time with God in silence. Prayerful silence in the presence of God is truly rest for the soul. And, what better food could there be then the Most Holy Eucharist?

Thank you for your continued prayers and support for the NunRun. Joyce, a team member, is getting info together on the other runners, so we’ll have the Team page updated soon! God bless you!

+JMJ+

In just 47 days, team NunRun will hit the pavement! These last few weeks training has been rough: I was visiting my family in Puerto Rico, where the weather is very hot (90 + degrees) and extremely humid. But, with God all things are possible. Making a few adjustments, like getting up before the sun rose, made a big difference, and thankfully I was able to keep on the training schedule.

Yesterday I ran 7 miles! Never in my life have I even thought of doing such a thing….and with that, I have now officially ran more  than half the actual race! During the run, when I hit mile 5, I really wanted to quit, and the first thing that came to mind was St. Paul’s words, “Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win.” That gave me the fuel I needed to keep going! I have come to realize that training for a marathon is not only about physical ability, but will power.

The same goes for responding to God’s will in our lives. All of us are capable of saying yes to God’s invitation, but it requires an act of the will, a full yes, a choice to fully embrace God’s invitation. The Spiritual Life really is like running a race. With every mile, you learn something new about yourself, and you achieve something you didn’t realize you were capable of: but, always always through God’s grace. You need to have the support and encouragement of others to finish a race–and the same goes with progressing in the Spiritual Life.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support as we continue to train, physically and spiritually, in preparation for the Chicago Half Marathon. If you haven’t done so, please prayefully consider making a gift to support the NunRun. Every gift is 100% tax deductable. Thank you so much, and God bless you!