The Mental Game

Happy Saturday everyone! Jared and I started out our morning with a six mile run. It was a gorgeous morning and the air smelled like honeydew. Seriously. The park and neighborhood we run by is filled with it! It reminds me of the honeydew I used to bike by on my way to school as a kid.

Anywho. Today, my biggest challenge wasn't my ability to run six miles. I knew I could do that...I've run a 10K before. No, today my biggest challenge was my brain.

I've been reading up on marathon training with a book called "The Marathon Method" by Tim Holland. He spends a whole section of his training chapter on mental training. Why? Because half of the marathon process is mental. Do you want to win and what will you do to make that happen? He says that he has his own sayings that he just puts on repeat that help him get through a run. Things like, "You're fine" and "Push it." The question isn't will you experience pain in running. The question is instead, what do you do when it happens?

A well known scientist in brain research is Dr. Caroline Leaf. She has spent several years researching the brain and how it reacts to positive and mental thinking. The best part, her research backs up what it already says in the Bible and she openly admits it! Most people know that in Romans it says,

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1, 2 ESV)

There is a process of renewing the mind and Dr. Leaf explains that this process starts with a choice. Will you think positive thoughts, or negative ones? Each brings their own physiological side effects. Negative thoughts bring about fear and stress on the body. I'm sure we are all familiar with stress and how significant a role bad stress plays in diseases. Positive thoughts however, literally get rid of neurons that have developed under stressful conditions and replace the neuron with a stronger fully developed neuron. It's a bona-fied real regeneration of the mind. Nothing metaphorical about it.

So I've been looking at this six mile run on my calendar for a while and I'm not going to lie, I was apprehensive about it. Add in that I was going to have to wake up early and run with only a little coffee and food for a really long run, and I was daunted. But having just read about the mental game, I woke up and decided I was gonna think positive. I could do this even if my routine was a little different. I just needed to do what I've learned and enjoy the process. When something hurt, I just told myself I was still ok and I wasn't going to die. I smelled the flowers. I listened to a really funny podcast from Breakaway. I thought about how lucky I was to do this with the hubby. It was such an enjoyable run and I am certain that it was because I did what I was taught, was prepared and thought positively about the whole thing.

So check that run off. What's next? :D

Running Communities

So I have the best running buddies in the world. I have my two legged handsome one (my husband) and my four legged fluffy one (my dog). We have run several places together. Our main place is our local parks. They have several trails that we can run on, paved and unpaved. We've run down our street and through the neighborhood next to us. We've run through the back road country of my in law's house, out in the middle of nowhere at campgrounds and in the heart of Downtown Dallas on the Turkey Trot.

What's great about running with people in different places is you get to learn more about them. Through running with my husband I've learned more about him.

This was especially true today. I've been reading that I need to make sure that I train in conditions as close to the race day as possible. My next race is a 15K trail run through Huntsville State Park. Once upon a time, Jared and I rode our mountain bikes along one of the trails there. I remember it being very uneven terrain and had many ups and downs along the winding trail. Much different environment than my flat paved road I've been training on.

So Jared and I hit the bike trails today next to our park that are very similar to the ones in Huntsville and they KICKED MY BUTT. I was so tired and we weren't even halfway through. I went very slowly and yet, I made it alive and with all my stomach contents!

As we were running, I have to admit, it was beautiful. When Jared and I were talking about the run after we were done he said he loved running in that kind of environment. He felt like he could forget about the run a bit more and it was much more enjoyable. Jared doesn't normally speak up about things he likes. He's pretty easy going and likes to do things that I like to do. I've always known he loves being outdoors, but I'm only now discovering how deep that love goes. Let me tell you people, it's deep! I don't necessarily understand him and his likes all the time, but I am sure going to learn how to encourage it!

So I highly encourage YOU to run with a buddy occasionally. If your buddies are far away, you can still do it electronically. My family has been communicating about our runs via email and Facebook as we prepare for our Disney Marathon Weekend. Nike now has a feature on their website and app where you can add friends and "compete" each month with longest distance or number of runs! Communities are important to us just as humans (God wired us that way!) and running communities just gives us an entry point for deepening our relationships with each other!

"And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near.<sup>"

~ Hebrews 10:23-25</sup>

God's Faithfulness

Hi everyone. Today has been one of those days where people tell you it will happen, but you never really expect it in your own life.

Today was the big day of the garage sale. We woke up at 5:30 this morning and headed over to the church. My team and I have been working hard on this garage sale for a month or so now. I honestly have the best team. They have dug into the trenches with me and had my back the whole way. We made it to church by seven, put up signs and started putting things out. People were already looking through stuff and we had barely made it out the door with the first load. It was ridiculous.

There were a few things I would have done differently. Like, I underestimated how much change I needed and we ran out of bags for people to take their stuff in. We could have used more help. We had to rearrange things as the day went on to try to sell them. Whatever. I prayed this morning in the car with Jared before we pulled out of our apartment complex, that we would have tons of people, but they would be spread out over the time we would be open and we would not be overwhelmed. And that's exactly what God did!

As I was watching, we did sell some big ticket items. We sold a ton of toys and clothes. But these things were going at like $0.25. This cute little kid came up with a puzzle and a quarter and set them on the table and then just smiled at us like it was his birthday. So I'm adding things up as the day goes on. I know what I sold just to the church body "pre-sale" and I know how much the vendors paid to set up booths. So I had figured between all that and the stuff that was selling today, I would have around $600 at the end of the day. I was discussing with parents what our next fundraiser would be and when.

We finally put everything away, cleaned up and sat down to count the money. I was only half paying attention as I put tables back in our cafe. Suddenly, one of my team members told me to come over as they counted. I was shocked to watch the small numbers grow, and grow, and grow to suddenly, the total came out to well over $1,000.

This is where the whole, "people tell you it will happen, but you never really expect it in your own life" moment comes. I remember people telling me that if I just kept working for the Lord, no matter how hard or daunting or frustrating it gets, God will bless it. I had worked hard on this garage sale with only the help of my small (but amazing) team and was really wondering if it all was going to be worth it. We had just counted the money and God gave us over double what I had expected. When I realized what God had done and that ALL the kids that had participated had camp paid for, I honestly started crying. I was so overwhelmed.

I don't have the opportunity to come and sit and have coffee with everyone like I want to in life. It's just not physically possible. But to anyone that reads this, this is my encouragement to you (over coffee of course). You may feel in a place where God is silent, where you work tirelessly for him and have nothing to show for it. All I can say is, don't give up. Moses had to run to the desert and hide before he was asked to part the Red Sea. I firmly believe there are seasons in life where God has to teach us things and grow us a bit before we are ready to do the amazing things God has for us. It may seem like a desert at the time, but when you look back you are going to know that it prepared you for the amazing things God does in your life!

"This saying is trustworthy:

If we died with him, we will also live with him.

If we endure, we will also reign with him.

If we deny him, he will also deny us.

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself."

^{~ 2 Timothy 2:11-13}

Overcoming the World

Hello everyone. Sorry it's been so long (a whole three days!) since my last post but it's been a bit crazy out here. We have a big garage sale this weekend to raise money for kids camp and it's been a week long project to get all of it organized and priced. We got it done today though! Tomorrow all we have to do (I say ALL in the loosest of definitions) is get the tables set up in the hallway so that when 7:00 am Saturday rolls around, we just have to move the tables out and we are open for business!

Here's a picture of the stuff BEFORE it got all organized and priced.


Yes that is my dog. She was "helping" haha.

And that picture was even after my fabulous team went through the first pass and at least "lumped" like things together!

So this week has been crazy! Not only do I mean by my schedule just been jammed packed, but the world suddenly decided it was going to be a dramatic week. We started with bombs in Boston, tornadoes across the country, ricin being mailed to government officials and now we had a fertilizer plant explode just north of us in West, Texas. They had to evacuate the entire city! It's weeks like these where I think, "Did the world just decide to have some crazy pills?" I struggle sometimes when things like this happen. What's the point of trying to achieve things, work so hard, etc when someone is just going to destroy all the time? I'm sure that's how many of the runners feel. They worked so hard to first, qualify for the Boston Marathon, and then compete in the Boston Marathon. Then someone took the completion of that goal away from them with a single decision.

But what I have to remember, is that the devil is the one responsible for these things. His agenda is to steal, kill and destroy. He is loving the havoc and destruction that is happening. But God is not gone. He is not absent from the situation. God is placing people at the right place, the right time and providing help for those who need it. God is not fighting for victory. There is no desperation in his conference room. There is no emergency meeting going on. God is already victorious! God is placing on the hearts of many to look beyond the pain and the doubt. He is pressing on his church to go out and help and provide care for those who need it. There are countless stories of those in Boston giving blood, inviting runners into their homes, Texans helping those in West whom have been displaced. This is God at work. This is God showing yes, something terrible happened because we live in a world where we feel the effects of sin. Yet I have overcome the world and you just need to hold on to me.

So take heart. Read John 16. Then finish the book! Jesus came so that we can have life, and life to the fullest, no matter what.

Marathons and bombs do not go together!

So I woke up this morning to my dog greeting me. It's such a wonderful thing to wake up to a dog AND a husband! In the past this doesn't usually happen!

As I got ready for the day I realized that the Boston Marathon was on this morning! Jared and I had spent a good deal of time last night talking about Boston as we were thinking of taking one last quick trip before our lives went into overdrive busy. We were looking at the map, picking out things to see, where to stay, things to do...normal touristy planing stuff. Naturally the Boston Marathon came up in conversation as we are training for our first marathon.

It was awe inspiring this morning to watch these athletes run faster than I've ever sprinted for miles and miles and miles! Even though you were looking at the same camera angle for minutes at a time, just watching the people run and jockey for position, thinking through the tactical and psychological parts of the race were thrilling! I was rooting for the American girls and I am really excited for their 4th and 6th place finishes!

Jared and I then went on with our day. We worked out, took care of our dog who's got an upset stomach, etc and then find out that minutes before I looked at my iPad's news, there was a bomb at the same race we were watching just hours ago. I was on the verge of tears watching runners who were running such a great feat either not be able to finish or be injured before they got across the finish line. I thought about my own upcoming marathon. Would the same thing happen at mine? It's always a possibility. Would I go even if that was a possibility? Will people run the Boston Marathon or any other race next year?

And before I go on, I know nothing I say will probably make any difference. I don't expect people to listen to me. There isn't anything I can say that will ease the pain of those who lost loved ones. They are going to have a long road through greif along side those who were injured and have a long road through recovery. The mental and psychological trauma will take time and patience to get through and it will be hard.

Unfortunately, as a society, we are not a stranger to terrorism. Nothing I say will make a difference, change what happened, or help with what road lies before those people involved. But for me and those that are mentally sorting through the unnecessary violence that happens in our culture, this is my response. Terrorism is meant to make us fearful. Fear will make us do life different. That different life will not be the full life God has planned for us. We will constantly live negative, paranoid, looking for someone to blame as we life in our unforgiveness and fear.

As the victim of a violent crime, I've had to deal with those thoughts and process through them in my own way. But as I've become a runner, I've learned that runners are the types of people that push through pain. They hear their bodies say, "Stop!" and allow their minds to push the body further. They accomplish feats that inspire us! They defy limits and say, "I can do the impossible." That's why we love sports. That's why comebacks in competitive games are some of the best moments in sports history. What looks impossible becomes possible and gives us hope for the rest of our lives.

So the answer to my questions? Will people run the race next year? My immediate response was yes. Because we are not a people who quit at the point of pain but run through it. We don't disregard it, but we fight through it. We run in remembrance of pain but also in the remembrance of the victory over pain.

God has victory over death and He is the one who will give us the strength to run through the pain.

Slow Down

Happy Saturday everyone!

So this morning I had the pleasure of sitting in on the monthly meeting for Redeemed. There are some exciting things going on let me tell ya. I had some great conversations and some things are gonna start rolling real quick with new safehouse situations and intake centers!

When I got home I had lunch, talked to Jared for a bit, took a nap. Then we went running. I was so excited to just be running I didn't care about my acid reflux or my knee hurting. What I love about running is time really does slow down. In the past, this was a thing I hated. I'd look down at my time and expect 20 minutes because I was so tired...and it would only be two! But today was different. My body has learned how to run the long distances and now running forces me to slow down mentally and just enjoy the time I have out in the park (even though there were a million birthday parties going on today!). The 45 minutes seems like a day of refreshment once I'm done and I have a smile on my face the rest of the day!

So if you ever think to yourself, "I wish I had more time in my day," maybe you should try running. It's awesome and it really does provide a small oasis where you can refresh and then get back at the rest of the things in your day recharged!

Day of Rest

So today there was no workout. Isn't it funny when you aren't supposed to do something, it's all you think about? So this morning, after Jared and I slept in, all I wanted to do was run. But since I know that my body needs the rest, I just read about running haha. Spent some good time perusing Runner's World magazine, The Marathon Method, and The New Rules of Marathon Nutrition. Great reads so far let me tell ya!

After Jared and I took the dog and went geocaching, but miserably failed finding anything. Duchess loved the walk though. Then we went and ran some errands, which included the grocery store AND the plant store!

I was super excited as my garden has been taking off in some places, and had died in other places. My top half of my lettuce is doing great! The bottom part of the planter, not so much haha. So I replanted some lettuce.

Garlic is doing great. I hardly have to do anything for it!

Then my sunflowers didn't make it, but I realized this last month, what good Texas girl DOESN'T have bluebonnets in her garden? This girl now does! I love them! They are my favorite!

My green bell peppers are growing fast!

And I planted some cilantro today! I'm gonna have to make some sort of shade for them so that they aren't in the heat as long.

Jalapenos are holding on. I keep praying for the one in the back haha.

Then I finally have BASIL! Just the smell makes me hungry!

The last thing that didn't make it was my onions. So I'm re-starting those in little seed starters next to my mint (which of course is thriving).

 

Waiting for my parents to come in tonight and we are going to do Mexican of course! Can't wait to see them. Brother comes in tomorrow! Yay!

The Importance of Song Choice

Hello everyone! I was really worried about the weather today as it was still cold and rainy when I left out the door this morning. I went in and gave a presentation for Redeemed for the lovely ladies at Lakewood United Methodist Church (thank you everyone for having me!) and when I came out, it was sunny and beautiful! It's days like today where I truly appreciate my eye surgery. The colors in the full sunlight are SO vibrant and when I look around the details still astound me. Don't know if I will ever get used to it. Don't know if I want to. Thanks Mom and Dad. This surgery really has changed my life!

Now like any other presentation I give, I get really nervous before hand. I definitely suffer from "waiting in the wing" syndrome. But one thing that I learned from running is that everything seems better with a good song you can belt along to. So as I waited in the Starbucks drive through to treat myself to some dark roast coffee, I turned on Fellowship Creative's "All About You" album and sang all the way to the church. It not only put me in the right frame of mind for the event, but I also felt so much better about giving the presentation. Again, if you didn't read my post from yesterday, we really do magnify what we focus on!

When I got home this afternoon, my first priority was to get my computer back in order. First of all my computer's name is Mic (stands for "Made in China"). So Mic the Mac had to go to the Mac computer hospital to get a new logic board. But the good news is, Mic is back and kicking again. Hopefully Mic will last me a whole bunch of years more!

Part of the process of getting Mic back in working shape (because he basically came back factory new) was to get all my songs back and organized on my iTunes library. Thankfully, I had most of the files on my Time Capsule AND iTunes lets you re-download any song you purchased ever if you ever lose the files. Hallelujah!

It was kinda hilarious going back and seeing songs I had downloaded all the way back in high school. This included all the Spanish songs I had to download for Spanish oral projects (Juanes!) and several hits from the early 2000's (Smash Mouth anyone?). I also found all the songs my mom and I had downloaded in the Alamodome waiting on my brother's high school marching band to perform for State. Old School Rock and Roll Classics! Then I hit a period in my life where I wasn't too careful about the types of songs I was downloading, much less the lyrics. They weren't even on par with the old school rock and roll musically. They were really just junk. I remember what a dark period in my life that was too. I was a very negative, skeptical person. I knew all the answers God had to life, but I was too prideful to let him in and actually work in my life.

And then, even more recently, I was looking for running songs! I saw a pin on Pinterest about some of the best running songs around. Most of them are things from like...Maroon 5, Beyonce, Pitbull etc. Needless to say, even though they are not uplifting songs, I bought them because I thought they would help me get pumped during my run.

But you know what I realized? One of those songs would come on and yea, I would nod my head to the beat and enjoy the "pop-i-ness" of the song. Then I would get tired of it halfway through because the artists are singing about stupid things or don't even make sense. But then a song like Stellar Kart's "We Shine" would come on with much more musical drive and meaningful lyrics and I would have a REAL boost of mental and emotional energy to go faster or longer on my run.

So as I went through my iTunes library today, I had to make some choices. Do I really download those songs again, or leave them off? I'm glad to say I deleted some. Others, I haven't heard in so long I don't remember them. I'm going to reevaluate as I hear them. But I'm going to really be strict on myself. Running is something that I find so positive in my life. It changes my mood and helps me de-stress. I need to make sure my music helps me focus on those things that are important and more than anything, glorify the one who I'm running for!

If you are looking for new music, I highly suggest going to air1.com. They are a positive, Christian rock radio station. They really have some songs on their website that I love! You can even head bang to some. Others come on and make me just dance in my seat! Plus, any station that plays Switchfoot on a regular basis definitely has my vote!

Cue the Olympic theme on my iTunes as I finish this post! God has a sense of humor people!

Happy running everyone!

Telescopes

When I was little, I was fascinated with stars. I remember going out to church camp where there were no city lights and being able to see tons and tons of stars and even the faint glow of the milky way. I also remember looking up in my driveway growing up and only seeing a few stars and thinking, "What a shame we can't see more here!"

That's when dad and I got our telescope. I remember waking up at crazy times of nights and laying back on our lawn chairs to watch meteor showers. We bought a star chart and I would line up the day and the time and we would set up our telescope by the pool and look at the moon, Saturn (my favorite), Jupiter, Mars, the stars in Orion's belt, ALL OF THEM! I was so fascinated!

The truth is, I still am! I love stars and I love looking up (beyond the planes my husband is looking at haha) and seeing all the glowing bodies of light in the constellations I've known for so long! We recently went on a trip to Big Bend (to read THAT blog and see the video, click here: http://daughterandwife.blogspot.com/2013/03/big-bend-state-park.html) and I was amazed at all the stars I could see again after so long!

Tonight, I did an activity with my kids on stars. It was awesome as my preschool director and I decided to do a class together with preschoolers and elementary kids. They were hilarious to watch and were so into the Bible story on creation! I loved every single bit of it! Once we covered creation, I showed the kids a "mini constellation" map I had made by poking holes in aluminum foil. They ooohed and ahhhed and tried to guess what each one looked like to them. Then I let them make their own.

The greatest part about it was that I was able to think about those times with my dad. How we would look though the telescope and the star would be magnified. I would see all the details of the star, planet, whatever and think, "Wow! God made that!" God's glory was magnified as my telescope magnified the star I was looking at!

What's cool when you think about it, is we are like telescopes. Whatever we focus on, we magnify. If we focus on negative things, negative things get magnified in our life. If however, we focus on God, God in all his glory and power is magnified in our lives!

Think about Isaiah 43:1-7. In this passage, God says he:

• Created you
• Redeemed you
• Calls you
• Keeps you from all manner of destruction
• Is your Savior
• Thinks you are precious
• Loves you!

Isn't that amazing? God's glory is displayed the greatest when we have a delight in all that he is; through all that he created, all his love, mercy, kindness, justice, and power! It's hard to wrap your mind around God, but I think that's the point! He is so amazing we can just think about what he did for us, then lean into him and whisper, "Wow!"

So as we run, and we have plenty of time to think, what are you thinking about? Is it all the problems in your life? All the stress, the worries, the annoying people, whatever. Or is it the fact that God gave you everything you have and loves you no matter what?

"But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

Isaiah 43:1-7

Everlasting God

One of my favorite songs is "Everlasting God" written by none other than my church back home, Fellowship. It is one of those songs I love to belt out in the car and no matter where I land on the mood spectrum, that song always makes it go up!

I was reminded on many of my runs recently that God is really everlasting. Recall if you will, your history classes. Remember Abraham Lincoln or James Bowie or [insert favorite historical character]. We could even go back further and talk about people in the Bible. Moses, David, Adam, Abraham, Rahab...you name it! I know surely I am speaking for myself (wink, wink), but I tend to almost raise these people to an elevated platform. I remember only the good things these people have done so I think of them as these heroes that  did amazing things.

Let's take George Washington for example.


This is what Wikipedia has to say:

1st President of the United States
In office April 30, 1789[nb] – March 4, 1797
Vice President	John Adams
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	John Adams
Senior Officer of the Army
In office July 13, 1798 – December 14, 1799
Appointed by	John Adams
Preceded by	James Wilkinson
Succeeded by	Alexander Hamilton
Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army
In office June 15, 1775 – December 23, 1783
Appointed by	Continental Congress
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Henry Knox (Senior Officer of the Army)
Delegate to the Second Continental Congress from Virginia
In office May 10, 1775 – June 15, 1775
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Thomas Jefferson
Delegate to the First Continental Congress from Virginia
In office September 5, 1774 – October 26, 1774
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	February 22, 1732 Westmoreland, Virginia, British America
Died	December 14, 1799 (aged 67) Mount Vernon, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Washington Family Tomb Mount Vernon, Virginia
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Martha Dandridge Custis
Religion	Deism[1] Episcopal[2]
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Great Britain United States
Service/branch	Virginia provincial militia Continental Army United States Army
Years of service	Militia: 1752–1758 Continental Army: 1775–1783 U.S. Army: 1798–1799
Rank	Lieutenant general General of the Armies (posthumous: 1976)
Commands	Virginia Colony's regiment Continental Army United States Army
Battles/wars	French and Indian War  • Battle of Jumonville Glen  • Battle of Fort Necessity  • Braddock Expedition  • Battle of the Monongahela  • Forbes Expedition American Revolutionary War  • Boston campaign  • New York and New Jersey campaign  • Philadelphia campaign  • Yorktown campaign
Awards	Congressional Gold Medal Thanks of Congress

Talk about a resume! So with all this experience and prestige he had behind him (hello...first President of the United States) I thought that this would have given him the confidence to deal with anything in life. 

However, someone made a new billboard. I run by it now all the time. I have no idea who made it, but I like it. It has a picture of George Washington kneeling in the sand saying, "Lord, I trust in you. Guide my in your ways." The quote is from his journal that he kept the winter he was stationed at Valley Forge.

God was there for George Washington when he needed to ask God for guidance. George Washington had difficulties. He had pit days. He was faced with history altering situations that I am sure caused a great deal of stress. And who did he go to for help? Jesus Christ.

Jesus has been comforting and leading people all through history. He is timeless. He is EVERLASTING. People in history (including your favorite historical figure) have experienced many of the same feelings you are now and God helped them when they asked. 

I have been recently been listening to Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (talk about MY favorite historical figure). He talks about how when it comes to moral standards, we typically hold everyone else to high standards but relax them when it comes to ourselves because we give ourselves excuses on why we don't apply to the moral standards.  We have an inside scoop on us. We're tired, hungry, busy, have more important things to do, whatever and so we don't have to extend the same courtesies that are expected from everyone else.

This thinking happens in our view of God too. We see God helping people and changing their lives, past or present. But because we know our inward sin and understand the full extent of our depravity we say that God cannot do the same in our lives as He does in others. This is a lie. 

The problem we have with everyone else is that we don't see the behind the scenes. When it comes to dealing with others, we don't see that someone is tired or dealing with stressful situations and so we get mad when they don't say hi or cut us off on the highway. When it comes to historical figures, we don't get the stories of internal struggles in our schools. We hear and get tested just on the results of those inward struggles. When it comes to God working in the lives of those around us, we don't fully understand their deepest darkest secrets and so we say, "God can't help me. I've gone too far in my sin. My life is too much of a mess."

My question is why CAN'T God do the same for you? When we find out that a stranger is dealing with cancer we treat them differently and give grace to them when they snap at us after a chemo treatment. When we find out that George Washington himself bowed a knee to God in his most difficult situations it changes our view of him from an elevated platform to a position that looks much more like our own. When someone opens up and shares about the full extent of their past, it allows us to understand they aren't much different then ourselves and there might be a chance that God can use and change us too.

The truth is, God can do anything. God is everlasting. The almighty. He was the beginning and He will be the end. God used the broken and "too far gone" people all throughout history. I found this pin on Pinterest and I wanted to share:

Talk about the unlikely being used by God! However, God wants to use you BECAUSE you have your problems. He wants to take them and transform them in a way only God can. God wants to show the world Himself through your deepest fears, insecurities and failures. Don't discount them. Give them to God. Then, watch what amazing stuff He does next!

God's Love

So last night Jared and I had the privilege of attending the Redeemed Gala at the Bayou Music Center! It was amazing and full of tons of people!

One of my favorite parts was definitely the entertainment. An acappela group called Homefree performed. It was AMAZING. I love the show, "The Sing Off" so I was in acappela heaven watching these guys live! You can check them out at the link below!

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Wfm2eCN6Aug&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DWfm2eCN6Aug

One song they performed was Josh Turner's "Your Man." One part of the lyrics stuck with me all the way to today. They say:

"I can't believe how much it turns me on
Just to be your man."

I thought this was a weird thing to say at the time.

As Jared and I were in the car most of the day moving stuff for our Garage Sale at church (Advertisement: Raising money for Kids Camp! April 20th!) I had much time to ponder these couple of lines. I don't know what Mr. Turner was thinking when he wrote this song but I thought about it through my situation (a marriage between a man and a women who made a commitment to each other for life, just FYI). As I thought about it that way, I thought about Jared. Out of all the women in the world he chose me! As I thought about that I thought about one of my favorite characters in the Bible, Esther. She, out of all the girls the king could have chosen, was chosen by him. I always thought she would have been scared, yes. But when I think about Jared choosing me, there is this feeling inside of me that I don't know how to describe. The best I can do is say that I feel loved. I feel cherished. I feel special. There's this flutter in my heart, I almost feel weightless and all I want to do is kiss Jared. I imagine Ester may have experienced some of these things even if the marriage was "arranged." After all, she helped save the king when people were plotting to kill Him! But Jared choosing me causes me to love him and want to express it to the world!

Let's take it a bit further. In the Bible is says is 1 Peter 2:4-5, "As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." God chose us because He loves us! Just like my feelings toward Jared, knowing that God chose me and loves me makes me feel that inexplicable feeling again and all I want to do is show the world that I love him the more and more I realize the extent of his love. And this feeling is actually different than the one I have for Jared. When it's God I'm loving, this feeling is greater and deeper and more powerful because God is greater and deeper and more powerful than Jared (sorry babe but you know it's true).

So my hope for everyone else that I meet is that I hope they also realize the depth and the breath of God's love for them. It's one thing to ask him to be your savior; it's another to accept his love and let it infiltrate your life.

The best way I can finish this up is to quote another song that I absolutely love. I don't know the author, but it's called, "The More I Seek You." Think of is as brain candy for your next run!

The more I seek you
The more I find you
The more I find you
The more I love you

I wanna sit at your feet
Drink from the cup in your hands
Lay back against you and breathe
Feel your heart beat
This love is so deep
It's more than I can stand
I melt in your peace
It's overwhelming

OCD training

Hi everyone! It's a cold and rainy day here in Houston. The sun came out just a bit earlier and then went away again. It's been a good day working from inside on my couch with my blankets.

After I had decided that I am going to run the Walt Disney Marathon, I had to figure out how I was going to prepare myself to do such a task. I have been discussing with my doctor about my apparent exercise induced asthma (I was hoping I would grow out of that!) and with her guidance to make my training gradual instead of exponential, I researched several different training programs. I found one for a 15K, one for a half marathon and then finally, the marathon.

For my 15K, I am following Hal Higdon's 15K training plan. I liked his cross training plan interspersed in the runs. Disney publishes a marathon and a half marathon training program written by Jeff Galloway that corresponds with their event and I was actually surprised that I liked his training plans better than some others. Plus, I could "splice" them together to get the gradual training my doctor was talking about. The thing I had to think about the most was burnout. I definitely experienced it when training for my 10K and that was only two months long. This marathon training is taking me 10 months! It would stink to get halfway through this and then it feel like a "have-to" instead of a "get-to." I'm sure I'll have a few "have-to" moments, but we want to keep those to a minimum. Disney's plan seemed to get the job done with three runs a week. If I keep up the cross training that I do in my 15K training, I am hopeful I will be able to combine all these trainings with minimal burnout!

So I concoct this brilliant plan right? I'm like, "Ok. This all starts Monday with strength training and stretching." Then I say, "You know what would be cool? I could blog a little bit every day and make it a bit like a journal! It would be so much fun to look back on after it's all over!"

You know what happens Monday? That's right. I didn't work out and I didn't blog. So much for that idea.

However, Tuesday rolls around and I just get out there and do the Tuesday run. Wednesday rolls around and I get myself to the gym in the midst of having to talk to almost everyone on the phone or texting them. Today rolls around and Jared and I go running after completing all our errands (just for the record. It's our first year of filing taxes on our own and we got it done by April 4th. That's right! No procrastination here! Props to my husband who really took the lead on this!). So thankfully I've only missed one day of training out of four. That's 75% right now. We can bring it up tomorrow to 80% (never mind that it's a rest day!).

What you need to understand here is that this is completely uncharacteristic of me! The thing is, back in college I would get so frustrated if I missed a day of my training plan. I wanted to complete it perfectly. I wanted all the boxes to be checked off. I wanted to get there the "right" way...whatever that was. But you know what would happen? I'd miss a day and get frustrated and start all over at the beginning and I would NEVER reach the end. In fact, I would never progress past a certain point and never get better! Thank goodness I've learned to forgive myself and forget.

So I guess the moral of the story is don't get so OCD about your training schedules (or anything else in life) that it causes you to never reach the goal you have at the end. We aren't perfect, but we have a Savior who is! Hallelujah!

So here's to me getting to blogging about all this by Thursday! Better late than never!

Inspiring the Inspiring

So today I want to brag on someone very near and dear to my heart. She's been a best friend of mine since 6th grade. We have math class crazy stories together, roommate fun nights and fun girls outings to go on for hours about. I have a crazy love for this girl. Let me introduce to you, Ashley!!!

Ashley is always someone I have looked up to. She lead the high school tennis team, had some of the best grades in our class, was ALWAYS organized and has amazing fashion and decorating sense that I covet. And men...she's single! I will be taking applications and be performing a thorough background check and personality screening before you can date her! :) She's that awesome!

Unfortunately, we have been in separate cities ever since college. We have gotten to see each other a couple of times, but it is not enough! Thank goodness we live in a world with Facebook. We got to talk back and forth about life after college and lo and behold, she tells me she is running too! I was double shocked when she told me she was inspired by my postings about MY running journey!

This is why this is crazy people...Ashley is the one who introduced me to the Biggest Loser in the first place. An episode of the Biggest Loser is what inspired me to run a marathon in the first place! So in essence, Ashley inspired me to run. And now she's telling me I'm inspiring her!

Then Ashley tells me she's running a half marathon! I ask when and she tells me TOMORROW! I was floored and so excited for her! She ended up running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Dallas and finished in 2:29:58. Everyone join me in giving the girl a rousing round of applause!

I totally stole these photos off the web so acknowledge these were taken by really good people!

Look at her go!

   

Photo Finish!


So here's where the gift keeps on giving. My mom has gifted me with a sponsorship in the Walt Disney Marathon in January for my birthday (THANKS MOM!!!!!). I was really debating if I wanted to do the half or the full. But what I realized was I was giving myself excuses to not do the marathon because I am still scared. Ashley doing her half and pushing herself that far has inspired me to push that fear aside and go for it.

Ashley inspired me, I inspired her, and she has inspired me back. That is what true friendship is all about and I am honored to have her as a friend. I love you Ash!