You are a Treasure

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having as beautiful fall weather as we have been.

We just recently got the opportunity to go camping. It was amazing! We went to Lake Mineral Wells and it reminded me of my childhood a bit, camping with my dad and other Indian Princesses with the YMCA. While it was a bit on the chilly side, we enjoyed our time hiking and spending time together. Some of the views of the lake we had were breathtaking and the sunsets were some of the prettiest colors. I love waking up in the middle of the night and seeing stars shining through the ceiling of the tent. Not to mention the amazing food you get to eat on camping trips (hello s'mores!).

While we were out there, we took the time to assess what's going on in our lives. We ask each other what we are learning, what we like and dislike, how can we make things better. The whole time we were out there, I was constantly asking God what was he trying to teach me? What was new that I needed to hear?

Thing is, there wasn't anything new. But what kept coming to my head was the amazing love that God has for us. I've recently wondered about the people that robbed our house. If I had a son, would I be willing to let him die to save the murderers that came into our house and stole our security? Honestly, I wouldn't be able to. Momma bear would come out and protect my son at all costs. But that's what God sees when he looks at us. He sees a bunch of murderers, adulterers, liars, thieves and worriers. But he was willing to give up what was most precious to him in order to save us.

I recently discovered that I had been taught a parable wrong. For the longest time, I heard the parables of what the kingdom of heaven is like:

Matthew 13:44-46

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he found a pearl of great value, he went out and sold everything he had and bought it." 

For the longest time, I read these out of context and didn't associate it with the surrounding text. I had been taught that this is how we should treat God. God is like a treasure or a pearl hidden in a field. Once we find him, we should give up everything for him. 

This is of course, really hard for humans to do. We love our TV, our food, our friendships, our jobs, our houses and to give up everything for Him is something not easily attained. Even if it is attained, I feel like a little bit of resentment sets in, especially when hard times hit. 

But the beauty of this passage is that it doesn't talk about our relationship towards God. This passage talks about God's relationship to us.

Add in the last parable:

Matthew 13:47-50

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea that caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, they pulled it ashore, sat down, and put the good fish into containers and threw the bad away. It will be this way at the end of the age. Angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, ⁶²  where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

When we add this parable in, we see that God is the one doing the acting. God is the one finding the treasures and the pearls and selling everything for them. God is the one that is catching the fish and bringing ones who have accepted his gift of eternal life into heaven. These passages tell us that God finds us as valuable as treasure. As beautiful as pearls. He gave everything up for us. He didn't do it because he had to. He did it because he loves us. Add in, God isn't the one hidden! God is right there, pursuing us. Wanting a relationship with us!

How wonderful is it to realize that God isn't demanding everything of us in order to follow him? He wants to meet us where we are and treats us like gold, no matter where in life we are. From personal experience, I have found the more I walk with him the more I grow to love him and allow him to change every bit of me. I talked about dreams in my previous blog. God took my small dreams and exchanged them for big, abundant dreams. I know that he will never give me a dream that he won't work out in due time. 

You may not feel like gold. You may feel dirty because you know God wouldn't approve of things in your life. But he doesn't hold those against you like some tally sheet. He values you way more than he values your shortcomings. When God chooses people in the Bible, he doesn't choose good people who happen to mess up later. He chooses messed up people in the first place and they happen to keep continuing to mess up, just because they are human! But God uses them and we still talk about the amazing things they did today!

My encouragement to you today is to hold on to the fact that God loves you. He values you more than you believe. He knew you couldn't overcome the debt that you have for your sins and so he sent the only person that could pay your debt. It's the unwavering theme of laying one's life down for love that we find in life and it's nothing new. But it is still as profound today as the first time we hear it!

Tangled Dreams

So in anticipation of our Disney run coming up (wohoo WDW Marathon!) Jared and I have been getting into the mood by watching some of our favorite Disney movies...including some ones that we are a little bit behind on, and hadn't watched yet.

One of those was Tangled. Let me say, it's my new favorite!

First off, this girl has as many hobbies as I do!

She reads more than I do!

Her mom lets her paint on the wall too!

She knits! Needless to say, I never had a chameleon sitting in my knitting...

So within 10 minutes of the movie, I'm already in love with this girl. I've been described by others as ...mmmmmm.... passionate. I have so many emotions. When they come up though, they are super extreme.

First thrill of leaving the tower!

Then, she starts feeling guilty about lying.

But then she's elated and running around! I love Flynn's expression in this picture!

Then she is at a low point again, feeling like the worst daughter ever.

Next moment she's swinging from the tree singing, "BEST DAY EVER!!!!"

Then she's face down feeling like a despicable human being...

I feel like this explains Jared and I's relationship pretty well. I go all extreme, and he just bears with me! Talk about true love!

But despite the love story, the happily ever after, the witty points of the creators in the movie, the dramatic death with the extra-dramatic bringing back to life moment... I feel there is one moment in this movie where it is the most tender, the most simple and the most profound.

Right before she is about to see the lanterns, Rapunzel is worried. When Flynn asks what's wrong, she says she's terrified. What if her dream isn't everything she hoped for? Or worse...what if it is? What then?

As a dreamer, I've often had this moment. I've been dreaming about running the Disney marathon. I often have the fear that I go through all this training, put in the hours and the miles (and my mom's money since it's my birthday, Christmas, and birthday gift all combined) and it's not everything I dreamed of. What if something goes wrong? What if I get injured or sick and can't race? What if I can't finish?

I had this line of thinking with my wedding day. After the waiting and the planning and the anticipation, what if it wasn't everything I dreamed of? I've had this moment in ministry. Planning events and hoping for people to come. What if they don't? What happens if nobody comes or cares?

Flynn tells Rapunzel that this moment with them in the boat watching the lanterns will be everything that she dreams of. And I think this is important. If we focus on the negative points, we will never enjoy the moment that we have been waiting for. We will never be free to just enjoy it. Then, he says something very profound. Once you've lived your dream, you get to go find a new one!

Marathoners often experience Post-Marathon-Syndrome. They've worked so hard towards this marathon that in the aftermath, they start looking around and go, "Ok. Did that. What now?" Newlyweds often have Post-Wedding-Syndrome, where now that the hype of the wedding is over, they look at each other and go, "Now what?" New moms can have Post-Baby-Depression (there's a clinical term for that which I'm blanking on right now) where they have anticipated this baby and now that it's here, they go, "What do I do with this thing???"

But here's the deal. If our dreams and desires are in line with God's heart and His plan, our moments where dreams are realized are going to be way more amazing than we could have ever dreamed. Earlier I wrote a blog about the garage sale I did for my kids. All that work and stress and God blessed it three times over what I was hoping and dreaming for. Then, God gave me new dreams and gave me the directions on where to take them. This past week has been one that I have been really doubting the dreams. I've been doubting if they would come true at all. If they did, would they will be everything I hoped for?

But the truth is, I've seen God work in my life. I've seen him bring dream after dream to life and he has never failed to give me a dream that he wouldn't work out in it's due time.

So today I want to encourage you, never stop dreaming! Ask God to give you dreams and desires that fall into his heart. Give up ok, self made dreams for great, God given ones. Don't give up hope on your God given dreams, and when doubt comes, trust in Him to bring you through.

And then when it happens, we will all look like this, entering the Kingdom of God!

At this point in the movie, Jared looks over and says, "You didn't tell me they filmed you going into Disney World!!"

Have a great rest of your day!! Love you all!

Authentic Contentment

Hello everyone! It's been an amazing week and weekend so far!

Last weekend I got to run another race with my parents..the Rhar and Sons Oktoberfest 5K! While I couldn't drink the beer due to my food allergy, I still had tons of fun with my parents and set a PR for my 5K!

Mom and I before the race!

Right before the start!

Post Race Festivities!

I finally (officially!) PR'ed my 5K at 29:54.6!

Now, one thing I want to make sure gets across, is that it's easy to look at someone who's achieved a ton of their goals (especially all at once) and say, "Wow. It's great you can do that. You are superwomen! I can't do what you do."

And if that's what you have to say, then I have failed as the goal of my blog. This blog isn't to show off to the world about my running. I'm not that good in the first place! But what I hope you see is someone who was challenged, set goals, and worked step by step to meet them. I had two major milestones this past week that had me on cloud nine. But they have been milestones months in the making. A year and a month if you want to be exact! I am a normal, messed up human being with sin and trials and, thankfully, a Savior. I couldn't run 30 seconds at the beginning of this journey. I hope you see my writing as an authentic representation of what God is teaching me, and I hope He is using it to encourage and challenge you to be in His presence, in His love. Without him none of this is possible.

Something along the same lines that I have learned from it all, is that while I set goals and strive to achieve them, I have actually learned how to live in the moment. I have learned to enjoy the journey. I don't run and pine or worry over the ability to run a marathon. I simply say, "This is what I can do today, and it's the next step to get me where I need to be tomorrow." I've been able to spend some quality time with God on my long runs. I've learned to worship him even if my legs are screaming and some of my most treasured moments with him have been while I'm alone running through his creation. I've learned that God has me right where I need to be no matter what the circumstances and I am content in that!

So with that said, here's to another round of training. This one leads to my BIG goal, the one I've been working toward for 13 months. The Walt Disney World Marathon!

Here we go!