Running Free, One Step at a Time

Hi everyone! I am joining a running team with Redeemed Ministries to help raise money for a new safehouse. Below is what I wrote for their blog today. Enjoy!

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog.

It was a little under a year ago. One day, God challenged me when I had doubts about running. I was watching a TV reality show and the contestants were running a marathon. I instantly thought, "I could never do that." God said, "Really? I gave you a heart. I gave you legs and feet and lungs. What else do you need to go out and run?"

I realized that I had limited myself in what I thought I could do. Slightly angry at myself, I decided that I would train for a marathon. With no timeline in place, I started out walking, then running for a little bit. That turned into running more, which became running long and running frequently. I have amazed myself at what I am capable of and what I have probably been capable of for years. All I had to do was make a commitment to get out there when it was time to run, and believe in God that when he said, "You can a marathon," he's right. Who knows me better than the one who formed me?

When I learned about human trafficking, I was angry. I was extremely upset that this was happening on my watch. However, I had to wait for two years while God worked his perfect timing to introduce me to Redeemed. When I went to volunteer trainings, I was completely overwhelmed. It seemed like such a big culture driven problem that would take forever to overcome. How can a simple, young person like me do anything to change it?

But instead of getting overwhelmed, I helped out where I could. I saw needs and I said yes, I will help. Those small, seemingly insignificant "yes" moments have allowed me to see the hand of God work in these women's lives.

As I have sat down and really thought about how long a marathon really is, I get easily overwhelmed at the thought of it. But then I realize that just like any other run, I'm going to have to just take it one mile at at time. Just like the running, if you really sit down and look at the issue of human trafficking, it seems like a gargantuan issue. How can we change something that is so engrained in culture and help heal the trauma that these girls live with the rest of their lives?

My answer, just like running, it one small step at a time. We want to build a new safe house so that we can help more women who are coming out of these trafficking situations. We want to provide a place where they can feel safe and God can help heal the hurt and the pain that comes with what they have been through. One person can't do all of it, but if we all lean in the same direction we can really make a huge difference.

Thank you for supporting our team. Your pledge is the small bits that make a huge difference in the life of these girls! Look for more posts from our team as we run for freedom!

To make a pledge, please visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1gLF4zk5sR59Da6XEowhRCzvutVxNYyT0PbMvFnp_xmE/viewform!

Too busy to run...or am I?

Good morning everyone! I hope you all slept well and are beginning to enjoy the weekend before the 4th!

This morning I woke up and the first thought in my head was, "Ugg." That pretty much summed up how I felt this morning. Problem is, I had a bunch of things to do this morning, including a long seven mile run. That was pretty much the last think I wanted to do this morning.

I gave myself a ton of excuses to not go. I've been really good with my running schedule this week. I am tired. I had a ton going on this weekend already. I never gave myself a reason to go.

But I ended up going anyways. And when I returned to the house at the halfway point to drop off the dog, I managed to get past my excuses and go back out to finish the last three miles.

And as I'm running, I was like, "What got me out here in the early Texas heat?"

I really can't give you an answer on why I went. I can't give you a reason on why I finished. So the only answer I can think of is, habit.

Whaaaaaa?

Yes, I believe running has become a habit to me now. I just went and did it, Nike swoosh style. Yes I'm busy. I work part time, help my mom with jobs around the house on the side and run a ministry. I don't have a ton of time. But I am proof that if you do something with dedication over a long period of time, you will make it habit and it will soon become a staple in your lifestyle. This goes for working, reading your Bible, eating healthy, being intentional in communicating with family and friends, anything!

Now excuse me while I sit on the couch doing nothing until I have to go into work!

Security

Howdy everyone! How's your Thursday morning going?

Mine's been a little tough. I just had to drop the hubby off at the airport for a few weeks of intense training on his part. I don't know exactly when I will get to see him again although I know I will at some point. It's always tough for me (or anyone for that matter) to drop someone I love off at the airport. First off, I'm going to miss them. Second, I'm jealous because I want to travel too! I hate saying goodbye no matter how long it will be before I see someone again.

This time however, was a bit different. Today was something that's been looming in front of me for a few weeks now and I would always get sad when I thought about it. Same for Jared. But yesterday we sat down and talked about how were feeling and how we would deal with everything going on. What we discussed coincided with something that we heard this weekend and it really helped. I thought I'd share for you in case you need to hear it.

This weekend we went to Fellowship Church Dallas, our future home church, so that we could see what it was like. Pace Hartfield gave the message. He's someone that I've always looked up to since my high school years since he was the youth pastor when I was attending the Mix. I still look up to him and what he had to say really spoke to my heart.

He talked about how we all need a reminder sometimes. That's why we have things like Memorial Day. In the Christian's case however, we also need a reminder that God loves us, no matter what. So many times, we get caught up in what we do and let that define us. We let circumstances define our identity and what the world says about us define our self worth. It's an outside-in flow of information and unfortunately, it's not the way to live.

I do this all the time though. I mean, if I go look at my Facebook, it's got all sorts of stuff on it that defines me to the world. I'm a Children's Pastor. I volunteer on a weekly basis. I like to craft as evidenced by my Pinterest posts and I am constantly running as exercise. Even my exercise has become a means for me to help others thanks to the Charity Miles app. I like to watch crime solving TV shows and I like to read. I'm married to the most amazing man ever and if you look at my pictures, I'm usually acting slightly goofy. So if we were to define me just by my Facebook page, I'd be pastor, runner, crafter, wife and volunteer.

But you know what runs in my head often? Questions like, "What happens if I can't run anymore?" "What happens if I don't volunteer?" "What happens if my husband is gone?" "What do I become if I ever leave the ministry?"

You see, if I define myself by what I do, those things can change and I experience identity crisis. I've experienced it once before, right after I got married! I mean, when you change your name and move to a different city, it's really easy to feel like you are a totally different person. But what I learned after I got married, and was reminded of after attending church this weekend, was that I am not defined by what I do, but who's I am. This blog is titled "The King's Daughter." That's not by mistake. I am the daughter of the one true High King. God is my heavenly Father and someday I get to spend eternity with him. He loved me so much that even before I was born or learned about Him, He died for me without any guarantee that I would love Him back.

So I feel like I would miss the point if I never shared with my audience, if I even have one, the reason why I do everything I do. I love God with all my heart, more than anything. From that love I begin to love the things that God loves, which includes teaching children about him, helping others in need, taking care of the body he gave me, and enjoying life to the fullest.

As I go into this next phase of my life, changing cities once again and changing churches and learning a new lifestyle as my husband starts his next part of his career, I am choosing to remember the fact that no matter what, I am the Lord's. Instead of the world and what I do defining me from the outside-in, I'm allowing my identity in Christ influence my world from the inside-out. And honestly, it looks a ton more exciting!

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}

Dicipline

This week has been a blessing and a challenge all at once. Jared and I have finally gotten some time to actually sit and enjoy talking together without too much chaos (when Duchess is around, there is always chaos). But just as that small moment passed, it was gone again with the whirlwind of work and things to do.

It's also been difficult to find the motivation to go running. I'm sorry, but 45 minutes is a long time! Sunday we were exhausted from the weekend. But we still went running...through the Christmas lights! We went through the neighborhood and saw all the pretty houses all decorated. Tuesday was the same. We went a little bit on a different route, which ended up going right through sprinkelers, but we had fun and ran the entire way.

Yesterday was difficult. I woke up not feeling well (and we all know how little it takes for me to not feel well) but I needed to get some work done and still be on time for my commitment for Redeemed. So my run got pushed back to after work...9:30 pm. UGGGGGG. It's too late to go running outside so that left me doomed to the treadmill.

I seriously considered not going. After all, I was tired, hungry and hurt from the day before. But I knew that if I didn't do this run, my run on Friday was going to be that much harder. Plus, I was stressed out about work, so a run was what I needed to get all that negative energy out.

So 45 minutes later on the treadmill I finally ended my run. Not going to lie, it was a different experience. I ran the ENTIRE WAY. I out ran people that started after me. There was a person who came, ran beside me for 10 minutes, got off, came back and ran again. When they left, I was still running. My biggest obsticle while running wasn't my body (for the first time)...it was my mind. I was SO BORED. But I found distraction between all 10 TV's in front of me and jammed out to my music until the very end. When I was done, I felt better than when I started. I felt like I had accomplished something. Plus, I realized that I had become "that person" from my days in high school. I would go to the YMCA, see people jogging for a long time on the treadmill and I could barely do two minutes. I would get so jealous of them. Now I had become what I had previously envied. All it took was some hard work and dicipline.

Many times in our spiritual walk with Christ, we tend to judge our walk to everyone elses. I used to envy people who were "more spiritual" on the outside than me. I still sometimes envy people who lead large ministries and have more resources than I have. But what we have to realize is that we all have access to the same Savior. He wants us to all expeirence His grace, His love and His amazing plan He has for us on Earth. But instead of working so hard to make whatever we want to happen on our own, we should be working hard to get to know Him on a personal level. We should acknowledge that He knows the inner depths of our beings, no matter how hard we try to hide our deepest secrets. We should try to get to know as much as we can the depth and breath of His love. Because even a little glimpse of that can change our lives.

Why do we memorize scripture, read our Bibles or go to church? They aren't a checklist to say "I'm spiritual." They are obedience tools, or a "training plan" that God gives us so that we can grow to be more like Him. That's what we are training for right? Our whole exsistance is to glorify His love to the world around us that so desparately needs it. Plus, we feel so much better after a mini talk with God, kind of like we feel after we have a good workout.

So the next time you are tempted to not go to church, read your Bible or spend time with Him, remember that it's not a "have to." Rather, it's a "get to." We get to "train" our brains to know Him better and live out His love in our lives. The more you obediently follow the training program He's given us, the more He is going to reveal Himself in your life.

Then fasten your seat belts kids. Once that happens, it's going to be a wild ride.

Week 3...complete!

Not much to comment on today.

Never mind I take that back. I went to the UPS store to send out Ever's birthday present (see the Bible below!) and also witness a drug bust in the parking lot that blocked me into the shopping center for a good 20 minutes! I am highly impressed with the HPD!

Then I got to hang out with a friend of mine from Redeemed and my co-worker at work helped me get ideas for the children's set! Look what I made today!

My husband is also proving to be a great running coach. Three miles today! I love you babe!