Musings

Hello everyone. Happy Monday (and yes, that is a legitimate thing to say. You CAN be happy on a Monday)!

I am lacking in any one big thing to share so I instead, am going to expound on a couple of small things I've had rolling around in my head. I hope they help you. :)

1. Life is always going to be crazy. What changes is the type of crazy and how much. What we can do however, is learn to keep it at a minimum or embrace it for it's fullest potential. Take Bilbo Baggins for example. He was offered a choice to sit on his behind in Bag End or to go on a journey. No matter what choice he made, we find out what kind of hobbit he was. But with the latter, we get an inspiring story of perseverance, loyalty and courage that has inspired generations. Imagine the Hobbit if he would have stayed. We would have had a short book and none of the Lord of the Rings.

2. Stop picking at scabs. We go through life and because of the chaos, we get hurt. We get some scabs. For example, I got scratched by a cat at my in law's house and I have a small cut on my arm now. It's been there for a week and now starts to itch. However, if I keep picking at it like I have, it will take even longer to heal much less bleed all over the place. If I do that with my mental or spiritual scars, I keep picking at them, bringing up the raw feelings again by thinking about them a lot, they will take longer to heal and will leave a more lasting scar.

3. What you put in is what you get out. What I eat is going to directly affect my performance while running. What I think about is like food and is going to directly affect my actions. When I feel something, I need to stop and think, "Why am I feeling this." Then pray. Then meditate on God's answer. The most important step is action. Why would I learn something from God and then not put it into action?

4. Don't undervalue hard work. Many people in my generation try to find the easy way to things. What they don't realize is that you often never get to the best things in life by trying to find short cuts. Some of the best places to see in the world require hours spent uncomfortably traveling. Fitness is never achieved through sitting on a couch. Without the hard work, you will never appreciate the end result or learn what you learn along the journey.

5. Don't wait for tomorrow. I just finished teaching my 5th graders who are about to become 6th graders. I had them write down their dreams and aspirations for their lives. Thing is, when you look at what they wrote down (learning a new language, helping people, learning how to take care of animals, becoming a better student, athlete, etc) I was showing them that they don't have to wait until they are "older" to do any of these. God gave them life now and they can make a difference now, no matter their age. Same goes with us. We shouldn't wait for the "opportune moments." It will never come and you will have wasted all that time that you were given.

Then I was looking through my Pinterest and I was reminded about some things that I really loved.

I think this is so true in my marriage. I hope I show Jared that I love him every day.



This is me with my friends. :)


Stop trying to be someone else. God made you, you. No one else! You never know who wants to be you!


Yes!

Our God is amazing. I hope to do this someday! Like...Alaska!

Last day booster...read Romans 5. It's my favorite!

God gave you today so let's make it amazing!

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.

Defeats and Victories

We all have probably heard or have experienced the fact that when working toward something great long term you are going to have good days and bad days. Times where you are on top of the world and times at the bottom of the pit.

Yesterday was a bottom of the pit day. I had a good day at work but my run was less than inspiring. It was a 45 minute run. Funny how you never know how long 45 minutes is until you have to run it. Add to that we ran it on a treadmill. I love the fact that I have a gym membership (Thanks Mom!) but it was more to use the bikes, pools and free weights. Not the treadmill. But the weather and the time of night forced us to run four miles on the hamster wheels and halfway through Jared and I were both like, "I hate running!"

So today I had to make a resolution. I would go running at the park with my dog at 1:30 pm. No excuses. Not only was it a beautiful day, but I experienced something I've only read about...the runner's high. Three minutes in Steller Kart came on the playlist with "We Shine," my dog was so happy, the sun was shining and I was like, "Praise God for legs and lungs!" I maintained a 10:25 min/mile pace all 30 minutes (that's zooming for me) and even pushed harder at the end. I was saying "Howdy" to everyone I passed while keeping Duchess from chasing the squirrels. Plus, after the run, everyone just seemed nicer. Maybe it's due to my overenthusiastic "Hi!" to the post office guy and frozen yogurt lady. But, I got free vanilla yogurt for Duchess! What a deal!

All this to say I think running just makes the world a nicer place. Plus it teaches me that practice makes perfect and I shouldn't get discouraged by one run...or one plan gone wrong, or anything in life. Gods got my back because I'm all His, and that's all I need to worry about!

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go soak my very sore muscles in Epsom salt, use the foam roller and drink a vanilla protein shake...

Running Across America...still in Virginia.

Practice Makes Perfect

Today I went on a 5K run just to practice it for the big day next week! Even with the cold and no asthma meds before I made it in 35 minutes and 45 seconds!

I've also been practicing my public speaking skills. I had some things I want to share on studying Acts so I've been trying to practice my speaking skills on a small level. Please pardon the over use of colloquialisms in the same sentence. I've got to practice that. :)


IMG 0563 from Madelyn on Vimeo.


I've also been running across America still!