Rest and resume

I was a little overwhelmed last week. I took a couple of nights off to relax and now I feel much better. Sometimes we just need that time off to reset ourselves.

I get a daily inspirational email from an organization called "God Calling". It is supposedly inspired from the Word of God delivered via two elderly women living in England. I hesitate to accept it as that, but I know that the message is very true in many ways. I especially liked one that I recieved the other day. It is as follows:

I AM your Shield. No buffets of the world can harm you. Feel that between you and all scorn and indignity is a strong shield. Practice feeling this until nothing has the power to spoil the in­ward peace. Then indeed a marvellous victory shall be won.

You wonder sometimes why you are permitted to make mistakes in your choice when you sought so truly to do My Will in the matter.

To that l say it was no mistake.... All your lessons cannot be learned without difficulty, and this was needed to teach you a lesson. Not to him who walks on, with no obstacles in his way, but to him that overcometh is the promise given.

So to attain peace quickly in your surround­ings, as well as in your hearts, learn your lesson quickly. And the overcoming is never the over­coming of the one who troubled you, but the overcoming of the weaknesses and wrong in your own nature, aroused by such a one.

No lower standard than My Standard shall be yours. “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.”

I love what this says. It is so hard to do the right thing when we feel that we have been wronged. We want to lash out at that person or group or establishment. Instead we are supposed to look at the situation as a learning experience that maybe was intended to happen to teach us something about ourselves. When we are wronged something negative usually comes out of our own personality. The negative reaction evoked is what we are learn from. We grow when we learn our own weaknesses. How are we to see our own weaknesses if life is a walk in the park? Through adversity we find our true selves. Once we know our true selves we can begin to work on what is broken and become more like Christ.

Busy

This is the busiest time I have ever had in my life! I have something every night. Tonight it's working out and class. Fun fun.

This is my name in Mandarin Chinese. I think I am going to try and learn some Cantonese before my trip this winter. I ordered some CD's so we'll see how that goes. I expect it to be really difficult. (Katie, you'll have to keep me some pointers.) For instance....is it Cantonese that I want to learn?? lol. I read on the Hong Kong tourism site that Cantonese is the primary language spoken in Hong Kong as opposed to Mandarin.


I have a busy weekend coming up again, but it's fun stuff. Friday night the girls from my small group are going to the drive-in and Saturday night the Young Singles are going to the Demolition Derby.....cause nothing says fellowship like a good ol' Demolition Derby. =) I just think that is so funny..

Our Monday night small group is all about service work so I have been trying to find something to do for other people or the community. I found the perfect opportunity. There is a local horseback riding barn that has a program for special needs children. They have it every Monday night. Since I used to ride this is the perfect service work for me. I am really excited to help out and to just spend time at a barn again. I really really miss it...even the dirty work like cleaning stalls. I just love being around horses!

Hump day

I was late to arrive for training last night so I jumped in at the end of the walker's group. I tried the speed walking thing and it was kind of fun. I can walk really fast because I am tall and have a long stride. It felt really good and I got that competitive spirit. I raced ahead and finished at the head of the group. That was a good feeling. When I am in the runner's group I could care less about whether I pass people...I'm an just trying to survive without dying..lol. The walk was really too easy though...I guess I need to run. For the first time I experienced that endorphine high after the workout. I finished and stood there talking to on of my running friends and I felt great...energized..hyper almost. The whole place was buzzing with conversation so I guess I was not the only one. I really liked that feeling. That alone could keep me motivated I think.

Well it's hump day and that means that I have class tonight. My class is in Oakland City so I will work until 4 then finish my homework and go to class at 6. I won't be home until 9:30 or 10:00 tonight. Wednesdays are my least favorite day of the week. I am so close to graduation though. Just one more semester and my college career is finally over!! Gotta push on through.

too much to do

my schedule:

Monday: work 8-4, small group 7:00-8:30
Tuesday: work 8-4, training 6:00-7:00
Wednesday: work 8-4, Master's classes 6:00-9:30
Thursday: work 8-4, training 5:00-6:00, small group 7:00-9:00
Friday: grass cutting night
Saturday: training 7:00am-8:30am, house work and yard work
Sunday: church 10:40-12:00.....REST!

So YEAH.....I'm a little stressed lately. I feel like I am either busy doing something or in my car driving. The Monday night small group is only for 4 weeks, so that will help lighten things up when it is over. Training lasts for another 12 weeks though..

Love me some Fridays

Yay, it is finally Friday! It's the 13th also so hopefully no bad luck befalls me. I don't really believe in that junk, but I always think of it on Friday the 13th.

Last night was another tough training night. I decided to go to the YMCA and get on the treadmill instead of going to the meetup at Wesselman Park. I did this for two reasons: 1. to get done earlier (the meetup is right in the middle of my evening) 2. to see what my time looks like on the treamill and try it in air conditioning.

It was still difficult even in the air conditioning. I really pushed myself to run. I still had to stop short on two of my running intervals, but I did better than the first night. My body feels like it could keep going, but I just can't breathe. I have athsma so this is going to be harder for me than other people, but I really want to do this. The scary thing is that Saturday we add another mile to our training. The intervals stay the same though. Next week, we add more distance and do longer running intervals. It's going to be a major struggle every week. It only gets more difficult and there will not be a time when i can do this comfortably...ever. That's the thing about running. You think that you just get into good shape and you can comfortably run, but that is never really the case. It's always a struggle to run farther, run faster, etc. Then if you stop your routine you lose endurance quickly. I was up to running two miles at one time, but when I quit I lost all that work I did. What I want to do it make sure that I keep this up even after the race. Runners do not quit. They are a very determined bunch...I want to be part of that! I just have to remember that each week I will get a little stronger and by the end I will be in much better shape than I started out in regardless of my finish time.

Today is another busy day. I have to go home, do some housework, go to training, and then come home and cut the grass before it gets dark. I'm not really looking forward to any of this, but it has to be done.

I've been reading a book called "Intoxicated with Babylon" which is about how removed Americans are from Christianity. It is really interesting and I was reading some websites about it today too. Our morals have been so degraded. I could go on for hours about this, but basicaly we have lost all sense of right and wrong. Take a look at some of your friend's myspace pages. There is vulgarity, cursing, blatent sexual imorality, idolatry, perversion, and the list goes on. Don't get me wrong, I am far from perfect. I was the same or maybe worse at one time. Since I have come to Christ everything is different. Yes, I still make mistakes and do things I shouldn't from time to time, but the difference is those things convict me now. I can't see any of that as acceptable. These things stand out to me now. I just don't think that people even think about what they are doing anymore. We are so polluted by the media. This is really distressing me today.

Training is not fun.

I got my rear kicked last night at the first training session. Apparently there was "pre-training" training too. lol. I did not hear about that. It was obvious who had started training early and who hadn't. I was in the back with the others who hadn't done any pre-training. =) I survived it, but it was painful. I made it through the first running interval fine, but when the second interval came up I got a sharp pain in my right side early on and had to return to a brisk walk. I did not even attempt to run the third interval since my side still hurt and I made it part of the way through the fourth. I was really loading up on water all day before the run and I think that was my mistake. Tomorrow I will just drink a normal amount. I'm a little sore today...mostly my obliques. I thought for a few minutes about dropping back to the walkers group, but thought better of it. My goal is to stay in the run/walk group through all of the training. Even if I am dead last I want to stay in that group. There were people still behind me yesterday, but I have a feeling some of them will drop back to the walkers group. I just need to remember that it's going to take some time to get my endurance up. I want to be up in the front, but I have to remember that those people started somewhere too. To get where they are I have to do the work they did. The hot, humid weather is only going to make it more difficult. Perserverance is the key!

Nervous!

I'm really nervous about training for this half marathon. The first training day is tomorrow. I keep getting butterflies in my stomach when I think about it. I know it is going to be a rough the first month or so as my body gets acclimated to running outside in this hot weather. Today I am going to make sure that I drink LOTS of water and get to bed early in preparation for tomorrow night.

People keep asking me why I am doing this and the only reason I can give is that it has been a goal of mine. I've been setting goals for myself since middle school. I remember the first one that I set was to get straight A's in 8th grade. I did it and it felt really good. When I was younger I also had a bad habit of chewing my nails. That was the next goal I set for myself. I was successful and grew beautiful nails, which I had long dreamed of. Throughout college my goals were just to finish my degrees. I ended up with two associate degrees in the field of computer information, a degree in business and I'll finish my master's Nov. 28. Another goal I had set for myself was to buy a house, I did that last October. I kept thinking about what i was going to do after my master's degree. I had though about going for the doctorate, but it just seems pointless. It really won't help me getter a better job in my field, in fact, it might overqualify me. So this half-marathon is my next goal.

Actually I will accomplish my half marathon goal before I finish my degree, but this is only a stepping stone for me. This year I plan to run and walk in the half. I will continue training and I want to run the whole thing next year. That's 13.1 miles of straight running!!! I'll see what happens after that, but I might see about a full marathon (26 miles). Of course, I will have to start that with a walk/run and then train for a couple of years to run the whole thing. AHHH...that scares me. I am going to try to just focus on the half for now. Actually even that is overwhelming. I will just focus on my 2 mile training run on Tuesday for now. One day at a time!!

On the side, my mom had a garage sale this weekend and what fun! I made $120.00 and my parents made over $500.00. Quite impressive! That was Saturday morning and I had to leave for a while to go to the half-marathon meeting at Wesselman Park. I was up at 4:30am to help with the sale. Then afterwards I got cleaned up and went to the 5:30 service at church, then to dinner with some girls from my small group. After dinner we went out for a couple of drinks. I try to stay away from bars, but I knew it would be okay since I would be with good people who don't get wild and crazy. We had a nice time and I was at home and in bed by 12:00.

Nathan came in town Sunday and we had dinner at the Black Buggy. He didn't get too stay long, but it was good to see him.

Evansville Half Marathon

Bible study last night was fun. We had it at a house with a pool and hot tub, so we sat in the hot tub and talked about things that are going on in out lives and had a prayer session. We were in there for probably and hour and a half and I was feeling a little prunish as the end. We also had pizza, salad, fruit and cookies. It was nice change from our normal Bible study.

We talked a lot about our goals and one of the girls mentioned that she was going to participate in the Evansville half-marathon in October. Training starts next week and I decided to sign up. It has always been a goal of mine and I guess no time is better than the present!! I am pretty nervous about it, but I know with perserverance I can do it. I don't expect to run the entire time since this will be my first half marathon, but I want to at least run half of the distance. My goal is to run 6.5 out of 13 miles. I have done some training before and I know that as long as you stick with it and start slow you can build up your endurance quickly. Wish me luck!

Back to work!

I'm kind of glad to be back to work. I'm not a big fan of the 4th of July. It never seems to be a good time for me. For the last 8-10 years I have always had a bad 4th, so I have gotten to the point that i just avoid the holiday all together. It was nice having the day off yesterday, but I just worked in the yard and stayed close to home. I stopped going to the fireworks a few years ago and I usually avoid cookouts too. There was actually a pretty good show in my neighborhood that I could see from my house.

I have Bible study tonight and I'm looking forward to it. We have changed it from once a week to bi-weekly for the summer and I am starting to miss it. I used to meet with a couple of girls on Sunday at Starbucks and we have stopped doing that months ago. There hasn't been much going on with the young adult group either it seems. All those things help keep me accountable and keep my thinking on track. Without them I have been slacking off on my own quiet time and Bible study. I just realized that it felt like something was missing in my life and I think that is probably what I am missing. I am making a promise to myself to get back into the habit of Bible study and quiet time every night before bed. It fills me with such a sense of peace and contentment. It's so easy to get busy with life and stop taking time to slow down and really think about the important things in life.

Feels like a Friday!

It's weird having a day off in the middle of the week. I'd rather the 4th of July always fall on a weekend. I think I'm going to just hang out and do some yeard work tomorrow. My flower beds need attention. They're looking rough. was going to work on them last night, but Jake really really wanted to go on a walk. He kept going back and forth from me to the front door and whining. The neighborhood was hopping yesterday. Jake had a blast barking at all the little dogs in the neighborhood and swerving back and forth in front of me cutting me off. He was quite a sight yesterday. He was on full alert and prancing around proudly. He is so beautiful when he gets hyper like that. He stands tall with his head high in the air, his tail held high and he lifts each foot up really high when he takes a step. If you have ever seen a saddlebred, that is what he looks like when we go on a walk. I usually have a choke chain on for backup and a prong collar for control. That combined with the white froth around his mouth from excitement create a fierce looking dog. People say "What a beautiful dog" as they slowly step back to evaluate the situation. lol. Little do they know, he is afraid of his own shadow. I had a couple of "Are you walking him or is he walking you" remarks. People are so very clever...

What a beautiful day!

It was so nice outside when I left for work this morning. I love cool sunny mornings. I wish I would have gotten up early enough to walk before getting ready. Tomorrow I am making a point to do that.

I am in so much pain today. I did my Tony Little workout Saturday for the first time in a long time and I can barely walk today. I have been doing Pilates for a while and I now realize how ineffective they are. One weight lifting session with Tony and I am feeling the burn. I used to workout with Tony religiously and it really does work. The resistence training is great. I am hurting most from the squats, but no pain...no gain! I am trying to get back into my every other day routine, but I am not sure that i can do it tonight unless this soreness goes away.

(I love this pic, Jake has bad breath after he eats Puperoni's.)

Well, my dog Jake had a little excitement this weekend. I went out to eat with a friend on Saturday and afterwards I just came home and watched a movie. (BTW, I watched a movie called Delovely about Cole Porter's life...very good!!) Anyway, a june bug had gotten in when i let Jake out and it was dive bombing my head. I finally got fed up and tried to get it to fly out the door. I wasn't even paying attention to Jake and he just ran right out the door while I had it open! This has happened a couple of times before and he just runs around the neighbors yard and comes back when called. This time he was off and I couldn't see where he went becasue it was dark. I had to throw some shoes on and drive around the neighborhood looking for him. I was so scared that he was going to run out in front of a car off Burkhardt. Thank goodness i finally found him standing in a someone's driveway in my neighborhood. I called him and he came running and jumped in the car. Now that he has had a taste of freedom I guess I will have to be more careful about watching the doors. He is so oblivious to cars that I am afraid he will get hit. I felt like a mother while he was missing wondering how I could ever go back to my house and carry on like normal if I didn't find him. I took him on a walk Sunday so he could see the neighborhood on a leash. =) There were a lot of neighborhood fireworks this weekend too so I think he is a little tramatized. Poor baby...