Well, I'm 5 weeks into my half-marathon training, and I'd have to say, so far, I'm really enjoying it. Yes, I enjoy running. I'm a little weird like that.
In my first 5 weeks, I think my favorite run so far has been my 7 miler. It was a nice evening and I was able to keep a consistent, sub-10 minute pace. Although it was extremely hot, I enjoyed my 8 mile run, too. The big kids were at my parents' house for the weekend, so Mark joined me on his bike with Levi in the bike trailer. He was my travelling water station...how nice is that?? I tried my first energy gel pack on that run, too. Umm...that's some pretty gross stuff trying to taste good.
I have had two longer runs that have done weird things to my stomach/intestines, and I haven't been able to pinpoint whether I'm eating something that doesn't agree with running or if it's my pace. Both runs I've done with a friend and we've pushed the pace under 9 minute miles for 6 and 7 miles, which is a bit faster than I usually do long runs at. Hopefully, I'll get it figured out in the next couple weeks!
I love that I'm achieving a goal. {It's been years since I've had a specific goal to work towards, aside from just surviving with four small children and completing the typical motherly tasks of each day, all while maintaining sanity :O)} I love that there's purpose in my running. I love watching the training plan work. It's fascinating to me to see longer and longer runs get easier and faster. It's nice to see some more muscle tone in my legs, too!
I don't love that it usually requires time away from my family or that some days it costs us our relaxing dinner or bedtime schedule. I don't like that I feel like I'm being pushy with my need to "get my run in". Mark just had to reassure me last night that I'm doing okay. That I'm not being pushy. I'm still trying to convince myself that I'm not being selfish. I've got 7 more weeks to let go of that. Hopefully, I'll have time next month to keep you updated on how that's going.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Public School Parent Prayer Nights
Say that 10 times fast!! Seriously, though, this is something that has been on my heart for about two years...really ever since Ethan started Kindergarten. I actually made mention about starting a group like this over a year ago on this blog, but admitted that my own prayer life wasn’t where it should be, and nothing came of it. I have to say that, although I have been a born-again Christian for more than 25 years, I have never been a “prayer warrior”. I’ve lacked the intimacy and expectation it takes to pray with any sort of power until recently. I’m in the process of learning to allow the power of the Spirit to strengthen my walk, to pray in faith and open my eyes to the Lord’s answers, and be open to His call on my life. I believe that God has used the past year and a half to bring me to the place where I should be in order to do this with success and for His glory.
It has been an absolute struggle for us (mostly me) to send our kids to public school. My husband and I are both teachers, and before we had kids, we felt strongly convicted that our kids would attend public schools because we see them as mission fields. If all Christians pull their children out, who will be the light? (Don’t take that wrong…I definitely believe God creates some families for homeschooling, some for private school, and some for public). Kids often have so much more opportunity to witness than Christian teachers do. When it came down to actually putting our kids in the schools, though, I wondered if they were really equipped and if we were doing all that we could to ensure their spiritual, mental, and emotional safety. We want to do all that we can to protect them, so we pray individually as parents, but I also believe there is power in corporately covering our children as a community.
I have recently re-read Power of a Praying Parent, and it has reaffirmed the necessity of praying specifically for each of our children and using prayer to protect them from the Enemy that is lurking the halls of those schools. I feel like as a community of believers we have the ability to be much more effective in protecting our kids and breaking Satan's strongholds in the school if we join together in the effort.
At first I was thinking that this group would just be moms...and I was going to stick to those that lived in my neighborhood because that would be so much more comfortable for me, and we could just meet in each others homes, etc. I really feel like God has asked me step out of that area of comfort, though, and include any parent who wants to pray for their children attending our local schools. After the Life Action Summit at our church and the emphasis on the leadership of husbands and far reaching impact of revival, I don't think it should just be moms or just my neighborhood.
If you know me well, you know that initiating this group is truly the result of the tugging of the Spirit. I am a good assistant, not a leader (probably one of the reasons I keep saying I’m initiating and not leading this group). I rarely pray out loud around people, especially those I don’t know. I don’t even really like big groups of people, and I somewhat despise speaking in front of them. I was nauseous in the days leading up to emailing some friends about the possibility of this starting and had to force myself to hit the send button once I wrote the email. I was shaking yesterday when I called the Superintendant's office to get the okay from him. After each of these steps, though, I have had relief and peace knowing that God will take this out of my hands and make it what He wants it to be.
My prayer is that God is in the process of empowering us to bind Satan and his strongholds in our schools and empower our children in their witness and ability to stand firm in their faith.
It has been an absolute struggle for us (mostly me) to send our kids to public school. My husband and I are both teachers, and before we had kids, we felt strongly convicted that our kids would attend public schools because we see them as mission fields. If all Christians pull their children out, who will be the light? (Don’t take that wrong…I definitely believe God creates some families for homeschooling, some for private school, and some for public). Kids often have so much more opportunity to witness than Christian teachers do. When it came down to actually putting our kids in the schools, though, I wondered if they were really equipped and if we were doing all that we could to ensure their spiritual, mental, and emotional safety. We want to do all that we can to protect them, so we pray individually as parents, but I also believe there is power in corporately covering our children as a community.
I have recently re-read Power of a Praying Parent, and it has reaffirmed the necessity of praying specifically for each of our children and using prayer to protect them from the Enemy that is lurking the halls of those schools. I feel like as a community of believers we have the ability to be much more effective in protecting our kids and breaking Satan's strongholds in the school if we join together in the effort.
At first I was thinking that this group would just be moms...and I was going to stick to those that lived in my neighborhood because that would be so much more comfortable for me, and we could just meet in each others homes, etc. I really feel like God has asked me step out of that area of comfort, though, and include any parent who wants to pray for their children attending our local schools. After the Life Action Summit at our church and the emphasis on the leadership of husbands and far reaching impact of revival, I don't think it should just be moms or just my neighborhood.
If you know me well, you know that initiating this group is truly the result of the tugging of the Spirit. I am a good assistant, not a leader (probably one of the reasons I keep saying I’m initiating and not leading this group). I rarely pray out loud around people, especially those I don’t know. I don’t even really like big groups of people, and I somewhat despise speaking in front of them. I was nauseous in the days leading up to emailing some friends about the possibility of this starting and had to force myself to hit the send button once I wrote the email. I was shaking yesterday when I called the Superintendant's office to get the okay from him. After each of these steps, though, I have had relief and peace knowing that God will take this out of my hands and make it what He wants it to be.
My prayer is that God is in the process of empowering us to bind Satan and his strongholds in our schools and empower our children in their witness and ability to stand firm in their faith.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
What should I post about?
After reading my post on what I would have blogged about if I made the time, is there anything you (if anyone is even reading this after my long absence) would want to hear more about? Let me know, and I'll try to get some posts together in the next couple of weeks :O).
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
What I WOULD have blogged about...
It's official. I'm not a summertime blogger. We fill our days and weeks with too much activity for me to find time to blog! Summer moments are so fleeting when your kids are school-age (and go to school outside the home) that we try to make the most of every single one of them! If I were a diligent summer blogger, here are some things I might have written posts about, in no particular order:
*Our trip to Erie...cornhole, the beach, ice cream, haircuts, fishing, hikes, and lots of fun.
*Getting out of the boat and initiating a prayer group for parents in our public school district.
*Half-marathon training.
*Going back to Erie to say good-bye to my grandpa who passed away in June...and the sadness over the very distant relationship we had.
*How much I LOVE the book of Ecclesiastes.
*Hosting a Backyard Bible Club with some great helpers and lots of great kids from the neighborhood.
*Having a garage sale and letting go of all the baby stuff.
*Delivering food to, and praying with, some needy people in our community through our church's food ministry...great way to serve as a family.
*Forgotten God and seeing evidence of living more in the Spirit than in the flesh.
*Ethan and Karis competing in their first track meet.
*Bible study on Revelation and the minor prophets with some great girlfriends and getting to do my own book study on the book of Amos.
*Our trip to Erie...cornhole, the beach, ice cream, haircuts, fishing, hikes, and lots of fun.
*Getting out of the boat and initiating a prayer group for parents in our public school district.
*Half-marathon training.
*Going back to Erie to say good-bye to my grandpa who passed away in June...and the sadness over the very distant relationship we had.
*How much I LOVE the book of Ecclesiastes.
*Hosting a Backyard Bible Club with some great helpers and lots of great kids from the neighborhood.
*Having a garage sale and letting go of all the baby stuff.
*Delivering food to, and praying with, some needy people in our community through our church's food ministry...great way to serve as a family.
*Forgotten God and seeing evidence of living more in the Spirit than in the flesh.
*Ethan and Karis competing in their first track meet.
*Bible study on Revelation and the minor prophets with some great girlfriends and getting to do my own book study on the book of Amos.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The one my heart loves...
There is no question that Mark is the man that God created me for. I wish the journey to him had had a few fewer distractions, nevertheless, I thank God for each day that brought me to the moment that I knew he was the one.It seems crazy that it was 12 years ago {when I hardly knew who he was} that I was invited to tag along on a weekend trip to his house by some mutual friends {who I'm quite sure knew what was potentially brewing}. Twenty four hours later {thanks to those same friends} I was riding in the cab of a truck with him back to Malone. That hour and a half was all it took for me to know that he was the man I was going to marry.
It seems crazy that it was 10 years ago that he sat {shivering} next to me on a couch at my parents' house at the end of July. I couldn't figure out why he would be cold on the hot evening until a few minutes later when he got down on one knee in front of me.
It seems crazy that it was 9 years ago that {with butterflies in our stomachs and tears in our eyes} we pledged faithfulness to one another. We had no idea what the future held, we just knew we wanted to find out together.
Nine years {4 babies, 756 sleepless nights, 2 houses, 1 back surgery, and 8 football/cross-country and track seasons} later, I have never once felt the need to look back and wonder. While I do cling to many memories we've made through the last nine years, I know they are only the beginning of our story.
Mark balances out my emotionalness (is that a word?). He stands consistent in the face of my mood swings and has never once lost his temper with me, even though I have with him. He has amazing eyes. He makes every effort to understand my insecurities. He tells me on a regular basis {with all sincerity} that I'm beautiful. He gave me four of the most beautiful kids on the face of the planet. He doesn't need a special day of the year to show me or tell me how much he loves me...he does it all the time by being present and investing in me and our kids. He has sexy legs. He has to be the most selfless husband and father I have ever met. He probably is also one of the most capable fathers I know {I still recall, with awe, that he was the first one to take care of our one year old and one week old alone...while I went to the ER with some mysterious internal infection}. He understands why our house is almost always a mess or why he sometimes has to dig through a laundry basket to find a clean t-shirt {and has never once made me feel bad about it}. He loves the Lord with all his heart.
I could go on and on. I am blessed with more than I could have asked for. "...when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go..." Song of Solomon 3:4
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