Ginghamsburg New Path 5K Run 2008

As some of you may remember, on March 14, I posted a blog about Matt and I's decision to take on the challenge of running our first 5K! Just as a reminder to everyone, althought Matt played soccer aggressively in high school and also in college, and I played tennis during those same years, we are in NO WAY runners. I despised playing sports such as basketball where you were always running. Tennis was nice, short sprints. I DESPISE running!! Yeah, yeah, it always feels good after you've done it, but I've always lacked the desire and will power to make running a habit.

The weeks leading up to the big run, we didn't really "train" persay. We still ate out at restaurants, pigged out on chip and dip at home, and casually ran every 2-3 days. When I finally mapped out how far 3.1 miles actually was, I started to get a little fearful which in turn drove me to train consistently and not give up.

We ran the full two weeks before the race every other day. On the off days, we would hike the woods not far from our house, or ride our bikes. We started to be able to run farther and farther. About 5 days before the big run, I actually ran the full 3.1 miles without stopping. Success!!!

The Thursday before the race, we went out to the actual path around Ginghamsburg. Whew!!! That was rough. 2 major hills over 75, and one smaller hill in the middle. These weren't straight up hills like I would of liked, but graaaddduuuaaalll hills that seemed to never end.

Race day.......was a chilly one. I was the dummy that decided to wear shorts and my running jacket. It was about 45 degrees (which we were used to 70 degree weather). My little legs were bright red, and my upper body felt like it was going to explode from all the cold air filling my lungs, but I'm proud to say WE DID IT!

There were over 400 people that ran/walked the race with us. This was really such an amazing experience. New Path feeds the people in Miami and Montgomery country who have hit rough times in their life, suppling them with food, clothing, furniture and God's love. I was so excited to be a part of something that was good for my body, and also for those that need God's love the most.

For full race details with pictures you can go to the site below:

http://www.speedy-feet.com/

Matthew finished in place number 190 at 33 minutes and 58 seconds running an average of 10:57 a mile. He was 10 out of 14 in his age group.

I finished in place number 209 at 35 minutes and 31 seconds running an average of 11:27 a mile. I finished 16 out of 39 for my age group.

Even thought our numbers aren't the greatest or the best, I'm extremely proud of ourselves. We took on a task that we had never even attempted to try before, and ran with our whole hearts.

Grumblers, complainers, and faultfinders

This week has been full of some revelations in my own life. It started on Sunday. We decided to sleep in a little longer and then go to the 1130am service at our church, Ginghamsburg. We've been in a series called "A Faith that Works: See and Do". I've included a link below if anyone is interested in seeing the amazing message.

http://ginghamsburg.org/sermon/resources/2008_04_20_Video/207/

The band started off with a classic Michael Jackson song called "Man in the Mirror". I haven't heard this song in a very long time, but it's funny how you can remember the words, even after much time has passed. Our church is very "gospelly" if that is a word. We don't have hard rock like our old church. They put their own spin on the songs, and they usually use a full choir with a few lead singers. Amazing! There was so much power in the words they were saying. It was so enjoyable to watch them, but it had a double effect on my heart. I loved listening to them, but it made me question what I'm doing with my own life. It brought tears to my eyes because of the power of what they were saying. Some of the lyrics are below:

I'm gonna make a change, for once in my life
It's gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right...
As I, turn up the collar on my favorite winter coat
This wind is blowin' my mind
I see the kids in the street, with not enough to eat
Who am I, to be blind? Pretending not to see their needs
A summer's disregard, a broken bottle top
And a one man's soul
They follow each other on the wind ya' know
'Cause they got nowhere to go
That's why I want you to know

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

Our pastor, Mike Slaughter asked a question at the end of the sermon. As we all bowed our heads, he prayed for the Holy Spirit to fill the place, and for the Spirit to speak to each one of us, telling us what we should do. And I don't think when you pray for that it's some hokey experience. The Holy Spirit NEVER refuses a request like that. As I prayed that in my own heart, I felt the Spirit was telling me to "get more involved".
I believe I need to get more involved in my marriage, in my family, my relationships with friends, with the suffering of the world, not turning a blind eye to those things that God cares about, just because I would rather be doing something. I think it also means taking care of my health and making healthy decisions concerning eating and excercising.

In my times with the Lord this week, I've spent every night out on our balcony looking at the amazing sunsets setting in the west. Feeling the gentle breeze on my skin, and watching how beautiful the Lord ends each of his days. A painter couldn't paint a more beautiful picture.
I've been realizing, since my study on the "Beloved Disciple" by Beth Moore has been over, I'm struggling with what to read. And as a result I feel that I've been a little farther from the Lord than I had previously been in the past 10 weeks.
As I've been sitting on the balcony, I feel that the Lord has brought to my attention some things, in conjuction with the sermon Sunday, that I need to change. So I guess this is a bit of a confession time for me on here. Hope you bloggers don't mind.

"These men are grumblers and faultfinders;they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage." Jude 16

"Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp." Numbers 11:1

How much time do I spend grumbling, faultfinding and complaining?!?!?! In the past I've been around those people that complain and grumble all the time and it drives me crazy. I've always viewed them as annoying, but I've never looked at myself and seen the log in my eye. What does my grumbling and so forth do to God? What does he think? How does it sound to his ears? From Numbers 22:1 it obviously makes him very angry.

I've begun to realize that I've always been a faultfinder. I believe in finding justice for everyone. And when I think of that, I predominately think of the children that our church supports in Darfur, Sudan, and also many countries in Africa. I want to find who is at fault in most situations. But I've also been realizing that I try to put blame on everyone else in my everyday life for all of my problems. "I think God's telling me to let it go...it doesn't really matter."

So hopefully, with the Holy Spirit's help, I'll continue to look at the "(wo)man in the mirror". I'll start to cast blame on myself, and see what I'm NOT doing and then what I SHOULD be doing to help others. I want the world to change so badly, for others to see Christ, but it won't help if I don't start with myself.

bird conversations

Since spring has arrived, I've been trying to take extra moments when I wake up, extra moments while I'm walking to my car, extra moments while I'm sitting on the balcony reading, to take notice of the little things. The little things that we take for granted when we're rushing from here to there. One sound I've been noticing alot, that I've always enjoyed, but always seem to tune out during the rush, is the conversations between birds. The chitter chatter and songs that they sing. What are they really saying?

When a dog barks, he's warning us of something, trying to get us to feed them, or they want outside. But what do birds say to each other?

I was thinking a couple of weeks ago that maybe they are saying to one another "Isn't God great! He's bringing the worms back to the ground! He's giving us shade and cover in the trees once again! I'm back to my original home, I can rest my wings!!"

....or....

maybe they are singing praises to God. What if they really are speaking to Jesus?! And what if Jesus is speaking back to them in a voice that our human ears can't understand. Even if we could understand, are we taking the moments to try to hear the faint sound of Jesus' voice whispering to us as well?

saving the planet, (IKEA) , one bag at a time

Last weekend Matthew, Britney, Tim, Camden and I all hopped into the car and drove the 45 miles from Vandalia to West Chester to visit the brand new IKEA store. We had all been to an IKEA before, so we knew what we were facing. Britney and Tim went to the one in New York while visiting Tim's sister, and Matt and I had been to the one in Detroit twice the past year before we moved.

I was pretty pumped to go. I love their innovative ideas in furniture, and of course love their prices. We arrived about 1pm after eating at Chipotle. Camden was put in the stroller and we hit the showroom....well not exactly.... Britney and I stopped at the cafeteria to chow down on some triple fudge cake, and frozen apple pie with Swedish coffee...yum. Camden had a good time making funny faces eatin his mac' n cheese. (the real reason we went to the cafeteria...but couldn't pass up the cake!!)

We went through the showroom, lost each other a couple of times while Camden took a short nap. Then hit the warehouse below. Matt and I purchased some good finds hopefully for our new place. I hit up the fabric and Matt waited patiently. We also found a wall panel hanging of birch trees. Can't wait to put that up!

While we were checking out I felt such a sense of pride. A huge retailer is finally getting a clue. At IKEA, if you don't bring in your own bag to place your purchased items in, be prepared to pay for that nasty plastic bag. IKEA charges 5 cents per plastic bag that you request. WAY TO GO!

From the 5 cents they have collected, their partner, American Forests, are planting over 300,000 trees. Hopefully people we get the hint that if you want groceries, do what they did in the past and bring your own bag, and breathe better along the way.

I've heard that some people say it's inconvienent to bring your own canvas bag. But since Matt and I have been putting this into practice (which sometimes we forget, and do take a plastic bag when it's absolutely necessary) it's actually quite simple, and we live on the 3rd floor of an apt!! So it really isn't that hard, especially if you live in a house where you just walk out your side door. : ) Just leave the canvas bags at your side door and take them out the next time you go to your car. It's really not that inconvienent.

I think it's great what IKEA is doing. I read their article online about their program. I sincerely believe that they are putting this into practice because they care about the environment and the footprint they leave. Other superstores, like um...Walmart, are catching on, but it seems that they are only doing it for profit. It seems like all of their motives are done for the green....$$$ that is.

For the full article check out: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/about_ikea/press_room/press_release/national/blue_bag_thank_you.html

American Forests:
www.americanforests.org.

nuking vs. teapot

vs.

Last weekend, Matthew and I went to visit my Uncle Eric and Aunt Denise at there home in Upper Arlington. We had one particular task that had to be completed before we could have some fun. Dreadful taxes! The past three years, we've been hounded by the IRS after filing, for various reasons, so we have our fingers crossed for this year. Hopefully it will be a success with no bumps down the road.

Some of the things we did was ride our bikes from their home, downtown to OSU's campus. It was such a nice and sunny day that Saturday. They borrowed two bikes from their neighbors and we hit the trail. ((((One thing I need to express though, is we haven't rode since last November. It's just too much effort and muscle strength to get those bikes down the three floors of our apt building!!)))) So we jumped on the bikes, filed into a straight line, and road like the wind down to campus. (Hopped a couple of curbs, had a couple other bikers ding their bells at us...which means get out of the way...and rode and rode.) In the end we made it down to campus, printed some papers and then enjoyed a delicious Chinese meal at one of the many little restaurants on campus. We then made the long trip back to their house. I've found the ride back always seems so much longer.

The following day, after church we decided to go on another ride....needless to say, it wasn't as easy this time to get on the bikes. Our tooshies were a little sore. But in the end, the two day total in mileage, was 27 miles! Woo-hoo! This summer looks promising!! Hopefully we'll break some of our past records of single trip miles. Currently it is 22 miles for one ride. I'll let you know when we beat that....

....One thing I want to point out is I learned something cool over the weekend. You see, my aunt Denise is a huge tea drinker!! We sat down about three times that weekend and enjoyed morning tea, afternoon tea, and evening tea. One question that occurred to me was, "Is it better "tea" to have the teapot heat your water, or does it work just as well in the microwave?" Is the tea higher quality, or brewed to a crisper, more delicious taste if it is done in a teapot, or is it just the same as in the microwave? Does instant gratification work with this?, or am I cheating myself of better tea by waiting for the teapot to whistle?

While researching this question
(yeah I know, I know, I admit too that I'm a pretty big dork for even caring which is better)
I found the answer.

The only advantage of heating the water in a teapot versus heating in the microwave, is that the water remains heated for a longer amount of time if it is heated in a teapot instead of a microwave.

...I think I'll stick with the instant gratification of nuking it in the microwave...