The sky is falling!

A strange thing started happening yesterday. It was so strange, I felt compelled to post about it. It started to rain.

Now most of you know we now live in Northern Texas. We have lived in a lot of different states, that experience different kinds of weather, at different times of the year. We were not here when Texas got it's flooding in the spring. I can only say I'm sure it was like letting 38 puppies loose in a kiddie pool filled with balls! 

These people do not, I repeat, do not know how to drive or act when the sky is falling, I mean, when it's raining! 

We own over 5 umbrella's, most Texans do not even have 1. 

I have 2 rain coats and a few water proof things that I would considered outer wear. Texans have boots. 

The phase "Turn around, don't drown", is more like a dance move to these people.

Every time an emergency vehicle went down the road, the girls I work with would say "Someone just hydroplaned into a ditch!" 

Truth be told, I love seeing stuff like this because it makes me feel a little more put together, well rounded and prepared. I'm glad my parents let me drive when we had an ice storm, it taught me what not to do. I'm proud of the fact that I also know how to drive in snow and rain. The most important thing to remember is to slow down and think ahead, something that too many people do not do.

As I write, 3 emergency vehicle's have gone by... really people? 

On a side note: It's pecan time. That means that we have pecan's falling out of the 5 trees in our yard! Gracie and I have been picking them up everyday. OK, I've been picking them up, she just wants me to crack them open and feed her. 

   

I've started filling a 5 gallon bucket, it will give Daddy something to do when they visit! I've got to figure out how to keep him from eating them all though!

This is what's keeping me sane right now! Preacher man!

And this...running. I spent 8 weeks race walking, and this week I started the run walk. I just know I'm prone to injury, so I'm taking it slow. It's a gross picture, but it's close to Halloween, so I'm trying to scare ya!  

By the way... This is a new head band. It say's "In my dreams I'm a KENYAN"

Peace out and Dream on!

Again?

I have found that God deal's with me, just like he does everyone else... In a personal way. Think about it, what good would it do if he disciplined you in a way that worked for me? Let me give you an example.

Me and my sister!

When I was young and hanging out a lot with my sister, we would get into trouble. Now the exact trouble we got in escapes me, but the discipline does not. One such action on my parents part was to spank my sister first, if she did not cry, she caused the trouble. If she cried, I was hitting the road! 

It's hard to be disciplined. It's because we think so highly of ourselves you know. When we are disciplined, it hurts our ego but it strengthens spirit. Discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time. What's important is the outcome, are you allowing yourself to be trained?

We don't have to take God's discipline. We can rebel and run, cross our arms over our chest and stand on the firm sand of our own righteousness, stating that because of them we had to act that way. Really!?   

Are there areas in my life where God is working for change through the sting of conscience, remorse, and agitation? 

This was part of my devotion today, and I'm sure that if I'm having to deal with it, you have too. It hurts. I guess the question is, am I paying attention? 

Seek to live peaceably with folks. Try. It doesn't always have to be your way or the highway! Just breathe, calm down, and focus on God. There is always a bigger picture we are not privileged to see. Let go of the right you think you have to be upset and let God disciple you. 

Sounds easy enough, but it's so hard. That's why this life is a marathon and not a sprint. It takes us miles and miles to get it. But God is right there with us, every step of the way. So lift your head, drop your load and keep walking!

Peace out!

Random

So, did I tell you it's started?

Yes, we've been invaded by giant jars of pickles! Ok, not really, but the cuke's are starting to come on. Last week we had surprisingly cool weather for July. I think one morning it was 58 degrees, which, by the way, doesn't happen in July in Arkansas! Or at least it didn't use to happen. Just when the plants were kicking into high gear, it get's cold and slows everything down except the mosquitoes. I hope that everything recovers and we start kicking it again real soon.

I got a job,did I tell you? I'm a cashier at a convenient store. I have to admit this is the first job of it's kind for me and I'm excited to add it to the other 986 thousand things I've done to earn money in my life time. Yes, I'm over qualified for this but, what's a girl to do? I'd like to give a shout out to April and Anne..."You taught me everything I know about up selling!"

I ordered a new pair of running shoes on line yesterday. I know right! What am I thinking ordering running shoes on line? Well, it's like this, I can't find anyone to take my feet and go try some on! I was wondering why my feet were hurting me after I ran and then I looked at the bottom of the shoes... They are fixing to turn into work shoes.

Things have truly been calm around here lately! I think it's because my 20 hour a week job is working me close to 38 hours every week and all I can do is fall into bed at night and sleep. Through it all, this is still how I look at most things!

What's Next!

I just completed an eight week training program to get me to the point where I can run a 5K, as of Sunday. So I ran my very own 5K. On Sunday. It wasn't all that, so don't think you missed anything.

When I get to the end of something, I start to look around like, what's next? Do I find another program, take a break and pig out of all the carbs and sugar my hearts desires? So I thought about that yesterday. I thought about a lot yesterday.

So this morning I started training for a 10K, which is 6 miles. It sounds way more longer if you put it in K's and not miles. The program, which is by Nike, said to run 3 miles. Well crap, I have just worked my way up to running 3 miles (5K). It said to take it slow, run 3 miles at an easy, comfortable pace. Really!! I have no idea what that looks like mainly cuz running has always been about finishing.

Hummmm.

Made me take a step back and think about it. That's seems to be the difference in running and racing. Running is about 3 miles at an easy, comfortable pace. No ones telling me to run my butt off, but me. Racing is about finishing.

My last race in 2011

So today I went for a 3 mile run. I ran at an easy, slow, comfortable pace. 

It was great!

Raw

I have tried to write many times, and nothing encouraging or witty or life giving is coming forth. So I don't.

But there is this welling up in my soul that needs an outlet. It's a pressure that threatens to consume. It takes my breath and yet I find myself holding it out of an old habit I thought broke. So I started walking.

I can't sit still, my nerves are raw as is my tongue. It's hard to be here, in this place of possible transformation. Maybe this is why not everyone chooses to go through this crap. It's hard to dream here. 

Keep moving forward, look up, breath, hang in there... we have all said it, so please, don't. Don't you see?! Can't you feel it?!

Today I dressed in running clothes. Got my phone, said Hello to Nike App and off I went. Running and walking. Action, movement, not being stagnant. 

I ran and I cried. 

Surely, you have not forgotten me. 

Conclusions!

Got out of the house last night for a little date night action for the first time since before Christmas, it felt strange! Not strange to be out on a date with Preacher man, but strange that I hadn't really been out of the house since it snowed, 12 inches... and we don't have the 4x4 unstoppable Ford Truck anymore! I'm not complaining mind you, I just miss it sometimes! We washed and vacuumed LilWhls the day before Christmas, and she is still sitting in the garage. All I got to say is come spring, the rubber will be hitting the road!!

I have come to some conclusions in the last few days and I'm going to admit some of them to you right now. 

Conclusion #1: God is all about restoration! He wants to restore us to Him and He wants us to be restored to each other. I looked it up and here's what I found: to bring back into existence, use, or the like; reestablish: to restore order. I also know that in order to be restored, sometimes it requires us to be vulnerable. My friend Leigh has helped me with this being vulnerable stuff. Can't say I'm a pro at it, but I'm getting it. I also looked that word up, and here's what I found: capable of or susceptible to being wounded or hurt. Anyone want to sign up for any of that? Well, I did today! I became vulnerable in order to be restored, and you know what? I cried a little and my voice got a little shaky, but I didn't die!! God Rocks!

Conclusion #2: While in seminary, I had the pleasure of meeting and working with this soon to be Preacher's wife. She has had a bazllion knee surgeries, 2 kids, been on Weight Watchers as many times as me and is an awesome writer of blogs. She has started back up with her race training, WW and blogging, which has set a fire under me. So today, Becca, I got Jullian's 30 Day Shred and I'm really wanting to get back out on the road, even if it's walking! So thank you for your inspiration! 

Sometimes, all it takes is to hear about someone else being human to make us want to be more human ourselves! 

Are you being inspired to be more human? To be more of what God is calling you to be? 

VA-K50

Today starts what Preacher man is calling VA-K50, for me anyway. His doesn't start until after he meets with the Board of Ordained Ministry on Tuesday and either get's "Thumbs Up!" or "Thumbs Down" on ordination. Please pray for him and that I don't drive him plumb crazy before he leaves for his meetings. 


I regress, VA-K50 stands for Vacation - Kim's 5oth, or something close to that using the VA-K50. Preacher man went into cahoots with my parents to try and surprise me for my birthday, however, it's very hard to plan a surprise anything when you have to plan on the herd being taken care of and food that needs to be bought. So he informed me that we're going to Big Cedar, which I have been calling Red Cedar and Big Sir mainly cuz I have no idea where we're going even though I know the name. I like it that way.


One of the reason's Preacher man picked this Big Red Sir Cedar place is because it has path's I can run on since I'm still in training for that half marathon at the end of March. Since I pulled my achilles and was unable to do squat the month of January, I have fallen way behind on my training and have half a thought to just say, Poop! I will never run in a half! Every time I register, I get hurt and don't get to run. Now, for clarification, this is only the second half I have registered for. The first, I couldn't run cuz a zipper head pulled my hip flexor muscle and I was out for about 6 months. This time, I'm healed, pretty much and believe I can run this if I don't get hurt again. My time will suck, I will suck tons of air and I pray I just finish. I could walk it, but as I've stated before it's like drinking a non-alcoholic beer when you want the real thing. Besides, walking is boring!


So, I'm looking forward to our time at the Big Red Sir Cedar, having my folks show up for a while and eating a cake from Rick's, which will have to be another blog all together.  


   

Hog Day!

Happy Ground Hog day! Aren't you glad it's not Tree Hog day? They would be falling on us left and right!


I went out for a walk today to see how the achilles was doing. I pulled it on January 9th, so it's almost been a month of no running. I don't know what I'm going to do about the Bentonville Half, I guess I'll just see how I'm doing as the time get's closer. Trying to do Holy Indifference with this thing and I'm having a hard time with it!


I did walk two miles and it took me almost 40 minutes. The achilles feels ok. Started getting a little sore about half way, so I slowed down and looked at all the yards. I didn't run walk with my music, which every now and then is pretty refreshing, especially on days like today. It's 63 degrees and the sun is shinning like nobodies business! As the Master Gardener started coming out in me on my walk, I started to see things that we just shouldn't be seeing on the 2nd of February! Trees are getting swollen buds, which means spring is right around the corner...if it were the end of March! I'm afraid we still haven't seen winter. I keep telling my coworkers that if we don't get some cold weather, we are going to be eaten alive by the bugs this year! I took a picture of the first blooming flower I've seen this year! Don't know how I feel about seeing it!

Busy as a Chicken?

I am going to kick myself in the butt one of these day's! I went and told Boss Lady that I would help out by working more hours for this lovely 50% off sale we started on Thursday and goes till the 27th or something like that. She likes to use these words with people like me, "Might as well work while we have the hours, going to dry up here pretty soon." I know this, cuz I lived through last year, and it does all but dry up. Wal-Mart stay's hopping cuz, well, their Wal-Mart. I'm all about pulling my share and working to make money, but I'm thinking it's become a little over rated and I'm thinking of ways to slow it down, which in itself is crazy cuz it will, all by it's self anyway.


I think what I'm thinking about is slowing myself down. I was asking Preacher man why we couldn't seem to keep money in the saving account. After he looked at me and took a really deep breath, he said, "Something is always coming up, your specialist visit, the trucks needing work, paying off student loans and have you seen the price of gas and milk?" The reason he asks me about the gas and milk is cuz lately, he has been filling up the tanks and buying the groceries. The hours that I work cause for nothing much else to be able to get done. Not to mention the whole running thing.


Oh, by the way, I got a new app on my phone and I gotta say, I'm really liking it about now. The Garmen has made me so mad that I'm thinking about jumping up and down on it till it really stops working. The app is Nike+GPS and it maps my run, does my distance and time and even talks to me if I want it too. The very best part is it has all my music, it's all in my phone anyway. The only problem I have with it is I have to run with my phone in my hand and it's about to make me crazy. So I'm on the hunt for something to hold it on my body. 


Speaking of running, I better get after it. I need to clock my 3 miles today and get ready for work and that starts at 10. Going to be a very long few days. Just keep smiling! 

Sirach

Lived through my 4 mile run today and did it with the awful time of 44.3. That's an 11 minute mile, but nothing to get excited about. I can't for the life of me figure out my dang Garmin and I've had it for 2 years. It should transfer all my run info to my computer when I'm done with the run and close to the computer. The last time it transferred was on December 2nd and I know I've run more than that. So I rest from running tomorrow, but go to my spiritual exercise class, which will ware me out in a totally different way!


Speaking of which, I had to do some reading from the book of Sirach, which is in the Apocrypha. We were looking to see what our duties were towards God, what we are expected to do as followers of Christ. I was blown away by what I read and I want to share some of it with you.

My child, when you come to serve the 

Lord,

prepare your self for testing.

Set your heart right and be steadfast,

and do not be impetuous in time of

calamity.

Cling to him and do not depart,

so that your last days may be

prosperous.

Accept whatever befalls you,

and in times of humiliation be patient.

For gold is tested in the fire,

and those found acceptable, in the

furnace of humiliation.

Trust in him, and he will help you;

make your ways straight, and hope in 

him.

~Sirach 2:1-6

Is that not something?! It's like "get ready, cuz it's a comen!" When you think about how the fire cleans up gold, you can't help but think about how hot that gets. This just spoke to me on so many levels and it offers hope! 


So get ready, set your heart and cling to Jesus.  

Today!

Today is the day! It's day 1 of my training for the half marathon on March 31, 2012. There's a part of me that doesn't want to do this, mainly cuz I'm afraid I'll get hurt again. I remember 2 years ago (Jan 20,2010) at about this time I was starting to train for my first half when this wanna-be trainer messed me up. I was doing a plank with one leg lifted and he came along and pushed down on my leg without me knowing about it and pulled my hip flexor. Needless to say, I was unable to run for like 6 months and that's when the weight gain started and I stopped working Weight Watchers. 


OK back to training starting today! The total miles this week will be 16, which I feel might be a little high, but if it doesn't kill me, I'll keep going. This first day is a rest day, Wooo-Hooo! I do 4 miles tomorrow, 3 on Wednesday and 3 on Thursday and my first long run will be Saturday with 6 miles. I guess I'm up for it, I've been running for about 6 weeks now, just getting use to it again. I am however not taking Gracie with me anymore, as she is hurt. I think it helps my left knee not to have her pulling on me all the time. The weather was perfect today, 51 degrees, no wind, sun shining like crazy, but rest means rest. 


I really do like to run, it's harder now than it use to be because I'm heavier than I was. I can throw myself into a tizzy too by just thinking about the race. All the people, hills, needing to go to the porta-potty, falling, getting passed by strollers, you name it and I freak out about it. I've never been an athlete, so I'm not too good at dealing with that anxiety. 


I got my blood work done on Thursday, 6 weeks after the Doc told me to start running and upped my pill dosage by a 1/2 pill per week. I was hoping my numbers would still be a little high so I could blame someone or something. Alas, the numbers are where we talked about them being. So now it's up to me, not the drugs. I hate that!

I will get up at 5, do my quit time, feed the Preacher man, run, get in the shower by 8:30 so I can get to work at 10. When I get off at 3, I can run then, but when I don't get off till 4, it turns cold and dark too fast. So that means running in the morning. I think I need to get a head lamp, just in case!