5K!

I ran (and walked) a 5K on Saturday. A few months ago I planned for this event - I made up a calendar chart (oooh I so LOVE a good chart with pictures all nice and neat!) with my training plan - what I needed to run each week, culminating in being able to run for 30 minutes. It was a doable plan, and I was quite proud of myself because in addition to planning for this 5K I was also planning to turn 40. Rather than being anxious about the big four-O I decided that I wanted to have run 3 races in my 30s - this was one of the last weekends to get that all-important 3rd race in - I also talked it up with all my friends and family, so I had to do it to save face! Week after week I did my best to stay on my training plan - even running while I was down in FL for Sarah's wedding. I had my favorite verses in mind:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

- Hebrews 12:1-2

I love this passage for a number of reasons:

1. A great cloud of witnesses - this gets me pumped up because I think of people in a stadium watching and cheering me on.. they want me to succeed - they have finished their races and now they are helping me finish mine... I believe these witnesses are those already in heaven, the faithful ones who have lived their lives for Jesus and are now awaiting the finale - when Jesus returns to earth to gather up His bride, and then we have the wedding feast of the Lamb... ooohh how exciting!
2. throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles - can't you just see someone running and casting off chains and heavy belts and then feeling so free?!? the chains and shackles were hindering the person, they couldn't take a big step - but once they threw off those things then they were free to run in perfect stride - and they felt so light and.. free! I also love the description of the sin that so easily entangles - like a vine - starts small at first and kinda looks pretty, but before you know it that vine is wrapped around your neck and starting to choke you.. so cut that vine and be done with it!
   
3. run with perseverance the race marked out for us - "run" - don't walk.. "with perseverance" - it's gonna be tough, but hang in there - keep running - you may have to slow your pace, but keep going.. "the race marked out for us" - there was forethought - it isn't a surprise to God what we are going thru - He set up the course - He set the boundaries - He has rest stops and water startions and cheerleaders for us along the way. And He knows that we can do it - He marked out a race for us that He knew we could finish.. He didn't set us up to fail, but to succeed - to WIN!
   
4. fix our eyes on Jesus - my training plan has been time-based, so I have been fixing my eyes on my watch - how many minutes have I been running, how long til I can stop and walk a bit... they say you should fixate on something in the distance - say I am going to run to that tree - helps you to have a reference point.. Jesus is that to us - remembering who He Is, what He did and how much He loves us... nothing better to fix our eyes on that Him!
   

While I wasn't able to run the race without stopping to walk, I did cross the finish line. I trained, and showed up on race day. And I got that 3rd 5K completed in my 30s... Good for me! I'll bet that great cloud of witnesses was rooting for me - wonder if they did "the wave"? :)

Bunny!

I got an e-mail from my Mom today that said yesterday was the date I was due to arrive, and back in 1968 it was Easter - she said "aren't you glad you didn't arrive then? We'd have nicknamed you Bunny!"

Well yes, I am glad I wasn't born then. As an accountant to have a birthday right around Tax Day would be a bummer - would either be too busy to celebrate with work or doing my own taxes - and I love my end of the month date that allows me to savor the whole month in anticipation of my birthday. And isn't anticipation the best part of anything anyway?

Just in case you haven't done the arithmetic, yes, I am about to turn 40... in less than 2 weeks!! And I am so proud of myself that I am not freaking out! When I turned 30 I worried and obsessed for half of my 28th year and all of 29 - but then when 30 came it was great - at the time my friend Laura threw me a surprise party, I got voicemails and e-mails from friends and collegues all over the world, and I discovered that life didn't end at 30 and in fact it was pretty good!

In my 30s I got to know myself better -

• I picked up the flute which I hadn't played since college and discovered I'm good at it and I love it! I've been playing in my church band for years now and find it's an outlet for me to worship God.
  
• I traveled to Europe a lot - on business trips and personal. I found a love for exploring cities and was totally content doing that all by myself! I drove in England on the left side of the road! I gazed at masterpieces in the Louvre, climbed mountains in Lucerne and attended church in Geneva. I also explored Scotland with my sister Chrissie and went on a fantastic Italian adventure with Laura.
  
• I went on 2 missions trips.
  
• I tutored inner-city kids.
• I worked with junior-high kids at church and realized it wasn't my forte.
  
• I moved to North Carolina and back, surviving 3 hurricanes, the last of which flooded my house.
  
• I ran two 5Ks.
  
• I went on dates (great story potential here!).
  
• I lived with each of my sisters, and alone.
• I bought and sold 2 houses.
  
• I started realizing what I was good at and began the process of accepting those things that I wasn't.
  
• I grew closer to the Lord as I saw that whatever happened, He is the only One I have. He is the only One who is always there. And He is always faithful.
  

My friend Becky who shares my birth-year (but she's months younger) told me she started getting MORE magazine which is for women over 40 - I thought that was so cool! So I have picked up a few issues.. and I recently watched an episode of Oprah where she said that your 40s, 50s and 60s can be the BEST years of your life! She had blurbs from some over-40 Hollywood women and interviews with "regular" women who had totally changed their lives in mid-life - found new energy, started companies in entirely different fields, traveled, gave back to their communities... I found the show so uplifting, so exciting, so inspiring - I felt the need to figure out how I was going to mark this momentous occasion of turning 40... and in my typical over-the-top fashion, this "need" blossomed into an obsession! Poor Greg and my sisters kept hearing all these ideas I had - from going 4-wheeling to skydiving to jetting off somewhere exotic to a weekend at the beach to throwing a big party.. it's been exhausting!

But I am happy to say that I have figured it all out - the picture in my mind of how I want to celebrate my big day is to be sitting on the beach in a bikini with an umbrella-topped frozen drink. So my sweet Greg has agreed to fly down with me to the Gulf-coast of Florida for a long weekend of sun. And yes, you did read that right, a bikini! I think that is the most deliciously fun part of the whole picture, because you see, I do not have a bikini body. Truth be told, I really don't have a bathing-suit body (but how gracious of the Lord to give me a boyfriend who thinks I'm perfect!), but I do manage to squeeze myself into an appropriately black suit now and again when I want to swim. So this past weekend after about 45 minutes in a swimsuit store with the most patient and helpful saleswoman, I walked out with my first bikini since I was 6! I felt on top of the world! For me the idea oozes fun and confidence - which I am hoping will fill my 40s and beyond.

Of course I still have my pride and self-respect, so I'll only be wearing this bikini on faraway beaches when the likelihood of running into anyone I know is remote.

I'm going to be 40, not a fool! :)

Covenant of Peace

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

- Isaiah 54:10

It feels as if some mountains in my family were shaken this past month with my Dad's health issues and not being able to attend my sister's wedding. However, the LORD has been faithful - He has not forgotten us and done some pretty remarkable things...

• Two weeks before the wedding Sarah and Mike were able to fly up for a quick overnight trip to visit/pray with Dad. While in town she installed Skype on Dad's computer so he could watch the wedding in case he couldn't make the trip.
  

• Tuesday before the wedding the doorbell rings at my parents' home and Donna Lee is standing there - she was in their small group Bible study in new england (and is still there - my folks relocated last spring)... without invitation or consultation she took it upon herself to fly here, rent a car and book a hotel room for a few nights.. she simply said "I am here to pray!" What an extravagant display of God's love - for my Dad to see people reaching out to him, and for my Mom to have a buddy for a few days uphold her and just run errands with. Truly an amazing friend!

• During Donna Lee's visit a plan beings to unfold where Mom will fly down to Florida the morning of the wedding and leave the next day - and Donna Lee will send her dear husband Phil to stay with Dad. Phil is very low-key and a perfect companion for my father.
  

• The flight down with Nana and Elizabeth went smoothly - Greg was soo helpful! I saw during this trip how much he calms me down and what a wonderful man he is - he loves me and my family so beautifully! He was truly a gift to me during this trip.
  

• Sarah orders a boutonniere for Dad - it is delivered on her wedding day - he proudly pins it to his sweatshirt and wears it all day.

• Charlie, a friend of my sisters Sarah and Carrie who is gifted with techie-skills, comes over the day of the wedding to set up the computer to view the webcast.. he stays with Dad during the entire ceremony and when the feed is lost he quickly gets it back again - a real God-send! So Dad is able to watch the ceremony live from his computer - he and Phil and Charlie, crowded around the laptop screen.. what a picture!

• Sarah calls Dad on her cell phone before the ceremony starts, then puts the phone on speaker and holds it with her bouquet. At the end of the aisle Mom jumps up and stands beside her... when the officiant asks who gives this woman to be married they put the microphone up to Sarah's cell and Dad said "her mother and I do".. so Dad got to say his line and be a part of the festivities.

• The wedding and reception were beautiful and joyous and wonderful! The weather was perfect for Sarah's outdoor ceremony - a bit windy - I think the Unity Candle blew out! But it was a bright, sunny, beautiful evening. Sarah was an amazingly beautiful bride - she just glowed - and we were able to just kick back and enjoy the evening - they even did a special tribute to Nana, singing Happy Birthday to the new 90-year-old. So I think Sarah felt properly honored and celebrated.

• Everyone arrived home from Florida - there were some hiccups with flight delays, baby-meltdowns and being locked out of the house, but all in all we made it back safely.
  

• Two days after the wedding Dad goes back into the hospital. The Lord even worked the timing - Dad's doctor started the hospital admittance process early afternoon - but there wasn't a bed available so they went home to pack and wait for the call - when it came in about 8pm I was able to go with them (the hospital is in the center of the city) and there was a big sporting event that night that we could have gotten caught in traffic - but His timing was perfect so we sailed on by! The admitting doctor was the same one Dad had before, so it was good to see him again. They ran some tests, keeping him in the hospital until Saturday afternoon.
  

• Sunday afternoon my Mom says that their good friends Dottie and Herb just dropped by - they live about 4 hours away! They just popped in to check on Dad and pray for him.. what a wealth of friendships!
  

So while things are still uncertain regarding my Dad's health - the doctors think the issue is a pneumonia-based infection, but they aren't sure - one thing is certain and that is that whatever happens, the Lord has not forgotten us.. He has compassion on us and loves us.. and for now that's enough.

March Update...

I joined Facebook last month.. well, I HAD to - my sisters and MOTHER had already joined - I had to rush to beat 90-year old Nana!... ok, she's not on Facebook (that I know of!) but with all the other sisters and Mom on Facebook I caved to the pressure.. anyway, now that I'm on this FB thing I'm so confused - what do I post here and what on FB? Should I switch to just facebook and abandon my blog? This has me questioning the purposes for everything.. sigh.. and just when I thought I had a few things figured out.

I also haven't been blogging lately because of 2 family events:

One is that we had the first wedding in our family this week! My sister Sarah married Mike this week down in Florida - she was a radiant bride - the ceremony was lovely and the reception lots of fun. Amazing how quickly the reception goes - I never got a chance to talk to Sarah after the wedding, so other than the staged pics from the photographer I don't have a picture of me with her in her gorgeous gown... probably best to just enjoy this pic of the happy couple - don't need to see a silly sunburned bridesmaid when you can see a beautiful blushing bride! :)

The other family event is that my dad is having lots of health problems.. the poor guy hasn't been feeling well since after Christmas - he's been on 5 antiboitics since then, went into the hospital in mid-February where they ruled out tuberculous but he may have picked up the flu (or gotten it on his own), and in the week before Sarah's wedding he was told by the doctor that he wasn't well enough to travel, so he couldn't go.. very sad.. he's back in the hospital - hoping to come home tomorrow -they are doing lots of test because they don't know what the problem is - but he's lost about 50 pounds in 6 weeks and is tired and weak.. it's scary and frustrating when there is just nothing you can do... but pray...

So if you think of my dad, please pray for identification of the problems and healing!

Thanks!