A Love Walk

More snow tonight. Blah.

My running has been all over the place lately. Tonight I will run rain or snow...I'm running.
I've been able to get my crosstraining in but my mileage is suffering.
I think the biggest problem is that I don't have a race that I'm training for.  There are a few races I'm considering but I haven't solidified anything yet. 
I need a goal to work towards or my training becomes undisciplined.

So yesterday I signed up for the Scenic City Half Marathon in Chattanooga, TN. on Feb 26th.  I really would rather run a full marathon but hadn't found any in Feb that caught my interest.
I have the Delano 12hr in March and my goal is 35miles.
I'm considering the Country Music Marathon in Nashville on April 30th. I ran the half last year and really enjoyed it.  The race was well organized and the crowd support was amazing!  The course is crazy hilly and I'm pretty sure I won't be counting on a BQ or even a PR, I think it would be a fun race to run though.

On a completely different note

        At the beginning of the year I spend time seeking God and setting goals in my physical, spiritual, and family life.  I have shared some of my physical/running goals already.

The most important area of my life is my spiritual life and my relationship with Christ, my personal savior.  I believe that the Lord has really been prompting me to step up my "love walk".  I have been sitting under a Pastor who teaches the uncompromisable word of God and has taught us what it means to "walk in love".   To allow God's love to move through us to others; loving others as Christ loves us.

How God define love?

I wanted to remind myself  so I reread a few scriptures.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Ephesians 5:2

"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God".

 2 John 1:6

"Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

I'm have started a word study so that I can fully understand every aspect of God's love as explained in 1 Corinthians 13.  I started with a study of  patience.....This may take a looooong time but I want to understand and live my love walk exactly as God has commanded me to.

I have a tendency to be short and to the point. Maybe a little Chicago left in me or maybe my Italian blood, who knows but I know that sometimes it takes people by surprise and can come off as being rude. Even if my intentions are not to be rude.  This is the area of my love walk that I most desire to change.  As a Christian, I want people to know that I am a Christian by the words I speak.  I want my words to be patient, kind, and uplifting.  Not abrupt and abrasive.

I'm excited about this year and the changes I am making in all areas of my life, but in this area especially.  I want people to see God's love in me and for God to use me to show His love to others.
This is all part of my journey to be fit for the King.

So this year, it looks like I will be working on my running and walking. ;)


Grace and peace,

Weekend Recap

February Stats:
Miles Run-73
Lbs lost in 2010-4
March Goal mileage- 100

In like a lion out like a lamb.....I am so excited that March is here!!  Happy March to you!!

First of all I want to thank Zoe at Run, Zoe, Run!. I won her Champion Gear giveaway over the weekend and it totally made my day! If you haven't checked out her blog yet I suggest that you do you won't be disappointed!

Weekend Recap

Busy, Busy, Busy!!
Friday night was my coaches meeting for No Boundaries and I was not disappointed.  There is a couple who will be helping coach, Jon and Kelly.  They host a lot of the local races here and are avid runners. Jon has run several Ultra Marathons and Kelly coaches high school cross country.
They have made "rock star" status in my head, so I was "shy" around them all night....what me shy?...for real I had sooooo many questions I wanted to ask them but I know myself well enough that when I get nervous it is best to keep my mouth shut! One time I told my boss's grown son that he was bow legged.... just in passing conversation...I say very inappropriate things when I'm nervous and then laugh uncontrollably loud.  Thankfully, I will be seeing a lot of them in the next 10 weeks so I will have plenty of opportunity to pick their brains about running.


Saturday from 10am-2pm, I had a seminar at church that rocked my world! Every now and then I have to stir myself up and re-ignite that fire for God. A relationship with God is like any other relationship, if you don't stir it up every now and then it fizzles out and looses it's fire!  The guy who did the seminar David Dixon has been an evangelist for 29yrs and has a fire that is so refreshing to be around.  It just rubs off on you when your around him.  He is real , he loves the Lord, and he does what God says to do regardless of what people think or say.  I am determined to have that boldness that the word of God says I can have in Ephesians 3:12(AMP)".....when we trust in Him, we're free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go...."

The rest of the day Saturday I spent playing with the boys.  Hubby's recliner finally came in and so we used the humongous box that it came in to make a fort. We played in the fort for a few hours, ate some pizza and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

 

BTW-this is Hubby's new recliner...he has waited 10 years for this!! 

I love when my crazy schedule allows time to just play and be goofy with the boys. They are growing so fast and I don't want to miss anything.  I have some silly boys...especially little prince #3! He has found my "accessories" drawer and is obsessed with it!

 

Little Prince-Accessorized! 

Sunday we have two church services one in the morning and one in the evening. Both services were great.   In between services I managed to get in 5 miles on the treadmill and the Jillian Michael's Trouble Zone workout while the kids napped.

Speaking of nap....I could use one right about now.

***Randomness***

Hubby works for British Petroleum and will be working "turnaround". It happens every year at this time....not sure what it is exactly...just know he will be working Mon-Sat, 5am-6pm. So pretty much we won't see him very much until May. Plus, baseball season just started for Prince #1 & #2.  I am getting ready to kick my schedule into overdrive.  Hubby helps out A LOT and is totally hands on with the boys and around the house, so taking him out of the equation for a couple months is serious.

5 days and counting till I try for a 5k PR. Saturday's "On Your Mark 5k" will officially kick of the race season and I want to bring it in with a bang.  My goal is sub 25min. It will be the first race for my friend Angie and I know she will rock it too!!

Currently, as I am writing this there is a man in my home repairing little Prince #1's room from the water damage. Woot, Woot!!! Love that little guy but can't wait for him to have his room back!

 
What was the most exciting thing you did over the weekend?

If your new to my blog, welcome! If your not new, thanks for stopping by!
I love reading your comments and feedback!

Grace and peace,

We All Fall Down

The secret is to pick yourself back up again. 

This week has been trying..to say the least.  My littlest prince has some upper resp. crud that has been plaguing him for a couple months and he just can't seem to shake it. Antibiotics and breathing treatments have been little help.  We found the problem this week when a strange odor started coming from his room.  My first thought was that one of the little princes peed on the floor.  They like to pee in random places, i.e, garbage cans, the neighbors bushes, Lowe's garden section.....the joys of little boys! 
So in preparation to steam clean the carpet, I moved little prince's crib.  I was horrified, there was a patch of moldy, mildewed carpet about 2'x3' under the crib and the wall and base boards were warped from water damage.  I have no idea how long it has been leaking.  I felt horrible that every night after I give little prince a breathing treatment I lay him in a crib surrounded by mold and mildew, which inevitably is causing his breathing problems.  Poor baby!!
We had a new roof put on in December because of severe hail damage last year and of course our first thought was that it was coming down from a leak in the roof.  We had the original roofer and a separate roofer both come look at the roof and they both told us different things.  We also had a foundation expert come and look at the foundation to see if it could be coming from there(We are on a concrete slab).  So far, we have three different answers(guesses).   Insurance man came out yesterday and said he thought is was from flooding.? Makes no sense to us since it hasn't flooded by us EVER, and we are on a hill........I don't like insurance men. Do we have flood insurance?...no...why?...because we are not in a flood zone and our Ins. man told us we didn't need it.  The one thing that all four men told us for sure was that it would cost some serious moolah to fix. 
On top of that, I re-injured my back this past weekend(an old disc injury from my tumbling days) and it put me out of running commission for 3 days.  Doesn't seem like much, but running is my outlet. It's the one hour a day I have to myself, to gain perspective, to pray, to unwind.
Combine those things with the fact that I have had little sleep due to little prince sharing our room, and it isn't good.  Yesterday I started to have a pity party. I allowed myself to fall into the trap of anxiety,guilt and doubt.  I let myself become overwhelmed by "things". 


This morning I woke up early and spent some time in prayer. The Lord always helps me put things in perspective.
Today I'm thankful.  I'm thankful that little prince is starting to breathe better. I'm thankful the water damage was isolated to one area. I'm thankful that today my back feels better and I can go for a run.
I was reminded this morning of Philippians 4:6(NLV) "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."

More than anything, I'm thankful that I serve a God who is more than enough and can meet

all my needs.  Phillipians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
It comforts me to know that I have King who cares about my circumstances, who cares about me and doesn't want me to feel anxious or overwhelmed.

What are you anxious about today?  
How do you handle your anxiety?

I am heading out for my first run of the week and I will be running with joy!

If your new to my blog, welcome! If your not new, thanks for stopping by!
I love reading your comments and feedback!


Grace and peace,