Running Proclamation

I just returned from an amazing weekend in San Diego with 26 teenagers and 8 adults who attended Aquire the Fire (ATF), which is a Christian Conference for teenagers.... see www.aquirethefire.com for more info. I will post more on that later, when I have processed the overwhelming worship, learning and sheer awe of our Youth Group that went on the last few days.

While in San Diego, we stayed at the local UMC campus. It was an amazing church, very old and very traditional. On Sunday morning we had the opportunity to attend worship. I loved the psaltar reading, and as a runner will use this as a devotional before my future runs:

• I believe in God Almighty, who sets life before us like a course to be run, and gives us bodies and minds with which to run it.
• I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, who has shown us what it is to run with commitment, and has revealed in his resurrection the rewards to those who finish the course.
• I believe in the Holy Spirit, who breathes into us the strength to run long distances, the wisdom to pace ourselves, and the love to respect all other runners.
• I believe in the Church Universal, that gives us a sense of fellowship as we run, and the feeling that if anything happened on the course we would be supported by those who care.
• I believe in the Life Everlasting, where the course we have run in this life gives way to a course finer than any we have ever known, and where our spirits shall run with a grace and beauty we have not yet experienced.
• I believe- and because I believe, I run better! Amen.

I have been running for over a year now, and am really enjoying it. I started running as a way to release some STRESS buildup that seems to follow me around like a lost puppy. I now crave the run, although the furthest I have gone is 3.5 miles and my average is 12 1/2 minute miles. I am thinking of getting serious about it, and am going to run a 5k to see if I like competition while running. If I do, I might consider a 1/2 marathon. Hmmmm, the Las Vegas Marathon is December 8th. Rock and Roll Marathon no less.....

The gears are crankin'.......

No candy for Lent!

I first heard of Lent when I had just moved to Wichita, Kansas (aka; The Bible Belt). I worked and was friends with a really fun girl who was Lutheran and was talking about what she was giving up for "Lent"... huh? Many thousands of questions later, I realized I knew nothing about any religion other that the one I was raised in. Here is the dictionary version of Lent:



Lent: n. Christianity, the forty days of fasting and penitence from Ash Wednesday to Easter.



uh. OK. boring. Here is my version told in a true story between my beautiful, innocent daughter and I this morning during our daily "mad dash" out the door (with a little history as well, so you understand what she has gone through the last three weeks).



My kids go to church every Wednesday evening. Our church is not a church that the kids go to kicking and screaming. They LIVE for Wednesday nights when they get to go to choir practice, eat pizza, then attend a bible study (different class for each child, more on that later, I'm sure). Belle announced on Ash Wednesday, after having ashes placed on her forehead in the shape of the cross by our wonderful Pastor, that she had decided to give up sugar for Lent. Whoa, little lady.... you.... give up sugar..... you do know that Lent is 40 days, right? Yes, Mother.



So after much discussion, she decides to give up sugar between the hours of 11:00 am and 9:00 pm (she reveals that she must have a very nutritious cinnamon roll and chocolate milk for breakfast at school. -gasp!) Then she decides that is not enough punishment, and decides to cut out all sugar. OK then, here we embarked on a very long three weeks of no sugar... well, no candy, ice cream, sugared cereal, etc. Everything these days has some sort of added sugar, so we decided to keep it simple. Every day gets harder and harder, and on Sundays, she forgets the self imposed rules and decides she can have one cookie during fellowship after church.

Mom & Dad have had lots of conversations re: is this really healthy for our child to think she needs to show God how much she appreciates what Jesus did for her? He knows her heart, she doesn't need to prove anything to Him, but she wants to so badly. Eventually we decide that she made this decision on her own, we will not push the issue; let it play out; support whatever she does or does not do in the next few weeks.

So, here we are three weeks later. Belle innocently, but with a pained look on her face, asks if I think it would be OK for her to have a frozen fruit smoothie at lunch. So that seg-ways us into a very deep conversation about why she has decided to give up sugar for Lent. So here is what we decided in the end:

The Q-Crew definition of Lent:

• Lent reminds us that we can never be perfect, not even for 40 days.
• This is why we need Jesus, we need a savior because we can't do it our own.
• He washes away all of our sins, not just the little ones like eating sugar when we said we wouldn't.
• He does not require we do anything but believe in his grace, day by day, minute by minute.
• Lent is a time to remember what Jesus did for us and reflect on what he gave to save us.

This is why He gave His life.... for ME and for my beautiful Belle.

Thank you God for the gift you gave me to be able to tell my daughter she is loved as she is, not for what she does. The tears that that statement brought to her eyes this morning gives me a tiny glimpse of what God must feel when we grasp his grace.

P.S. I am happy to report that Sweet Belle has decided to narrow down the no sugar to "no candy" until Easter. She very happily indulged in three (3!) cupcakes today, two at school and one at church. :)

P.S.S. I have a sneaking suspicion that God has a sweet tooth.....

Blogging - My Rules & Regulations

So..... hello to all you bloggers and followers of blogs! Is there a name for ya'll; like maybe blog-sters, blog-spotters or blog-stalkers? I like the last one myself, and am all for reading other people's random thoughts on a regular basis from the comfort of my own home!



I am joining this "blog - thang" a little hesitantly. This is because I am not one prone to addictions of any sort. No smoking, drinking (ok, not to excess - don't get crazy on me), gambling or chocolate benders in my recent past. That was, until Facebook came along. Innocently invited by friends to join, I have learned that I have to limit my time and only check once (ok, maybe twice) a day and not get to interested in people's lives that I haven't actually even seen since my High School Graduation. So here goes, I am now officially listing my own terms of agreement to use this site:



1. Posts will only be made on Sundays, as this is my official "Day of Rest".

Day of Rest from what, you say?

Chores, home improvement, hard labor and any organizing of any kind. Church attendance and taking a nap are the only requirements of the day, and only because these are the things I WANT to do on my day of rest!

Of course, this explicitly excludes:

• the preparation of meals,


• washing of laundry beginning at 6:00p.m. when I realize I have to work the next day and have nothing to wear,


• bathing of dirty babies so I am not embarrassed to send them to school,


• signing of school work to be returned to teachers,


• enforcement of chores to be done by my children,


• referee duties of said children to get the REAL story of who did what to whom.


• tucking in and commencement of The Bedtime Routine.

Whew.... I need a day off! Ok, maybe I can post any day, because my day of rest is officially full!

2. Blogs will only be of something interesting to other people who may read it.

Wait. just. a. minute.

This is my blog. If you don't like it, make a comment! I love feedback, but be prepared to hear about how fabulous my kids are, or how they drive me crazy (all in the same day!). This is a place for random thoughts, yes? Ok. So be it. Randomness to follow, I promise!

3. Blogs will be honest, and reflect who I am right now.

Right. People will be reading this!

As a Wife, Mother, Career Woman, and Co-Manager of the Q-Crew, I will have my moments. Please bear with me. I love my Jesus, Family & Career.... but I am also a little girl at heart with big emotions & in need of some TLC! So, honesty is my policy. Thank God for GRACE and no need for perfection here!

4. No need for rules, since I detailed all the reasons my rules don't apply! Blog is a go!