Oh good!

I got this email from someone I met last summer on the Blue Rooster camping trip who is also a runner: 

"By the way, I met another mom yesterday who is a runner also.  She told me that when she sees a hill, she tells herself, "Oh good, a hill!  Now my legs will be able to work a different type of muscle for a while."  She does this, and the hill no longer becomes a chore for her.  I loved this.  Running is such a mental game." 

I've had some aches and pains in this past few weeks with some sore muscles. Quite frankly, I don't always look at a hill and think, "Oh good!"  But, this other mother runner is right. It all depends on how you look at it . 

Praying today for some shifts in perspective that you will be able to say, "Oh good!" rather than some other choice words that might come to mind when a hill is before you 

cheering for you Anna with all that is before you... (homework, friendship, flute challenges, science projects, reading logs, dance schedules, and just trying to fit it all in...) 

achievement

"Occasionally I stumble across the beauty of letting go of my need to be good at things. I am loved. I have nothing to prove. God's love and acceptance free me from our culture's obsessive need to succeed or impress." -Nathan Foster 

"I have continually found that a clear and deep knowing of God's love for me has been the key remedy I needed to unable many of the problems I faced."  -Nathan Foster 

"I'm accepted. I'm loved. I'm free to achieve and to fail.  I don't have to prove that I'm worthy of love or forgiveness....." -Nathan Foster 

I am praying for you today Anna that God would bless the work of your hands as you are such a hard worker but also that you would know that this is not where your identity lies. You are more than what you do.... You are a child of God whose light makes this world sparkle and shine... 

Doughnut Dash

Anna, you rock. 

I loved running with you this morning and loved your smiles even though it was no easy task

 to carry a gigantic inflatable doughnut around the lake for 5K!  

you are such a good sport. :) 

love the serious expression on your face 

 such a fun morning with you!! 

Thanking God for you

This morning I ran over to Swedish hospital to drop off something for one of the residents who is heading to Malawi tomorrow to be with Elizabeth at the hospital there. She was on the 5th floor (the labor and delivery floor) and one of the last times I was there was when you were born!! 

As I ran this morning, I simply thanked God that you were born... 

I sing for JOY at the works of Your hands.  Psalm 92:4

Dear Sweet Anna, 

Almost 12 and a half years ago, you joined our family and I still thank God for you each day.

1.  I’m so happy you were born because you are teaching me about a whole new kind of trust.  Your prayer for Daddy last January continues to be an encouragement to me: "Dear God, please help Daddy find a job. We know this is in your hands." 

2.  I’m so happy you were born because your life touches everyone you meet.  You spread sunshine and you have more compassion, understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness than most people I know.  

3.  I’m so happy you were born because you’ve made our family so much stronger.  You live this out well (and I love that you can sing it to the tune of Yankee Doodle: "Get outside. Live simply. Keep open house. Take care of the earth. Be generous with your lives. Trust God with all your heart. Express your faith through love. Celebrate and savor and give thanks.") 

4. I’m so glad you were born because your free spirit is one that dances in the rain and through life with such joy. 

 I’m so glad you were born my little one. 

  Given the choice, I’ll always choose you.

I love you to the moon and back.

a heart wide open to joy

Today running felt a bit tight and not as easy as it has on some days,

 but I was struck with the beauty of this place where we live. 

May you always have eyes to see the beauty around you even 

when you are sore and feeling aches and pains along the way. 

O God, we thank you for this universe, our great home, for its vastness and its riches, and for the diverse life which teems upon it and of which we are part. We praise you for the arching sky and the blessed winds, for the driving clouds and the constellations on high.  We praise you for the salt sea and the running water, for the everlasting hills, for the trees, and for the grass under our feet. We thank you for our senesce by which we can see the splendor of the morning, hear the jubilant songs of love, and smell the breath of the springtime.  Grant us, we pray, a heart wide open to all this joy and beauty, and save our souls from being so steeped in care or so darkened by passion that we pass heedless and unseeing when seven the thornbush but he wayside is aflame with the glory of God. Amen. 

intention

in·ten·tion

inˈten(t)SH(ə)n/

noun

1. 1. 

   a thing intended; an aim or plan.

   "she was full of good intentions"

"My favorite part of my yoga class is when my teacher asks us to ‘set an intention’ at the beginning of class….At the end, she often asks us to check back in with that intention that we set at the beginning of class.  I like that part; it means something to me. I have begun to incorporate this idea into other areas of my life. I try to set an intention before I run, work out, write, meet up with a friend, make a speech, eat a meal, discipline my children, state my opinion, or say yes or no to a request.  The more I set intentions, the more I realize how many opportunities I have to do so in the span of a week, a day, or even an hour.  I realize how often in the past I have not checked in with my intention or even made one to begin with.  How easy it is to waste time, get off track, or miss the moment when I forget where my heart is?"  -Kristin Armstrong Mile Markers 

This time of running has been so good because the intention has been set to pray for you.  As you go through this year, I am praying that you would learn to live with more intention and gratitude, for it can make all the difference.  

positive attitude

you had such a fabulous attitude running

around the lake in the drizzly weather today...what a gift to be with you!  

you've done this before

As we were picking up Anna and Camille to take them unicycling, we borrowed one from the Hestads for them to borrow. One of the pedals was off of it and we needed to put it back on. 

As we looked for the pedal, you said, "Mom, you've done this before. You can do it again," recalling the time that Taylor's pedal fell off at Green Lake and I had to put it back on.  

I loved hearing you say that. 

"You've done this before. 

You can do it again." 

I think about that with the marathon coming up. 

I've run 26.2 miles 7 times before. 

That helps me know I can do this again. 

I think about that with the book writes you have that are daunting for you. 

You've done them before. 

You can do them again. 

With the 5K on Sunday, 

You've got this in the bag! 

You've done this before. 

You can do this again... 

With the uphills that will be in front of you in the coming years, lean on the experiences God has given you and rest knowing that He's got you in His hands.... 

I'm cheering for you. 

XOXO 

twenty miles

This morning, I had 20 miles to run, and it seemed a bit daunting at first since that's a lot of miles! On top of that, we just got back into town last night and we had jet lag to deal with. 

But I ran 7.5 miles on my own and then joined a few women from the Sunday morning running group to finish the other 12.5.  Breaking it into these bite size pieces totally helped. I am praying that as you   tackle school work, dance rehearsals and even our run around Green Lake next weekend that you will  learn to take things one step at a time and ask God for perspective when you get overwhelmed. 

I'm cheering for you, little one! 

Philippians 2

As I was running, I was thinking about how you had been so sweet to try to find a good pillow for me last night since my neck and back had been sore from sleeping funny on them.  I am giving thanks for your servant's heart, Anna and praying that you will continue to live in light of this amazing passage below: 

2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 

Who, being in very nature[a] God,

    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 

rather, he made himself nothing

    by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,

    being made in human likeness.

8 

And being found in appearance as a man,

    he humbled himself

    by becoming obedient to death—

        even death on a cross!

9 

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

    and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

Rain Dance

these pictures are among many of reasons I am crazy about you... 

"Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain... " (unknown) 

Rain Dance

praying that you will always have this spirit, Anna! 

Your Many Colored Days

This morning, as we were getting ready to leave, you told me you were in a sour mood because you felt a bit rushed and did not want to go visit more people today.  I love that you could name the feeling and then move on through the day.  I just wanted you to know that I love your many colored days - sweet and sour. 

Some days are yellow.
Some are blue.
On different days I'm different too.
You'd be surprised how many ways
I change on Different Colored Days. 

On Bright Red Days how good it feels
to be a horse and kick my heels!

On other days I'm other things.
On Bright Blue Days I flap my wings. 

Some days, of course, feel sort of Brown.
Then I feel slow and low, low down. 

Then comes a Yellow Day and Wheeee!
I am a busy, buzzy bee. 

Gray Day....Everything is gray.
I watch. But nothing moves today.

Then all of a sudden I'm a circus seal!
On my Orange Days that's how I feel.

Green Days. Deep deep in the sea.
Cool and quiet fish. That's me.

On Purple Days I'm sad. I groan.
I drag my tail. I walk alone. 

But when my days are Happy Pink
it's great to jump and just not think. 

Then come my Black Days. MAD. And loud. 

I howl. I growl at every cloud. 

Then comes a Mixed-Up Day. And WHAM! 

I don't know who or what I am!

But it all turns out all right, you see. 

And I go back to being...me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lum83DLPXIw

Grounded

ground·ed

ˈɡroundid/

adjective

1. 1. 

   well balanced and sensible.

   "the kids have money and a rock-star dad, but they seem grounded"

   
   

   
   

   

   
   

   
   

   Today, the word, "grounded" came to mind-- not the kind of grounded when you get in trouble and cannot leave your house for a while, but the kind that means you are rooted and grounded in love.  

   
   

   A couple of things came to mind as I was thinking about this word.  The other night you were flipping through a magazine that the Petries gave you about middle school and you told me you were reading an article about popularity. I just asked you about what your thoughts were about it, and you said in the most wonderful, down-to-earth way, "Mom, I don't really care about being popular."  Also last night you were hanging out with Katelyn and she was showing you her Instagram feed (showing you pictures of all her friends and their posts), and you later told me that it was kind of boring.  We talked about Instragram on the way home and your perspective on it was so grounded and refreshing.  

   
   

   Anna, I love the free spirit you have and am thankful for your heart that really does not get caught up in these kind of things. May it always be so. :) 

   
   

   Today, it is my prayer that you will continue to be rooted grounded in love in all that you say and do.