Wonder

Last night's movie discussion about Imitation Game reminded me of the quotes from the book Wonder that we loved so much a couple of years ago... What struck me most about our discussion and viewing of the movie is what a huge heart that you have and how I am so grateful for your desire for all people to be treated with kindness and dignity and love.  May this always be so, sweet one. 

“The best way to measure how much you've grown isn't by inches or the number of laps you can now run around the track, or even your grade point average-- though those things are important, to be sure. It's what you've done with your time, how you've chosen to spend your days, and whom you've touched this year. That, to me, is the greatest measure of success.” 

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“MR. BROWNE'S SEPTEMBER PRECEPT:

WHEN GIVEN THE CHOICE BETWEEN BEING

RIGHT OR BEING KIND, CHOOSE KIND.” 

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“Funny how sometimes you worry a lot about something and it turns out to be nothing.” 

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.” 

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“If every person in this room made it a rule that wherever you are, whenever you can, you wil try to act a little kinder than is necessary - the world really would be a better place. And if you do this, if you act just a little kinder than is necessary, someone else, somewhere, someday, may recognize in you, in every single one of you, the face of God.” 

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“My mom smiled at me. Her smile kind of hugged me.” 

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“Kinder than is necessary. Because it's not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed.” 

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle” -J.M. Barrie quoted in Wonder 

“Learning who you are is what you're here to do.” 

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives.” 

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“...your deeds are like your monuments. Built with memories instead of stone.” 

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

remembering June 19th

Susanne posted this on her blog this week and of course I loved it... Our verse this month is from Colossians: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness." 

So, Anna- just as you received Christ when you were little on June 19, 2008 and just as God's Spirit spoke to you through this picture below, may you continue to live in light of this truth and may you run to Him with all your heart everyday overflowing with gratitude..... 

Intimacy with God

After Easter Jesus spent precious, quiet time with the disciples, nurturing and teaching them in a new way. I hope that has been your experience during this spring season of new beginnings. We are either moving toward God or away from God. This picture from the Jesus Storybook Bible reminds me to run to God again and again with my fears and worries, my hopes and dreams, my questions and doubts. Like that little girl, I want to run freely into my loving Father’s arms—without hesitation.

Genesis warns us about hesitation in the story of God’s destruction of the evil city of Sodom. Lot’s family was commanded to “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back! Run away and don’t stop!” (Genesis 19:17) Lot’s wife was disobedient and became a pillar of salt, a reminder of the severe consequences of hesitating when God says “Go.” Describing the end times, Jesus later warns us to “Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it…” (Luke 17:32-33)

Perhaps the story is incomplete. Mrs. Lot had no idea who or what she was running toward. Thankfully we know Who we’re running toward – the One who calls us tenderly. In faith, we trust that God’s plans for us are good and right and perfect. Christians are told to “throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles…” so we let go of anything and anyone who might hold us back from knowing the One who created us for His purpose. How? We “fix our eyes on Jesus.…” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

This illustration expresses how we are not only running away from sin – but running toward the welcoming arms of our Father/Mother, Creator, Friend, Healer, Comforter, and Guide.

The Invitation:

Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28)

My deepest desire for you is that you learn to depend on Me in every situation. I move heaven and earth to accomplish this purpose, but you must collaborate with Me in this training…..Use your freedom wisely, by relying on Me constantly. Thus you enjoy My Presence and My Peace. –Sarah Young

The Result:

The father saw [his wayward son] and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)

Help/ Thanks/ Wow

These prayers of "help/thanks/wow" are ways that author Anne Lamott summarizes prayer and come to mind often when I am running.... I pray that they will become part of your ongoing conversation with God too... 

"On the first essential prayer, Help, and the common belief that a request for help marks the beginning and end of praying

"Well, I've heard people say that God is the gift of desperation, and there's a lot to be said for having really reached a bottom where you've run out of anymore good ideas, or plans for everybody else's behavior; or how to save and fix and rescue; or just get out of a huge mess, possibly of your own creation.

"And when you're done, you may take a long, quavering breath and say, 'Help.' People say 'help' without actually believing anything hears that. But it is the great prayer, and it is the hardest prayer, because you have to admit defeat — you have to surrender, which is the hardest thing any of us do, ever."

On the idea that many pray only when they need something

"A lot of the time we don't know when we're surrendering that we're actually, at the same time, maybe establishing connection ... to a power greater than ourselves — or something in the next concentric circle out whose name is not me. So, that to me is where help begins. You know, we're often ashamed of asking for so much help because it seems selfish or petty or narcissistic, but I think, if there's a God — and I believe there is — that God is there to help. That's what God's job is."

Anne Lamott is the best-selling author of Some Assembly Required, Grace (Eventually), Plan Band Traveling Mercies.

On the second prayer, Thanks

"Thanks is the prayer of relief that help was on the way. ... It can be [the] pettiest, dumbest thing, but it could also be that you get the phone call that the diagnosis was much, much, much better than you had been fearing. ... The full prayer, and its entirety, is: Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. But for reasons of brevity, I just refer to it as Thanks.

"It's amazement and relief that you caught a break; that your family caught a break; that you didn't have any reason to believe that things were really going to be OK, and then they were and you just can't help but say thank you."

On the third prayer, Wow

"Wow is the praise prayer. The prayer where we're finally speechless — which in my case is saying something. ... When I don't know what else to do I go outside, and I see the sky and the trees and a bird flies by, and my mouth drops open again with wonder at the just sheer beauty of creation. And I say, 'Wow.' ... You say it when you see the fjords for the first time at dawn, or you say it when you first see the new baby, and you say, 'Wow. This is great.' Wow is the prayer of wonder."

On the way she thinks about prayer

"Prayer is not about saying, 'Oh, I think I'm going to pray now.' Or, 'Oh, I see I've made a notation here to pray at 2:15.' It's about getting outside of your own self and hooking into something greater than that very, very limited part of our experience here — the ticker tape of thoughts and solutions, and trying to figure out who to blame. ...

"It's sort of like blinking your eyes open. ... It's sort of like when the Wizard of Oz first — when Dorothy lands in Oz and the movie goes from black and white to color, and it's like having a new pair of glasses, and you say, 'Wow!' "

colors that pop! WOW... :) 

the mountain has been out so much recently! 

(view from Magnolia the other night when Dad and I went there for dinner on date night) 

reach for the heavens

 "if you reach for the heavens, you get the stars thrown in...."

-Mary Poppins 

I love singing and cranking up the music with you like we did on the way home from the marathon.... 

I'm crazy about you, Anna-- 

you are indeed a sky full of stars... 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRjCeoBqrI

Avoid Going Down any Stairs

This sums up the Light at the End of the Tunnel training and the race: 

"It is only through hardship, through discouragement, through exhaustion, that we learn to draw on the power of God’s Spirit within us.  It is only when we come to the end of our own strength, and even then refuse to give up, that we discover God’s strength.  “When we are weak, then we are strong”… Hardships make us bitter… or better. They lead us to breakdown…or to breakthrough. If we don’t give up at that breaking point when we feel we’ve reached the end of our own resources, we find a new aliveness, the life of the risen Christ rising within us."  

–Brian McLaren We Make the Road By Walking

Here is what my training plan says for today: 

Taylor was very kind to help me down the stairs as I walked him to the bus. :) 

Though I am hobbling around like an old lady today and am reminded of Wesley in Princess Bride when he is "mostly dead" and is stumbling through the castle in his attempt to rescue Buttercup, 

my heart is definitely filled to the brim with gratitude! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yokQ0_8__ts

the Light at the End of the Tunnel

  

Elizabeth called me when I was on the bus to the start line... 

Such fun to FaceTime with her in Malawi just a bit before I started to run... 

best headlamp ever through the tunnel 

about 2 miles through the tunnel - so cool!! 

This is really one of the most beautiful trail I've ever run on... WOW is just about all I can say... and even though my calves and hamstrings were tight and screaming at me from right out of the tunnel until the finish line, these stunning views kept me going and I am so grateful for the huge gift of grace and grit that God gave to me today... It was so obvious to me that I was dependent on His strength every step of the way.  

home stretch 

You crossed the finish line with me hand in hand and I could not have been more full of joy then... 

Whoohoooo!!!! Done in 3:39! 

I knew that you and Dad would be at the finish and I was counting the miles at the end until I saw them.  (I also kept thinking that the amount of time that I pushed in labor to get you here was about the same amount of time that I was running this marathon....so I figured I could gut this race out just like the labor.... )  Best motivation ever to see your smiles at the finish! 

Thank you for bringing the fairy wings to the finish :) 

I am crazy about you, Anna... 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFApMIqyMCM

After the race, I gave you one of my headphones and we listened to the song "Thank you, Baby."  I got a little teary thinking about how I was so grateful to be able to run even with the aches and pains I've had in the last 6 weeks of training and also today in the race.   The song only has one line in it-- "All I wanna say is "Thank you baby'."  (sung 11 times through and then the word Baby sung 51 times!)

My heart is full of gratitude for the gift of today and for YOU....

and as I told you as we arrived back at home, I pray that you will always remember this day and be reminded that there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel. 

I love you to the moon and back!  

p.s. I still feel like there is more to share between now and your 13th birthday so I am going to keep posting things for you as they come to mind until the end of the year. XOXO... Love, Mom 

one more day!

I woke up both yesterday morning and this morning with butterflies in my stomach and with an excitement rising in me because the race is almost here. It's been a long 18 weeks with some great days and some tough patches too with injuries and setbacks.

Yesterday, the verse from May that we were memorizing kept going through my head:
"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 that has been marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.  For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

This morning, I read this and loved it...
"If you want to gain practice walking in the Spirit or abiding in Christ or tending the inner flame, you can start when you wake up tomorrow morning.  Before your feet hit the floor, open your heart to the Spirit.  Ask God to help you walk in the Spirit, step by step through the day. Ask God to help you abide in the Vine so good fruit will naturally develop in your life.  Ask God to keep the fire burning within you. Just starting the day this way will make a difference.
As you build that habit of yielding yourself to the Spirit morning by morning, you can build the habit of checking in with the Spirit hour by hour throughout the day.  At each mealtime, you can offer a prayer of thanksgiving and you can reconnect with the Spirit.  As you travel from place to place, as you wait for someone, whenever you have a fee moment, you can offer yourself to God: "Here I am Lord. Please move in and through me to bless others."  Whenever an emergency or challenge arises, you can lean in on the Spirit. "Give me wisdom, Spirit of God. Give me strength. Give me patience." When you sense that you've let something other than God's Spirit fill you and direct you-- anger, fear, prejudice, lust, greed, anxiety, pride, inferiority, or rivalry, for example-- you can stop, acknowledge your misstep, and re-surrender to the Spirit. It's like breathing-- exhaling an acknowledgment of your misstep and inhaling forgiveness and strength to start walking in the Spirit again.
At the end of the day, you can look back with gratitude, reseting in the Spirit until a new day begins and you continue walking the journey of faith. ...
If we don't give up, as mile adds to mile, each of us will have some stories to tell...stories of how the Spirit guided, empowered, inspirits, restrained, sustained and trailed us in the fine art of aliveness."
-Brian McLaren We Make the Road by Walking 


So tomorrow, I will wake up super early to drive to the start line and my prayer will be that my heart will be open to the Spirit all through the course.  Anna, you will be with me in spirit too. :) XOXO 

Have courage and be kind...

Anna, when the mother in Cinderella said this, 

I believe she could have been talking about you too:  

"Have courage and be kind. You have more courage your little finger than most people possess in their whole body—and it has power." 

and this too could be used to describe you with your outlook on life: 

"She saw the world, not always as it was, but as it could be…

with a perhaps a little bit of magic."

    "Where there is kindness, there is goodness. And where there is goodness, there is magic." 

praying for you to always be a person of courage and kindness and one who throws a little bit of magic into everything you do... XOXO 

92 year old inspiration

When you need an little inspiration, look at what this 92 year old woman was able to do!  Praying for endurance and grit for you to keep on going for another 80+ years so you can have joy in the journey like this woman has had... 

Harriette Thompson, 92, on her way to finishing the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in 7:24:36. 

PHOTO BY JEROD HARRIS/GETTY IMAGES FOR ROCK 'N' ROLL MARATHON SERIES

Harriette Thompson, 92, became the oldest woman to complete a marathon on Sunday when she finished the San Diego Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in 7:24:36. She surpassed the record set by Gladys Burrill, who ran 9:53:16 at the 2010 Honolulu Marathon, 19 days after her 92ndbirthday, when she was 74 days younger than Thompson is now.

Thompson told Runner’s World Newswire Thursday night, “I’ll be the most surprised person if I finish it. I hope I will!”

The cancer survivor, concert pianist, and grandmother of 10 covered the course in 16:59 per mile, with a combination of running and walking. Thompson, of Charlotte, North Carolina, has run the San Diego race for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society 16 times since 1999, missing only the 2013 race as she battled cancer.

Upon finishing yesterday’s race, Thompson told competitor.com, “I thought it was like Lindbergh coming in after his flight,” of the response that greeted her at the finish line.

“I was really tired at one point. Around Mile 21, I was going up a hill and it was like a mountain,” she told the Charlotte Observer after the race, “and I was thinking, ‘This is sort of crazy at my age.’ But then I felt better coming down the hill.”

Thompson has had a challenging year as she lost her husband of 67 years, Sydnor Thompson, to cancer in January and dealt with painful wounds on her legs, a result of radiation treatment she underwent to treat squamous cell carcinoma. Many of Thompson’s family members and friends have battled cancer.

“That makes it personal, something that I really feel is important,” Thompson said of her running for a cause. She has raised more than $100,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in 16 years of running the race.

As far as she knows, Thompson is cancer-free right now, however, and heading into Sunday’s race, she even entertained thoughts of trying for the 7:07:42 90–94 age group world record she established a year ago.

Her son, Brenny Thompson, 56, has accompanied his mother during the race in recent years. He helps make sure that she has the fuel she needs, serves as a bodyguard, and fields photo requests along the way.

“Since I’m so old, everybody wants to have their picture taken with me. Brenny says, ‘Don’t stop her, just take a selfie,’ rather than stop and take pictures all the time, because I’d never get to the end. But it’s funny, all you need to do is get to be 90-something and you get lots of attention,” Thompson said.

Thompson says that as long as she is able to, she will continue running the San Diego race.

“I keep thinking, ‘I don’t deserve this [attention],’ but if it helps or if it encourages anybody, it makes me feel good,” Thompson said. “I think if I can do it, anybody can do it, because I wasn’t trained to be a runner. But I have also found that it’s very invigorating. I feel like a million dollars when I’m finished.”

the path of least resistance

“The path of least resistance 

is the path of least reward.” -John Piper 

I read this the other day from a reflection someone wrote who was giving advice to graduates. As I was sore today from the Barre class I went to yesterday with Janie, I at least felt relief in knowing that the resistance and the toning in the class were making me stronger.  It struck me as something that is so true for any kind of training- whether that be running or dance or just in life in general. May you know that when you are in a time facing resistance that there is always an opportunity there for growth and for you to become stronger through that journey. 

picture from the run this morning :) 

I'm Here When You Need It

As we were unicycling around Green Lake yesterday, you said to me, "I'm here when you need it"-
Thank you for holding me up and supporting me in so many ways...

and I just want you to know that I'm here when you need it too....