Felines and Canines

Here is what I like to do in my spare time. Just for fun, not my best work, I threw this one together in about an hour.

I'm now making videos for people as keepsakes or even gifts. Let me know if you are interested, and tell your friends!

Life... and a free t-shirt

Last Sunday, My 17 year old son, Jesse and I ran in the Greenlake Gobble and Munch Off. A fun Thankgiving themed 5k run around Greenlake. I like to take part in these little runs around Seattle, not only for the exercise and the to find out if my times improve at all, but mostly I do them for the free t-shirt. It's my trophy, what I wear that reminds me (and whoever notices) that I completed the race; that I started, endured and crossed the finish line.

Because I can't justify spending $30 or $40 dollars on a run right now, I've made it a habit to volunteer to help with registration and then run for free. Well, La Nina has come the Pacific Northwest and what that meant for Sunday morning was freezing temperatures outside, and numb appendages for those standing around in them. Two hours we stood, getting colder by the minute, when all of the sudden it was time to run. No warm up, just get in line and wait for the gun.

As I started the race, I couldn't feel my toes and I moved a little slow. I wondered how I was going to complete these 3.1 miles, after all icebergs can't run! But I kept moving. After a mile or so, I began to warm up and so I tried to move a little faster. Now I'll be honest, I hate running. I always have. So as I pushed my self to move faster forcing air into my lungs until they burned, all I could think about was crossing the finish line.

It was almost 2 miles before my toes were completely thawed and pain free. I hate running! It just plain hurts, especially when I have to get up early and it's cold and I'm trying to beat the old guy that's passing me on my left--sorry, I digress. But I kept going, I persevered because I knew how amazing I would feel when I crossed the finish line. I ran when I wanted to walk. I ran when I wanted to stop. I had to. How else was I going to get to my car?

After longer than I'd hoped, the finish line was finally before me. Only I was different now. Instead of being cold, I was warm (sweaty, actually). Instead of feeling slow and stiff, I felt energized and agile. It's after I cross the finish line that I remember why I run. Because I love how I feel the rest of the day. My body is stronger and healthier, and it has effects in every other thing I do. So as much as I hate the workout, it's worth the endurance to keep going, and to find out that despite the cold miserable start, I would finish feeling amazing. And on top of that, on this particular November day, I would finish with a personal best; 28:44. If you would have asked me 10 years and 70 pounds ago if I thought I would ever run a 5k at all, much less at less than 10 minutes a mile, I would have spit out my M&M's laughing so hard. But here I am, and I did it... And tomorrow, I'll get up, I'll put my t-shirt on and I'll run a new race all over again!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Praying For The Right Thing

So, I've wanted to start a blog for a while, and my friend Tonya inspired me by starting one herself. Besides the fact that my default, when times get tough, is to hide my little head in my little turtle shell, I've also thought that it would beneficial to journal so that I can look back and remember. Well this is my attempt at journaling as well as putting myself out there for anyone who cares to read what I have to write. My hope is that whoever reads this will be encouraged and inspired, even if it's as simple as learning from my mistakes. So, here goes...

Life is hard! It's as simple as that. Since Paul's layoff almost two years ago, our family has been stripped down to simplicity at best! I never would have guessed that it would have been this long for Paul to get a real job-- the one he wants, the one that even today keeps itself unknown and out of reach. As I was praying for this elusive job a few weeks ago, I heard a gentle voice say "you're praying for the wrong thing." What the heck?! How could praying for a job be wrong? Well, it's not, but their is so much more that is at work in our family than just lack of a job. We have nothing of ourselves that we can rely on. Family, friends, and God are ultimately all we have. Getting to that place of trusting that God is truly all we need is so much easier to talk about than to actually live out! We live day by day now. Today, we have a place to live, a warm bed & food in our bellies. I'm thankful for today. I'm also thankful for some truths that I'm learning. Love of, and for those in my life will never go away, no matter what! No job can take the place of the abundant, overwhelming and unconditional devotion that I have received from so many in my life. Undeserved, undoubtedly! I can honestly say that I wouldn't have ever realized it if it weren't for this difficult predicament. I know who my friends are! I also know is that I am a rich woman! I may not have all the "stuff", but what I do have is irreplaceable, and no amount of money can buy it!

So my prayers have changed; First of all, I'm thankful for the blessing of what the world would call "nothing". I pray that I will never take for granted or lose sight of all that I've been given-- Grace beyond anything I deserve and for the hope of heaven most of all!! I also pray for endurance to finish running the race that is marked out for me (Go read Hebrews 12:1), to go to God for the strength I need when I'm weak, and to allow Him to change me so that when the job finally comes, I'll be a little more like Jesus!