Tag Game

Ruth tagged me. My directions are to post the 6th picture in my 6th album on my computer and then explain it.
The only way I can explain this picture is: a) I don't delete (enough) pics before I download them to my computer and b)this is what happens when you allow your children to hold your camera. I know this was at Chelsea's wedding. It was beautiful -- at a winery in the Dallas area. After the wedding, the guests were asked to step onto the porch/ west-facing furnace. (Sorry, Chels, it was HOT!!) However, it allowed me to see some folks that I hadn't seen earlier (and I evidently let my kids play with the camera just to occupy them). I thought we were waiting for the couple to join us out in the furnace, but turns out, we were waiting for the folks to transform the wedding area into the reception area. It was really cool (meant in both ways). At this point, I am out on the porch visiting with someone -- I don't know, but I seem to be VERY focused, don't I? :-) We knew Chelsea from our "growing up years" (Chelsea was actually growing up, Troy and I were newlyweds/ new parents STILL growing up) in Temple. It was great to see her precious family, as well as many of the people that love them that came in for the wedding. In 4 short weeks, her older sister is getting married and I will be able to see some of the same wonderful people!! Yes, that's two weddings in 7 months. Pray for the parents!

Here is picture 5, at a little more respectable distance. Aren't we simply glowing?

PG-13 Vocabulary Lesson

This morning on the way to church (me with the kids -- Troy already there for singing practice) we passed a billboard about a local hospital and it said something about 'mammography' -- 'excellence in mammography'? I don't know.

That word cracked Riley up (10 year old boy). "WHAT is mammography??? The study of mammoths??" (No, that is NOT where I'm going with this...)

Never passing up a linguistics lesson, I said, "Well, let's go back to the root ... mammary. (Oh, indeed, there is MUCH rolling of the eyes from Ashley -- 12 year old girl) Mammary glands are what cause women to be able to produce milk. And women need a mammogram to be sure they (I did explain what 'they' are but won't elaborate here -- I get weird enough googles on my blog...) are healthy."

At this point, I start thinking about explaining the word 'mammogram'. And all I can think of is 'telegram' -- sending a message over telephone wires -- or 'candy-gram' -- sending a message with candy. So, it would seem reasonable to me that a 'mammogram' would be sending a message using the mammary glands (or the anatomy that houses them). AND I got so tickled I couldn't continue my academic discussion of the word mammary.

I would like to make a motion that we change the name to 'mammoscan'!

The Lingo, it is A-Changin'!

Recently, while volunteering at the elementary school, I heard a mom,
roughly my age, cheering on a kindergartener by saying, "All right!
Way to represent!"

I guess "good job!" is SO 2007...

Sent from my iPhone

Fitness Friday: Push it to the Limit...

First an announcement: my precious doodlebug gal made the 'A' basketball team out of about 55 girls trying out. Woo-hoo! Remember the scene in Forrest Gump (man, I'm tearing up just thinking about it) when Forrest meets little Forrest and asks Jenny, "Is he smart... or... is he like me?" And he weeps when Jenny tells him, "Oh, he's very smart Forrest..." That's how I feel about having a child who can dribble a basketball and move in a forward motion at the same time. I weep. She is not like me, bless her sweet soul.

So, Fitness Friday. If you live anywhere close to me and are enjoying this AMAZING weather, I do hope you are being active and enjoying it. Walk, bike, roller blade, hopscotch, you name it, GET OUT IN IT!! If, of course, you live north of here where they got a few feet of snow yesterday -- find a treadmill! :-) I wouldn't survive snowy runs too well!

If you are already a regular exerciser, go you! However, don't fall into a rut. It's VERY easy to let your walks turn into strolls, your bike ride turn into a cruise, and your swim can become a sweet little float. Your body quickly adapts to an exercise routine making your muscles more efficient. This means that you are getting stronger, but it also means you will burn fewer calories per workout.

There are several ways to challenge yourself. I think I've said it before, but I think a heart rate monitor is the best tool you can use to be aware of the intensity you are maintaining. Do you know of anyone who has been walking the same route, the same distance for years, and can't figure out why they are gaining weight? It's because the body has adjusted. That is no longer a workout, just a thing your body does.

To make it a challenge, try to improve your time. Even varying your route can keep you from falling into the same speed routine. I had a doctor encourage me to get my mile (WALKING) to 12 minutes. That's why I started running -- I would rather run a mile than try to walk one as fast as I possibly can. Improve your time. Challenge your heart rate. Change your route.

To keep from hitting a wall, one technique I've learned about is the 3/1 method: spend 3 weeks REALLY pushing your intensity in your workouts. Challenge how much weight you're lifting, how fast you can walk or run or bike a mile, push yourself with each workout. On the fourth week, take a break. Don't stop exercising, but lower your intensity. Leave the watch and/ or heart-rate monitor at home. Walk the dog, play with the kids, whatever. Make it an 'active recovery' week.

Besides constantly challenging your workout intensity, vary your 'exercise of choice' every once in a while. Maybe on your 'easy week' switch your runs to swims or your bike rides to walks. Change things around. Find a fun way to move. Just keep moving!

A People Belonging to God

Well, hello there internets. Several kind folks have sent others my way to hear some real preachin'! Welcome, one and all -- red and blue states, R's and D's (and if that means "Researchers and Developers" to you -- welcome, also), and all in between. Happy to have you here for a while and you are always welcome to chat!

Now, to the vocabulary: yes, mugwumping is now an acceptable word for you to use. (Actually, when I saw Donna's comment that she remembers it from her youth, I was afraid she was going to tell me it has some awful meaning -- PLEASE tell me if I need to take it off of there!) Now, about form: you shouldn't allow your children to mugwump. Mugwump can be a noun or a verb: one who is in a chronic state of mugwumpiness (see, when you use made-up words anyway, you can make them however you want...) can become a mugwump. I think 'curmudgeon' would be a good synonym for someone who is a mugwump.

We have been enjoying even more gorgeous weather around here. Of course, it's deer season, so the deer-hunter-in-shining-camo is getting the land ready and preparing to go sit out on some miserably cold morning watching the sun come up waiting for some gorgeous creature to come across the rise. And our family will have meat for the winter ('lest you feel the need to lecture me about his hunting).

Basketball tryouts are this week for 7th grade girls, so it has been a 7 a.m. start to the school day all week. Basketball is Ashley's love, and I can't wait to see how this week all shakes out. There are 'a', 'b', and 'c' teams. Of course, we all in this house think she's an 'a'-teamer! No matter which team she lands on, if they will just let her PLAY she'll be thrilled.

Riley has a soccer tournament on Saturday. It's like the death throes of soccer -- last weekend, and we have 3 games on one day! Does it make me an awful mother to say, "Blech"?

We are just going full speed ahead around here, as you can tell. See? No matter who won the presidency, life still goes! And we are blessed to live one more day and testify to His goodness. May you live up to your calling:

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." 1 Peter 2: 9-12

A Call to Action

All right, listen up. Yes, I'm talking to you. From McCain supporters, I'm hearing one of two things: nervous 'mugwumping' (that's one of my dad's words and I shall use it often -- I do love it) about the direction of our country and how quickly we will be traveling to eternal damnation in the proverbial handbasket, OR a stoic martyrdom that 'we shall tolerate the next 4 years in a godly manner'. Seriously, is that the best we can do? And, while I'm preaching, let me tell you, I am only speaking to Christians. If you are not a believer, you are welcome to read, but I don't hold you to the same standard that I do my brothers and sisters in Christ -- and some of them need a little bit of a talkin' to...

But for those of us that are believers, let me clue you in on a little something: have you read the book of Revelation? Well, I taught it -- to 4th graders this summer. Allow me to summarize the book for you: WE WIN!!! People, our victory is won, our hope is secure. Why the mugwumping?

The election may not have gone your way. Okay. So will you look like the rest of America who the election did not 'go their way' or will you show that your citizenship is in heaven? And I don't mean to be aloof -- that all of this worldly stuff is 'beneath us'. No, this is the stuff we live in. I just think that we have an opportunity to stand together and do AMAZING things right now -- "reach across the aisle" to use a political term, but meaning something a little different.

For instance, are you afraid of... 'x' happening with this administration (I have an 'x', no doubt). What would happen if, every time you were tempted to worry or gripe about 'x' -- you instead prayed for President-elect (or, at the time, President) Obama? Really, think about it. What if we ALL -- all of us who have fears and anxieties and frustrations about things currently -- made a commitment to pray for Barack Obama BY NAME every day for the next four years. Can you even imagine?

I think this has the opportunity to be our (us believers') finest hour -- a time when believers show that their citizenship in heaven dictates their action and humility rather than their citizenship in a political party in this amazing country we are blessed to live in. What are we doing as believers to show that we are different from the rest? I don't think standing stoically, idly by chanting about God being in control is enough. It's a start, but it isn't enough. Are you praying, fervently praying for those leaders by name? Are you voicing your trust in God or your fear of the future? Does your kindness and love (and prayers) extend beyond party lines?

It's EASY to be kind/ Christian when things go our way. Now that things haven't gone your way, will others be able to see Christ in you? I pray so. As I said, I think this can be our finest hour. I leave you with the following blessing:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21

Oh, precious child of God -- HIS power is at work within us!! The same power that had my Savior rise from the depths of the grave. It's yours for the using and the asking. "With great power comes great responsibility."

May you ditch the mugwumping and shine like the stars in the universe you have been called to be as a child of our King.

Allow Me to Be the First to Say...

I was wrong...

Congratulations, President-elect Obama.

Special Election Day Good Things Out There

Yes, I am weary of it, but it is everywhere: Facebook, Twitter, and pretty much every blog I read. Election, election, election. One thing I am VERY thankful for is that my children are at the ages that they are genuinely interested in this election and how it works. Riley (5th grade) brought home a paper that will allow him to keep track of the states as results are announced. I don't know how late he will be allowed to stay up to fill it in, but I definitely think it's worth a missed hour or two of sleep for the lesson. (Here is a printable page that includes number of electors in each state if you would like your children to color them in -- or, you know, you always can...)

So, since I can barely speak of anything else, I will share with you some of the excellent writing about it in the blog-o-sphere.

Lysa had some good thoughts (after a scary moment).

Beth, as always, keeps us focused.

Rachel has some great things you can do -- next election. Of course, if this drags on like 2000 (heaven forbid!!) you will still have time to work on those crochet candidate finger puppets. And, if you don't have time to crochet, you can always print out these little babies, cut them out, fold them, and have your own debate while you wait for the results. Of course, you may be locked away by the time the results come in...

And while you're crocheting or coloring your map, you can also whip up some Senate Bean Soup: served every day in Senate (I wonder how many senators eat it every day, and if bean soup every day could explain a lot coming from capital hill...?)

Obviously, I should have started looking at this before 3 p.m. There is a whole world of festivity that could be taking place instead of the hand-wringing and bravado that I'm hearing so much. So, have a party!

And listen to this guy:



And, don't forget, as the ever-clever Matt Elliot pointed out: an election is always better than a bloody coup. He does have a point. What a blessing and privilege it is, no matter how it goes!

Little by Little...

Since the closest thing I have to a laptop is my phone, I'm having to
resort to emailing in a post from my phone again. Not only is my home
computer occupado, but I haven't been off the couch much today. For
the record? The sick thing? I'm over it! Ready to move on and maybe
live an actual life instead of this wallow on the couch and moan sort
of pseudo-life. I got over the generic creeping crud of two weeks ago,
felt great all last week, had a killer workout(s) on Saturday. Sunday
during church I started feeling bad- headachy, stomach rolling a
little... I thought I had just overdone my workout and would feel
better after I rested.

To make this too-long, pointless story a little longer still with no
point: evidently had a bit of a stomach bug that finally turned a
corner today after my 4th nap of the day. Really hoping this will end
soon. Maybe I'm building immunity?

Newsflash: election day is tomorrow. My main prayer is that it will
END!!! This is like being pregnant: the Lord allows you to get SO
pregnant and SO miserable that you will go through ANYTHING to not be
pregnant anymore. I'm willing to call one of the Doodlebops "Mr.
President" if it will just END this eternal campaign!

Right now the SNL Presidential Bash is starting. I can't wait! At
least I can laugh at these guys!

Have a wonderful day- and do go vote to help this come to an end!!

Sent from my iPhone

Good Things Out There

I thought this tip about clutter was very insightful -- and definitely stepped on my toes!

That Antique Mommy is at it again -- a must read for any golfers, parents, and it is especially for any golfer/ parents.

I mentioned getting back into running. I have heard about this organization that started when one young lady (she's 27, y'all!!!) noticed that her morning runs were taking her by people who weren't going anywhere -- in life or on the road. You can also see a brief video of her, Anne Mahlum here, and vote for her for hero of 2008 for CNN.

I haven't rounded up all the good things out there, but this weekend full of nothingness somehow threw me for a loop!

The BEST thing out there was two precious souls baptized this morning -- one had a very special meaning to me to see her daddy baptize her. Thank you, Lord, for my new sister and brother!

Observation

I always get tickled when I go someplace (most recently Starbuck's) that asks for a name so that they may call my name when my order is complete. When I tell them 'Sarah', they invariably ask, "With, or without, an 'h'?"

Either way, will it change how you pronounce it when my order is ready?

Fitness Friday: BOO!

Beautiful Kellie sent me this video. She said it looked like a "fun Halloween workout". You have to remember that Kellie is a VERY young lady who does things like marathons and boot camp for "fun". It looks like an INCREDIBLE workout! I may have to try it... later. After I've fueled up with a few dozen pounds of Halloween candy!



Something to think about: As of tomorrow, there are 61 days left in 2008. Think back to January, and the resolve you had for this to be a new year, a different year, a new you. Let me encourage you: the year isn't over. I know we all THINK that once Halloween is over, it's all over but the cryin' 'cause there's one holiday (and eating occasion) after another and nothing about your health or body will improve in the next two months. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY!

We still have 1/6th of this year left -- almost 20%! What would you like to do with this time to improve your health? I'll tell you one of my fitness goals: I'm working on being a runner (again!) I'm currently running 2 min. (at a 9:00 mile pace), then walking 3 min.(x5 in a workout). My long-term goal is to run a 5k at a 7:30 pace next fall. Obviously, I've got some work to do. Um... in the next two months? Let me think... I think my goal is to run a full mile at the 9:00 pace (or better). I'll keep you posted on how that's going...

What would you like to do? Are you almost 'on a roll' of regular exercise and would like to really cement that? Are you starting to watch what goes in and want to remain steadfast about honoring your body by how you fuel it? Do you have a plan? Make a plan!

What are you going to do (fitness-wise) to finish strong???!!!

With All My Heart

It's jacket season! You know what that means, right? I currently have jackets (or sweatshirts or long-sleeved t's) in my car, on my dining room table, on the couch, in the hallway from the garage, and probably a few scattered about various schools in my school district. And? Thus it will be throughout the season. In May we will be assured that we can scoop up all of the jackets, gloves, headbands, etc. and put them away.

I, of course, am one of the worst offenders. I have all manner of cold-weather exercise gear because I HATE to be cold for any length of time. I will wear layer upon layer of clothes to go running in to avoid being cold when I first leave the house. I come home with jackets and shirts tied around my waist, headbands (that cover ears) and gloves crammed in waistbands and pockets. I try to get them put away, and I think right now they currently all are, but occasionally all that gear just adds to the cold-weather litter around the house.

Jacket clutter aside, I don't know that EVER in my life I have had such a wonderful fall weather-wise! I have never lived in a place that experiences fall. Louisiana is just muggy year-round and you go from steamy muggy to cool-ish damp muggy at some point, then Christmas is always 80* and muggy. Central Texas just has a "cooling off of summer" period, and West Texas usually does summer, Indian summer, then a blue norther comes through and it goes from 85* one day to 44* and raining the next and *BAM*!! Winter. But all of October has been this amazing weather around here. I hope you are enjoying the same!

With the creeping in of cooler weather and earlier darkness, our lives are actually about to slow down a bit. We are tucking away a soccer season for Riley, winding down volleyball for Ashley, and unbeknownst (isn't that an awesome word...? :-) to us when it started, Ashley also played in some tennis tournaments this fall and did fairly well. We had several weeks of tennis tournament and soccer practice Tues. nights, church Wed. nights, then volleyball game and soccer practice on Thur. nights. Ashley has her last volleyball game on Thursday -- then basketball try-outs start Monday! :-) We get a couple of weeks off of games while they get the team squared away. It will be nice!

So, has anyone noticed the economy? Gas prices are awesome, aren't they? :-) Oy. As you might imagine, this wasn't a great time for our family to go to one income. And, as we head to the end of the month, money is a wee bit scarce around here. Money that blows, money that jingles, doesn't matter -- there isn't much of it. We haven't missed a meal and no one is going cold in the cold mornings. I confess to worrying, though. Besides sleep, I think worry could be my fall-back Olympic sport. Every glance of my wallet/ bank balance sends me into mental calculations of days left vs. dollars left of the month. And I worry.

This morning God brought me here:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5,6

I have this verse on my wall -- a wedding gift from 16 years ago. It spoke to me fresh this morning to "lean not on my own understanding": my understanding doesn't see how it will work, my understanding can't imagine it working out. God challenged me to trust Him with all my heart and let Him work it out. I'm claiming it for today!

A Thought For You

Are you aware that it costs our government 2.5 cents to manufacture each penny it makes now? Are these really the people you want in charge of your health care?

Good Things Out There

Tip Junkie has some ideas for an over-the-top "Ho-Ho-Hoedown"!

Here you can see why I like to imagine Heather as my BFF: she calls 'em like she sees 'em. Powerful words.

I totally get this.

Tried to post this video here, but it's blah-blah "Quick Time" blah-blah, so you'll just have to see for yourself...

Observation

With the obvious exception of the above-average intelligence of the readers of this blog that may also happen to stop in at a garage sale or two, is there an unwritten rule somewhere that says that all garage sale attendees must drive either rudely or stupidly or both when attending a garage sale? Is putting your car in park where you are really the best parking spot? Should you really back up in the middle of a busy residential street? Exactly how slowly can your "scout car" be going and thought to still be in actual motion?

These things make me wonder...

Fitness Friday: What about him/her?

I got a comment recently about Fitness Friday that called to mind the question, "How can I make my wife/ husband/ daughter/ son/ loved one want to be healthy?"

In short, you can't.

Doesn't that make it easier? Think about your own journey towards better health -- nothing happened until YOU decided and made the choice to improve your health and fitness. If you happen to be the wife and mom, you generally have much influence over the food that comes into the house and the menus in general, and you can certainly serve healthy foods. But if you take the "you are on a diet!!" approach -- to either your spouse OR your child, you will simply create an atmosphere of secrecy and mistrust.

A few years ago, Troy had a couple of borderline high blood pressure readings -- one at the dentist and the other... someplace other than a doctors, but I don't remember. Anyway, it really concerned me. I knew enough to know that before a (good) doctor would put him on medication, they would simply encourage him to lose a few pounds and exercise more regularly. I prayed about it -- for about a week -- and finally told him, "I'm concerned about you because I want you to be with me for a long time. I know that I have the knowledge to help you with this if you choose. Let me know what I can do." He listened. And thought. And pondered. For a few days ('cause that's how Troy operates). He finally got me to help him get on an exercise routine and watch his diet more closely. He did lose a few pounds, and he also had a dr. appointment that had a perfectly normal blood pressure reading in the meantime. My concern for him could have easily turned me into a controlling, evil woman, but that would have only succeeded in forcing him to hide things from me. And I absolutely don't want that -- from my husband or children!

Actually, that is one of the reasons I started Fitness Friday. I have several friends who have health concerns that could be addressed by losing a few pounds, a healthier diet, and some regular exercise. There is nothing I can do to change their lives or health for them -- it must be their decision. So I toss this information out here. The only person it's affecting is me -- because I'm doing the only thing I know to do. The world isn't at a shortage of information about how to solve our health problems due to poor diet and inactivity.

So, I said many more words to say (again) you can't do it FOR anyone else. You can do it for you, take time for you, model good health habits, and pray.

Take care of you, stay healthy, and be fit!

I Could Be Wrong

I read an editorial recently by a woman who had spent some time overseas as a missionary. She said that as she was leaving the states for the first time, a former missionary told her, "Tell yourself often, 'I could be wrong,'" He explained that humility is one of the most important virtues to take with you into another culture. The writer then correlated that thought to the culture of politics.

I am thrilled that this election seems to be bringing in large numbers of voters. I am thankful that so many people are passionate about bettering our country. But with passion often comes sharp words and heated tempers. So, I would like to challenge each of us, in our most determined views to remember, "I could be wrong."

Oh, many of us -- myself included -- have scriptural reasons for believing what we believe and voting the way we will vote. But, I could be wrong. Scripture and my faith hold me to a view that I should support one thing and should be against another. Some issues are huge for me because of my faith. But, I could be wrong. I know that other Christians don't see the same issues as huge, and have other reasons that they think my vote is going against scripture and destructive. I have to be willing to admit that they may have a point.

Humility must not only be willing to believe that there is a possibility that I am wrong, humility is quick to listen and slow to speak. There isn't much of that happening during the political season. We all may need to make a resolve to listen a little more and speak a little less. Heaven knows the world could use it the next 12 days (thank GOODNESS it's only 12 more days!!)

Even if I can in no way figure out how someone sees 'x' and 'y', and decides that 'z' must be a logical conclusion to those two facts, I still am called to treat that person with dignity. They are a child of God -- that voter/ politician/ journalist/ church member screaming why my thoughts are stupid, I am called to not only love that person, but treat them with honor. Oh, make no mistake -- because I am only human, sometimes the best I can do to honor a person is avoid. The Spirit has much more holiness to instill in me before I am able to honor those who berate me. But I believe that I am called to just that.

Just my thoughts, rattling around my head, inspired by the editorial. I could be wrong.

Got a Gift?

I feel almost human today. I'm so very, very tired. Then I get so very, very angry -- every time I lay down to rest, my throat starts itching until I have to cough. I burst into coughing fits, then my eyes are watering, I'm sweating, I'm definitely not resting and I am MAD. Sleep deprivation will do that to you!

So, in and amongst the wandering the house not lying down and sighing sporadically, I've been thinking about spiritual gifts. The magazine I was reading yesterday -- the one that I pretended was research -- had an entire section about using spiritual gifts. It had two interesting statistics from the Barna Group: 71% of believers have heard of spiritual gifts (which tells me 29% need to read the word just a wee bit more) and 31% of believers can name a spiritual gift they believe they possess. More than 2/3 of believers have no idea what gift they have been given from God, much less are using it for His kingdom.

Actually, that's probably unfair -- I'm sure some of the people are using a gift every day that they don't even realize they have, such as administration or exhortation. This is one of those areas that ties into me being impatient with people unwilling to examine themselves (obviously my spiritual gift does not include patience -- especially not for coughing fits). I think that if we are keenly aware of our gifts, we will seek out those things, worshipping Him by our service to Him in our area of giftedness.

Okay, I had lots of yada, yada that made sense to my medicated brain but not-so-much here. So, what do you think? About all of it?

a)Do you believe that ALL believers have been given spiritual gifts?

b) If so, and you are a believer, have you identified yours?

c) If you have identified a spiritual gift you have, are you currently using it? Why or why not?

P.S. One thing mentioned in the magazine that I would also like to mention here: knowing your gifts does NOT give you license to shirk any other duties or responsibilites. For instance, showing mercy can be a gift, but certainly not asked only of those people that have that gift. Sometimes the Lord will call us into duty beyond our gifts. I think Moses would agree. So would Mary. Be willing to say, "This isn't really my gift, but here am I, Lord, use me."

Now, your turn. I shall be coughing.

Re-do

I knew as soon as I wrote this about being a generally healthy person, the creeping crud would be lurching off of my keyboard to attack me. It took longer than I thought, but I am indeed, sick of the garden variety. Just a general yukkiness that is punctuated with coughing fits as soon as I lay prone for longer than 12 seconds. I don't run fever -- if I am running fever, I am sick, SICK, SICK, nigh unto death, and get me to a medical professional muy pronto. Alas, I am not running fever, so I still show up and do all that is required of me various and sundry places, trying to keep my groaning to a minimum. At home I do a lot of schlumping around and sighing. Oh, and of course cooking, cleaning, and laundry. Stupid fever never shows up when I need it.

So, I am going to run a blog re-run for today -- from a time when I had actual thoughts inside my head. Enjoy. I'll be on the couch reading a magazine and calling it "research" for a writing project. And sighing.

Run the Race
by Sarah Stirman

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 marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1 NIV)

This passage from the book of Hebrews has always been one of my favorite verses. In the few-and-far-between seasons of my life when I am a runner, I love to meditate on this verse as I run. Life is a race -- A marathon! -- and I am so encouraged to think of the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds me.

The phrase in the version with which I am familiar reads "the sin that so easily entangles." This phrase kind of tripped me up. To me it sounded as if sin is a creeping vine that seems friendly, enticing, and harmless until you realize that you’re in too deep and helplessly stuck.

While I know that’s true of sin in so many ways, it didn’t fit with the running analogy to me. Most runners I know avoid running through foliage. Also sin, in my own personal experience, is much more like a wrecking ball in the cartoons than it is like a vine -- creeping or otherwise. By the time I have identified the sin (wrecking ball), I am lying flat on my back, complete with stars and birdies circling my head, wondering how I got there.

However, more recently I have come to think of this phrase in a new way. I am struggling with forgiveness -- even somewhat struggling with laying down the badge that identifies me as "someone wronged." I know this is not the life Christ has called me to embrace, yet I battle with finally laying down this burden of another’s sin. I have prayed and thought and meditated about why this is so difficult to let go.

I recently prayed asking God to let me run this race victoriously. That’s when this verse came to mind: I must throw off the sin that so easily entangles! Sometimes I cling to my past sins and let them weigh me down. Sometimes I cling to another’s sin against me and let that weigh me down. It’s impossible to run with perseverance the race marked out before me if I am clinging to all of the burdens of the past -- my own or anyone else’s. Christ calls me to run victoriously and I can’t do that with my hands full of old junk. It hinders me and I must lay it down if I want to run the race ... victoriously.

The apostle Paul gives us this victory thanksgiving: "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him." (2 Corinthians 2:14) I love to think of the "triumphal procession" as the time we are being led in as a victory parade after we have finished our race victoriously. We already know who wins this race. Now, let’s run it victoriously!

Posted: 04/26/2006URL: http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200604/20060426_runtherace.html