Five Minute Friday: Hero

The 1st person who comes to mind when I think of the word "hero" is my Dad. "Why is he your hero?", you might ask...there's many reasons, but here are a few:

1. He has poured into the lives of countless teens, adults, families, couples, kids, etc...as he has followed God's calling in ministry.
2. He has had unswerving faith in God's plan and has followed God's leading even when the road ahead made no sense and led to struggles and wandering in a very dry desert for a very long time.
3. I don't know anyone else who has a shepherd's heart like his. He is a natural shepherd and genuinely desires to guide and help others.
4. He loves my kids so well. From swimming in the pool every day of summer, countless piggy back rides and carrying to the car, to games of pretend and hide and go seek, to coloring, to sharing M&Ms and candy, to long walks, to tricycle rides...and these are all with my sweet Hope who adores her Grampy with all her heart! What a blessing it is so watch your kids grow and flourish as someone you hold so highly loves them so well!
5. My Dad is the one who took me to school and picked me up most days growing up. I loved our car rides together and our conversations about everything and anything.
6. He loves selflessly. For as long as I can remember my Dad has served our family. He has worked hard to provide, he's gotten the glasses of milk, made the snacks, and done whatever is needed to care for my Mom, my brother and I.
7. He epitomizes the word "perseverance".
8. Each night when I lived at home, my Dad would tuck me in bed & pray with me. Most nights he'd leave my room saying "Goodnight princess, I love you". I am my Daddy's girl and always will be.

My Dad has created an amazing legacy of faith for me and my family to follow. He has impacted the lives of more than I can count and has made an eternal difference in the world. He loves wholeheartedly, serves with everything he's got, and is just all around incredible! My Dad = My Hero!

Starting Over

Starting over really sucks!

 Today I started a 17 week training schedule to hopefully get me ready to run a 10k (6.2miles) on May 10th. Never would I have imagined I'd be starting from the beginning again when it comes to running. After so many years of hating it and thinking it impossible, I found strength I didn't know I had and determination that I hadn't seen in a really long time. I started from nothing and eventually worked my way to a respectable 1/2 marathon. At that point I figured I'd just keep running and that it'd be a part of life and I'd continue to run races and get awesome medals . . . not so much.

After my 1st 1/2 marathon (beginning of June) came the extreme heat of summer and along with that heat came getting pregnant with baby #2. I tried to keep up, I tried to keep going, but it was rough! I had races signed up/paid for through December and figured I'd run them like I had my 1st few races, not letting pregnancy keep me down. Well, training got harder/hotter and I ended up walking 1/2 of a 10k 80's race because it was too hot and there wasn't water and I was tired, then walking the whole Long Beach 1/2 marathon that October (longest 4 hours of my life), mostly walking a 5k Color Run in November, painfully run/walking another 10k Iron Girl in November, and then walk/running the Las Vegas 1/2 marathon in December. None of those races went as I had hoped and my training had become almost non-existent. Exercising was painful and not worth it at that point so I vowed I'd start back up after the baby was born and we signed up for 2 races to aim for.

Well, the 2 races of 2013 weren't pretty. I thought I'd be ready to walk/run (at a decent pace) the Disneyland 10k in September but due to starting too quickly and not being in shape, it was a really long race ( but still very fun). Next came our 2nd 80s run and Jaye and I agreed to push the kids in the stroller and just walk the entire thing. We started out walking but then I had a tired/crying baby so I ran/walked the 2nd half of it in an attempt to get done so I could feed the baby. It was disastrous.

Fast forward to today. Today I began a 17 week training schedule to work up to running a 10k on May 10th. I loved the location of our 2nd 80s run so I'd been looking for races down there. At the same time I discovered the 10k, Another Mother Runner (a great site for Mom runners) came up with a 10k challenge and training plan. So, here I go....wishing I had never stopped running after that 1st 1/2 and wishing I could keep a good pace and better intervals...but it is what it is and I am starting from zero. The goal is 3-4 days a week of running right after the kids get breakfast. It'll be good to get them outside and it'll be good for me to get my butt in gear.

So here's to starting over . . . 1 minute intervals at a time.

Five Minute Friday: Fight

(Every Friday for over a year, hundreds of people have joined a writing flash mob at Lisa-Jo Baker‘s blog site.  They write for five minutes flat all on the same prompt that she posts on her site at one minute past midnight EST every Friday.  No extreme editing or worrying about punctuation, grammar or font.  Unscripted, unedited, real.  I am going to do my best to be a part of the fun.)

I guess there are plenty of things to fight about, to fight for, to fight in general. Cancer is what comes to mind today as I think about "fight". Recently, someone who I went to college with came walking through the doors of the Emergency Department where I work. When I looked up why they were there, I had a hunch it was going to be a new diagnosis of leukemia. Certain signs/symptoms tend to be a precursor for that wretched disease. Sure enough, as the night drug on and test results came back, they were told what they feared...it was likely leukemia.

I see crappy things pretty often at work. I see hurt, pain, disease, injury, illness, and sometimes even death. Usually I do a pretty good job of keeping my distance, putting on my work face, and not getting involved...but this time it hit me at a heart level. I left that night with a heavy heart and I couldn't stop thinking about their sweet little guy. I made it a point to pray daily, to check in with them each day I was at work, and to just stay aware/informed of how their little guy was doing.

Each day there are parents across the world given the awful diagnosis of cancer for their precious children and every day that fight or flight reflex kicks in and they immediately begin the fight of their lives, looking for options, alternatives, cures, and most of all HOPE. Each day is a fight...a fight to comprehend, a fight to get the best for your kid, a fight to kick cancer's ass! (excuse my language)

So as I think about the word FIGHT, I pray for sweet Kicker and his family as they fight this stupid disease. Game on Cancer....Game on! 

Oceans

"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)"

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior
[x6]

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine 

 

We sang this song in church today and the following part stood out to me...

 

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

 

If left to my own devices, I'm happy to stay put...to stay where I'm safe and things are familiar. I don't tend to venture too far from what I know. Only HE could take me deeper as surely my feet are not really going to wander far. I am hoping these words are true for me this year, that I will venture farther and trust deeper in my Savior.

Operation Christmas Child

As a Mom, it is my prayer that my kids will grow up to love and follow Christ. I want them to grow up with an attitude of gratitude and a heart that wants to help others. As I've been thinking about Christmas and the season ahead of us, I want to shift our focus to helping others rather than getting gifts. I have grand ideas of fancy advent calendars and countdown crafts for Hope to do each day but reality is that there just isn't time (or energy) to do it this year. However, I do think it is very do-able and realistic to find 1 project that we can do together each weekend that will somehow bless someone else!

A few weeks ago we took Hope to Target and helped her fill a "shoebox" (she picked a pretty pink flowered plastic box) with things for another little girl who is 4, just like her! I loved watching her look at all the things around her and carefully choose exactly what she wanted in her box! She picked socks of her favorite characters, rainbow gloves, a stuffed polar bear AND a baby doll, My Little Pony toothbrush/paste plus extra Monsters Inc toothpaste, and other fun items! She kept talking about how much the little 4 year old girl was going to love her box that she was making and she is absolutely right! She proudly delivered her shoebox to church so it could be sent to that perfect little girl that God has designated just for her box!

This past Saturday we went as a family to the Air1 Operation Christmas Child packing party. I had heard about it on the radio and thought it'd be a fun thing we could do together as a family. In order to go to the processing center for OCC, you have to be 13 so this seemed like a great opportunity for Hope to get involved. What a fun night we had! Hope would pick her box & the age of the child she was packing it for (always for a girl) and Jaye would pick a box too (always for a boy the same age as the one Hope was packing for). We'd then walk through the lines choosing items for inside each box. Hope carefully chose which toothbrush, notebook, coloring book, toys, soap, color of washcloth, type of candy, and stuffed animal would go inside each box. We ended up going through the process 6 times, making a total of 12 boxes! One round, we got to the toy table where they had little toys for boys and girls and although Hope was making a box for a girl, she decided that the box needed a matchbox car. The worker tried to convince her otherwise but she insisted the little girl would like a car...and so I let her choose the car. (I remember hearing stories of boxes that had specific seemingly random items and how those items were exactly what that child and his/her family needed.) Who knows, maybe that little girl has a brother who won't otherwise get a toy or maybe she has always wanted a car for herself! After each set of boxes was packed, we'd stop and squat down as a family and pray over our boxes. The best was the times Hope was the one praying over the boxes! I am so proud of my sweet girl and the wisdom she already has about how great our God is!

Not sure what our next few projects will be, but I am excited to continue to instill in my sweet girl a heart for others!

Five Minute Friday: Fly

"Mom, when I grow up, I want to fly. I'm not going to fly on an airplane, I want to fly with wings. I just really want to fly."

This is an ongoing conversation in our house. My sweet girl dreams of flying. As I kindly suggest maybe she could become a pilot or a astronaut, or go in a hot-air balloon, she just looks at me (as if she's humoring my suggestions) and then reminds me that she wants to fly on her own. Do I tell her its impossible? Do I tell her people can't fly? Do I dash her dream of flying? Nope, I just tell her, "maybe someday". Who am I to tell her she can't fly?! I want her to continue to dream big to shoot for the stars, to strive for something great. And so I encourage her to study hard, be a good listener, be a kind friend and dream big!! Who knows, maybe someday she really will fly!!

Five Minute Friday: Truth

"But the voice of truth tells me a different story. The voice of truth says 'Do not be afraid'. The voice of truth says this is for my glory. Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth."

I probably butchered those lyrics, but this is what I immediately thought of when I saw the word "Truth". The other thought that comes to mind is how hard it can be to tell the truth. I am not a confrontational person. I am go-with-the-flow, don't-rock-the-boat, kind of person. I don't want to cause conflict, I don't want to hurt feelings. Wether it be big things or small things, I have a hard time speaking truth when it may cause some discomfort. So, rather than speak truth, I keep things to myself and assume others can read my  mind or that they should know that I am hurt or bothered or disappointed.