Pressing On

Okay this summer is already proving to be super busy. I have had very little time for posting. This past weekend I hosted a baby shower for one of our young adults. I love to decorate so I had so much fun putting it together. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and a joy for me to do for one of our young gals. Below are a couple of pictures.
I have been running pain free! I am upping my mileage this week a half mile to 3.5 This is will give my hip a chance to ease into it without putting on too much stress by adding a whole extra mile. I have a bit of a slower week so hopefully I can catch up with you all. Might the Lord be an
ever present help and comfort in your lives this week.

Running Taught Me How To NOT Spit Like A Girl...

I had a couple of titles for this post, 1. Running Taught Me How To NOT Spit Like A Girl...
2. Mmmmm Protein...

Okay so this crazy title came from me simply inhaling a bug this morning on my (3Mile) run. Something black with wings flew directly into my mouth. Thankfully, I was able to get rid of him before he was able to kamikaze down my throat. I have sucked in many bugs over my years of running and it is always so gross. As a result I have become very good at spitting while running. I know, cool, right! Not really but I thought that you needed to know this about me... Right after my run when I was walking in the front door I inhaled some other gross thing that I didn't even see coming! My husband was staring at me as I walked in the door hacking and coughing trying to get that bug out of my throat to no avail. On today's menu, bugs, icky bugs. Have you ever had a bug fly in your mouth while running? Do you try and spit it out?
I say let the spitting commence.

Running 3's (part 2)

I am starting to sound redundant, but some times redundancy is good. I am so excited to tell you my hip pain is almost completely gone!!! Praise God!!! I don't understand how I can still be running and yet experiencing less and less pain every day but I just thank God it seems to be working!
When I went running last Friday I decided to try a new part of the trail and ended up unexpectedly coming upon some hills. After clearing 2 hills I could see ahead of me there were quite a few more. I noticed right away from the first hill my hip pain kicking in and I probably should have turned around before taking the second one. This is exactly why I don't like to divert from my normal route...I am a creature of habit and change is well, change and I don't like change :D Who knew there was a part of the river trails that had hills! I plan to continue doing my 3's on my nice flat, REGULAR, I know whats coming, trail this week :D. I might try and add a mile on Saturday but I will just have to see how my hip is feeling. I am sooooo, sooooo thankful this is going away.
I have a very busy week so posting again will be at a minimum. Besides there's only so much you can say about running 3 miles unless you fill it in with lots of exclamation points and extra oooooooo's ;)
Have a great week of running or resting!

Running 3's

I have been limited on time this week to do much posting but I did want to go ahead and post my runs so far for the week. I have run 3 miles every morning this week down at the river. I have cut back on trying to increase my mileage and have completely stop all hill training until this hip issue resolves itself completely. I do not want to end up with a full blown injury so I am being very careful not to push this pain too much. I am very encouraged that even after a week of consistent running my hip issue is actually starting to ease up. I have not felt the need to take off a day in order to allow my hip some rest. This is encouraging and the first time in weeks my hip has not caused me to take a day or two off. I have also been more purposeful with my stretching and discovered that a side bend really hits that spot. I am certainly not where I want to be right now with my mileage but I am extremely thankful to still be out pounding the pavement. I know you all have been praying and for that words cannot express my heartfelt thanks.

There's No Place Like Home...

This mornings run was pretty eventful as far as weather is concerned. I watched the weather last night and knew there was a chance of rain in the morning but when I got up it was clear and just a little windy. Unfortunately it wasn't until I was at the end of my turn around that the storm started to blow in. Now I've run in the rain but not with winds this strong. There was only a light drizzle but when you added the strong winds that slight drizzle felt like needles going into my legs. I picked up the pace quite a bit. Because I live in Oklahoma the chance of a tornado is always out there and it certainly crossed my mind. Funny thing was the movie The Wizard of Oz popped in my head and the tune that plays in the background when the witch blows by on the bicycle was playing in my head also. The video below has the scene in it. It was a crazy run.

Humbling Hills

Well, my perfectly planned week of running turned out to be a bust. I took the kids to the pool on Thurs. and some how missed to apply sunscreen on the top of my feet. Needless to say my fair Irish skin was glowing red and I couldn't even put on shoes. I have been sunburned many times but never the tops of my feet, owie...I jokingly tell the kids that one day mommy will have a great tan when all my freckles merge. Funny thing is I am getting real close I must have a million freckles;).
When I went out for my run this morning I had absolutely no pain in my hip at all. I thought about Jane's comment that she was, "praying that the pain in my hip would ease completely" and how her faith worked to strengthen my own. I thought about how this was the first time in many weeks I had experienced no pain what so ever in my hip. I thought about my friend Kim who is dealing with possibly a serious injury and the patience God is working out in her life. Her example of trusting Him in this has provoked me to examine my impatience toward God. I thought about how I have been begging God for things that in reality are about making my life more comfortable. And how I have been doing so much in my own strength. I thought about how I've been trying to define my life to look and be a certain way rather than being willing to accept what Gods image for my life looks like. Gods Word tore at my pride "I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake" really? is that true of me? My run this morning was very emotional but also very restoring. I ran 3 miles of hills during which I started to experience some tenderness in my hip but nothing like it was and for that I am extremely thankful.

Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to the cross I cling

From the hymn Rock of Ages

Fighting The Good Fight

The alarm clock went off at 4:30 this morning but I was already awake. I was anxious to get out for my morning run to see how it would go with my hip. A little past 5am I was starting what would be a very uncertain run. From step one my hip was in pain, but I wanted to push on to see if it would ease up some. My plan was to do 3 miles and that ended up being a good goal. I ran the entire 3 miles in pain but thankfully my hip issue did not feel worse but stayed at the same discomfort the whole way up and back. As I ran I thanked God and also pleaded with Him for the strength to keep going. I am looking forward to tomorrow and how my hip will feel in the morning. It's running times like these that I am convicted about what seemingly superficial things cause me to be weak in my resolves, and being more fervent in re-focusing on the more eternal prize. "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" Philippians 3:12

"Fight the Good Fight"

Run the straight race through God's good grace,

Lift up thine eyes, and seek his face;

Life with its way before us lies,

Christ is the path, and Christ is the prize.

John Monsell, 1863

Back on Track (Hopefully)

I just got done catching up with all of your postings. I know its only been a week but I feel like I missed so much...Jane's part 7 of her running story, Wendy's Marathon training starting, Mary Ann here in Tulsa and I don't even know that! Kate sounds like she's gonna do a marathon! I truly have missed the connection with you all. I was so sorry to read about Kim's injury and I shared with her that I have actually been having serious hip pain ever since I ran those stair repeats that has progressively worsened with each additional day of running. It was getting so bad I was actually hobbling around for a few days and I had to stop during a run because the pain. I took off this entire week not only because of the company we had but also the pain was bad. The good news is the pain is almost gone since I've had this unscheduled week of rest. I am hopeful that when I get up in the morning I can run with little to no pain at all. It is hard for me to be laid up from an injury. I am praying God will allow me to keep moving forward with my training.
In the mean time I wanted to show you something I made a few years ago with some old running shirts. You can tell by the dates on the shirts the 5k distance was a favorite in the 90's. This blanket has seen better days it gets used a lot for picnics. It's a fun blanket to have. The moon on the Night Light Run t-shirt(upper left) glows in the dark and is my favorite for that reason=)

A Full House, A Full Heart, A Tired Body

The missionary family that was staying with us this past week left this morning. The visit was as expected wonderfully exhausting. We had over 40 people turn out for the open house for them Saturday including our pastor and his wife. Our joy was overflowing as we shared our love for them and our desire to see the gospel spread to unreached tribes in Papua New Guinea.

Many nights this week I have not gone to bed much before midnight so I am exhausted. I have a commitment today to take the kids to the pool so I will hopefully get some rest this evening. Below are a couple of pictures from the open house. I have missed keeping up with you sweet ladies and look forward to catching up with you this week.

A Full Week, A Full Heart

What happen to May? I don't know about you but this whole year is flying by! God has really increased our ministry opportunities this year and it sure does make the time pass quickly. I will probably have short post this week as I am getting ready to have a missionary family stay with us this weekend as well as host an open house for them. Then we have our usual young adults group meeting here as well. Even though this week will be crazy busy I feel so blessed to be able serve this way. I love ministry from my home it is wonderfully exhausting! My heart is so full of gratitude for the opportunities the Lord has given us this year.
Okay, I ran 4 this morning. It was already 70 degrees at 5am! I guess those cool mornings are gone for a while.