Water For Elephants

As my first finished up summer read I enjoyed Water for Elephants. It was an intriguing story of one man's journey of remembrance, forgiveness and redemption.

Jacob, the main character pulls you in from the beginning. The book follows him as he reflects on the journey his life has brought him through. It is a story of circumstance and love. And, if you ever wonder how someone may end up working in a circus, this is a pretty good adventure in that way to.

I am never one to give away plot and I am sure you can find a bazillion summaries of the story. But, as an avid reader and someone always looking to connect with the main character, even if it means being disappointed or frustrated with them, I will say this book hit the mark.

It is an enjoyable, quick read and I would highly recommend it.

Forgotten God

2010 is proving to be a good year for book reading. I am enjoying the challenge. There will be a few books throughout the year that I am reading with a friend or in a small group. I love devouring a book with friends, it makes it even more enjoyable. My friend Janell and I just finished up Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan.

We usually take one chapter a week to read and then discuss. This book was well worth the investment in time. Each week I felt more and more challenged in my personal understanding of the Holy Spirit. The beginning of chapter 5 was a great comfort, speaking on how our confidence comes from the Holy Spirit. It is a beautiful reminder to me that God gives me His spirit in order that I may become the person He already sees me as. I don't need the world to tell me if I am good enough if I can just grasp the idea that "the most powerful Being in universe adores (me) as His own child."

I would recommend this book if you are looking to get out of the typical stereotypes of the Holy Spirit. If you are ready to get a better understanding that living a Spirit filled life is going to call you to action, call you to more reliance on God and call you to believe there are things that can only be accomplished through you if you let the Spirit work; then this is a great book. Let me leave you with this quote:

“The truth is that the Spirit of the living God is guaranteed to ask you to go somewhere or do something you wouldn’t normally want or choose to do. The Spirit will lead you into the way of the cross, as He led Jesus to the cross, and that is definitely not a safe or pretty or comfortable place to be. The Holy Spirit of God will mold you into the person you were made to be…”

Mariette

For the 4th book into my 75 book challenge I have read Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen.

I will have to add this to my list of books that everyone should read. It is beautiful. The story follows a young girl, pretty and devout, Mariette, as she joins the Sisters of the Crucifixion.

I love a book that allows me to personally get involved. Throughout the story Hansen leaves it up to me, the reader, to decide my own perspective. Is Mariette truly experiencing ecstasy or is she a young girl in need of attention? If God truly spoke to this young girl, or someone around us, would we recognize it as God or would we do our best to disprove before we choose to believe in the miracle? Do we try so hard to fit people into our experiences and expectations that we miss the power of God that we so desire to see?

"God gives us just enough to seek Him, and never enough to fully find him. to do more would inhibit our freedom, and our freedom is very dear to God." (pg 174)

I didn't know what to expect. I had intentionally not read a review or information about the story before I borrowed it from the library. It is the first book of twelve from The Emmaus Readers: Listening for God in Contemporary Fiction. Each of the twelve books reviewed has a chapter with summary and questions that allow you dive deeper into the stories meaning and purpose. I will be enjoying all twelve of these books this year.

100% Everything

It's official. I am registered to run in the 2010 Bank of American Chicago Marathon.

Registration is the easy part. You type in your name, your information, your credit card numbers and wa-la you are registered. And yet, for me it is 100% the scariest part. When you hit the send button, there is no taking it back. You can't call the people and say, "I didn't really mean to fill all of that out, Can I have my money back?".

The 100% commitment begins instantly. Click, and you have an email in your in-box that is your receipt and official registration. I am not a good commitment person. When I ran the Knoxville Marathon I didn't register until the month of the race. I was 100% sure I was going to fail during my training and not be able to run it. So, why spend the money?!!

I don't know what is going to happen in the next 250 days. I have 100% faith that this is where I wanna go. I don't doubt I want to run in Chicago. I have 100% passion for the beautiful city, it's museums, it's architecture, and it's culture. My blood pumps a little faster every time I imagine the sound of my feet hitting on the Chicago pavement.

I am 100% excited that I will be running with my friend Sarah. She was the one who challenged me to begin running. She was the one that inspired me when I started my training for Knoxville. This time we will run, side by side, or until she decides to kicks my butt and run ahead. When she runs ahead I know she will be cheering me through the finish. (or vise-versa). If we cross that finish line separate or together, it will be 100% AWESOME!!!

I am 100% sure I won't be the fastest runner there. But this is about beating me, not the best runners in the world. I want to take an hour off my time from Knoxville. I know it is a huge goal but a girl can dream, pursue and run her heart out. You never know......the woman that won New York was 37, there is hope for me yet.

I may not have the best athletic coaches surrounding me during training but I am 100% supported. I have an amazing husband, who is willing to sacrifice his time and money to support my dreams. He will tolerate my diet, my aches, my excitement and my disappointments. And everyday, He will remind me of my dream. I have daughters that look up to me and cheer me on and remind me I need to run. I do this as much for them, I want them to be not only dreamers but pursuers of their passions. I have friends who will push and love in just the right doses. With my family/friends, their encouragement, this is 100% possible.

Above all else, I have 100% strength. Not because of my physical health but because when I can no longer push and I can no longer move, my God will be pick me up in my weakness, dust me off and be glorified.

I am 100% confident that I have no idea what the next 8 months of training will be like, what my life will bring me, what the weather will be like. I am 100% ready.

Real

Reality is about the best way I can describe this book. And how all of us that proclaim to be Christians need to be real with our testimonies.

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller is book number two for 2010. This book came highly recommended by many and has been sitting on my shelf for over a year after finding it at our local used book store.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I will tell you that it was an enjoyable read. It was neither Christian self-help or the story of a person picking themselves up from the depths of a miserable life. It was just his story and how his spiritual journey. I have to say that I enjoyed his writing style. It was simple and real and I could feel the emotional connection to each of the short stories he told. I like to feel something when I read, I want to love and hate right along with the storyteller and this book gave me that opportunity.

So, I would recommend it. Christian or not, it is a real story of how someone comes to believe in the things that they do based on people and the experiences that they share.

a pit, a lion and a snowy day

So I have official finished one book in 2010. In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson.

I loved it. The entire book. If you ever struggle with fear of failure, fear of looking foolish, fear you are doing the right or wrong thing or fear you will make a bad decision you should read this book.

I was challenged to face my fears and realize how truly irrational they can be. I saw that fear, failure and the butterflies come to anyone attempting to chase their dreams. It really is time to stop waiting for those things to be gone and to chase in-spite of them.

to infinity and beyond

well, we sent 2009 out with a bang. Grandma Joanne spent the last three weeks of the year with us and we included a sprint of DisneyWorld, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and SeaWorld in Orlando as part of her trip.

Here we are no worse for the wear and thankful for all of the blessings that came into our lives in 2009.

Now, time for new ideas, change, goals and challenges. We are ready!!

I have made a few "resolutions" and look forward to sharing them with you.

First: I want to read 75 books. I am planning on sharing each one with you. Some will be new, some will be books I have already read, some will be fiction and some will be classics that all of us should take time to read. I love diving in and devouring the written word. I rarely keep track of what I have read so I thought this would be a fun way to see where this takes me. On of the books I am really hoping to finish is the One Year Bible. I have started it every year for about 7 years and never make it past March.

Second: Ted and I will be doing our first Daniel Fast. We are excited to see where this spiritual journey takes our marriage, our family and of coarse our relationships with God. I am hoping that we both make a little time to share with you the experience.

Third: Chicago!! oh yes, I am beginning to train for my second Marathon. Chicago, October 10th.

Fourth: I am so excited to see where we go from here. Ultimately, my goal for each year is to see change in our lives. I want each of us to grow and be different. I want to see what 365 days of life experience brings us to.

So, here we go.......to infinity, aka the adventure of 201o.

Day 10

We are 10 days into our 40 days of water. So far I have come through some pretty obnoxious caffeine withdrawals....but it is worth it. I have approximated our beverage spending and we saved about $35.00 last week. No coffee, no fast food sodas, no sweet tea while running errands. And yes, not even a glass of wine on our night out.

Many people have asked us why we are doing this. Part of me wants to know that I can give up anything I set my mind to giving up....I don't know why I need to know that, I just do. Maybe it has to do with quiting smoking and starting running. Maybe it is the challenge in my life lately to live a life above and beyond and truly represent the God I say I serve. Really, it is us doing our little part to make someone elses life a little better. Isn't that what we are all called to do?

Visualization

The Wii trainer got on my nerves today. I am a bit grumpy. I didn't eat good yesterday and slept even worse. Ted is in Detroit. You think I would learn to take advantage of the empty bed, but it just isn't the same when he isn't there.

I managed to put in 1 1/2hrs on the Wii. I did some step, some boxing and hula. I did the balance games and all the yoga and strength. I didn't beat any of my top scores. Yikes. Just one of those days. I did my best to keep moving through it though. Yeah ME!

I use the female trainer on my Wii. She keeps telling me to visualize the body I want. That made we wonder a bit more about my goals in all of this. I am not in need of being skinny. I want to be strong. I want to be athletic. I really want to be able to keep up with our girls when we hike the Grand Canyon next summer.

So, drum role please: this is my goal. The picture of the body I want. Don't worry, I understand that she is 5" taller then me and is a paid athlete and works out 6 hours a day. I would be happy to get close, even if in my own mind, to this body. Thanks Misty May-Trenor for my picture of inspiration today.

Expectation

This week we began with a few new steps towards a pretty lofty goal. Ted and I are hoping to run a marathon in March. Now, I realize that March seems very far away. But, it really isn't. Before you know it we will be lining up with a few hundred people to run a race one step at a time.

I hope you don't mind I will be keeping track of our progress on our blog. We are pretty active people but not in great shape. Admittedly we are not getting any younger. We both are overweight and don't currently run. Well, unless we are chasing down Ellie or Madi for some reason.

Luckily we found a nice training program that starts with walking. Taking our lofty goal into bite size pieces. The hardest part is to remember not to get ahead of ourselves. I am so excited that I want to push myself beyond its limits already. One day at a time, I tell myself. I need to honor my body. Not only knowing what I am capable of but understanding that it has limitations that I need to work through. I rested today like the schedule said and feel good. Ready for another good workout tomorrow. So far, no injuries to report. Hopefully we can keep it that way.

So, one day at a time. Our goal: to make it to the starting line.