13.1 Accomplished.

A week ago I accomplished my goal. Completing a 1/2 marathon. It's finished. But honestly, this is just the beginning. It was so much fun, I'm hooked and after my knee recovers a bit, I'm going to begin training for my next one. I learned so much from this process.

1. If you say you'll do something, don't give up. Just restart and keep going.
2. Running is 1/3 physical and 2/3 mental.
3. It's possible. With God ALL things are possible.
4. Prayer matters. Prayers work.
5. I can run for 13.1 miles without stopping.

My two favorite t-shirt slogans I saw at the Girlfriends Half
1. (the one I was wearing) Start Strong, Finish Stronger
2. (the one the lady in front of me was wearing) Courage to Start, Faith to Finish

Before the race in downtown Vancouver, WA.  Great window sign.

Ok, maybe a little nervous/excited/anxious to get going...

With my buddy Abbie. She made me a necklace that I wore during the race that said:
He energizes the tired and gives fresh strength to the weak.

Starting off with 3199 other women! Working my way through the walkers.

Mile 13. Finishing the .1 with the best smile I could muster.

Focus...what? What focus?

Multiple occasions have come and gone when I should have been blogging lately. Processing through my thoughts through written words help me to clarify what I'm thinking and what I'm doing. Instead I've been spending a lot of my time in the last two months trying to stand facing one direction in the middle of a merry-go-round. If you've ever tried to do this you know it actually takes a lot of work to keep your balance while moving your feet just enough so that while the merry-go-round spins, you stay focused straight ahead. Unfortunately, while you're in the middle of the wheel, exerting all your energy to stay upright, you miss the 360 degree view. You also tend to avoid motion sickness, but that's another story and where my analogy breaks down.

Today I sat down in my pew and began scribbling down the list of questions I was asked and the interactions I was involved in during the 35 minutes of "community time" between services. Here's a glimpse of my life between being a guest presenter in the high school Sunday school class and settling into my pew for worship. In no particular order.

• Asked to take a picture of the kids playing outside on the church lawn in the fallen leaves.
• Told that 2/3's of the cotton balls from the resource room are now used up.
• Checked on the Ladies Tea sales upstairs in the church library and downstairs in the social hall. Made sure we had a volunteer at both stations.
• Picked up attendance folders from 2 adult and 9 children's Sunday school classrooms. Put in church office.
• Spoke to a friend about the tears in her eyes.
• Was asked where my daughter Jolee was.
• Was "surprised" by my daughter Jolee and her friends. They had been hiding in the library.
• Sold a tea ticket to my mother, upstairs.
• Discussed with a PsyD. student about being a floater/volunteer in children's ministry. Sold her a tea ticket downstairs.
• Tried to sell another tea ticket to a woman I miss seeing regularly. Her family will be out of town next weekend to visit her husband's mother. Had a short conversation about the importance of spending time with family no matter the cost of time and travel.
• Tried to sell a tea ticket to a college student - a definite No Go.
• Tried to sell tea tickets to two soccer moms. They are busy next Saturday at 11am.
• Was asked if I was teaching Sunday school in the 3rd grade class next Sunday. Couldn't remember.
• Spoke to a family about the fact that three weeks ago they had told me to take them off the church/children's Sunday school roster. For the last two weeks they have been at our church. Found out they are going to make NFC their church home after all. Will happily be reinstating them to all my email groups this afternoon.
• Checked to make sure the nursery volunteers were in place. One was missing. Went outside and downstairs to find her. Found her. 
• Cleaned up Ladies Tea ticket supplies. Placed items in my office box.
• Checked in with a first time volunteer about Children's Care happening during 2nd service and what she could expect.

As usual I missed the welcome and announcements (so I have no idea if K-2 Fun Night got announced). But I was feeling pretty good about making my way in to the sanctuary during the "stand and greet" section of our meeting. I thought, "ahh, now maybe I can settle into worship." 

During the church service I always leave at offering to help Children's Care get settled in. Today took a bit longer since we had a new volunteer and I needed to create "name tags" out of masking tape for the kids. Heading back into the sanctuary I saw a mom and her baby hanging out in the church library. I stopped to check in...who can resist a baby!

I made it back in to service and was enjoying the message when I was tapped on the shoulder and asked to come quickly. A child was bleeding profusely due to an injury caused by a coat hook. I got the little boy cleaned up and bandaged. As I was getting ready to return to service another child needed help. Potty time. Since our new volunteer wasn't quite sure of the protocol for bathroom procedures, I stayed and modeled what to do. Back in my pew I heard the last two minutes of the sermon and enjoyed the closing songs. 

The quick pic I snapped with my iPhone between services.

Church is just a wacky time for me. And honestly this post is NOT a complaint. My Sunday morning was filled with what I love...being a part of community. Certainly I do miss getting to be fully present in worship. But for now I will embrace where God has me. In the middle of the merry-go-round. Working hard to keep my balance and my eyes focused on Him. 

Fall Beginnings

What a week. My oldest started high school, my youngest began her last year of elementary school. My role as pastor of women's ministries debuted with the beginning of Women's Bible Fellowship. And then today marked the first day of Sunday school. This week also held a lot more stuff than I'm willing to share here. But in all of it - the good, the bad, and the just plain sad - I sensed Christ at work. This is nothing profound or earth-shattering. To many of you, God's presence is a normal everyday thing. You can see, hear, and almost smell the aroma of the Spirit. This sounds very fluffy and pretty. But it's not. At least not this week.

This week it was tired, sweaty, stinky stuff. God didn't anoint me with some rich perfume, he didn't pour my cup to overflowing. Most of the time I felt like I was scratching and crawling my way through. A few moments here and there I caught my breath, looked up and saw beauty. But more often I saw brokenness, a clock ticking way too fast, and a pace that felt more frantic than faithful. Many times I asked God this week, "is there another way? What do you want me to do (aka: how can I get out of this)?" And the answer seemed to be, "I want you right here. To prove it, I'll add a little more. There you go. Feel that? That's where I'm God and you're not."

I know we don't always have to be at the end of ourselves to witness God. I'm grateful that He doesn't make this a requirement. But I do believe we experience God most fully when we lay down our priorities and pick up His. I am better able to notice the Holy Spirit working through me when just at the moment I would say I've got "nothin' left," I'm handed more.  I know Jesus as friend when He clears the room and makes space for me to whine, pout, and even cry....and He doesn't say, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."

Sometimes following God means walking in abundance, drawing from a deep well, feeling the richness, and bursting with life. These are days you want to write a song about. Days where you observe God at work and you want to shout from the rooftops, "Hey, Y'all should be a Christian. This Jesus thing is amazing! I've never felt more energetic, more wholly alive." Oh, those are good days. Days of feeling doubly blessed. (My Honduras friends know what I mean.)

Other days you just hope to get through. "Come on God, just help me make it till bedtime. 8pm is late enough, right?" Days where you just hope for hope. Whether or not this week leaves me feeling exhausted or elated, I know God will be there. He always is.