What AM I doing?

Because you are chomping at the bit to hear what's up here, I'll tell you. I'm staying healthy. I'm not running, but my daughter and I are talking/deciding this weekend whether or not we are going to train to run a 5K together. I would love to have her as a running partner and it would be great for both of us. Having a goal in mind will also be good. I have another friend who has offered to 'train" us via facebook. God knows I'd need training. The best part is that the run is through Animal Kingdom so she and I would get to site-see as we go.

I have been eating well also. I've been planning my meals ahead of time which makes them delicious, homemade, and affordable . . . not to mention healthy! The crock pot is my new best friend. I "splurged" today by having Taco Bell for lunch, but won't make myself feel guilty about it. I'll just keep planning future meals so we can all be happy and healthy.

Also, beginning next week, I'll be checking in at the YMCA on Tuesdays and Thursdays to swim some laps at their new pool. The girls have 3 hours at the cheer gym during which I can work, make visits and/or swim laps. I hope to do some of all of that.

Well, I've gotta get going. The kids are at a swim party and I'm the driver du jour.
KT

Here I Go Again On My Own

I had the wonderful luxury of a running partner last week (thanks, Kipp) who, buff as he is, stuck with me as I moved slowly and even walked on the uphill climbs. Our walks ended Sunday when a week of late night activities (including karaoke and late nights with my clergy friends) left me choosing the pillow over a running mate. However, I did covenant with my covenant group to keep at this "taking care of myself" health routine throughout the year. So here I am, FINALLY home, and determined to care for my body. Snacks have been changed to bottles of water, and that's good because ultimately I just want to have something in my mouth. I'm not picky about what it is and I've noticed that unhealthy food and even drinks don't help me feel good. Food involves more veggies and I'll toss out the sugar (again). Christy is my official eating partner, even though she lives in Philadelphia. She'll be the one I answer to. Lisa is my running partner, even though she is in Maryland. I know that every morning she's up and jogging on the treadmill. So even if I go out on my own (my neighbor officially moved!) I'll know she's up and going to. So here I go again on my own . . . only it's not really alone. I just know it's one day at a time.

Running from God

It's Sunday so of course I have to bring God into the discussion. Actually, I don't really HAVE to, but sometimes it happens. Actually, it's not me who is running from God. I have a parishioner who called me after church and wanted to talk to me about something. Actually, this parishioner is one of my deacons and has been amazing with my old people -- visiting them and driving them wherever they need to go. It's been wonderful. Well, one of my other deacons GAVE his old car to a young man who has been attending our church with his father (long story, father adopted him around the age of 11 and he had been in foster care before that. The kid has also been in jail once for breaking into a store when he was drunk and this happened not too long ago. Anyway, he's a pretty good kid, just made some bad choices along the way. The kid needed some money to pay for tax, title, and insurance so church members have been letting him do some work for them. Cutting down a branch here -- $10. Helping someone with their garden -- $30. Etc.

So this kid may need a ride in the near future to go pick up his new car. I asked my deacon if he would make himself available to drive him. Today he called and said he wasn't comfortable with this kid. And he asked if that made him a bad deacond. I never answered his question directly. I wanted to yell out, "YES it does! This is your job -- young person or old person, felon or peaceloving, this is your job!" But I remembered that when I point fingers at him I'd also be pointing fingers back at myself. I'm perfectly comfortable with this kid (though I wouldn't go alone because of the whole 'Don't visit a male by yourself' thing which I tend to follow most of the time.) And I would gladly drive him to pick up his car. But what is it about teenagers and young adults that bug the older people? I titled my post "running from God" because I think that's exactly what we do when we ostracize anyone from our care. I've got church members who are difficult, but I don't feel right in running from them. I've got other church members who are young, some who aren't sure they believe, others who are crotchety, but I believe that they are all children of God. Maybe it comes down to understanding what each of our callings are. I LOVE working with children and youth. But my deacon prefers working with the elderly. I guess the body of Christ needs both the left and the right hands to accomplish its work. I'm not even going to say which hand I am.

Peace of Christ be with you.

The Mental Hurdles

I can feel my need to run, to exercise, to something! It's bottled up in here yet I go nowhere, shaking nothing. I don't run. I could easily blame the heat (and I do) because I know in a month the temperature should start to drop a couple of degrees. But that's not all it is. I took my kids to the neighbor's pool yesterday and even though they begged me to get in, I didn't. (Honestly, I had it in my mind that the pool would be too cold.) So I literally have to psych myself up to care for myself. It's unreal. Or maybe it's VERY real.

I'm excited about heading to Philadelphia on Wed. because I WILL have a running partner (or more than one) who will make me get out there and push my body. I'd like to get back into making this into a habit. So when I return I can get myself out there yet again. I also plan to sign up at the Y for their pool pass (we have a brand new pool at the Y with swimming lanes) so I can swim whenever my kids are at their cheer class. I want to take care of myself!

Everyone around me is on some diet or another. I refuse to go on a diet because I've heard that the ups and downs of dieting are bad on your body too. I'd rather learn to eat right, and honestly I know how to eat right I just get pulled into the glory of sugar and other such processed body killers. And I usually eat when I am down or stressed. I've gotta figure out how to get myself running for stress. See, it's like this circular argument of dealing with life.

Life is wonderful right now (as you can see in the last post) but still there is stress. Thanks for listening to my daily rant.

I Had A Dream

I had a dream about 2-3 weeks ago that has been staying with me. I won't bore you with the details but I haven't had a dream like this in ages -- you know, the ones where you are sure there is a message in there somewhere but you just can't for the life of you figure out what that message is?! So I contacted my old College Professor who did a lot of dream work and via e-mail we began to assess this dream. It appears that I am sure that things are changing in my life for the better and that the changes will be painless and a "welcome surprise." Why is my consciousness doing this to me?! So my dreamworker (for lack of a better name) is asking me to think about all of the possibilities in my life. I have a ton of them. I have ideas galore about what would be best for my family, me, our future, etc. But in the meantime I am swamped with debt -- mostly student debt but lots nonetheless. And I wonder how on earth I will ever get out from under there. In the back of my mind I hear this voice of God telling me that God's riches are enough, that I should not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough concern of its own. And so I've begun to rest in that and dream about the possibilities for this life of mine. As I imagine, I wonder if there is a way I can help fellow clergy get out of debt so that they can serve their churches without worrying about how they are going to feed their families. So I signed up to make some money on the side by selling a product I believe in, hoping that I'll be able to help others in the same boat. I felt good about that, and yet I still hear my longterm dreams which include offering spiritual direction at a retreat center of sorts, and hosting homeschool camps for kids a few times a year, where the kids can do a week's intensive of learning on one subject at a time. (I swear, as overwhelming as all of this seems to you, it's exhilerating to me!)

SO, I met with this guy this morning who basically owns my little subdivision. I've heard of him millions of times and finally got to meet him over coffee this morning. He asks what my vision for the church is and I tell him that it's been awfully difficult to envision what's next for the church because I didn't know where the community intended to go (it's been at a stand still for about 25 years). He begins to describe HIS vision and together we talk about the possibilities for the church within that vision. It was amazing! He was interested in one thing and I had the perfect contact for him that would not only help the church but also the community. I was interested in something else and he began to tell me the perfect opportunity that would not only help me realize my dream but would also provide a needed service to the community. Then, get this, he tells me (granted I've not shared my dream) that he has a friend has some land near me that he's wanting to GIVE to someone who would set up some sort of retreat center/spiritual learning place. I looked at him dumbfounded and told him my dream. He gave me this guy's phone number!

I think I'm going to keep dreaming to see what happens next!

No Running, No Excuses

I HAVE no excuse! Everyone is well again at my house! The girls are both home. It doesn't rain in the morning . . . always afternoon. Hurricanes are hitting a few states over from here. I am just not donning my running shoes! Next week I will fly into Philadelphia where I am sure I will run . . . a lot. I have running partners there who will make sure my body gets whipped (or is that whooped?) into shape. Hopefully I will take a day or two before then to prepare myself for said whoopin'

The Swamp Thing

This here frog greeted me when I came home from church today. He is sitting on my windowsill, right next to the front door, looking at me as if to say, "Don't worry, I won't jump, I'm too big and too old to jump." But do I listen to him? No way! This sucker's huge! I guess I shouldn't be too surprised to see swamp things since I live in the swamp. Not to mention right now it's VERY wet in our area -- standing water everywhere and the outdoors smell like a pig sty with very wet mud everywhere. This guy is no ordinary tree frog. He's big enough to be Tree Frog swallowed Frankenstein's growth serum. I half expect to hear the bionic woman music in the background as I watch him grow to an unnatural size. I swear it's Kermit's offspring because he's just SO
big! Well, enjoy the pictures and be thankful you're not here to see him live. I'm just thankful
he is eating all of the mosquitoes that have been swarming my front door.

Frogs, Frogs, Frogs! Thank you God for Frogs!