Thankful

This weekend I am reminding myself to be thankful.  I need to remember how blessed I truly am.  Sometimes I just need to be reminded over and over and over.  Mainly this weekend I am reminded by the thought of my brother.  A year ago on March 11th I spent a whole day not knowing if my brother, lovingly referred to by me and my kiddos as Zacky Poo, was alive. 

See a year ago my brother lived in Japan.  A year ago there was a 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan, the largest to ever strike Japan.  A year ago a a tsunami was triggered that reached heights estimated to be near 133ft high in one prefecture.  A year ago my phone rang maybe 20 minutes before my alarm was set to go off telling me to get up and pray.  A year ago I stared at an email my brother wrote me just minutes before the earthquake and wondered if it would be the last and felt good that he had been laughing minutes before.

That day was awful.  Not just for me, but for so many people.  I still find myself with a sense of anxiety when I think back to that day.  My family was one of the lucky and blessed families that heard from our loved one. We first heard tale from other survivors that Zack was ok, but in a situation like that you want to hear from your family member  yourself.  The next morning we finally received emails from him directly saying he and his then girlfriend were safe.  You can read the whole story here and here.

Anyways, I am just really reminded of the grief we were spared a year ago and reminded of what this weekend a year later could have been about.  My heart is sad for those who weren't like us.  The families who never heard from their loved one and never will again.  I pray today that God will comfort them and give them peace.  I can't pretend to know why things like this happen.  All I know is that we live in a fallen world where there is pain and suffering and heartache.  And I know God sees a picture that I do not see and never will.  I know that Revelation 21:4 says "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."  I pray that as a somber anniversary happens in Japan and throughout the world that God will wipe away those tears and that God will give them praise instead of weakness and joy instead of sorrow.  That lives would be celebrated and spirits would be lifted up.

Be thankful today and ever day bloggies, because you never know what could happen at any minute.

KONY 2012

I have for years had an overwhelming heart for Africa and the battles there.  I am not sure why or what to do about it, but I believe God has placed it there.  I pray for the people there and have such a heavy heart over the incredible atrocities that take place in so many of the countries there.  The events and actions so many people there have to go through or have had to go through is beyond my belief.  I wanted to share this video that I saw a couple people share on Facebook today.  The goal of this video KONY 2012 is to make Joseph Kony known.  To make his crimes known.  Joseph Kony is the leader of a group known as the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army).  They abduct young boys and force them to fight and kill and maim.  They abduct young girls and force them into a sexual slavery.  The goal is to bring him to justice and to save this army of invisible children.  The video is about 30 minutes long.  I know it's kind of long, but how long did you scroll through Facebook today?  How much time did you waste watching some crazy reality show that you had never seen before, but got sucked in to?  Please take the time to watch and to learn and to hopefully be moved to action. These are rights we should fight for.  We may live in different continents and countries.  We may have different governments or beliefs or ways of life.  We are all humans.  We all deserve to have the ability to receive an education.  We deserve to feel like we can keep our children save.  Our children should be able to be children.  We should stand up for those who can not stand up for themselves.  The narrator and producer of the film said at one point in reference to atrocities in the past, "We cared but didn't know what to do - too often we did nothing."  We can't afford to do nothing.  There has to be something. 

Check out KONY 2012 to sign a pledge and receive other information.  Be informed about what is happening in our world.  Because it is our world.  We are all creatures of God and we need to show the love and compassion that God has shown us to others.  We need to stand united and make a difference.  It is possible.  We can't know and do nothing.  What happens if one day that same war is at our doorstep? Who will fight for us?  We will want our prayers and our cries to God answered.  We need to be that answer now for those who need us. Pray for these people.  Pray for change.

It Ain't Nothing But A Mental Thang Baby...

Please pardon my poor reference to early '90's rap or Dr. Dre to be more specific.  I have been in some weird mental time warp with music.  Walking around with early '90's songs in my head....TLC, Salt-N- Pepa, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg...you know.  So it just seemed fitting to work it into my post tonight.

As I get back into running, like legitimately running, I am finding more and more that so much of it is this mental game I play with myself.  Like playing weird games about if I put my shoes on by this time I will run, if I run one mile I can reevaluate my original goal...you know things like that.  I pinned this picture on Pinterest that said the hardest step for a runner is the first one out of the front door. Now, I am not going to assume that this rings true for anyone else other than myself.   You may decide to run or exercise and feel totally jazzed and pumped and are running towards your door with wild abandon because of your overwhelming excitement.  However, I find myself having to really give myself a good pep talk.  And if I am being honest with you, this pep talk continues well into my run.  I think I may even make a big poster to hang in front of my treadmill that says you can do it or something cheesy like that.  Whatever works right?

I guess this is all to say that last night I ran five miles straight.  No walking and no stopping just straight running the whole time.  It took me 52 minutes and 39 seconds.  It was about a 10.5 minute mile pace.  So I am not setting any records, but I totally did it.  The thing is I knew I needed to do it and I had been stressing for a couple days about it.  Thinking how I wasn't sure I could and how I would probably just stop around three miles.  Even in the run I thought if I got to three I would be happy.  Even though that's what I have been doing and I clearly need to progress if I am to ever actually run this mini marathon I signed up for.  Because if I am not mistaken that will require me to run 13.1 miles. 

I pinned this and the link did not take it back to the original...I have no idea where it came from

I really believe that we so often get in the way of ourselves.  We constantly get in the way of our own abilities and dreams and talents.  We doubt what we can do, we doubt what we can't do and in the end we doubt what God created us to do and who God created us to be.  When it comes to exercise and being healthy, God gave us a certain responsibility to keep ourselves healthy.  This requires doing the tough stuff and getting past those mental road blocks.  We only have one earthly body and we only have a certain amount of time to care for it.  Someone told me they once saw a sign during a race that said "the day will come with my body won't let me do this anymore, today is not that day" or it was something along that lines.  I try to remind myself of this.  I try to remember that even though my body may not feel as young as it once did and it may not bounce back quite like it did when I was sixteen, I am still more than capable of exercising until it hurts.  I am more than able get in the best shape of my life at 28.  (Not that this is my goal)  I am able and it is my responsibility to show my kids that their health is important and that this is how it happens.  Not just a diet or a fad or some miracle drug that helps you shed the pounds, but straight up exercise.  No matter how many pep talks that requires or how long those talks have to be, I will do this.  Because while coming back from being out of shape can hurt, there is a whole lot of negative mental "thangs" going on to stop us from being who and what we were meant to be. 

So go get it bloggies.  Get out there and do what you have been talking yourself out of.