A Hidden Gem

I was driving to work this morning listening to a cd of mostly praise and worship songs that Andie had given me a few years back.. when out of no where comes this gem. It has made the rest of my day. And for good reason. I don't know what I love more.. the song, the hair, or the coral jogging suit!

So much thanks to the MFBFF... and happy listening and happy Friday to all of the rest of ya.

Also... despite the hidden goodness of this cd.. if any of you would like to send me new music it would be so, so, so much appreciated. I have 13 miles Sunday and I NEED NEW MUSIC!

Absolute Goodness

I've been re-visiting Mere Christianity and I am again challenged.

"If the universe is not governed by an absolute goodness, then all our efforts are in the long run hopeless. But if it is, then we are making ourselves enemies to that goodness every day, and are not in the least likely to do any better tomorrow, and so our case is hopeless again. We cannot do without it, and we cannot do with it. God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror; the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. They are still only playing with religion. Goodness is either the great safety or the great danger-- according to the way you react to it. And we have reacted the wrong way."

The Good Life

This has been a long week. Sales did not come easy. Sleep did not visit often. The house was not cleaned. The laundry was washed, but not folded. The runs were painful. (Ha, that's a funny sentence!) And it feels as if Jason and I only met in passing. It was one of those weeks that found us in bed at 9 with Peyton and Jason snoring, and me wishing I could go to sleep before mamaw would go to bed. Life came at us this week hard and fast. We tried to slow its pace, but it was out of our control.

Last night we caught our breath a bit, our friend Sam cooked us dinner and had us over to her place. It was the 1st time someone else has cooked for us since we moved here. After dinner we sat and talked for two and a half hours. It was a simple night, and it was just what we needed.

God put us here. For a purpose bigger than us. He blessed us with jobs and a house and a dog. And last night I realized he had blessed us with a friend. A true and true, be open and honest, share life with - friend.

I am 24 years old. I am married to my best friend. I serve a God who I am unworthy to worship and He is teaching and molding my heart everyday.

Today its 78. I get off work at 2. I'm going to go home, get my freaking awesome dog, and run. And when my husband gets home and hugs me and the weekend starts, the world is on pause and we're going to revel in the life that God is blessing us with.

....Hopelessly, I am taking a mental picture of you now, cause hopelessly the hope is we have so much to feel good about. This has gotta be the good life, this could really be the good life, good, good life....

It's the FREAKING 15th!

Ok Cynics, yesterday's post was not for you. Today's is.

Today is not my favorite day.

Customers would like to be grumpy and yell for no apparent reason. Some woman decided to argue with me about today's date (which shouldn't be hard because it's the day after vday), and proceed to tell me that I was an idiot who should not be allowed to work if I was incapable of reading a calender. To which I had to reply: I apologize that we are unable to see eye to eye on this issue mam..but wanted to reply with: well gosh I know there's a time difference, but I didn't realize ya'll were a whole day off... or I can't read a calender, I'm blind and I bet you're fat. ..but, alas Miss February realized her error to which I silently celebrated.

I bet she felt like a big stinkin idiot.

In other news....

I have 4 miles tonight. My favorite distance.

Peyton and I are going to enjoy our new trail and forget that I wasted 4 minutes of my life arguing with a woman about the date.

Then go home, eat leftover vday dinner (which was A-MAZING!), do some yoga, read, and wait for Mr Vance to come home.

If you're having a grumpy day.. or a good day.. you should totally blast my current obsession:

VDAY

Ok cynical readers.. you know who you are... today's post is not your day. Feel free to join us again in a few days....

I am a newlywed. So I am allowed to feel gushy at any given moment. If I so choose I am allowed to just go on and on and on about how freaking amazing my husband is. About how good he smells and how great he kisses and how sexy I think his super long torso is..... or about how he has the best heart of anyone I know, how he loves me completely and everyday he teaches me more about God's perfect love because of his earthly love for me.

I am normally on the band wagon that Vday is a commercialized holiday created by consumerist America to promote the spending of more money on gifts that will quickly perish.. HOWEVER as previously stated.. I am a newly wed. I got Tulips.. and a Teddy Bear.. and Chocolate. We have reservations at Savannah's nicest restaurant... and I have a new dress.. and he has new suspenders (for that sexy super long torso) and I love today, and Jason Vance, and being his wife.

Today is a happy Monday.

And in case any of you cynics did stick around... here's a joke from Lloyd Christmas to ease your pain: I said, Do you love me?" And she said, "No, but that's a really nice ski mask!"

...train yourself to be Godly - 1 Timothy 4:7

This is really not a new post, so much as a continuation of the last post. I just couldn't figure out how to seamlessly merge my two thought processes.

In the past my spiritual life and my running life mirrored one another. I would anxiously lace up and hit the road. High ambitions in mind. Somewhere around mile 3 I would remember that running isn't easy. And I'd quit the run. I might do a similar run a few days later, but I never built on my runs. I considered myself a runner, but I didn't eat, drink, train, in essence run, like a runner.

My spiritual life was a weak replica of my running. I ambitiously set off at a sprint. Then when it came time for discipline.. I quit because no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful (Hebrews 12:11). As a result of this quitting I constantly doubted my spiritual life. It is a disgusting and disheartening feeling. I wanted to run the race, but I refused to endure the discipline that produces the harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (the rest of Hebrews 12:11).

I still have a fairly repulsing reaction to discipline, but I am learning to bear it, and in bearing it I am learning that His yoke truly is good and the burden is light (Matthew 11:30). And it is a yoke, after all, that I truly am not worthy to bear.

I am training for a marathon, but in the midst of this training there is a far greater battle going on. I am training my mind and my heart. I am not of this world. I am not my own. I was bought at a great price.

Pray for my training. I am praying for yours.

Daring Doubt.

Its cold. My bed is warm.

Its 6am. My running partner is snoring.

Its February. No one in their right mind is outside.

Much less outside.. RUNNING.

My body has started to fatigue and my stomach is rejecting anything unhealthy.

Seriously, its like the more I run the more my stomach hates my eating habits.

I am 24 and I have running related heartburn.

Worse than the heartburn is the doubt.

Increasing with each foot pound on concrete.

A year ago I would have welcomed the presence of doubt.

Welcomed it, and joined it on the sideline. Not anymore.

The doubt can join my run if it so chooses.

But I don't think doubt has the character or tenacity to finish.

I think that somewhere along the road the pain

in my legs, lungs, and heart is going to force the doubt out.

One step, one breath, one mile at a time.

Doubt has no place here.

Not on my road.

Not in my race.

"All your life you are told the things that you cannot do. All your ilfe they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough, they'll say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. They will tell you no. And YOU WILL TELL THEM YES."

Birds love Bears

I think every woman should be lucky enough to marry a man who:

Hates to leave you in bed every morning.
Has long arms that wrap you up when you're tired.
Has long legs that wrap you up when you're wrestling.
Hates chocolate, but collects them from his pillow on business trips, and then leaves them on your pillow when he gets home.
Carries you to bed when your stomach hurts.
On that note.. carries you to bed when your stomach doesn't hurt ;)
Dances in the kitchen.
Laughs at your clumsiness.
Tells you when you're wrong.
Praises you when you do well.
Believes in you when you don't.
Thinks your beautiful when you know you're not.....

My love is patient, and he is kind, he is not self seeking, he keeps no record of wrongs, and he is not easily angered.

God has blessed me. Abundantly.

Like A Wavin' Flag

It's February 2nd. It's 74. I can smell the ocean. And the sky is blue... like the walls of my cubicle.

I am feeling more than a little anxious. In college on a day like today I would have walked to class with good intentions and quickly found myself barefoot in the ampitheater with a book that was in no way related to my class.

My feet, currently in Jason's socks... because Peyton has eaten the few pair of dress socks I own, are itching to get out of these cowboy boots and run as fast as they can from this cubicle.

In exactly one hour I am going to escape, take off these shoes and socks, roll down the windows and drive straight home. Change into my holey jeans, and favorite old mission playground tshirt, let Peyton out, and head barefoot to the backyard to work on my current frame, oh and of course chuck some wood ;) to the tune of Mr. Marley and K'naan. Cause it's just one of those days, and I've earned it.