Month: December 2006

Dreams of Running

Allow me to give you a backstory to what you’re about to read. 

During the summer of 2000, I had a conversation with a good friend of mine one evening.  It was a Wednesday night and we had just left our regular Praise Gathering-completely inspired by God’s presence.  It was a beautiful night and we begain talking, on the corner, about some dreams.  Out of nowhere it came out that I had a dream to run.  I spoke so passionately about my desire to run that there were actually tears in my eyes (I had no idea that I cared so much about that!)  Jessica-my friend-was moved.  I told her that I wanted to run a 5K and maybe even a marathon someday.  I tried to do something about that desire, by jogging a few times a week.  That fall, my RD-Sharon, an avid runner-tried to help me, but I lacked motivation once the cold hit…in Minneapolis.  By November I think I was completely unmovitated. 

Since that time I’ve gone through so many spurts of loving to jog (I definitely jog-not run).  Every time I’ve gone through those spurts I’ve felt awesome but then something happens.  What I think I’ve realized is how closely it correlates to how much Satan loves to discourage me, and how much I’ve let him do it.  For years I’ve felt a desire, a passion, to run (jog:).  Something like that, in me, was divinely placed there. Inside me there is an innate desire to be healthy and fit, and to run!  It’s been there for a long time and I keep coming back to it. 

RunningLast July (2 July’s ago) I did a 5K with my friend, Anne Marie.  She posted on her blog that I ran a 5K with her, but what really happened was-she ran a 5K and I jogged half a 5K and walked half a 5K.  It’s okay, I wasn’t as much a runner as I wanted to be.  In her recent post she stated that she wanted to run a 10K in the spring.  I thought, "Go right ahead, Anne," not really considering this again.  But something has sparked in me through some conversations with Christy, Emily and Anne Marie.  I’m kind of inspired to go at it again!  (except this time I’m not gonna let a little girl pass me;) 

I just finished a conversation, during which I committed to running a 5k again!…and maybe even a 10K!  A 10K seems a bit far-fetched for me right now, but I think there may be hope.  I don’t hope there’s hope, with Jesus there is hope…period.  Back to the whole "Satan loves to discourage me" thing, I am here to expose the lie that I cannot run a 10K.

With all the ways that God has been changing me this year, it’s no surprise that I can actually see myself doing it!  He has challenged me to obey him with my body in a deeper way than I had ever allowed Him to!  It’s been fabulous.  I’m amazed at the way that He’s changed my life, and it’s been quite a journey!  And it’s been an "inside-out" experience-literally! 

What on earth is He gonna do next in me?  Perhaps I will run that marathon that I’ve wanted to run for several years!

En Espanol

One last post for the day:)  I guess I’m trying to make up for the last week.

On Saturday Jen and I went to our friend-Pastor Juan Garcia’s– ordination.  He is our friends’ dad and he pastors a Spanish-speaking church in the Dearborn area, called Oasis de Benedicion.  It was an awesome time:

1.  We got to sit in a Spanish-speaking service for 3 hours.  That’s a long time for someone to hear very words in her own native language.  I know several words in Spanish and it helped me to understand a number of things said throughout the service, but most of the time I had very little ideas of what they were talking about.  Everyone should do that every now and then.  I think it would help people to be more sensitive to people that are in this country and who have had a hard time learning to speak English.  I think that to live in any country a person needs to learn as much of the language as possible to survive and to thrive.  But I have to admit that I get sick and tired of high and mighty Americans whose pride in their English language causes them to become angry at immigrants (legal or not) that don’t know our language too well.  Working in Hamtramck has heightened my awareness in this area, and it was great, experiencing what I did on Saturady.

2.  In the midst of not knowing what was going on half the time, I found it incredible that I still sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit moving and working.  (imagine that!)  My spiritual senses were heightened, as words didn’t mean as much in those moments, as my heart-and the hearts of those around me.  God showed up and…no one around me was speaking English!  🙂  I think sometimes people forget that God speaks every language.  He understands every language.  I don’t forget that, really, but it was certainly on my mind that day.

3.  In talking with Jen on the way home, I said that it probably meant a lot to Pastor Juan that we came to his ordination.  He’s a very humble man to begin with, and he loves people.  He loves talking ministry with me, and I with him.  As a man who was called into the ministry later on in life, he knows that there’s still so much to learn, and he depends on God everyday.  But for two white girls, who know very little Spanish, to spend three hours listening to a language that they didn’t know, all to honor him at his ordination, that probably meant a lot to him.  He’s worth it.  I know that he invests into our lives with prayer when he thinks of us.  He’s encouraging and well, Juan is just awesome!

Christmas Ornaments

Remember the Christmas tree that we didn’t take down until February last year?  Well, it’s up again!

Last year my roommate, Jen, and I decided that for Christmas we would get each other ornaments for our tree.  I couldn’t resist thinking of Jen when I saw this Starbucks ornament last yearImg_5223:

Img_5221

So Jen got me this one…it’s okay…you can laugh:) 

This year I was ecstatic to present the ornament I had picked out…she showed it to me a couple of weeks ago, but I made the final decision on it…

Img_5219 …are you shocked and surprised???   It’s a shoe tree!  My roommate has a shoe collection that would put Barbie to shame.

And here she is, happily putting it on the tree.Img_5218

O Holy Night

The other night was Church of the King’s Annual Ladies Tea.  It was such a precious night for many ladies to get together to celebrate friendship, good food and the presence of God. 

Raina Swaggerty spoke on God’s presence, and she did an awesome job.Raina

I sat at a table with a group of new friends-3 of which are from South Africa.Carolines_table_edited1

I got a chance to catch up with some friends that I don’t normally get to talk with.  And I got a chance to wear my red, glittery top that only comes out once a year….maybe if I get a date for Valentine’s Day it’ll come out twice next year! 😉

Ladies_tea011

As Jamie lead us in Christmas worship songs, I wanted to dig deeper into my heart and "get" what I was singing about.  Christmas songs are so familiar.  They’re some of the main songs that I’ve sung my whole life.  I tend to lose the "wonder" aspect of what I’m really singing about when I echo these songs with other people.  Pastor Brad talked about wonder on Sunday morning.  I pray that I will always be filled with wonder about my Savior.

We sang O Come All Ye Faithful…O Holy Night…the usuals.  A line in O Holy Night struck me as I read the words on the screen.

"…til He appeared and our souls felt its worth…"

To me it’s like this.  My soul knew that it wasn’t worth much, due to the sin I’ve committed, but my soul really felt its worth when Perfection appeared.  "He appeared and [my soul finally realized how imperfect it was]"  His holiness put me to shame…ironically enough, in His holiness, He took my shame.

O Holy Night, indeed.

***On a slightly lighter note, click on the link below to hear beautiful version of this song.  Turn up the sound.  It’s great.

Download OHolyNight.mp3