Don't Run Alone

I've started running the last few years. Actually, I run for about 6 months and then take the next 6 months off. It isn't intentional. Running is just hard and as spring turns into summer it gets so hot that I lose my motivation for it. Then we get into fall and winter. Why start again if it is just going to get to cold too venture outside?

This year has been different. In June I joined a women's running group and this kept me motivated. To add to that, I decided to sign up for a half marathon -- 13.1 miles. I played with the idea in the winter and spring -- rationalizing that it would give me something to seriously train for.

I'm posting today at the Internet Cafe. Click here to continue reading.

When We Want To Be Like Them

Growing up, our street looped in a half mile block. In the summer, we played with the other kids on our street. But once school started, there was a clear division between the Catholics and the Protestants. Ninety percent of the neighborhood went to Catholic school. The rest attended public school.

I wished I could go with the bigger crowd of kids. There was an allure to the huge groups of kids walking together in their matching uniforms, a cohesive group that the rest of us could never quite pull off. I wanted to be like them.

I'm posting today at the Internet Cafe. Click here to continue reading!

I Need a GPS Every Day

On July 4th, I ran my community's 5 mile Park to Park race. I am not particularly fast and though I wasn't at the end, I found myself in a no man's land between those so much faster than I was and those slower. I had never run this race and I got a bit disoriented at the end. I looped around up a hill instead of going straight and ended up running an extra third of a mile.

My immediate reaction was, "I give up!" It took me a few moments to regroup and head to the finish line. Though frustrated that I had missed the route and that it meant my time would be slower, not finishing would be worse.

I'm posting at the Internet Cafe today. Click here to continue reading!

Missing Pieces

Earlier this summer, I came across a deal for a wooden Adirondack chair. It needed to be treated and put together, but I thought I could manage that, even though I am not particularly handy. I spent a Saturday morning staining and on Sunday I began the assembly process. The one glitch was the missing piece in the back of the chair.

I'm posting today over at the Internet Cafe. Click here to keep reading!

Satisfied

I like my air conditioner in the summer and my heavy down comforter in the winter. I like my clothes clean, a shower every morning, and knowing that if I'm hungry there is always food available. I like to be comfortable. I like to be satisfied.
But lately I've been thinking that there is a danger to being comfortable: to being too satisfied. That sense of comfort, that sense of satisfaction whispers to us to be content--that this is all there is.

I'm posting over at the Internet Cafe today. Click here to continue reading.  

Living Out the Lottery

Though it has been numerous years, I confess, once or twice I've given in to playing the lottery. Typically, it is when it reaches some astronomical number and every one at work chips into buy a few tickets. While I know it is essentially throwing that money away, it is tempting to think of what I might do with that money -- both the good and some of the luxuries I might enjoy.

But, I know I really would be a fool if I bought a ticket and then started living like I had the money in hand already.




I'm posting today at the Internet Cafe. Click here to continue reading.

Never Said Goodbye

Loose ends drive me bonkers. Anyone at work can tell you, I'm constantly running around tying up the loose ends. If my loose ends are securely anchored, I'll worry about yours. But the loose ends I can least tolerate are the relational ones. If I don't get relational closure, I obsess. Being a pessimist, my issue is always what it is about me that made you leave.

I am posting today at the Internet Cafe. Click here to finish reading.   

Bravery and Bridges

Have you ever said, "I could never do _______?" Maybe it is speak in front of a large crowd. Maybe it is run a mile, let alone a marathon. Maybe it is write a book or learn to dance.

Or have you ever looked at someone else's circumstances with cancer or a drug addicted child or a marital affair and said, "I could never handle that."

With either scenario, we look at the impossibilities. We see all the reasons why we could never pack up and do missions work in Africa. We see reasons why we could never handle a special needs child.We are (at least I am) plagued by impossibility.

I'm posting over at the Internet Cafe today. To continue reading, click here.

Finding My Awe

I have lost my awe. I have lost the moments that take my breath away when the only true response is an "Oh!"

It would be easy to pass that off with the fact that I don't live somewhere that routinely takes my breath away. I am in a town with street lights. The snow is gray with accumulated dirt. I see the stars only through roof tops. There are no mountains or ocean beaches in the heart of Illinois.

But it seems like there should be something that takes my breath away.

Maybe there is.

A year or so ago, I started knitting again.

I'm posting over at the Internet Cafe today. To finish reading click here:

With Bells On

A while back I invested in some trinkets. One is gold and silver. The other is black and white. They have dangles and make faint jingling sounds. The best part about them is that they are lovingly inscribed -- name and phone number.

However, my cats are less than thrilled with said trinkets -- especially since they went around their necks. Yes, I've had my cats for a while but they've never worn collars. My rationale has been that they are indoor cats so they really didn't need them. Still, there was that one time Mali darted out on the deck.

I'm posting at the Internet Cafe today. Click here to read the rest!

The Other Side of Christmas

Our nativities are beautiful.

Even when we briefly lament that there was "no room for them in the inn" and that Jesus had to be born in a stable, our nativities are clean, peaceful, idyllic. We imagine the animals keeping watch and the wonder as the shepherds come. We think of little woolly lambs.

But it probably wasn't clean. Because stables smell, we can assume it was smelly. Joseph was probably frantic trying to make a bed in the straw and figure out how he was going to deliver the baby when that was usually left to other women. There were probably bugs.

I don't share that to ruin all nativities for you. We can go back to those pristine images in a bit, but bear with me for a moment.

I'm posting at the Internet Cafe today. Click here to read the rest!

Trust the Pattern

“k3 p2 sm k3 p2 pick up 5″ — so goes a knitting pattern.

My mom taught each of us girls to knit when I was about 10. However, the extent of it was one doll blanket. In college, I spent a semester in England and a woman who owned a wool shop came in and gave us free lessons. I managed a couple of sweaters that semester. However, after coming back to the states, I pretty much stuck with baby blankets. I didn’t trust myself to be able to figure out a pattern on my own.

I am posting over at the Internet Cafe today. Click here to finish reading.

Internet Cafe Giveaway

Hi All --

I wanted to pass along information about a giveaway this week. Check it out!

We here at the cafe want to help you during this glorious season to fall into Jesus and experience His love like never before. How, you ask, are we going to do this? Oh, my friends…we have some fabulous blessings in store for you. From clothing, to jewelry, to books, to movies, to music, we have treasures galore that will help you to fall into your sweet Jesus more.

This year our “Fall into Jesus” giveaway is a BLESSING indeed! “Fall” Into Jesus Giveaway runs from today, October 25, 2010 through Thursday, October 28, 2010. Two winners will be selected at random and announced on Friday, October 29, 2010.

Head on over to the Internet Café find out how you can enter for your chance to win one of two fabulous giveaway bundles.

Click on this graphic:

Somebody Special

Recently, I listened to a co-worker talk about an event he had helped with. He assisted with the meet-and-greet portion of the event and was thrilled when he kept it running on time. He explained that the most people wanted a word or longer with the celebrity but he had them ushered out the moment their picture was snapped.

Except for the important people, that is. These he ushered up to the celebrity and stated who they were, noting their prominence. While they weren't given a great length of time, they were given time where the average person was not.

Honestly, part of me bristled at this. What made these people more important, that they deserved a conversation rather than just a flash of a camera? True, events are things that need to be kept on schedule. But I hate it that we live in a world where money and power and fame denote importance that the average person is not likely to achieve.

I'm posting today at the Internet Cafe. Click here to finish reading this post.

Just Like Her Father

I came across some old pictures of my nieces and nephew. They were ones when my sister's youngest was five or six. I remember showing them to people and having them proclaim, "She looks so much like you!" That shouldn't be a surprise as we are identical twins. But I remember liking the fact that people could see me in her.

It seems a pretty common thing for new parents, relatives, and friends to look at a baby and say, "She's got your eyes" or "He has his father's chin." As the child gets older, people might say, "She has her mother's stubborn streak" or "His father's sense of humor."

Just recognizing how thrilled I was to have people say she looked like me makes me wonder how thrilled God is when we look like Him.

I'm posting today at the Internet Cafe. Click here to finish reading this post.

Flying Blind

I have a job and half.

My part time job is at one of the bookstores in town. You may have noticed that e-readers (electronic hand held readers) are multiplying. My managers have discovered that I have knack for promoting ours. I'm not sure how that happened or why as my approach is generally a soft sell. But it is what it is.

My store is really promoting that one of the things that sets us apart is US! We will completely set up the device before you leave the store so you walk out reading. We also encourage people to ask questions. We want it to be a great purchase.

The odd thing is that I am becoming a "techie" in terms of our device. Seriously. I've never considered myself one in the past and I'm still getting used to this strange idea. Most technical "expertise" in my life is pure luck.

I'm posting today at the Internet Cafe. Click here to finish reading this post.

Sometimes I Want to Choose Pigs

It's one of those stories in the Bible that you may remember with little prompting. Jesus had traveled across the lake to Gerasenes (Mark 5:1-20). He and the disciples are greeted by a demon-possessed man who lived among the tombs. The towns people had tried to bind him with chains, but he broke free. The demons drove him to cut himself with stones.

When the demons saw Jesus they knew who he was and they made the man kneel and cried out asking why Jesus had come to torture them. The demons were fearful of being sent away. My assumption is that they feared no longer having anyone to torture. They came upon the idea of Jesus sending them into a herd of nearby pigs. Jesus complied. But there nature was destruction and they drove those two thousand pigs off a cliff and into the lake to drown.

I'm posting today at the Internet Cafe. Click here to finish reading this post.