200 Miles

Life is training. Training is life.

This is not a new moniker. But I have new perspective about it today.

I just finished an astonishing book called, "Ultra Marathon Man" by Dean Karnazes. To say that he fully tests human frailty and limits would be minimal. This is a man who has run over 200 miles in one setting. He has run a marathon in Antarctica, to the South Pole. (Think about that for a minute!) He has run from the lowest point in the U.S. (Death Valley) to the highest point (Mt. Whitney) as a 135-mile footrace - see http://www.badwater.com/ - in temps in excess of 130 degrees.

This is extreme. This is a fire burning so deeply inside, nothing can stifle it.

This story is his strongest life. And it is incredibly inspiring to me to know that others hunger for a passionate life like I do. That undeniable inner "push and prod" that I just can't deny - it's my personal fire. Do I have the desire to run 200 miles in one setting? Let's just say, my 200 miles will have a look of it's own. Maybe it's in running. Maybe it's not. This I know: my strongest life will be passionately and purposefully discovering just what my 200 miles is.

And then acting on it.

10 days ...

I don't think I realized it would take 10 days to be fully here. We are moved and settled, finally. It was long and hard and good and fun, all at once. And now there is peace.

I am peaceful knowing we have space with which to serve others and build relationships. I am peaceful knowing our children have room to grow together and in solitude. I am peaceful knowing my husband and I have our first home together. It is not ideal. But it is ours. And we have dreams to fulfill that will begin in this space. That is hope.

Today I read in Hosea, Psalms, and the book of Hebrew. The theme I saw was "Solid Food to Move Forward". I believe that my discipline to pursue friendship with God is the solid food I need in order to realize the dreams He gives me. That very same solid food gave me strength to get through a tough 10 days of transition. And my strongest life? It would be nothing without clarity of mind, heart, and spirit.

To solid food!

All three kids are asleep at 2:59pm.

It's quiet in the house that is decorated in moving boxes.

What's a girl to do for these few quiet moments? What else: blog! :)

Thank you God for inventing "summer"! I do so love the change in pace, schedules, and aura. I love the intense heat - not so much the humidity! I enjoy the summer book lists that seem to arise of their own accord. (I just finished "Body Surfing" by one of my favorite authors, Anita Shreve - gentle yet engaging read.) And I love the dreaming - the space with with to think that summer allows. I was mowing the lawn today and realized that one of the reasons I like physical work and fitness is because it gives me space to think. I can get completely wrapped up into that one goal and just allow my mind to flow. What pops up in my soul each time I spend time there is revelatory. I love engaging mind, body, spirit, soul in the same space.

What does that look like for you?! How do you get to the inner space where thought and movement collide in an explosion of revelation?! I'd love to hear back from you, my readers :)

Must-read Book!

I finished an incredible book this past Monday. "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller. Incredible for many reasons. Here's how it was incredible to me:

If you've ever read Don Miller, you know what I mean when I say unique writer. He writes like one thinks. The depth of his analogies and humor makes strings of words (aka sentences) jump off the page as pictures in your mind. To say he stimulates the intellect would be minimalist of me.

This book challenged me to get up and move amidst the tiny little story called "my life". In an incredibly self-revealing way, Don challenges his readers to write an incredible story with their life. For instance, chapter 10, "Writing the World": I want to memorize it. Here's an excerpt:

"If I have a hope, it's that God set over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story, and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, Enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you.

I've wondered, though, if one of the reasons we fail to acknowledge the brilliance of life is because we don't want the responsibility inherent in the acknowledgment. We don't want to be characters in a story because characters have to move and breathe and face conflict with courage. And if life isn't remarkable, then we don't have to do any of that; we can be unwilling victims rather than grateful participants."

I want a character that moves and breathes and acts upon both the good and bad in life. I want to do something bigger than I ever thought I could. I will.

Will you? For inspiration, start in this amazing work of heart by D. Miller.

I will not be robbed

Today I re-visited a prior adventure in life. Leading a small group.

In some ways, I was nervous. In some ways, I was excited. In some ways, I felt prepared. In some ways, I felt completely unprepared. All the above: appropriate.

I was reminded tonight of something ultra-important. That I am, and He is all.

I love how real my life is. That I am given these grace-opportunities to love and live life with others. Others on a journey. Others with which intersections might never have happened but instead, God orchestrates a beautiful symphony.

"We get robbed of the glory of life because we aren't capable of remembering how we got here." -- Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I want so much for my life to count. For it to be bigger than that girl who sat to the left of me in English class in high school and predicted I would become a nun. I could still be offended. I choose not to be. Because I know the truth.

I will remember my life. At least the ones in pictures and words. Thank God for ink and letters.

I will not be robbed.

Here we go 'round the mulberry bush: A new perspective

Today I picked mulberries for the first time since I was a teenager. Growing up on a farm, my life knew many facets of gardening and farming. One was picking our produce and eating from the bounty of God's earth throughout the entire year. As I was picking today, I recalled the hours my Mom and I would spend around berry bushes - mulberry, blackberry, raspberry, gooseberry - you name it, we picked it. And, I remembered the bugs. The bugs were so annoying, and often the bane of berry-picking for me back then. Today, they were not my focus. As I was picking today, I circled the mulberry bushes in a counter-clockwise fashion. I did this with all three bushes available to me and found as I went, that I felt pretty confident I was picking all the ripe ones I could find. At some point, without consciously deciding, I began to circle in the opposite direction; and it became quickly apparent how many ripe berries I had missed. There were so many more, ready for harvest!

I immediately thought of the art of leading. Along with being a leader comes so many levels of impact. I've been in leadership roles for nearly as long as I can remember. It was simply expected of me as a kid, and I grew up learning how to make myself available in that way. Today, I remembered how important perspective is in leadership. Circling back through those mulberry bushes - finding all these "new" berries - it took this new perspective to find the ready harvest! That is just like leading people. One of the greatest gifts of relationship is being open to another's perspective. Leading is facilitating the artform of perspective. Gently nudging and challenging others to shift their lens on life.

I love the energy leading gives me! I love facilitating another's openmindedness - helping them find the gifts and talents God has given them and resourcing them to give 150% to that. Working in my strengths to advise and influence others in their strengths; it really all comes down to that for me.

My Cup Runneth Over

I had a first today.

I made caramel from scratch!

It was fun, nerve-wracking, intellectually-stimulating, and scientific all at once. The process, being brand new, had me looking at a recipe intently (unusual step #1). It also took a l.o.n.g time. As in, 30 minutes+ long (unusual step #2 - baking typically comes quickly/easily to me). But that was ok. I was able to theorize about how this 1c. of sugar was moving towards a completely new and tasty substance. It reminded me of my own process. There are so many times when I feel "cooked down". Refined. Preparing for change. That has most definitely been the prior 6 months. Paul and I were married 27 November 2009. Since that time, there have been numerous refinements. Numerous! Here I find myself "cooking down" caramel and realizing a beautiful analogy to how God is moving and changing me in this new season of life.

I love to bake! I've been doing it since I was knee-high to my amazing mother. She developed a love of the kitchen in me and to this day, when I need to relax and learn to serve in a new way, the kitchen is very often the place that brings me relaxation as well as insight.

I also love to serve others. Hospitality is one of my spiritual gifts. Very recently, I've become more excited about serving in this way again. We found out just yesterday that we will be moving to a new space! What a gift of grace for us - it is nearly twice as big with a fenced backyard for my Tobie and a 4th bedroom so each of the children will have their own space. Of course, this also means I can entertain much more comfortably again. Ahhhh, the possibilities ...

My cup runneth over with gifts today!