December 14, 2012

December 14, 2012. I had been planning this blog post for some time, even had the fun, quirky title of "The Almost Quarter Life Crisis" picked out and ready to go. I was going to write about how blessed I had been for the past 24 years and all the great memories I had so far, plus all the things I was still planning to do with my life. See, December 14, 2012 was my 24th birthday. However, that all changed when my phone chirped around 9:30 am on that Friday morning. I looked over at my phone, expecting to see a birthday text, but instead read a news blurb that there had been a shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

As the day progressed and I continued to get news updates, I knew this post wouldn't be about me. Twenty children will never know what 24 feels like. Seven adults will never be able to reminisce about the fun they had during their 24th year. One parent will never be able to comprehend what happened to his son during his 20th year. This day was no longer about me turning 24. December 14 was no longer about me and the change that day brings to my life every year. Because from now on, 28 other families will remember it as the day that changed their lives.

 There's a couple of things to be taken from this tragedy.

1. For most of us this is incomprehensible. We try and search for understanding but we can't do this on our own. We're confused, scared and distraught.

       "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." Romans 8: 26-30

2. The Gospel.

           "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one... Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes."  Romans 3: 9-12, 15-18

    We are ALL sinners and have ALL turned away. Does this verse only refers to mass murders or mad men? No, we are just as broken as those and only Christ has the power to save the worst of people.

      "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2: 4- 9

With all that has happened and is happening - Sandy Hooks Elementary School, the Aurora, CO movie theater shooting, the unrest in Syria, know this: When Christ returns and we are rejoicing in heaven with him,  the wars of this life will be over and no more suffering will be done!

"For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility..." Ephesians 2: 14

27 people were killed December 14, 2012. 28 Died that day. ALL of their families should remain in our prayers.

 

Long Gone

So, I've been really bad at keeping up with this blog. This post is actually from a month ago, as the haircut took place on Friday, November 2, 2012. Whoops, my bad!

For some time now, I have been super aggravated with my hair and was just at the point where I was done. So, I made a deal with myself. As soon as the marathon was done, so was the long hair. So, 6 days later it was gone!

My hair grows extremely slow and is straighter than a board, so I normally only cut it once a year (if that!).  However, when I do cut it, I normally donate it to Locks of Love.  This time I wanted to do something different. There were some girls from my parents' church who donated their hair to a different company and I couldn't remember why or which one, so I contacted them! 

They had done tons of research and found out that Locks of Love actually charges for their wigs and sells them to pretty much anyone who wants a wig, whereas Pantene's Beautiful Lengths gives the wigs (for free) to patients with breast cancer! 

I was pretty shocked when I realized that Locks of Love charged for their wigs and a little disappointed since I had donated hair to them 2 or 3 times before. I decided to send my hair off to Beautiful Lengths because I love that their wigs are free and breast cancer has deeply affected my family. 

The process itself was super easy!

Before shot:

1.  Clean, shampoo and/or condition hair, without any styling, hairspray or additional hair products. 

2. Gather hair at the nape of the neck.

3. Create a ponytail with an elastic band. 

4. Ensure that the elastic band is just below where you want to cut your hair.

5. Measure the length of the ponytail from the elastic band to the tips, making sure it’s at least 8 inches long.

6. Cut the hair just above the elastic band so that the elastic band remains on the ponytail after cutting and keeps cut hair together. 
  

                                                      
7. Place the ponytail, kept intact with the elastic band, in a zipper-lock bag and seal tight

       

8.  Place the plastic bag with the ponytail in a padded or plastic envelope and send to: 

Pantene Beautiful Lengths 

Attn: 192-123 20770

Westwood Dr 

Strongsville, OH 44149 

                                 

AFTER SHOT:

I donated 10 inches, but once it was all said and done, I cut off 18 inches!!

For more information on how to donate your hair or who the wigs are for:
http://www.pantene.com/en-US/PanteneBeautifulLengths/Details/beautiful-lengths-make-the-cut.aspx

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Marathon

In the U.S., only around 520,000 people complete a marathon each year. This year I added one more to that number.
                                           

On Saturday, October 27, 2012 I completed my first marathon. I've been very careful to use the word completed or finished a marathon because at mile 10, I started to get horrible back spasms, so running did not happen for a vast majority of the race!

I should probably back track and get you caught up as to what lead to that moment. In March, I had just  run my third half marathon and was feeling really great about running and being able to run farther than I currently was. I had gotten an email saying I could do the Spinx Run Fest Marathon for only $50! I was immediately saying in my head "heck yeah! That's really cheap, and I am already half way through training!" At that time, it was a great option- I was working, had tons of time to run, and was in the best shape and health of my life! Then in August, everything changed (for the good)! I started going back to school and had less and less time to go running- especially 2 or 3 hour long runs. So needless to say, my training wasn't the best. Then, about a month before the race I started having back problems. That was attributed to a UTI (even though I had no symptoms!) and was cleared up shortly. The day before the race, my back started to bother me again. I just figured it was because I been on my feet for three hours straight on Wednesday night stuffing packets for the race. So, I did my usual cure- all of popping two ibuprofen and letting it be.

This leads me to race day. Saturday morning I still was feeling a little off. I just assumed it was nerves and excitement about the marathon. As the race started, I was feeling great. I got my breathing regulated early on and took off. I didn't realize until about mile 6 that I was a good 2 minutes ahead of my pacing and was very comfortable with it! Then, at mile 10 it happened. I remember taking a step and feeling this horrible spasm in my back. I stumbled a little bit because it caught me so off guard. I took a few more steps and had another one. This continued on for about 4 more miles. I was still running at the halfway point, where we got our halfway bracelet and turned around.

                                           

At about mile 15, I couldn't take it any more. I was having a spasm with each step I took. I remember thinking "I just want to be done. I"ve got to keep going. I just want to be done. I've got to keep going." But after that, God knew I couldn't make it on my own and he sent people to care for me.

An ultra-marathoner in between mile 16 and 17 ran by and realized I was in obvious distress and gave me a spearmint to get rid of nausea and give me a sugar boost. I was hesitant to take it at first, but she said "don't be afraid. You're brave enough to keep going now. You are stronger than anyone else not doing this today." This had me trying to run a little bit more now. I would run for about 30 seconds, then have a spasm. So I would walk for about 5 minutes before I would try to run again.

Then, when I got back to Furman, around mile 18, I ran into Mrs. Stephanie Martin. She power walked with me from mile 18 to 19. I'm extremely grateful for her. She offered to drive me to the end or get me whatever I needed- gatorade, water, sandwich, banana.  At that point, I wasn't going to quit. I needed to finish. But, she did finally convinced me to stop at the medic tent right before mile 19 to get my back wrapped with ice and to get some ibuprofen.

From there, I did more of the run short periods, spasm, walk long periods. After mile 24, I was convinced that I was lost because I didn't see anything marking the course or any official or runner. Internally, I had just accepted defeat and was ready to give up. I remember praying, "God just let me find my car so I can get home. I can't do this anymore." Again, He provided what I needed.  This sweet stranger on a bike rode up to me on swamp rabbit trail right before I reached mile 25. I told her I was convinced I was lost because there was no signage, and she said I was going the right way. She had already ridden by somewhere and heard that the last marathoner had finished. When she realized I was one and still in the race, she turned her bike around and said "we're going to get you to that finish line!" The sweet lady was extremely encouraging, pushing me on to run the last bit of the race! She rode along side me, encouraging me on from mile 25 to the entrance to the stadium. Then she rode off!

I ran the last little bit around the stadium and finally crossed the finish line at 6:09:46. I immediately went straight to the medic tent because that last little run had started the back spasms all over again. But,  at the end of the day, I had completed 26.2 miles. I didn't quit- I finished it.  I earned this medal just as much as the man who crossed the finished line at 2:39:10.

                                     

Even after what I have termed "The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Marathon," I still want to run another one. I want to go out and say I RAN 26.2 miles. And I definitely won't have to worry about beating my time for the next race!

I ended the day with taking a muscle relaxer for the back and then sprawling out on the couch with a heating pad on my back, and ice packs on my quads, hamstrings, and calves! Wish somebody had a picture of that!

Jumping for Joy

For almost a year now, I have been working with the Special Needs ministry at Grace Church on Pelham Road. The Special Needs ministry is actually what brought me to Grace- in the summer of 2011, when I had first moved to Greenville, I worked at the Project Hope Foundation. We provided ABA therapy and other services to children with Autism in the upstate. While working with one family, they described to me their five year journey to finding a church that provided what they needed for their little boy so that he and they could both enjoy services.  This floored me! I had never thought about what it must be like to be a special needs parents and not be able to truly worship because you had nowhere for  your child to go! The Lord really laid this on my heart as I began praying about where to find a church home in Greenville. 

I had been visiting a few churches in Greenville, including Grace during the summer and during the fall, I started attending the singles ministry at Grace, Seven32. I was starting to think Grace was the where God was calling me but I wasn't quite sure. That all changed on a Thursday night. Chris McGowan, our pastor to guests, came to speak on prayer. While speaking on this, he began to tell us about his son who has a rare genetic condition and how he and his wife really learned how to pray during that time. With my degree in Genetics, I was immediately caught up with his story and wanted to learn more about it! But then, he proceeded to continue with his story and how his wife started the special needs ministry at our church. Being a special ed teacher, Emily was floored as well at how many families she worked with didn't go to church because they didn't feel welome! She knew at Grace that we could welcome those families! After she had started the ministry, she had her son and now gets the benefit of the ministry for him!  My eyes almost bugged out of my head when he said that, and I immediately thought, "ok God, Grace is where you want me!" As soon as Seven32 was over, I was immediately asking everyone, "What was the speaker's name again? How can I get in contact with him?" I finally got the information I needed and rapidly went about contacting him! Chris connected me with his wife, Emily, who said I was an answer to their prayers and I've been with the Special Needs ministry ever since! 

I can truly say that working with the Special Needs ministry has changed my life for the better! Working with these children has been an absolute blessing. I get to see God's love being presented to these children while allowing their parents to worship without worry for their children. There is nothing like hearing "I've never been able to see an entire service before" or  "it means so much that my child is having the same opportunity as everyone to learn about God!"

With all that being said, I am writing today about my sweet girl Danielle. Danielle was one of the first kids I got to "hang out" with during my time with the Special Needs Ministry. We have had some great times together, from Fusion, to a day at the Fusion retreat, to most recently, her baptism. 

" For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free- and all were made to drink of one Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12: 13

I picked up Danielle last Sunday to take her to church and the first thing she said was "I'm getting baptized! I'm getting baptized!" Danielle was so excited! I think she told me 5 times in a 15 minute car ride! And then she asked me to come to her baptism. My heart broke a little when she asked that because I was serving during the second service and wouldn't be able to see her being baptized. The Lord had other plans for me though, both the children I was shadowing ending up not staying the entire service so I was able to get into second service to see Danielle be baptized. 

When Danielle was walking down to the baptismal pool, my heart was just overwhelmed with joy! I've seen the growth she has experienced over the last year due to Fusion and her family and was so excited for her to make a public declaration of her faith! As she stepped into that pool, tears of joy started streaming down my face. It meant so much to me to be used by God in her life and see it come to fruition on Sunday. 

And in typical Danielle fashion, when she came up out of that water, she came up excited! She could not stop cheering and jumping and hugging the pastor who baptized her!  Danielle's excitement out of the water was a reminder of how excited we should be for the Lord. She was so excited to share her love for the Lord and it bursts from her! 

"Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven..." 

Luke 6: 23

She reminded me, not only how I've played a role in her life, but how she played a role in my life. My joy for the Lord grows whenever I am with her.

"I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing."

John 15: 11

Running With Friends So They Can Have Some

This past weekend, I got to be a part of a wonderful thing called the Hope Relay! The Hope Relay is a relay race sponsored by the Project Hope Foundation, which serves children with Autism in the upstate.  

The Project Hope Foundation holds a special place in my heart because it's where I met my boys. While working there, I had the privilege of spending time with two precious little boys who have autism.  Bo could be my own child with his blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I like to call him my little cuddle monster because he's always giving my kisses or asking for tickles! And then there's Preston, with his great big smile and wild and crazy hair.  

I could not have been more blessed when it came to working not only with the boys but their families as well. Their families took me into their homes, prayed for me, encouraged me, and truly blessed my life. The joy brought to me by both the boys and their families was why I ran this weekend. 

Autism is now said to affect 1 in 88 children and 1 in 54 boys.  Autism is a developmental disorder which affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills. The Project Hope Foundation provides a wide range of services that supports the full spectrum of the autism community and at the Hope Relay, 

We run with our friends…so that children with autism can have some.

The Hope Relay consists of two races, the Hope 20 and the Hope 47. Runners form a relay team and run 1 leg each ( Hope 20) or run 2 legs each ( Hope 47) through the scenic roads of Tigerville, SC.  I had the privilege of running with four awesome ladies- Ashley Kinser, Katie Henson, Kristen Hatfield, and Irene Mortera. And of course, we couldn't have going anywhere without our awesome driver, Katie Horner, who "did the whole race, accelerating at some places, slowing down at others, and made a few turns!" 

Together we made up 4 Tigers and a Hokie and completed the Hope 20! We were awesome and placed third in our division with a time of 3:16:03!

Running in the Hope Relay was such a blast and it was great to do something fun for something that means so much to me.  I can't wait to do it next year on November 16, 2013! As of now, the goal for next year is to run the Hope 20 all by myself!

For more information on the Hope Relay and why we run, check out www.hoperelay.org