Lent and Monthly Verses

I have never observed Lent as it is not widely practiced in protestant denominations. But this year as I am in the process of renewing my relationship with Christ from a brief lull (I wouldnt call it a hyatis - just negligence I suppose - going through the motions), I have considered the idea of using Lent as a means to draw myself closer to Christ through fasting, prayer, and spending time in His Word. It is officially Ash Wednesday, so I suppose I have to make my decision now to participate in Lent.

I have not had long to think about this, but I have decided I will drink only water until Easter for my fast. In addition to fasting, I will be reading, reflecting on, and journaling about Jesus' journey to Jeruselem and the events of His cucifiction.

In addition to participating in Lent, Melanie and I have decided on a challenge for ourselves. We are studying 'Becoming a Woman of Prayer' by Cynthia Heald. In the 3rd chapter, she talks about how every year she ask the Lord to provide her with a verse for the year and she prays that verse over her life for 12 months - recording how God has worked through her life. We have decided to do this on a monthly basis. So, this week we are praying that the Lord would direct our hearts to the verse that He would like us to pray over for March - which could be different to for each of us, and probably will be. It will be interesting to see how God will use this in our lives. I look forward to seeing Him work.

<<Participate in the poll on my blog homepage>>

Austin Half Marathon

On February 14 (no, this is not a valentines story), Rachael and I headed down to Austin for a half marathon and some shopping. On Saturday, we went to the expo - which was kind of lame-o. The whiterock expo was way better by far - even the San Diego expo. Then we headed to the hotel and checked in. We decided we would have an early dinner to beat the Valentine's day crowd and then just relax in the hotel room and hit the hay early since we had to get up at 4:30am! Turned out that I was so exhausted from work and school that I passed out at 7pm! It was great.

We woke up way to early on a Sunday morning and headed down to the race. Rachael and I had both decided that we would just take our time and have fun on this course and treat it as our long run for the weekend. There were water stops every 1.5 miles so we decided we would just run from water stop to water stop and take walk breaks while we drank. There was no Gu or other supplements - only water and powerade - which was kind of a bummer, but we brought our own. We arrived really early - probably too early - but we didn't have to stand in line for the bathrooms! It was funny that they had pink porta-potties for girls and blue for boys. At first we didn't realize that's why they were pink and blue, but the men in line kept telling us to form our own line and that there was no way they would be caught going into or coming out of a pink porta-potty. Turns out there was the female symbol on the door. Who would have thought?! It was nice that there wasn't a urinal right in your face as you went to the restroom.

The first 3 1/2 miles were up hill! Almost 200ft elevation climb! At this point we are already dreading what is in store for us. Someone before the race had told us that the first 8 miles was a climb and so far, we thought it was true. But miles 3.5 to 6 brought us back down the 200ft, though it didn't feel like it was all downhill. But any downhill was good to see. Mile 6 - 8 were pretty flat (mind you, there were small ups and downs the entire time). Miles 8 - 10 were back uphill with about a 100-150ft elevation increase with some really steep hills. All of which the people cheering everyone on kept telling us it was the last hill - Liars. Then the last 3 miles fluctuated in elevation +/- 50 ft, but it was up hill, down hill, up hill down hill (and repeat several times). I was so ready for it to be over. If I didn't love hills before, I sure didn't like them that day! Plus the fact that we have been running pretty flat lately hasn't helped.

Here is the elevation (follow the dotted line at the end for the half marathon) and a video of the race turn by turn in 10 minutes so you too can (if even remotely) experience the race!





As I have been thinking about the race and wrestling with my spiritual life, of course I can see the correlations. Life is never easy. Sure there are some level spots, and some great downhills (in the good sense) that we love to take a ride on, but man, some of those uphill battles are the worst. And after you just get to the top of one, barely catch your breath, you look up and see another. You really get sick of them and want to quit or just take a break. Maybe even just stop and walk some. There is nothing wrong with walking, but you have to get back in the race at some point. That's where I am now. I have just been walking, taking a break, but it hasn't been on flat ground. It has been a steady climb. But the Lord is good to renew us and refresh our spirits so that we can pick up the pace. I am so thankful that He has done so for me in the last week or so. He has been so consistent at encouraging me to start running (spiritually) again and finally I feel I have the energy to pick it up.

This can also be applied to my loss of desire to run (physically). I have really lost the joy of running. Partly because of chronic shin splints and injury and partly because I have only committed to the long runs on the weekends and not participating in the short runs during the week. How true it is on running the spiritual race. I have committed to participating on Sundays and other church events, but I have not been diligent in reading His Word daily or even prayer for that matter. I want to do it, but I have had such a hard time finding joy in it. But again, the Lord is so good to renew and restore. I am thankful for the Lord's diligence to pursuing me even when I don't peruse Him.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalm 51:12

Read Psalm 51

(side note: I got new shoes as my PT suggested to correct my forefoot pronation and they worked wonderfully in the race - no shin pain at all! No extensor longus tendon pain either! - another reason to praise the Lord! -- and perhaps now that it has been taken care of I can find joy in physically running again as well)