In a funk...

I've been in a funk the past 2 days.  It happens every once in a while (I'm sure to all of us).  I know that a lot of it is that God is using this time (not just these past 2 days but the past many months) to mold me and change me.  It's funny because I was talking to my mom last night about how I feel that God has really changed me in just the last year.  I know I'm being vague but my heart has done a complete 180 about a lot of things, and especially one thing, since moving to Florida.  I'm certain that it's God preparing me for the next step in my life and I'm so very excited for that.  I know that I need to be patient though and that's certainly the hardest part.  And on top of that I'm certain there are so many things that I have yet to discover.  There are so many areas of my life that I'm still waiting on God's direction and seeking answers from him.  It'll come in time, but for now I'm certainly antsy and I'd even say discontent at times.  Anyway, it's so completely undeniable to me that I'm loved by God and that He wants to lead me if I just allow Him to become my everything.

On a sidenote...as I was saying earlier, I've been in a funk and today I just really didn't want to run after work.  On Tuesday nights we have track workouts for marathon training and this afternoon I was so incredibly tempted to just skip it and come home and go to bed.  But I'm really happy I went.  Don't get me wrong, it was hard.  I ran almost 4 miles of sprints, but I love the way I feel when I've finished running.  I love the endorphins.  It definitely helped some.  On a similar note, last night I had community group for church and it's certainly amazing how much a community of people who care about you can lift your spirits and make you smile.  I had a great time with my community group last night as we enjoyed each other's fellowship during game night.  It's 100% worth the 40ish minute drive each week to spend time with them and spend time learning more about Christ.

I guess when it comes down to it, I really am blessed.  :)

Niceville...So nice! :)

Had a fantastic weekend.  Ryan and I planned a roadtrip to Niceville/Destin area this weekend and had so much fun!  (And as the slogan all weekend...Ryan and I are just friends!! hahaha).  Anyhow, I looooooove his family and his friends.  

Friday morning I went for a 5 mile run along the bay and it was absolutely beautiful.  There were sailboats along the shore and the sun glistening off the water was so gorgeous.  The weather was perfect too!  Friday afternoon we went to Destin to hang out and the beach was so pretty!  We did a bit of shopping as well before heading back to Niceville to eat dinner (wings...yum!) and head to the high school football game.  I haven't been to a HS football game in so long.  I love when small towns rally together for football games on Friday night.  I sat with Ryan and his best friend Aaron and Ryan's parents and their friends and don't think I stopped laughing the entire time.  Afterwards we hung out at the Walker Residence and laughed some more.

Saturday morning I got up and went for a short run along the bay again and enjoyed some quiet time in the park along the bay.  And then...Football Day started.  Unfortunately, it wasn't such a fantastic football day for the Gators.  I even wore a Gator tshirt!!  Some good that did.  I got to hang out with the Walker family as well as a bunch of Ryan's friends and once again, I was laughing hysterically most of the day.  

We headed back today and stopped in some small town to get breakfast and found the most yummy donuts.  Then we headed to Gainesville to meet up with Ryan's friend Jess who had my stomach hurting b/c I was laughing so hard at her story.  We also got to eat at my favorite restaurant, On the Border!  (It's the closest one to Orlando).  

It was so nice to get away from Orlando for a weekend.  And I can totally understand now why people like Florida.  North Florida is soooo different from the rest of the state.  So gorgeous and so laid back.  And the Walker family is awesome.  I'm going to ask them to adopt me hahahaha.  

Not really looking forward to this week, but what can I do?  Oh well.

"I know Ohio, like the back of my hand" - Over the Rhine

Quick update.  I spent the weekend in Ohio.  It was a last minute trip...I booked my ticket 6 days out.  It was much needed though.  I got to see my beautiful nieces that I haven't seen since April.  Spent some time with my sisters and of course my parents too.  It's not often that we're all able to be together, so it was nice spending time with them.  I also spent a bit of time with my grandparents as well.  Both of my grandpa's haven't been feeling well recently and the one has been in and out of the hospital/nursing homes quite a bit so I felt it was pretty important that I see him.  I was also able to spend a little bit of time with my cousin, Meghan, who is getting married in August and I have the privilege of being a bridesmaid in her wedding.  I haven't seen her since Christmas so it was fantastic to chat with her and catch up on wedding plans.  

And speaking of last minute trips...I'm apparently really good at those...b/c a roadtrip may be in the works for this weekend. :)

Okay, not that exciting of a post, but that's all I got for now.  A good book is calling my name...

Cooties

HAHAHAHA.  After a very long day, this video made me giggle.  I'm glad I have my cooties shot. :)

Suffering

I've had this feeling lately.  I don't know how to describe it.  It's like I'm on the brink of God unveiling something in my life.  I'll admit it.  It's mostly a pretty cool feeling, but sometimes it's a little bit scary (probably b/c of it's uncertainty) and I want to turn away.  I know for sure that I'm being molded in ways I don't understand right now.  I'm constantly feeling tugs on my heart, but it's like, what tug is the strongest one that I'm supposed to dive head first in for?  I think for now I'm just waiting for God to shove me through the door that He wants me to go through (because let's be honest, I'm quite stubborn, so a nice shove might be what it takes).  I think I'm still listening to hear what my calling is and maybe God's not quite ready to tell me yet.  But in the meantime, I'm trying my hardest to grow in his word.  

What's that have to do with the title of my post?  Here it is.  We talked about suffering tonight at small group.  And I feel like every time I leave church or small group lately, I just have so many thoughts running through my head and so much decompression that needs to be done.  I guess that's why I feel like God's doing something crazy in my life that I'm not even aware of yet.  Anyway.  We were discussing 1 Peter 2:18-25.  That passage talks about slaves submitting to their masters and enduring suffering even for doing good.  We talked about how, as Christians, we will suffer.  And when we suffer we are supposed to suffer with patience, respect, and by not retaliating.  How completely counterculture is that?  I mean seriously.  Think about all the times when you feel you've been wronged.  Don't you feel like you have every right to speak your mind.  Take credit for what is yours.  Put someone in their place.  But it's not like that at all.  As Christians, we are called to endure these times of suffering because our ultimate reward is heaven.  The funny thing is, we tried to think about how we suffer as 21st Century Christians living in the United States of America and let's be honest.  We don't really suffer.  We can go to church and worship without persecution.  We can read our Bibles in public without fear of death.  We can share the gospel without fear of imprisonment.  In essence, we really endure little suffering of this sorts.  So, I suppose that makes it a little bit harder on us.  I suppose our suffering comes in the variety of holding your tongue against someone who you've felt wronged by or giving respect to a boss who you feel treats you unfairly.  How hard can circumstances like that be?  

In any case, I keep thinking about how I should be praying for Christ to allow me to suffer more so I can more fully experience his love.  Because isn't it in times of our deepest pain and suffering when we most fully rest on Christ's love and grace to bring us through those times.  Isn't it then that we can fully experience what it means to be loved?  But I'll be honest...I'm scared to pray for suffering.  I'm scared to be outside my comfort zone.  I'm scared to live counter-culturally.  But in the end, I want that eternal reward.  I want to feast with Christ at His heavenly banquet.  So I supposed my prayer will have to be that Christ would teach me true love and grace through his suffering so I may fully experience his kingdom.  This could be hard...

PS--Have I mentioned how much I love City Church and my Community Group.  Amazing people and I can truly tell that God is doing incredible things there!  We just started a sermon series on the 5 vows of membership in the PCA church and I'm SO EXCITED to become a member there.  This'll be my first time to claim membership at a church other than my home church growing up.  I finally feel like I have a Church Home and a Church Family here in Florida.  It really does make all the difference.  Love it! :)

Race Season

Race season starts soon...as in 2 weeks.  I'm actually pretty excited about it.  We ran 7 miles yesterday and while my legs hurt, it felt good to get some long distances in again.  I don't think I've ran over 4 or 5 since last spring.  It's still pretty warm for running here in Florida, but it's definitely getting cooler!  We started at 7:00 am and finished at about 8:15 and it wasn't too hot yet.  Although, it definitely got hotter later in the day, which is still weird to me considering it's football season.  It should be cool, crisp fall weather!  Ahhh, I'll never get over that!  

Anyway, here are the races on my schedule for this year.  Unfortunately, I can't do 2 of the races I was most excited about.  Race for the Taste I'll be on a plane headed to Las Vegas for work (I suppose it's a pretty even trade) and Tower of Terror 13k I'll be celebrating Melissa and Andrew's wedding at their reception (also I pretty good trade, I suppose.  I'm so excited for them!).  So here it is:

September:

Miracle Miles 15k

October:

None yet b/c of the above interferences

November:

Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5k

Celebration Foundation 10k-tentative

December:

OUC 1/2 Marathon

Florida 1/2 Marathon

January:

Disney Full Marathon

February:

Breast Cancer 1/2 Marathon in Jacksonville Beach

March:

Disney's Princess 1/2 Marathon

CNL Winter Park 10k

April:

IOA Corporate 5k-Tentative

Hm...I feel like I need more races.  But, I'll probably go broke if I enter many more.  Between races and concerts, well, we know where my money goes.  Speaking of concerts.  We got our tickets for the Jason Mraz concert in December!  So excited!  And we're going to see Augustana/Maroon 5/Counting Crows in less than a month!  

And best news of all, I'm going home to Ohio in 5 days.  Holla.

Okay, time to get ready for church.  Have I mentioned how much I love Sunday nights and church?  Because I do.  :)

Take a bite...Ideal Bite.

The past three days have been spent at the annual Leadership Conference.  It was my first and it was a really great experience!  The company has so much knowledge, experience, heritage, and more within so it's great to be able to meet incredible leaders, hear their stories, and be inspired by them.  One of my favorite sessions was with a new internet company we acquired in February 2008.  Ideal Bite was founded by Heather Stephenson and Jennifer Boulden in 2005 and offers email subscribers "bite-sized ideas for light green living."  When I heard this I thought "PERFECT!"  I've felt such a conviction and passion to make my life more Green, but for every small thing I was doing right, I felt guilty for every thing I was doing wrong.  But Ideal Bite does a great job of putting it all into perspective.  It's all about the small changes.  If you can make a small change whether it be buying organic food, using organic hair products, drinking organic beer, recycling, not drinking bottled water...it eventually adds up.  But the thing to remember is that you don't have to dive in and do a 180 with your life to live Green.  Just pick a few that are easy for you and that you feel passionate about.  

As Jen said in her speech today--"Ideal Bite is for the soccer mom who drives her SUV to Whole Foods."  She also went on to say she's a vegetarian but still wears leather.  Everyone can make a small change though to contribute.

Just an incredible business concept and something that was certainly needed in the market.  I'm excited to see Ideal Bite grow!

Check it out:  www.idealbite.com

Check it out...

Katie sent me this video.  Check it out.  Amazing Stuff.  Of course, how could you go wrong when you put Ben Folds and Regina Spektor together?  Yeah...