Time to Get in Shape!

Well I started a new exercise routine today. It’s called “Insanity.” And I must be insane for attempting it!

It’s supposed to get me in shape over the next 60 days. So we shall see if it really works. Today I did the fit test. Let’s just say I’m in worse shape than I thought! I only made it half way through. I’m hoping in 2 weeks when I take it again I’ll have greatly improved.

My biggest struggle is going to be sticking to it. I am one of those wakos that actually enjoys exercise when doing it, I just have to do it. I’m hoping using my blog will help keep me accountable to doing it according to the enclosed schedule.

I turn 40 in less than 4 months and I want to get in better shape before then. I guess I better start shaking a tail feather!

So in 60 days we shall see if I look and feel any different than I do on July 30!

Times have changed, or has it?

One of my favorite movies is Shag, the Movie.  It takes place in Myrtle Beach, SC in the summer of 1963.  Recently graduated from high school, four best friends go off to the beach before one of them gets married and two go off to college. It’s a fun filled weekend with a bit of romance thrown in. On their way to the beach one of the girls makes a comment saying if she isn’t engaged by the time she’s 20 she’s going to kill herself. That line has always killed me.  I can’t imagine being upset at not being engaged when I’m barely out of my teenaged years. But then again the setting is in 1963 and people got married at a younger age then.  It seems crazy in our day and age people getting that upset about not being with someone so young. But when I look at some of the things I see on Facebook, I’m not so sure things have changed.

I constantly see teenagers lamenting the fact they don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend.  I see them complaining about being so lonely. I also see them changing their relationship status constantly from single to in a relationship back to single, then back in a relationship. Some of these are middle schoolers! I don’t remember my friends and classmates going through a series of “relationships” like I see in teenagers today. I don’t know if it’s because it wasn’t like that or the fact that we didn’t have the social network sites then so we never really knew about all the break ups and get togethers. Maybe it was like it is today and I just didn’t know about it.

It breaks my heart to see how much pressure teenagers and society put on them to be “in a relationship.” Whatever happened to just being friends and go out in a big group? Why is there so much pressure to be paired up at such a young age? I’m not saying dating someone seriously while you’re in high school is necessarily a bad idea. But the constant changing of a relationship status can’t be healthy for someone. It’s being in a relationship for the sake of being in one. Teenagers aren’t the only ones prone to this either.

I once heard someone say that if you aren’t happily single, then you won’t be happily married. And I think this could also apply to dating relationships. You have to be happy with who you are before you can begin to have a healthy relationship with someone else. So many people are afraid of being alone that they’ll go out with someone who is not right for them. This isn’t fair to either person.  Don’t settle. Be content with who you are before pairing up with someone else.

Find out who you are and come to grips with it. No man, woman, boy, or girl is going to make you a complete person. If that is what you’re looking for then every relationship you are in will never satisfy you. Look for the person that compliments you. But you can only find that person when you are happy and complete on your own. 

Daddy to the Rescue!

For those who have been patient in my blog, you know that I enjoy running although it has only been in the last several weeks that I have started doing it consistently again. I originally started running about 3 years ago to help with my weight loss and it helps when I do run! But as life gets in the way it has been quite a long time since I was running regularly. I also turn 40 this year and I want to be fit by then so I started running, again!

I down loaded the Couch to 10k app. I wanted to run the entire Peachtree this year so that was why I chose to do the 10k instead of 5k (well I had it last year but was just too lazy to train for last year’s Peachtree!). It is a 13 week program that gradually builds you up to run a 10k. You start off by alternating between walking and running. Each week the amount of time you run increases and the time walking decreases. You are supposed to do it 3 times a week. I am now on Week 4 of Couch to 10k! I am running for 2 minutes and walking for 3 minutes.

Since I didn’t go run yesterday I HAD to go today or I wouldn’t have done Week 4. When I got home from tutoring it was storming plus I still wasn’t feeling well from all this pollen. I took a short nap. When I woke, it was still stormy some and my phone needed charging. I waited until I thought the coast was clear and went for my run.

It started off fine. I knew it was going to get dark before I got back so I put on my safety vest (not orange, but white J ) and put my headlamp on my running visor. I run on roads with no sidewalks so I want to make sure I’m visible. I’m making good progress and get to the half way point in the session and turn back towards home. And that’s when the lightening starts. At first it was just one bolt but then the storm gradually starts getting worse. It’s raining and there’s more lightening. I had told myself if it continues to get worse I’d call my parents to come get me. I was getting ready to call when my phone starts ringing.

It’s my daddy wanting to know my exact location because he’s coming to get me. I told him where I was and that I would just keep going towards home until he met up with me. Daddy comes and carries me home, all safe and sound.

Later this evening I thought how this is a reflection of my heavenly Daddy. He will often let us wander off on our own but He will always come to where we are when we need Him. Whereas my earthly daddy had to be told exactly where I was, my heavenly Daddy always knows where I am on my run. He is always faithful to come, even before we call on Him.

While I was disappointed I didn’t get to finish my run, I was grateful that my daddy loves me enough to make sure that I am safe!

Coming Home

I love to travel! I have been to every state and to a few other countries. I love flying or road trips. Seeing new places I’ve either read or heard about is one of the things I love about traveling. But my favorite part is coming home.

If I am traveling internationally, the feeling of coming home starts when I get into US air space. Then that feeling increases when I’m back on US soil. Another increase comes with crossing the state line (or air space) on getting back onto that red Georgia clay. It continues to grow as I travel nearer to home, getting larger when I cross the county line. That feeling of coming home continues to grow as I take familiar roads leading me home.

I can hardly describe the feeling of turning onto my road, knowing I’m only moments away from my favorite place in the entire world- home. And then the moment when I turn into my drive way is something that I can’t begin to describe, even with the entire English language at my disposal.

The other night my mom and I were talking about this while looking over some old pictures. And while we were talking the thought hit me, how much more this feeling of coming home will be when we reach our eternal home!

This world is just a shadow of what awaits us. As much as I dread “growing old” I can’t help but think that each day is just another step closer to “going home.” Even though I love where I live I have to remember this isn’t my home but only a place for me to “visit” and to make an impact on before my trip home.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4

 Just a pic of where I live

The most beautiful place on earth!