Three Georgia Divas

After 12+ weeks of training, the day had finally come. Hard work, sweat, and tears (luckily no blood) all went in to preparing me for this day. I would cross another thing off My 50 List and I was pumped! I was running my first half marathon (The Diva Half) and doing it with two of my favorite people-my Momma & Tina (and 4500 other Divas--I fit right in)! In our matching neon pink tank tops and purple tutus, we were at the start line and ready to rock this thing! Around 7 a.m. we are off. Within the first mile, my calves were cramping and it didn't look good. I had no clue what was going on and I was frustrated. I had just ran a 10k the weekend before and this didn't happen. So, already, I was on the side walk stretching and trying to relax my body. Stretching didn't help much, so I had to run through the pain until I finally got in to my rhythm. By mile 3, I was doing good and I kept my pace until around mile 9. This was the farthest I had run while training, so anything beyond that point was unknown territory. I didn't know what my body would do, how it would feel, or what to expect. Through miles 10-12, I couldn't wait to see the water stations because I knew this meant I could walk and stretch (quickly). The last 4 miles were tough, especially mile 12. Being a straight away, it seemed to last f.o.r.e.v.e.r. It would've been so easy to give up and just walk the rest of the way, but I pushed myself to keep running, one foot in front of the other. Calves cramped, sides burning, heart tired, nauseas and thirsty, I kept silently repeating my mantra to myself "You are strong. You can do this. You're almost there. Keep pushing." At one point, I'm pretty sure I was saying this out loud to myself, but in a crowd full of women who are running 13.1, no one is looking at me like I'M crazy! It helped that towards the end, we were given tiaras and feather boas to wear as we finished the race! The finish line finally came, but after crossing, it wasn't the joyous, celebratory finish you would expect-at least not for me. I could lie and tell you I could've kept running, pretending to be in Olympic shape, but I'm just going to be honest. I was so exhausted and thirsty. My sides were burning so bad, it hurt to breath. I just wanted to sit lay on the ground, but I knew I needed to keep moving so my muscles didn't freeze up. My friends and family claim that I am the 'Drama Queen', but honestly I was in a lot of pain. I had just pushed my body further than it had ever gone and I was feeling it. I tried to enjoy the fact that we had just completed a half marathon and in all the pictures I put on a smile. I was very proud of what I had just done, I just couldn't jump around, laugh, and scream about it! The pain eventually subsided and my breathing returned to normal. I had finished in a better time (2:33:28) than the goal I had set for myself (2:45). As I look back on what I've done to get to this point and where I have come from in my running journey, I can't help but be proud of what I've done. Seriously, I used to dread 'the mile' in P.E. Who is this girl who runs a 5K like it's a warm-up?! I saw a quote that says, "You are so much stronger than you think you are" and it is SO true! If a mile is tough for you, start walking, take it one day at a time. If you want to do a 5k, work your way up to doing one. If it's something you really want to do, you will put your mind to it and make it happen! When you do that thing you thought was impossible, you will realize you are so much stronger than you think you are! I'm already planning for my next half. The trio is going to rock Savannah at the Rock n Roll Half in November. I have actually thought about doing a full marathon and I want to eventually do one-even if I crawl over the finish line. But right now, I want to get a few more halfs under my belt. I have completed my first half marathon and I have a sticker on my car to prove it!



I made it!



After. Everyone is pretending except me!



We did it!



My #1 fan









Something That's Blogworthy

It wasn't like every other Sunday where I just sit and listen. Yes, I confess, lately I have just been going through the motions. Sunday school, church, singing the songs without really paying attention to the words coming out of my mouth, bowing my head to pray, but having a million other thoughts running through my head-some of you are with me. This past Sunday I heard something that stuck with me. Beth Moore Jr. (I'm not sure if she really likes when people compare her to B.M) started teaching on Romans 8. You need to know that before she started teaching preaching I had asked everyone to pray for me and my job situation- for peace & wisdom. Remember this, it's important! We went through verse 6: For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. We talked about how 'death' isn't necessarily referring to physical death, but how when you are controlled by 'fleshly' things, you are killing certain things in your life. Some of you may be confused--this is what I mean: when your mind is consumed with thoughts of pride, anger, jealousy, doubting God, etc, then you are essentially killing parts of your spiritual life that are necessary. You can kill relationships. You can kill your joy. You can kill fellowship with God. And if your letting the flesh control you, you probably won't be bearing any fruit, well not any of the good kind(Romans 6:21)! The list could go on and on about what is put to death when we are controlled by the flesh. But the end of that verse says the mind controlled by the Spirit has life and peace. So on the other hand, if I am showing love, compassion, patience, and humility, I will experience life and peace. I can experience this through freedom in my own life from whatever it may be that was holding me down before. I will have right relationships with my friends, family, and co-workers. I'll have a right relationship with Christ. I'll bear the Spirit and His fruit. And The list goes on. Now, I've written all of that to get to what I actually want to share with you! God spoke to me Sunday morning. I knew I wasn't where I wanted or needed to be in my relationship with him. I knew I would spend time studying and memorizing Romans 8 this week, just like Stephanie encouraged us to (yes, I said memorizing. the whole chapter. And yes she is crazy awesome!) I went into church, my heart so heavy, feeling God's presence weighing on me. I couldn't even get the words out to one of the songs. I just sat and looked at them, thinking about the meaning of them and thankful for their truth.

Here I am, humbled by your Majesty, covered by your grace so free. Here I stand, knowing I'm a sinful man, covered by the blood of the lamb.

So Monday morning when I sat down to dig deeper into Romans 8, I realized something. I can't have peace (my prayer request) until I'm controlled by the Spirit. Having peace is 'easy' and I use that word lightly. He's given me everything I need, it's not something I have to search or wait for. When I'm focused on the things of God then peace comes as a result. Thats what I've done this week. In the mornings I sit down, open my bible, read and study and throughout the day I try to be intentional about being controlled by the Spirit. I have been waiting for God to give me peace, as if it would just fall out of the sky and hit me, but he has given me his word. It's up to me to dig through it and seek him. Reading the Bible and thinking about different verses reminds me that God is who he says he is and he will do what he says he's gonna do. And that gives me peace!