Romans 8:26

In light of the many physical/medical matters that need prayer in my family currently, I thought I'd share this...

I know sometimes when I'm praying, I feel a bit stuck, what am I supposed to say? How do I say it? Can I pray for the "wrong" thing, even if I have the best interests of everyone in mind? This list of wonderings could go on and on and on and on. Then I end up just asking myself these questions, get distracted, do the dishes and never quite get around to finishing that prayer...

...the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. —Romans 8:26 (NIV)

The Holy Spirit lives in Us if we are Christ followers....intercession is prayer that asks for something (healing, perserverance, a million dollars). Sometimes, when we are hurting, all we can express is groaning. The Spirit understands. He is the One who knows two very important things....what we want/need and what God's will is. He takes our groanings and passes on the most important deep meaning that He knows will match with God's will and offers them as our prayer.

It's easy to forget about this, I constantly forget, but it's amazing what remembering it will do to your prayer life.

On a side and selfish note, my legs feel 90% better! I'm going to hit the gym and do some light/easy cardio today to get them back in the groove of movement and then pick back up with training tomorrow and try 8 miles.

Holmes has his first 10K on Saturday, this will also be the first race that I actually get to see cross the finish line as a spectator!!

And the larynx is complete!!

Luke 2:8-20

It's funny how God twists things up in your life to show His truth....

This could be long or short, I might be late for work, but it's time for this to come out!

I run. A lot. I love it, I'm obsessed with it and I enjoy talking about it almost as much as I love talking about cochlear implants. I will talk to a stranger on the bus (if I ever rode the bus I would) and I will beg plead and push friends into running without a second thought. If you know, you probably already know that, because I've tried it on you!
I decided last week to start strength training. Holmes found us a great deal at a fantastic gym and I jumped right in....the deep end, without swim lessons. I did a BodyPump lifting class Friday afternoon and then a circuit training lifting workout...the NEXT MORNING. This is a basic exercise no-no. and I'm paying for it. Deeply.

Boooooring, you are probably thinking, stick with me, this goes somewhere....

We found a church, finally. We've been twice and have really enjoyed it both times. The preachers (we heard the head guy and a guest speaker) both "teach-preach". I like to learn about the history and the background of what the Word tells us. It helps me get deeper into the teachings. So (fortunately) this has my mind back on God a little more than it has been in the recent months.

The other day while running, I realized that I as much as I will talk freely about running or CIs to people, I may never speak Jesus' name to them. I'm not ashamed of my faith. I'm not scared of what someone might say back, but there is still something inside me that just doesn't care to share what I feel. Well, that's just plain sad. Because Jesus is way more exciting than running or CIs.

Mir, my philosophy partner, and I were discussing some of this the other day. She had an amazing encounter with God in her life last week and shared it on her blog. I told her, you know, I just don't have anything life altering to share. So I decided to spend a little time in the Word. I like "Our Daily Bread" because its short and concise, yet usually very touching. Yesterday, it was overboard! Every single one spoke to me directly. It was so reassuring. Not life altering, but comforting. God is still there, of course, He is, He never goes anywhere. It's ME that strays.

Well, I decided to try and stick with it and started with a devotional this morning, which has lead to this...

Luke 2:8-20
Just the basic story of how the birth of Jesus was shared with people. Jesus was born. For us.
Amazing. Life altering. Wonderful.

Now, having to spend this extra time "resting" and NOT running or working out, I've had a bit of time to consider all of this...and I'm glad for it.
It's nice how things get twisted sometimes

Blessed

It's been a while since I've felt so tangibly blessed, if that makes any sense.

My stepfather was admitted to the hospital last night...the docs at the time didn't know what the problem was, but mentioned it could be anything from an ulcer to stomach cancer. So I hopped in the car and drove straight home.

Biggest blessing: It's *just* an ulcer. And kidney stones...and gall stones...

Other blessings:
--supporting co-workers who were immediately willing to cover for me at work so that I could be with my family.
--family, future family and friends. i almost don't even have the words. holmes, of course, was so supportive and wonderful. he helped me "make the decision" to come down (it didn't take long or a lot of convincing). he helped me pack and then when i realized i didn't pack near enough, he overnighted me more. our family, mine AND his, were ready with prayers and wishes of good thoughts. and friends. the people that don't HAVE to care. april came and just walked around with me at friendly so i could get out of the hospital for a bit while my alan was down having the endoscopy. krick came and sat with me while i ate dinner at jason's deli so i didn't have to eat fast food again (mcd's last night, ugh). neena, crotts, ben, miranda, erik and liz kept checking in. lots of concerned comments on facebook were so encouraging-just to know so many people were praying for him, us and his doctors. a pastor and deacon from the church we don't even attend anymore came to pray over us and called.

Thanks to everyone for all the prayers!

T W E N T Y Miles, a clay larynx and GO HEELS!

What? 20? Twenty?

Yep. 20 Miles.

Earlier this week, I started to get kind of anxious about it, so I posted a message on my local running club forum asking tips and advice. Two girls offered to run with me, despite my crazy slow pace! I was hesitant at first, because I LOVE to run alone...but running twenty calls for drastic measures. It ended up being GREAT. One of the girls has lived (and run) the area for years and showed us parts of town I'd never seen. Richmond is actually a really pretty town!

If you move to a new town and want to
get to know it, have a native take you on a long run

The run was great. After a weird week at work with 3 1/2 snow days and plenty of frustrating school work (see below about building a larynx) it was really great to get out there and have control of something so huge. I was in some pain around miles 14-16, but 17 and on were not so bad! It didn't take as long as I thought it would. I was able to kick it for the last .2 (good for mental imagery during the big race).

So, I'm also building a larynx. Out of modeling clay and a toilet paper roll. It's HARD. I spent three hours on it last night, it's nowhere near finished. And I came up with a new idea, so I might actually redo part of it. I would post a picture of it, but I haven't uploaded them yet and I'm not getting off this couch.

But I will post a picture of the view from my run this morning...doesn't do the view justice, it was a really great shot...you could see the tall clock tower of main street station across the river

oh. and GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HEELS!

if you have four spare minutes, youtube "greg paulus i kissed a boy", man that's a classic!

10 Inches!

It's so pretty!
We are very blessed to have power right now, it's flashed several times, and a transformer behind our house exploded last night. Literally. Holmes saw the flash and had to call the fire department. I'm praying for everyone without power and hope everyone stays safe. I'm also very VERY thankful that Holmes' meeting in Tidewater was cancelled. I didn't sleep in (shocking, I never can), but I've been enjoying being up.
Went running, a quick three miles...well, it wasn't so quick, I had to go kinda slowly to make sure I didn't fall, but it was really fun.

Accepted!

I got into Graduate School!

So of course, I promptly practice procrastination by playing tennis (and alliteration apparently, ohhhh, it's neverending) and blogging!

WOO! So it's the graduate program for speech language pathology in the communication sciences and disorders department in the College of Education and Human Sciences of Longwood University!

Located in lovely Farmville, VA, Longwood is home of the Lancers. Boasting the colors lancer blue and white, they do NOT have a football team.

U.S. News & World Report ranks Longwood University one of the “Top Public Universities-Master’s” in the South at the number 11 position.

I'll start the program in the Fall of this year. I'll probably take two more pre-requisite courses this summer prior to starting.

28, 1, 12, 10, 2, 101, 24, 16, 18, 6, 5

Mike's age, the hours I studied, the hours I should've been studying, the hours I worked in a day, the nights Mike was out of town, the points UNC put up on Duke, the roses I received, the miles I ran on Saturday, the tulips I received, the white rose-tinis I drank, the hours I slept during the day on Sunday. Last week was wild!




Mike's birthday was fantastic...I surprised him by inviting Josh, Kristina, Chase, Lara, Adam, Ashley and Ben up to join us for dinner at Red Hot and Blue. That's where he wanted to eat, and to double the surprise, it was all you can eat rib buffet night, yummmm. We also had some awesome birthday cake (thank goodness for training!)

Mike was gone for two nights and three days last week, so I decided to spend time with him before he left, not a bad decision, but it came at the expense of my studies. I've also been working longer hours. We added a class, I have an 18 month little girl with moderate to profound hearing loss twice a week now, on top of teaching the kindergarteners in the afternoon, and my normal therapy kids. We're also getting more referrals, which means more evals, which means more paperwork. But wow, I love it. I really do. But my classes for Longwood? I ended up procrastinating ALL week. I didn't feel good one night, Carolina played Duke one night (and put up 101 points, woooooooo!) and then Mike came home early on Friday. Books? Untouched.

Friday Holmes sent me flowers at work! They were these beautiful assorted rainbow of roses, 2 dozen! and candy! I loved them. Although, I do think roses smell awful.
I brought them home that afternoon and he was very disappointed to see they were the WRONG flowers! He ordered 18 assorted tulips in a great polka dot vase.They were delivered the next day. Our dining room table is so beautiful!

Saturday morning, I had a long run scheduled, as usual. 16. SIXTEEN. I was really really scared, especially after how horrible last week's long run was. I have a fuel belt I wear on my long runs. It has two 8 oz bottles. I need to get one with four bottles. I decided to run two 8 mile loops, so I could swing back by the apartment and fill up my water bottles if I needed to. I think that was my saving grace. Running 8 miles, NO BIG DEAL. Knock it out, then just do it again! Mentally, it worked for me. If any of you think that running is NOT 85% mental, you are WRONG my friend. I knew where mile 15 started on my route, and when I turned that corner, I was grinning. Smiling after running 14 miles, I love it! There were even a couple hills left in the route. A neighbor waved (for the second time that morning) and asked how far in I was, I yelled back with the utmost pride, one more to go and I'll have done SIXTEEN! I felt great. I mean, really great. It was so fantastic. Holmes had gone out for his long run, five. The longest by a little bit after his 8k in November. He came back grinning as well! He ran it straight through and also felt great. WOOOOOO!

Holmes' fraternity was having an alumni function Saturday night. We hadn't planned to go but last minute, Chase made us an offer we couldn't refuse! We got to get dressed up and spend time with some good friends. were making these cocktails called White Rose-tinis, irish creme, vodka and creme de menthe. Oh they were so very yummy. I had too many. and paid for it dearly on Sunday (see hours slept). I'm too old for that! But the "date" was worth it, we had a blast!