Grateful

Run: 2.4mi/23:30
At least I'm getting up and doing it, right? I liked that in my 23 minutes of running this morning I saw and said good morning to three people that I actually knew. Not other joggers/walkers, but three people that I know personally. Small town.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last night my sister in law posted a link on her facebook to this blog article on raising grateful kids. It's an important lessons, and not just for parents, but for all of us, to stop and think and remember all the things we have to be grateful for. It seems that when we have more, we thank less. All I really want is to live a life of gratitude because the gifts I have been given are so wonderful.

 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. 

 James 1:16-18

Books: East of Eden

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

It's no secret that I love John Steinbeck. He's my man. I picked up my copy of East of Eden while I was home over Christmas in the hopes of reading something familiar (and I've read To Kill a Mockingbird more times than I can count). I've always loved long, sweeping, epic family stories. I can trace this back to when I thought the Sweet Valley High genealogical super book was fascinating.

I believe there are a few different ways that a book can be good. You can enjoy the style of writing (Dickens), the subject matter (McDougall), or the characters (Lee). One way I tend to judge my books is how captivated I am. In all truth, I tend to look forward to the feeling of accomplishment of finishing a book. Unfortunately, that means that sometimes I'm more in a hurry to finish, than to enjoy the book. But, you know it's an excellent book when you look up and realize that you've reached the 300th page without noticing all those pages fly by.

The spiritual implications in Steinbeck's piece are huge, which can't be surprising with the name of the book. It's been a while since I read the book, and over time I tend to forget details of books I've read. I think on my last reading I was most enchanted with the way Steinbeck writes a story, the colossal story in its entirety, the characters. This time, the Biblical connections were of more interest.

The last word in the book is timshel, and the entire book revolves around this idea. Three of the characters have this conversation at a pivotal point in the book - that the word timshel, in Hebrew, means "thou mayest", not "thou shalt" or "do thou" as so many Bible translations have led us to believe. Timshel gives us permission, instead of telling us what we will do, or commanding us to do something. This word appears in the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter 4, after God finds Cain, discovers what he has done to Abel, and God tells Cain that although sin is "crouching at the door", timshel rule over sin. Not that he has to, not that he absolutely will, but that he has the ability to do so. One word can change so many things.

I could go on and on with this book review, but I'll stop before I tell everything. I know, I know, I'll read somethin besides Steinbeck soon.

Unholy and Holy

Run: 6.1mi/1:01:00

The unholy things we do for running:

It worked, though. I took those pills, they settled down nicely, and less than an hour later I was running nausea-free. You can't be smart every day, but today was my day to be intelligent. Luckily I only have one more running day to have to do this.

(On a sidenote: I used the vacuum correctly today. With the canister. Clean stairs.)

My job at our church is to plan and coordinate the younger children's Sunday School class material. There's a story, an activity page out of a book, and then they do a craft. Not all the crafts that I think up are great, but I have to try to make them easy to do, relevant to the story, and easily done with the supplies we have. I also try to keep in mind our teachers. With sometimes 15-20 little ones in a class, I have to remember it can't be too complicated, or the teacher has to help everyone.

And with all of that explanation, I give you - Jesus walking on water! I'm pretty proud of this one.

I scanned that Jesus out of our activity page, copied it, and printed it. I don't know about you, but I think that Jesus looks pretty awesome. He's like "hey guys, what's up? Me? Oh, I'm just walking on water".

Fíate

Fíate de Jehová de todo tu corazón,
    Y no te apoyes en tu propia prudencia. 
Proverbios 3:5

Home

I got asked again last night where I consider home to be. Is it Portland or is it Mexico? Having been away from Portland for a year and a half now, the question is warranted. When I leave Portland, do I feel like I'm going home? When I leave mexico to visit Portland, do I feel like I'm going home? Is Portland my real home but Mexico is my home away from home? Although I've only been living in my Mexican town full-time for 6 months, I've been in and out of that ministry and that town for over 8 years.

On the flight to San Diego this morning, I couldn't help but think about these questions. While today I feel like I'm heading "home" to my house, my belongings, my job, my friends, my church duties, my dog, my roads for running, and my Mexican sunrises, I left my heart-home. I say goodbye to my best friends, my family, my wonderful rain, and anything I could want at my fingertips.

Make no mistake, I continually ask myself if what I do is worth it. Is it worth only seeing my friends and family twice a year? Is it worth missing out on so many moments with them?

It is. I continually ask myself, and I continually remind myself that it is. My beautiful students are worth it. It is worth it when Andrea crawls into my lap to read a book with me. It is worth it when I walk in the cafeteria and they yell my name and want a high five. Those funny, crazy kids at church are worth it. It is worth it when I teach them a new game and make them laugh by falling on the floor. Most of all, it is worth it because I know God is in it.

Am I missing out, or do my gains outweigh my losses?

I am always asked where I feel my home is, but more often I am asked how long I plan to be in Mexico. I shrug my shoulders and say I have no idea. For how long? I'm not sure. But for now, it's worth it.

Turkey Trot

Run: 4.2 mi/43:00

I don't know why they call them Turkey Trots. The trots aren't anything that a runner wants to have. Just sayin'.

My body was tired this morning, but apparently not tired enough, because I went entirely too fast for an easy run. Oops.

Among the many things to be thankful for on this day, I am thankful for the ability and the will to run. I am also thankful that I can motivate myself to take off my pajamas and change into thin running clothes when my room is 50 degrees in the morning. This morning I actually counted "okay - 1... 2 ... 3" and I did it.

"Save us, LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD!

Sálvanos, Jehová, Dios nuestro, y recógenos de entre las naciones, para que alabemos tu santo nombre, para que nos gloriemos en tus alabanzas. ¡Bendito Jehová, Dios de Israel, desde la eternidad y hasta la eternidad! Diga todo el pueblo: «¡Amén!» ¡Aleluya!"

Psalms/Salmos 106:47-48

Thank you to the Lord, my God, for His uncountable, unspeakable, unrelenting gifts.

Perfume

"Y no me quiero conformar
He probado y quiero mas
Yo quiero enamorarme mas de ti
Enseñame amarte y a vivi
Conforme a tu justicia y tu verdad
Con mi vida quiero adorar
Con todo lo que tengo y lo que soy
Todo lo que he sido te lo doy
Que mi vida sea para ti como un perfume a tus pies"

"I don't want to conform

I've tried it, and I want more

I want to fall more in love with You

Teach me to love you and live
according to Your justice and Your truth 
I want to adore you with my life
With all that I have, and all that I am,
All that I have been
I give to You
That my life would be like a perfume unto Your feet."

The Weather and Cantos

It is so incredibly warm here today. While our days in the past few weeks have gotten a little colder, it always seems colder because the buildings don't have heat. So when it's 70 degrees outside, it's cooler inside, and the wind blows and everything seems cold. I got into the habit of grabbing a blanket while sitting in the living room at night, and having 3 blankets on top of me at night while I sleep. But today! Today the weather said "Fall? Fall? I'll show you Fall in Baja!!" and right now at 3pm it's 78 degrees. With no wind. Too warm for almost my birthday.

I've enjoyed the mornings getting colder - wearing a long sleeve tech shirt while out running, cuddling under blankets, thinking of sweaters, etc. I like those things. Coming from Portland, there are times when I miss a good misting rain, a day of cloudy skies, or a crisp Fall day with bright, clear skies. You know those days? Where it's crisp and cold, but gorgeously sunny? I miss those. I also miss mountains of green trees and seeing snow on the mountaintops, but I didn't really mean to start a pity party.

In other news - I got an ipod! Now, now. Don't shake your head at me. Three and a half years ago when I lived in Korea I bought myself an ipod shuffle. It was the cheapest one, it clipped on my waistband, and I used it to motivate myself to run. I told myself I got to have it if I ran :) And I did. That February I started my fascination with running. With that little ipod by my side. Because running is better with a little rock 'n' roll in your years.

Well.... I lost that ipod this last Spring. I left it at the gym, I think, and it was never turned in. Those lying, stealing, asodifhoiehge. It was my fault. So I discovered running without music, which is actually not too bad. Who would've thought?

Then my old roommate (from last year) e-mailed me recently and asked if I had my charging station because she had an identical ipod she wanted to send me!!! OoooOoo. I am a happy camper. Somebody named "Brenda" (who loves classic rock), dropped/left their ipod in my friend's driveway. Now the ipod is mine. I am SO happy.

So I get to listen to music, and this morning i got to listen to this gem: