Covenant

The first covenant I ever entered into was my marriage.

I vowed to love, honor, and cherish this man until death do us part.

It was the best commitment I ever made.

This first covenant has lead me to enter into several others.  It lead to the baptisms of first our son, then our daughter, and finally, myself.  

Next came the baptism of my Godson and my being able to be his Godmother.  

It lead to our renewing our wedding vows, not once, not twice, but three times (yes, there's a whole other story there).

Covenants are not to be entered into lightly.  They are powerful and life changing. 

Sometimes, they are life saving.

What covenants have you entered into?

Celebrate

Today my husband and I were recognized at church for our service as Youth Leaders for the last eight years.  In November we made the hard decision to step down and pass the torch to another couple.  The times we have shared with the amazing youth of our church have been truly celebratory.

We went on two mission trips to New Orleans to attend the National Lutheran Youth Gathering.  We served countless meals to our congregation.  We held several Lock Ins, Paintball Games, Superbowl Parties, Pizza Parties etc.

It was hard work, but so very rewarding.  These youth are part of our family and we will always be there for them.

An example of the bond we have with these kids, when I was stuck in the nursing home during my recovery, Deane still held Sunday School each week.  The kids asked if they could move Sunday School to the nursing home so I could still be part of it.  The Sunday they invaded my room was one of the best days of my life.

These youth and their families are amazing people and it is they that should be celebrated and thanked for allowing us into their lives.

Thank you!  We shall celebrate heartily next weekend with the lovely gift certificate you gave us, it is perfect!

Joy

What brings me joy? Family.

Not necessarily blood relatives, I'm talking about the amazing people who have accepted me into their lives and allow me to share myself with them. People like my beautiful Godson Noah pictured above.  Is that not an expression of pure joy on his face?

I am seriously happiest when I am surrounded by those I love and I know that I've done something to make them happy.

Joy is not something I want to keep to myself, it is something to be shared. Joy is not complicated, it is simple.  It is pure.  Joy is love.

What does Joy mean to you?  What brings Joy to your life? Please share your thoughts and stories with me, it will bring me Joy.

Alone

Why are all the images about being alone sad?  I took this photo at Gettysburg, I just thought it was a beautiful tree and I like the way the light was hitting it.  When I looked for images related to the word "alone" everything I found looked stark like this.  

"Alone" is not bad.

Sometimes, alone is a bountiful blessing.  For me, a working mother and wife involved in many activities and friends, alone is very precious.

When I'm alone, I can indulge in bad movies or TV and no one will judge me.  

When I'm alone, I can sit on the couch for hours in my PJs and play xbox without guilt.

When I'm alone, I can read a book!

When I'm alone, I can sort through closets, dressers and drawers and find bags of things to donate to Empty Tomb.

When I'm alone, I can turn into the White Tornado and clean the house top to bottom in a matter of hours.

When I'm alone I can sit in the sun and dream.

When I'm alone, I can concentrate on me.

What is your favorite thing about being alone?

Look

Look.

Look up.

Look out.

Look ahead.

Look around.

Look under every leaf.

Look for the best in everything.

How do you look at life? 

Do you look at life? 

Do you spend time thinking about how you are moving through life?  

I do.

I only got a couple of hours of sleep last night, I'm mainly running on caffeine right now, and that's starting to run low, so this may be a bit of a ramble today. Even so, I urge you to stop and take a look around you at all of the really good  things in your life.  It's very easy to get caught up and focus on the bad and stressful things, but I find it much more refreshing to look at the good things.

Good things for me today:

I got complimented on my boots.  That made me smile.

My husband is going to make chili for supper, yum!

I have access to lots of coffee, if I need it.

I really enjoyed the cooking class we (Deane, Cora and I) took last night, and the stir fry we made was a great lunch. (Hmm, I'm starting to sense that food is important to me :) ).

I work in a positive atmosphere.

I can walk, it may not always be easy, but I can do it. 

I will sleep better tonight.

Ok, your turn!  Look around and tell me something good!

Announce

It used to be that if you had an important announcement to make you sent out cards or letters to your family and friends.

Or maybe you held a party, raised a glass and tapped it with your knife to get everyone's attention, and made your announcement in person to the applause of those present.

Sometimes announcements are made over loud speakers or broadcast over the TV and radio. 

It seems to me that most announcements are made over social media today.  News that used to take hours, days, weeks, months or even years to reach the far corners of the earth, is now received almost instantly via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.

Today I can find out about the birth of a friend's baby moments after they are born.  I can also learn of job promotions or changes, engagements, performances and what you are eating right now as it happens.

Sometimes these announcements are wonderful.  Sometimes they make me cry. Sometimes they are things I really care about, sometimes, not so much. Sometimes I'm sad when I try to relay a story to a friend in person, only to discover they've already "heard" it on Facebook.

I love being able to stay in contact with friends and family everywhere.  I love feeling like I'm a part of their lives even if I haven't seen them in years.  I try to remember though, that the really big things are best told in person.  That to truly stay connected, I must stay involved and invested.

I announce to you that I will try to do a better job of connecting with you in person. I want to be involved and invested.

Walking - One Step at a Time

Tomorrow will mark 4 weeks that I've walked a minimum of 10,000 steps, (4 miles) every weekday. That's more walking than I've done in years.
More walking than I thought I'd ever be able to do not so long ago.
Over the last four weeks I've been asked a lot of questions about my walking, so I thought I'd share what I've learned so far.

First, just a little bit of background.  About 3.5 years ago I was in a very bad motorcycle accident that, among other things, broke my tail bone and my pelvis in 6 places and has resulted in fairly severe nerve damage to my right leg. I also have a 6 in. pin in my back, between my pelvic bones. As a result of the nerve damage, I have rather limited feeling in my right leg and in my foot in particular. Also, my right ankle doesn't work quite right and I am unable to go up on tiptoe on my right foot.  I spent almost five months flat on my back in a nursing home and have been working on recovering ever since.
Walking at all, and walking unassisted (no walker or cane), is a miracle for me.  I still have problems with stairs and uneven surfaces (my balance is a bit off), but in general I have very little to complain about.

Lessons Learned 

• Walking is hard!
•  It takes time to build up to being able to walk long distances consistently.

• I started several months ago by just taking the long way around when I'd go to the restroom at work.
• Ibuprofen is my friend, cold weather is not.

• Motivation and Support are Key
• About six months ago I bought a Fitbit for myself and one for my husband.  I wanted to start keeping track of how much exercise we were getting and hopefully motivate myself to move more.
• Four weeks ago a friend who also has a Fitbit started issuing daily goal challenges to her Fitbit friends. I LOVE these!  They let you set your own personal goal and then show you your progress throughout the day.  It also shows your friend's progress so you can cheer them and then quietly compete against them :).  For me, this is the nudge I need to get up and keep moving.  Thank You to all my Fitbit pals, you really help me keep it going.

• Be consistent
• It is so easy to just sit at my desk all day and come up with reasons why I shouldn't go for a walk.  I've found that if I set a schedule for myself it really helps.  I try to walk for 15-20 min. three times a day: 8:15am, 11:15am and 3:00pm.  Of course, I have to adjust this around my work schedule, but having it in my head that this is when I need to get up and walk really helps me.

• People look at you funny when they see you walking laps around the atrium of your building; but they get over it!
• Soon, people you've never met but work in the same building with, start saying "Hi!" when they see you doing laps.  Sometime they even lend a word of encouragement.
• Co-workers stop to talk to you about work which can allow you to avoid calling a meeting.
• Friends and co-workers start asking you about walking and sometimes they join you.

• It gets better. 
• When I started I could only do 4 laps twice a day.  Now I'm up to 5 laps 3 times a day and still hit the gym some evenings.
• I am getting stronger and maybe walking the tiniest bit faster.
• I have less pain.  Getting started is still hard, but once I get moving I can keep moving for longer and not be in pain later.

I don't know how long I will keep this up, I hope for a good while.  I'd love to walk a 5K sometime in the next year.  I'd love to not need to take a scooter to GenCon this summer. I'd really love to lose some weight.  I'll get there.  Slowly but surely, I'll get there as long as I have people helping me along the way!

I'm looking forward to better weather so I can take my walks outside.  If you see me wandering around campus come and join me.  I'm always up for getting a cup of coffee or just going along for the walk.