Keep Walking . . .

I know it has been a while . . . and I know that I haven't posted any pics from Thanksgiving yet. My goal is to get those up before Christmas, but hopefully sooner :) Life has been bustling around here - attending parades with Daddy, singing at the mall, caroling at a nursing home, spending the afternoon with friends making gingerbread houses and ornaments (Thank you, sweet friend), our entire family going to the dentist, schooling, playing, wrapping, planning . . . Of course, the list is endless - or so it seems at times. In the midst of all that, I have had the blessed opportunity to stop and gaze at my precious 3 month old little girl as she laughs and talks with me, hear stories about heaven from my 2 1/2 year old, watch my son dress up like the brave, adventurous father in Swiss Family Robinson, and see my oldest daughter reenact a drama from the beginning of Creation to the Second Coming. It just doesn't get any better than that - and all of it within the past 24 hours!!
Sadly, though, there are people that I love that don't always have the same opportunity. Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to reconnect with many of my friends from high school, college, seminary, summer camp, etc. What fun it has been to see the pictures, hear the stories and be able to be in touch with people who have deeply impacted my life! Our friends are spread across the nation - and the world - and it has been so good to know more about where they are and how I can be praying for them. Something that I didn't expect, however, was to be heartbroken and to grieve over some of the things that dear friends have experienced. I never thought that people I went to seminary with would get divorced - or that a friend from high school would now be in a wheelchair - or that another friend from my youth group would have just lost her very young son after a long battle with cancer. I just can't imagine the suffering that they have - and continue to - endure.
Sin - I hate it. But nowhere near as much as Our Heavenly Father. How much more does it sicken and anger Him? The results of it so horrible: separation, death, sickness, brokenness, pain. It makes me long for heaven so much more. Sarah Elizabeth told me today, "In Heaven God will take care of us because He loves us." It will be wonderful to be with Him and be able to see His glory in all its fullness. No stain of sin anywhere. Thank you, Jesus, for the incredible love shown in your death to overcome sin. Without you, there truly would be no hope. Praise the Lord there is! We do not grieve as one without hope precisely because of Christ's death and resurrection (I Thess. 4)
I am finding that Paul expressed my current sentiments better than able to right now. "For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened - not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him." 2 Corinthians 5:2-9
May this ripping of my heart serve one purpose - to love Him more and to love others well. May it cause me to long for Him even more - hate sin even more (especially that in my own life) - and to make it my aim to please him.
As a young child, part of that passage was printed on a banner that hung in my church for several years. I think I am beginning to understand what it means a little more than I did back then. We MUST walk by faith and not by sight. We have no choice - it is too dark to see and we have to trust the One who is the Light and who knows the way. May He give all of us the courage to do so.

No marathon yet . . .

Okay, let's be honest - probably no marathon ever :)  However, today I started jogging again!  Yea!  I was inspired to get back in shape after Jason and I hiked several miles in the Smoky Mountains last week.  It felt great!

Knowing how much I dislike the cold weather, on our way back from Virginia I invested in some power stretch pants and a half-zip at REI.  They were marvelous!  I was toasty the whole time :)  My sweet husband spent some time last night putting some new pumping music on my hand-me-down IPOD, too.  It was super encouraging to have some great music to keep me going, while helping me focus on the Lord.  Thanks, Baby :)  I love you!  

For quite a while I have been ready to get back into the groove of exercising.  I feel so much better, am more energized through the day, and I get ready for the day early on.  I am constantly aware that I need to be taking better care of myself and this is one way that I can do it.  I do plan to be running in Memphis for St. Jude next year celebrating with the Gates family.  What a victory "lap" that will be.  (We love you, Caleb!)

So, one way you can really help me out in this department is to ask me if I have kept it up!  It is so easy to get in a routine for a while until something happens (everyday life!), and then slack off.  I would like to be more consistent in this area of my life.  So . . . ask away and hold me accountable on this!  You never know, I actually could run a marathon someday - or at least a half marathon - but I would just be content being a healthy wife and mama :)