Forever Love!

Young love, strong love, true love, it's a new love

They're gonna make it through the hard times

Walk those lines, yeah these ties'll bind...young love 

This is a sample of the engagement pictures Kate G. took of us today! I'm so excited to see the rest! We had fun and she did such a great job!

Thankful.

There are so many things I am thankful for. To start off with, I'm thankful to be home finally! After two days of traveling on snowy roads, a trip that should only take one day (11 hours), Jason and I made it safely home from La Grange WY. (I had flown there on Monday afternoon so that I could see his campus and our house! And also drive home Tuesday together...which turned into driving to Billings on Tuesday, staying the night there, and getting to Missoula today!)

I'm thankful for this handsome man that I'm going to marry
 and spend the rest of my life serving God with.
He has such an incredible heart for God and for me.
 I am so blessed. We're crazy in love!

I am thankful for our housing opportunity for next school year in La Grange, Wyoming.
IT'S FREE! Yes, it's not much to look at, but I am so willing to make it work.
It'll save money. It'll be our own place. All we have to pay is utilities.
Disclaimer: it's not set in stone yet, but a very likely possibility!

I'm thankful for my awesome family. I have parents that walk in righteousness and lead our family to do the same. They provide everything they can for our family. I have a great sister Heidi who is such a close, sweet, friend. She is a talented athlete. I have a very tall brother Nathan who is...very smart. He always helps me with my computer problems. Ya he's a nerd, but it's great! And I have a precious sister Josie who smothers me with hugs and kisses and says she's misses me everyday. She also steals my bed and sends boxes of her toys to college with me.

I'm thankful for my great, lifelong friends, Monz and Meaghan. I'm thankful for Corban and learning through a Christian world-view. I'm thankful for my cross-country team at Corban. I'm thankful for my roommate Kate!  God has blessed me in so many ways. So so so many. I could go on for a while.


Our God is so good and so faithful. He has redeemed me and saved me from His all consuming wrath, which I don't thank Him enough for!

Hmm.

I'm sitting in a Starbucks working on a big paper right now. This is a conversation I just overheard between the two workers:
    
    Female: "I gave up a shift because I don't want to bring my daughter to work. That's not being a good parent."


    Male: "Dude. Good parenting is when you turn on the tv and let the tv watch your kid."


What is he thinking??? It's sad that a lot of the world thinks the same thing...

Goals.

Sorry this is probably boring to you that I just have posted my goals lately...but 1) I feel more accountable knowing that I put my goals out in public and 2) I've been WAY to busy to write about anything else...although I'd like to! Doing the cleanse this week was great! I did accomplish about two-thirds of my goals I think... Jason and I learned a lot this week and fell more in love! He's so good at loving me! I'm do blessed! I love that we get to grow together! Pray for him because he just hurt his ankle really bad in his first basketball game! This week is gonna be even more busy...I have three tests this week and a big paper that I have to write that's due before I head HOME on Thanksgiving Break! (Only 1 more week!!!!!) So you might not "see" me around much... But pray that I'll be diligent and not stressed!


Goals 11/14-11/20/2010:
* pray daily about who to reach * be diligent and disciplined * blog/etc only after homework is done * elliptical/bike 5xs, lift 3xs, abs 5xs * work on memorizing/reading Colossians 3 * eat right (only 1 dessert!) * thank you note to Granddad/Grandmom * get/post XC pictures * LOVE JESUS! * ENJOY each day!

Goals.

for this week 11/07-11/13.


* pray daily about who God wants me to reach that day
* practice a gentle tongue
* pick a verse and memorize it
* redirect judgmental/critical thoughts to something positive


* be disciplined - don't waste time


* call Heidi
* call Kylie
* skype family
* write encouragement notes to my dorm "sisters"


* do abs daily
* lift weights 3xs this week
* start hip exercises
* cleanse - physically/nutritionally (don't eat animal products, things with gluten, preservatives, caffeine, or added sugar) and spiritually (no blog/non-school computer time the rest of the week, only Christian music/books, avoid "secular/worldly" influences...)

2010 Cross Country Championships - Klamath Falls Oregon...and the preparation for it...

On Wednesday in my devotion, I was inspired with the verse Hebrews 12:1, "Let us run the race that is before us and never give up."


On Friday night, sitting on the hotel floor in Klamath Falls, my prayer was, "God please take my body that I feel is fat and slow and broken, and my mind that is weak and feeble, and make them into something beautiful for You. That's all I have God - my weak and insufficient self. It's my sacrifice for You - it's for You to have for Your glory. Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee. God I trust You. Blow me away."


On Saturday morning, during our pre-race warm up, my prayers/thoughts echoed the words of a Relient K song ("For the Moments I Feel Faint"). "I think I can't, I think I can't, but I think You can I think You can... Gather my insufficiencies and place them in Your hands..."


Now, I'm wrestling with being ok with my race and with understanding/accepting that everything happens for His glory and for His purpose. But I still wrestle with seeing His plan and purpose in all of this... I ran the slowest race of my season and possibly my career. I placed 7th on my team instead of in the top 5. I was beat by two girls who hadn't consistently run cross-country until this season, which was hard to take because cross-country has been "my thing" since my sophomore year in high school. (But I'm proud of them - they had amazing races!) My legs absolutely died. My calves were on fire. I wanted to collapse half way through. Yes, this is a very tough course will lots of hills and higher elevation. But no excuses. None of that should have happened. I thought I was so ready. I wrestle with defining "my best" when there is no quantitative proof, only subjective qualitative questions such as "well did you feel like your ran your hardest?" The thing is, I don't know. There's always the "what if I could've ran faster. What if I could've pushed more. What if..." Without the concrete evidence of a personal record time-wise, I don't know how to judge whether or not it was my best. Our team, which was ranked 6th coming into conference, placed 8th (out of 9 teams). Very discouraging. Very disappointing. A very tough way to end my collegiate cross-country career. I'm really unresolved about it. I don't understand why it ended so badly. It's hard to accept. But I must, somehow. Because it happened. And I need to let it change me for the better, somehow.


Even though I'm still wrestling with acceptance and almost cry every time I think about the race, I know God's plans are perfect. God's plans are greater. And that life goes on. New chapters, new "races" are ahead of me. In the immediate, athletic future, is my track season. Bring on the 5k and steeplechase. I will give my best. I will train hard this off-season. I will pursue breaking 20 minutes on the track in a 5k, even though I don't enjoy running 12 laps around a track. And in the metaphoric way, I will pursue this new "race" with Jason, as we enter into marriage in 265 days. Life goes on. A very good life. I'm so blessed!