Marathon Training

Yes, I'm training to walk a half marathon at the beginning of May.  (It's the Flying Pig in Cincinnati.)  Those who know me well have all asked the same thing, "Why?!"

This is a fair question because, well, I am completely unathletic.  No, I really mean that.  I know people say that, but then they talk about how they "just" played football in the neighborhood or played pickup games of basketball in the driveway.  Or played a season on the volleyball team.  Let me be clear.  I did NONE of those things.  I rode my bike, walked, and tried to make baskets in the hoop in our driveway.  (That did not involve running or anything, and it only rarely involved actually making a shot.)  I once tried out for the volleyball team--and failed.

I am the kid who was chosen last for teams in gym class.  Sometimes, if the mentally challenged kid was there or the girl who wet herself was there, I might be spared the humiliation of being chosen last.  (Why call it chosen anyway?  It's not like you're "chosen."  You're the only one left!!!  You're a "leftover!")

I am the kid who jogged (term used loosely) across the finish line 10 minutes after everyone else was done.  Sometimes, if I was lucky, I had company--the kid who weighed 200 pounds.  If there had been a kid in a wheelchair, he would've passed me.

That reminds me that my gym teacher in the 9th grade was an ex-Green Beret. 

(Excuse me for a moment as I hide under my blankets.  This brings back horrifying memories for me.)  

Okay, um, anyway, I can't go on.  Let's just say that PE and I didn't get along.  The only things I can ever recall liking and doing halfway decently were floor hockey and archery.  In later years, I also discovered shooting guns.  Archery and shooting guns are a lot of fun but not exactly the same level of activity as running or softball.

All right, so that's my athletic non-history.  That brings us to: why am I walking a half marathon?  More importantly, how am I walking a half marathon?

The easy answer is that a friend asked me to walk the marathon with her, and, for whatever reason, I said "yes."  Last year, in fact, this same friend asked me to take a dance class with her while our girls attended an art class.  The dance class was sort of fun, but we felt weird.  (Everyone else there was a couple.)   We switched to Zumba when we could.  And, surprisingly, I had fun!  (I sucked!  But I had a lot of fun!)

Then Kettering's Fraternal Order of Police Association had a fundraiser run/walk, and I asked her if she wanted to do it.  4 miles--it seemed like a really long distance!  I had never intentionally walked that far before.  (I'm sure I've done it before, but never on purpose and never all at one time.)

So I did a bit of training, which mostly consisted of a few walks of about 2-3 miles, with a final walk of 4 miles just to see if I could even do it.  Lo and behold, it was possible!

We had a small group (Melissa, Jean, and I, plus their boys and Craig) that painfully early, chilly November morning.  As runners, Craig and the boys soon left us in the dust, and the three of us ladies quickly faded to the end of the pack.  Eventually, we were so far behind we couldn't even see any other walkers!  When we got to the finish line, the guy had already put away all of the equipment!  LOL!  But we finished it and survived.

Shortly thereafter, Melissa asked me about doing the Flying Pig.  I don't know why I said "yes."  I just did.  (I did hesitate for a while; one of the biggest things holding me back was how early the race starts!  It's INSANE!)  Anyway, I finally decided to forget all of my worries and concerns and just go for it.

I found a training schedule online and have been following it now for 7 weeks.  I have two "short" days (3 or 4 miles) and one long day that has gradually increased as I've gone along.  The most I've walked now is 9 miles.

(Katie just asked me how many miles I've walked now altogether, so I added them up.  81 miles!  That's amazing!)

Anyway, here are some strange things.  I'm getting faster in my times.  I'm feeling stronger.  I think there are some muscles growing, too!  It's totally crazy to me!  And the craziest thing of all?  I'm really enjoying it.

(Maybe that ex-Green Beret Gym Teacher might even be a bit proud of me!)

Lent 2010

Almighty God, You have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by Your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.

I come away from this service with such a sense of peace.  One of the great beauties of the liturgy is that it focuses us back on God and away from ourselves and this world.  I spend too much time in the non-liturgical tradition trying to reinvent the wheel or trying to figure out how to stay close to God.  It's unsettling.  Here, here is the rhythm of spiritual life that has the power to transform and bring peace and an abiding joy.  I'm not trying to figure out what to do.  I can simply focus on God.

(Oh, not that you can't find those things in a Baptist church or any other Evangelical church.  Don't misunderstand me.  I'm speaking for myself here and of my own personal experience.)

There's so much more I could say, but I hesitate.  I'm afraid of who might read this and be offended.  (Or, worse yet, they won't exactly be offended, but they'll judge me and think me less of a Christian for what I say.)

So, anyway, I'm not exactly giving anything up for Lent, but I guess I am in a way.  I'm forgoing my morning internet time and spending that time with God instead.  Obviously, I should have been doing this all along, but, see, this is where the liturgical year pulls you out of ruts and shakes you up a bit to make you refocus.


I haven't decided yet which book I'll read.  I'm working through Madeleine L'Engle's book Circle of Quiet which is beautiful.  I'm not sure it's quite the right book, though.  I am reading Hebridean Altars, too, and that is much more appropriate for a morning quiet time.  Suggestions welcome! :)




 

Monday Daybook

Now for my daybook…. To participate in the meme is simple. All you do is answer the bolded questions with your own answers and then link yourself at the Simple Woman’s blog each week. You’re always welcome to check out the other ladies’ Daybooks who participated. This is a very sweet homekeeping meme that I’d encourage you to do as well.

For Today…February 15, 2010 at 12:15pm

Outside my Window…snow, snow, and more snow!  It's coming down again, and we may end up with 8 more inches on top of the 12 we already have.

I am thinking…that I will have to get moving soon.  We're off of school today, but I have so much work to do anyway.  There's regular housekeeping and then extra cleaning, sorting, and packing in addition to that.  So far, though, I've enjoyed a nice morning listening to cool music on my computer and surfing the web and doing some work for church, too.

From the learning rooms…like I said, it's a day off.  The girls are going to be cleaning, sorting, and packing, too.

I am thankful for…good health and a warm house.  Great music and my computer, too.

From the kitchen…I may make another batch of the refrigerated bread dough.  The first batch lasted 8 days, and the loaves baked on day 8 tasted just as good as the loaf baked on day 1!  Amazing!

I am wearing…comfy clothes.

I am reading…The Blythes Are Quoted  by L. M. Montgomery.  A dear friend in Canada shipped this book to me, since I couldn't order it here in the U.S.  I like it; it's not as polished as her other books, and it's really a collection of short stories.  You can tell that this book was really unfinished when Montgomery died.  But it's still fun to read something new by her.

I am hoping… that I can get everything done I need to before we put the house on the market in March!   Still hoping that one!  And I'm hoping I can walk 9 miles tomorrow.  It's my longest distance yet, so we'll see.  I did something yesterday that I never do--I jogged!  I didn't have time to walk 3 miles, so I jogged (and power-walked) 2 miles.  I did it in 31 minutes.  I hate running, but I felt good afterward.  It's strange.

I am creating…messes and more messes!  Why is it that cleaning, sorting, and packing create messes?  It seems completely illogical!  And, yet, the house is a disaster.

I am hearing...Sufjan Stevens, Chicago, and now it's INXS.  Also, the dog is snoring.

Around the house… Today, it will be laundry, litter boxes, dishwasher, bathrooms, and general straightening.  On top of that, I think I will tackle sorting out the kitchen and maybe the hall closet.  Or maybe Mr. Clean and I will Magic Erase more doors, windows, and baseboards.  He and I are spending a lot of time together.  Craig might need to be worried.

One of my favorite things… I'll just quote a favorite song of mine:

Wouldn't it be great, if no one ever got offended?
Wouldn't it be great to say what's really on your mind?
I have always said, "All the rules are made for bending," 

And if I let my hair down, would that be such a crime?

I am praying for... good health and us, as we clean, organize, pack, and move!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week…Tutoring, band, homeschool group at the Britton Farm, Art Class for Katie, Hannah's birthday party, and I'll be attending Ash Wednesday services somewhere.

I accomplished since last week…packing, cleaning, etc.  I think that'll be the answer for this for a long time.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you:

 

I Confess...

(Photo from here: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/743573)

Answers to "Why Church?"

I received some brilliant responses to this question on one of my messageboards.  Unfortunately, I can't quote them all here, but I did get permission to quote this response.  These two essays were originally published in The Charlotte Observer on Aug. 10 and Aug. 21, 2000.  They are written by Jane McAlister Pope.

The first is entitled "Come to church and join the dance," and "Clumsy dancing" is the title of the second.

********************

Where are you most likely to find Charlotte's average young adult on Sunday morning? Anywhere but church, according to The Charlotte Observer-WBTV News Carolinas Poll. Only 30 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds polled said they attended a house of worship in the past week. The results don't surprise me. Like many, I was raised in a church but stopped going during college. Post-graduation, I looked haphazardly for a new church home but my attendance was sparse, my involvement slight. Spirituality was increasingly important to me, but organized religion was not. I was perfectly fine, thank you, seeking God on my own terms.   In my late 20s, though, I found my way back to church - and my only regret is not having done so sooner. Here, then is advice gleaned from a couple of decades back in the pew. I offer it for those who suspect there's a kernel of truth in all this God talk but see churches as irrelevant, unnecessary or downright abhorrent. I'm necessarily writing from a Christian perspective because that's what I am, but I suspect much of this would also apply to membership in synagogues, mosques or any other religious community. Come to church and ... * Find a place to belong. Love isn't an abstract theological concept; it has to be lived out in community. Incredible strength and healing can arise from celebrating one another's joys and mourning one another's losses. When relationships break and friendships slip away, this extended family will endure. Doesn't that outweigh sleeping in on Sunday? * Prepare to be surprised. There's a church nearby that's better than you think. Don't judge the whole of Christendom by the raving televangelist with bad hair - or, for that matter, by the somber preacher whose dreary sermons put you to sleep. If you were driven away by threats of hellfire or by sappy churchiness, keep looking. The Good News is too real to stay constrained by man-made distortions; it keeps breaking out despite what people do to it. * Multiply your efforts to serve the world. Many hands can do more than two. Whatever the church's faults, it's done a pretty fair job over the years of feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, caring for the sick and generally carrying out the injunction to help "the least of these." Nowadays, many churches are turning their attention to caring for Earth, as well, seeking to be good stewards of God's creation. Got a cause? There's a church that will bless and further it. * See the best and worst of human behavior. You are probably certain that the church is a hotbed of hypocrisy, and you're right. It's an excellent place to find greed, pride, lust and any other sin known to man. That's because the church is made up of - surprise! - imperfect human beings. (The next big surprise: You're one, too.) But imperfection is not necessarily a bad thing. When our rough, flawed personalities rub together, the friction makes heat but also polishes. If we tough it out together, we all come out shining. And you're likely, too, to see demonstrations of human nature at its best, as churchgoers try (again, imperfectly) to imitate the radical love, compassion and sacrifice of Jesus. * Create a future that's better than the past. Yes, there are events in the history of Christianity that stink to high heaven. But don't use the bloody mistakes of yesterday - or today - as an excuse. No human institution fully lives up to its ideals. If you're on board, you are better able to influence its course. * Discover your place in the cosmos. Want to explore the meaning of life? Here's your chance to ask questions. You might discover that the teachings you rejected as a teen-ager make more sense when approached as mystery rather than force-fed as dogma. * Lighten your load. Yes, a church is likely to ask you to part with some of the excess baggage - emotional, behavioral and financial - that you cling to so desperately. Learn the joy of letting go. You'll be happier for it. * Graft onto the roots of tradition. A tree's roots not only pull water and nutrients from the soil, but keep it from toppling when storms arise. We need roots for the same reasons: nourishment and grounding. The teachings and rituals of the church feed our hearts and minds, while keeping us from blowing aimlessly about. * Connect to something bigger than yourself. The point of Christianity isn't joining a church, it is encountering Jesus. When a church nourishes that relationship, it connects you to something more immense and yet more intimate than you can imagine. * Join the dance. Yes, you can believe alone and pray alone and think great thoughts alone. But why miss out on the dance? I don't pretend to fully understand the doctrine of the Trinity, but here's what it means to me: God is One, but within that One there is relationship, love, mutuality. In short, dancing. Not the erotic exclusiveness of the twosome - the couple whose love shuts out the world - but the circle dance of a trio that beckons onlookers to join. If God loves best in community, who are we to set up ourselves as spiritual loners?

******************************

The follow-up:

In my last column, I offered 10 reasons why belonging to a church makes more sense than trying to be a spiritual lone wolf. I did not do so out of naive idealism. As fond as I am of my current church, - and that is very fond indeed - I am well aware that no church comes close to perfection. Sometimes the dance of spiritual fellowship becomes a clumsy tangle, marked more by toe-stomping than by grace. Part of the reason for this is, as I noted before, that churches are made up of fallible, imperfect human beings. Every human institution fails to fully live up to its ideals, and the ideals in this case are especially high. Here are a few surefire ways a church can repel newcomers and long-time members, too: * Fight for control. Power struggles are particularly unseemly among followers of the man who taught that a true leader must be a servant. * Muddle the message. A church with nothing to proclaim has no reason to exist. Some churches seem so afraid of offending someone that they might as well speak in whispers. Others claim to be worshipping God when it's obvious they're really devoted to a building, an organization or a charismatic leader. * Amputate vital organs. Faith involves minds, hearts and hands. No one of these is expendable. A well-balanced church offers ample opportunities to learn, to question, to feel, to be inspired, and to serve. * Ignore the rest of the world. Churches that resist looking past their stained-glass windows abandon their calling to help the poor and oppressed. If you want the world to come to you, first go to the world. * Fail to greet a new face. Or a familiar one, for that matter. No one should be able to leave a service without having received a personal welcome. True community takes a lot more than this, of course, but it's the bare minimum. * Look through grime-colored glasses. If you see only evil and decadence outside your church doors, you're not seeing clearly. Even a broken world has glints of glory. But in too many churches the tut-tuts far outnumber the alleluias. * Analyze the text without telling the story. Bible scholarship can be fascinating, and there's a place for it in the church's educational mission. But it can't take the place of hearing the stories and absorbing them into your patterns of thinking and living. * Enshrine the past. However unchanging and universal the message, it must be presented to each culture and each generation in ways that are fresh and comprehensible. Comfort with tradition can blind us to the need for new expressions of faith. * Stop growing. Not in membership, but in understanding and maturity. Faith that stands still becomes stagnant. Churches, like individuals, go astray when they substitute their own agenda for God's. Often it's a result of latching onto one aspect of Jesus or his teachings and ignoring the rest. What Jesus taught and lived contains so many paradoxes that no hard and fast picture of him will stand. There's always more to uncover, always another direction to follow. The only way to be somewhat sure you're still on track is to keep studying scripture, keep praying, and keep questioning your own assumptions. It's that last part that trips up most of us, both churches and individuals. And tripping makes dancing awfully difficult. ***************** Thank you, Jane, for giving me permission to quote you! :)

8 Miles and Why Church?

Okay, time for a real post! :)

So I walked 8 miles last night; I was not looking forward to it, and it was really hard--harder than I thought it would be.  Up until 5 miles, it wasn't too bad, but those last 3 miles were a struggle.  I don't know.  I'm just discouraged by the whole experience, even though I did the 8 miles, and I did it in a decent time.  Maybe I'm just afraid that if 8 miles was this much of a struggle how am I going to do over 13?  Did I bite off more than I can chew? :-\

Anyway,  in philosophical news, I've been wondering, "Why church?"  This is how I phrased my thoughts to my online friends:

What makes the church unique in a positive way in today's culture?

Historically, the church has been unique in the fact that it was a source for great art, architecture, and music. It also used to be about the only place you could turn to for charity. It used to be the main place for community, too. It was the birthplace of social reforms and civil rights. (Yes, I know there were negatives, too, but that's not really my point here.)

But, now, all of those things are readily found in the secular world. So what is our point? What would make people want to be a part of a church? If the answer is Jesus and faith, then how so exactly? 

I don't think I phrased it quite well, though, and I would add: "Why would a non-believer want to join a church?  He can find social outlets elsewhere; he can give to charity through a number of secular organizations.  He can enjoy great art and architecture anywhere, and he can participate in social reform groups outside of the church."

I realize this sounds slightly heretical.  (Sorry.  For those of you who don't know me well, that's not unusual.)  I realize it's rather negative, too.   But, well, yeah, unfortunately, that's been my mind lately.

I have gotten some incredibly wise and brilliant answers, by the way, but I'll leave you in suspense for now. ;)
 

New Digs (Sort of)

Hi! Welcome to my new blog! I've decided to move here from my homeschoolblogger.com blog. It's been a good place, but I wanted a different look.