October 18th, Columbus Marathon – Here I come!

Well, I bit the bullet yesterday and registered for the Columbus Marathon on October 18!! I’ve been thinking about it for a while now and am tired of letting my fears and excuses run the show. I’ve said it out loud to a few people over the last few weeks and decided I just needed to make the commitment. I can’t believe I’m doing it since I clearly remember saying to myself after finishing the 1/2 last fall – “I will NEVER do this again. What was I thinking.” I guess I stuck to my word though since I’m not doing the 1/2 again 🙂 I think I’ve been listening to far too many podcasts with endurance athletes and it’s starting to rub off on me. When you are surrounded by stories of people who overcome incredible odds and push their body to the limit it’s hard not to get caught up in it. To many of them (endurance / ultra athletes), a marathon would be like a walk in the park but hey, it’s a start for me and will be a challenge nonetheless. I figure this is the perfect year to do it. It’s already been a monumental year for me in transitioning to plant-based eating and ditching my serious ice cream habit. Why not add a marathon to the list!

I’m pretty sure I’ll be following Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 Training program which would mean me starting my 18-week training program the week of 6/15. Wow that is soon! I get nervous looking at the mileage but I’m going to keep repeating these mantras to myself – take it one day at a time and one foot in front of the other. Stay in the moment. With proper training I am capable of this. I believe in myself and much more that I believe in God and the strong person He created me to be. When I am weak and feel like I can’t go on (and I know I will feel that way many times throughout the training), He is strong and will give me the strength mentally and physically to push through.

I’d love to have some of you join me in this adventure (if not for a full marathon, some type of challenge for yourself). I will need all the encouragement and support I can get! I plan to write consistently along the way about my journey and include some tips I learn along the way, so stay tuned.

Have a great day and enjoy the sunshine!

A More Mindful Start to My Days

Scott and the kids were gone again a few weekends ago when I was supposed to attend a training for a new fitness class. I decided to forgo the training but they still went out of town since they had already made the plans. I taught a few classes, went to some of our church’s women’s conference, shared a fabulous meal with a great friend (more on that below) and of course spent lots of time in the kitchen cooking and listening to podcasts.

Unfortunately, the rest of the family was in a car accident on the way to Cincinnati. This was the second time in six months that Scott has been sandwiched in between two other cars on the highway traveling to or from Cincinnati. The first accident was in his car and this time the van. Praise God everyone was okay and the van was still drivable. It needed some major repairs and after a few weeks of waiting on the other people involved in the accident, we are finally getting it fixed.

One of my favorite podcasts from the weekend was Rich Roll’s interview with psychologist Michael Gervais titled Mastering Mindfulness in Sports & Life: High Performance Psychologist Michael Gervais. There were tons of great takeaways from the interview. I’ve been listening to many great podcasts and reading more and I want to remember some of the things I hear so I decided to start a Word doc to keep track of everything in one place. Normally I’ll jot stuff down on sticky notes or in my journal but I end up losing the notes or completely forgetting about it. I’m hoping having one central location will help. I found it ironic that I randomly picked this podcast about mindfulness to listen to since we had just had a discussion about mindfulness at a women’s Bible study I’m part of and mindfulness is the main topic of the March 2015 issue of Yoga Journal.

I’ve been including one of Michael’s suggestions at the start of each day and have found it so helpful to start my day off with more intention and focus. Most days I wake up to the alarm, jump out of bed and get straight to my workout. I am a morning person so it has never been hard for me to get up and going in the morning but I realized it would serve me better to begin my day at a slower and more mindful pace so that I can take a moment to just breathe, work through any anxiety I’m feeling and get my mind in the right place before I do anything else. I recently started getting up 10 to 15 minutes earlier than normal so that I could have some dedicated time to take a few deep breaths, read my Bible and devotional, journal and pray. It’s a small amount of time but after many years of unsuccessful attempts to do this for a larger chunk of time, this is a good start. I’m happy to report I’ve stayed committed to the plan for all but two days in the last several weeks. I’m feeling great about this accomplishment. The pic below is of my “morning spot.”

In addition to this, I’ve incorporated a simple 3-step routine before my head even leaves the pillow (Michael suggests this in his podcast):

1. Take one deep breath (and continue breathing of course!)
2. Have one thought of gratitude
3. Set one intention for the day

Lastly, I try to set a positive tone for how I’m going to interact with others that day by making my first interaction with another human a positive one. In the few weeks since I’ve been doing this short and simple routine, I have found that I start my days with more peace, less anxiety and a better state of mind overall. This doesn’t mean the rest of my days have been perfect but at least I’m starting them out better!

Here are a highlights from other things I did during the weekend they were gone.

My friend and fellow yogi / foodie / cookbook addict / etc. had an oh so yummy dinner at Banana Leaf vegan and vegetarian Indian restaurant on Saturday night. Check out this spread! We both got the buffet at the suggestion of the owner and loved everything. The buffet comes with an appetizer plate (the school lunch tray looking thing in the pic below) for each person that contains some common Indian street food. I’m not sure what everything was on there or that I ate from the buffet but I loved it all. It had been a long time since I last had Indian and I’d forgotten how much I like it. If only I could re-create these dishes at home. Of course I spent time that night on Pinterest looking for Indian recipes! Unfortunately my first attempt a few days later totally bombed but at least I tried, right? I knew it was bad before we even sat down for dinner but I kept my mouth shut and so did the rest of the family. I was shocked they ate it without complaining! I have a nice family 🙂 I’m going to invest in a few new spices and hope for success next time around.

After I got home I spent some time in the kitchen making a batch of homemade corn tortillas that I used in a meal later in the week and a batch of homemade whole wheat tortillas to put in the freezer. I tried a corn tortilla recipe a few weeks back and was disappointed in how fragile they were. I couldn’t even get the dough off my tortilla press. I used a similar recipe this time but saw a tip to cover the press with plastic wrap and it worked like a charm! The tortillas peeled right off in one piece.

The family got home on Sunday and I made this vegan spinach artichoke sauce pizza on quinoa crust. I added chicken and a little shredded cheese for Scott and E. I used elements of several different recipes and can’t remember exactly what I did so I’m not posting links to anything. But it turned out pretty good for my first attempt at a vegan pizza. The sauce was great. Next time I’ll bake the naked crust a little longer to get it nice and crispy before adding toppings.

I have been learning so much from listening to podcasts lately and by incorporating things I’m learning, I am starting to make positive changes in areas that have been challenging me for years. I am a routine person and like to be (or feel like I am) comfortable. Change has never been easy for me to swallow. This quote spoke to me and I wanted to share it with you.

What if I told you that
10 years from now,
Your life would be
Exactly the same?
I doubt you’d be happy.
So, why are you
So afraid of change?

Karen Salmansohn

Have a great weekend!

Waiting on God

This is the third and final post following my participation in the taping of our church’s upcoming summer women’s Bible study Divine Redeemer – A Journey Through The Book of Ruth by Janet Firebaugh. The study is actually a 4 week series but I had to miss the fourth week’s lesson / taping for another commitment. Boo!

For week 3’s lesson, Janet led us through the end of Ruth 1 and all of Ruth 2. Below are some of my notes from the lesson that I wanted to share with you.

1. Our Divine Redeemer is in Control!

• What we often see as coincidences are many times in fact the hand of God orchestrating circumstances for HIS glory. Sometimes when we’ve strayed from Him, He allows things to happen that will draw us back to Him. In Ruth, He used physical hunger to draw Naomi and Ruth back to the Promised Land and to Him. He can also use a variety of other circumstances like sicknesses, heartache, relationship struggles, and loss (pretty much any situation in which we realize we really do need God!). No matter what, we can know and trust that God is in control even when life seems to be spiraling out of control before our very eyes.

2. Our Divine Redeemer Gives Grace

• The Lord gives us grace, favor, and refuge in Him. Grace is defined as an “unmerited favor.” His ultimate gift of grace was Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection so that we may have new life in Him. But, He continues to shower grace upon us every single day. In Ruth, Ruth trusts in God’s grace and favor (that she will be taken care of and protected) as she enters into unknown territory (Boaz’s field). We can have confidence that God will freely (undeservedly on our part) extend grace to us! And he will continue to do so. His grace never runs out.
• Sometimes God chooses not to stop the storm but he does provide an umbrella! He doesn’t always stop the storm but His grace flows freely.
• I was reminded of lyrics in Todd Agnew’s song “Grace Like Rain”.

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah, and all my stains are washed away
They’re washed away

3. Our Divine Redeemer Uses our Past

• God uses our past to allow us a unique ministry to reach people around us who are going through similar situations to ours. We are able to reach out and connect with others because they realize we “get it.” We have been there and made it through. Satan tries to tell us lies and convince us through these lies that our past somehow disqualifies us from being used by God. But the opposite is true! Hurt people who receive God’s grace can use God’s grace to serve others (hurt people can HELP hurt people instead of the commonly used phrase “hurt people, hurt people”). Hurt people who receive God’s grace extend it to others!

4. Our Divine Redeemer Works Through Community

• We can experience hopelessness and depression when we lose all else that we’ve hoped in (especially when our hope is something other than God). These feelings often lead us to isolate ourselves from friends, family, and other meaningful relationships.
• Again, hurt people who receive God’s grace can HELP others around them – thus building community. Ruth experienced God’s grace firsthand and therefore was willing to give grace to others around her who needed it. Ruth helped Naomi see God’s grace in her own life and that helped Naomi become more sympathetic to others and their needs. One key is that we need to first let others in….into our joys and into our pains.

Questions to ponder:

Have you submitted to God as your only redeemer or are you trusting in “substitutes”? Do you put your hope in God alone or do you go to a substitute for relief from pain or for pleasure? (What is a substitute? Anything we go to other than God to deaden the pain. Substitutes keep us from God and keep us from experiencing a deeper relationship and connection to Him. A substitute could be anything from food to gossip to pornography. It can be something seemingly simple and harmless or something more complex. Whatever it is, it gets in between us and God).

God alone can satisfy the deepest parts of our souls. Substitutes only lead us to want more. No substitute will every fully satisfy our deepest need – our need for the Lord. We will always want more. Therefore, let us take refuge in God, our Divine Redeemer alone. Wait on Him. We might not feel relief (or a way out) from our pain or struggles immediately or even feel His presence, but He is there. Resist the urge to run elsewhere for relief. Sometimes we have to wait out the storm.

Lamentations 3:21 – 26 (NIV): “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Psalm 62:5-8 (ESV): “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

God has used this study to speak to me in several different areas and it seems the opportunity to participate in the taping and study came at just the right time for me! I’m looking forward to going through the study again this summer and hope some of you can join me!

Is God Listening?

If we pray, we have probably experienced a situation or stage in our lives in which we found ourselves saying, “Is God hearing my prayers? Is He really listening? It seems He’s hearing (and answering) everyone else, but not me. I doubt He even cares about my situation.” I know I have been to this place many, many times in my life including with a few recent situations. Janet Firebaugh discussed these thoughts and many others as she led us deeper into the book of Ruth during the second week of taping for our church’s summer women’s study last week (the study is a 4 week series Janet created called Divine Redeemer – A Journey Through the Book of Ruth).

Below are a few encouragements from week 2 of the study for us to consider when we find ourselves in a place where we aren’t feeling heard:

• God ALWAYS hears our prayers. He invites us to communicate with Him and He listens. He also always answers. However, His answers are not always what we were hoping for or expecting.
• God promises us many things in the Bible (most importantly eternal life with Him if we believe in Jesus), but he never promises to fix all our problems. However, He DOES promise to give us strength and hope to carry us through. Isaiah 40:27-31, “Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?’ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired and weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
• When we don’t get the answer we were hoping for, we can be assured that God has something better for us. Sometimes we’ll know what that “better” is quickly and other times we won’t know for a long, long time. Janet said, “sometimes He is stripping away what is good for something far better.” In her book Believing God, Beth Moore says (referring to Matthew 17) – “If you pray that God will move a mountain and He doesn’t, or you have the faith to tell a mountain to move and it won’t, assume Christ wants you to climb it instead and see Him transfigured. Either way the mountain is under your feet.”
• God often uses our pain and struggles (often the things we pray about that don’t turn out the way we wanted) to mold us into the people He created us to be. If we consider some of the most beautiful pieces of art like blown glass and metal artwork, we can see that some of the most beautiful creations are made under fire!! The same goes for us. We have a decision to make, however, when in the “fire.” We can choose to allow the fires of life to overwhelm us, give up, and succumb to bitterness, OR we can turn it over to a HOLY, REDEEMING God who gives us hope and can make it BETTER!
• Let’s not treat God like a little child who wants a “nice” parent who answers “yes” to their every demand and always gives them what they want. Just like a parent needs to say “no” sometimes to do what is best for their child, sometimes God needs to say “no” or “not now” to us!

These words encouraged me this week and I hope they bring encouragement to you. I wish I could share everything she said during week 2, but if you want to hear more, you’ll just have to join us this summer as we go through the entire study!

A Refreshing Reminder of God’s Dependability

I am blessed to have the opportunity to be part of the taping of our church’s summer women’s study. The study is a 4 week series called Divine Redeemer – A Journey Through the Book of Ruth and is being led by an amazing, wise, Godly woman – Janet Firebaugh. Sadly I almost turned down the opportunity to be part of this as I’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately with everything else in life, but I knew pretty much from the start on Sunday that this is exactly what I need right now. I hope to share a few highlights after hearing each week’s message. Here are a few parts of the message that spoke to me this week:

God’s love is dependable even when circumstances seem otherwise! –  He will NEVER fail us even when everything (or everyone) around us makes it seem that way

God is the one who meets ALL my needs! God LOVES me. God VALUES me. God PURSUES me. He is constantly wooing me into a deeper relationship with Him and He will pursue me no matter how far away from Him I get or how deep of a pit it seems I’m in.

These words truly encouraged me this week and I am excited to get deeper into the book of Ruth and hear what God has to share through Janet in the weeks to come.

Tackling Pride

An encouragement for all of us – let us have an accurate view of ourselves – as individuals and in our relationships with God and others!

I’m currently reading (albeit very slowly) Letters to Lindsey by Terri Brady. The book is a compilation of many of the posts from Terri’s blog in addition to hundreds of her most popular tweets. The posts cover a host of topics – some serious, some funny, and all filled with the wisdom and experience of a mom of four. The post titled “Wanna Talk about Me!” resonated deeply with me so I wanted to share it with you. In it, Terri shares a glimpse of her struggles with pride and lays out a few steps to move toward focusing less on yourself and more on others. We can all be found guilty of being prideful at times even when we don’t want to admit it (in fact it’s probably in these times that we are most prideful!). Here are a few lines from the post that struck a chord with me:

– “Like a skirt accidentally tucked into nylons, revealing a woman’s undergarments for an entire wedding reception dance, pride is a sin that is evident to all those around, but seemingly hidden from the bearer.”
– “Whether it’s a business team, a church team, a marriage or a family, pride is a cancer that will starve the body.”
– “Whether it is ‘low-self’ or ‘high-self,’ when we esteem ourselves as anything other than God-esteemed, we are doomed to live lives of conflict.”
– “I can change ANY subject back to me, and I used to think it was quite a talent!”
– A few of her practical solutions for talking too much about yourself:

• “Talk less about yourself. Some will read this and think I am saying that we should NEVER talk about ourselves; however, it is truly a matter of the heart. Are we listening to others? Are we caring about others? Or are we pushing opinions, experiences and ourselves on others, trying to uplift ourselves?”
• “Pray. Well …maybe that should have been #1. Since pride seems to be the king of invisible sins (Invisible only to the beholder, visible to all others…), we must ask God to open our eyes to where we are blind.”
• “Think more of others than of yourself.  C. S. Lewis said, ”true humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”

She ends the post with a great reminder for all of us from James 1:19 – “Let every man be swift to hear and slow to speak.”

Check out the complete post here: “Wanna Talk about Me!”.

True Beauty…

Great reminder about what true beauty really is! It’s about so much more than just our outside appearance. What matters is that which lies deep within our hearts and souls.

Power of Positive Thinking

Only four more days until the Columbus 1/2 Marathon and I’m feeling a combination of things: ready, anxious, excited, scared, tired, etc. For the past several years I have focused on trying to be a more positive thinker (and self-talker!). In general my tendency is to be a cup 1/2 empty kind of person but I try to catch myself mid-thought and mid-sentence before I go straight to the negative. I love to read positive quotes when I teach yoga and often refer to these on a daily basis to find encouragement for myself as I notice a big difference in my attitude and overall feelings about myself when I fill my mind with positive thoughts. Here are a few that are speaking to me this week. Dear mind: I am ready for this no matter what you try to tell me!