Fighting to Flourish – the American Dream

In Tucson, Arizona, visiting family

Why I Moved to Waco? That’s the question, right? We have been living here two years, nine months. We moved here for a job, but why would we take a job in Waco, Texas from San Diego, California? For the answer to a dream. We wanted a house, less stress, less debt, a better place to be a family. Follow God’s path for us.

Over the past couple years, I’ve received numerous emails and Instagram DM’s from people who live all over the country but mostly in California who tell me they identify with this desire to find a better land.

A better land – it’s a heart’s desire that can be found back in the pages of history.  The Israelites, God’s chosen people, picked up and moved with everything they could carry to exit the land of Egypt where there was food, water, and shelter.  They had the basic necessities, but they were slaves living a life of bondage.

There are many forms of bondage.  We can be slaves to work, our fears, another person, to the “man” i.e. debt, the expectations placed upon us by society, our parents, our environment. The American Dream says we have the right to be successful and achieve status if we work hard enough.  We tell our kids to stay in school, study hard, volunteer, stand out and get into the “right” school, so you can reach whatever pinnacle you DREAM.  What we don’t usually tell them is what that pursuit can cost.  Without a pure motivation, that pursuit can be for all the wrong reasons.  The adage “at all costs” goes hand in hand with “money doesn’t buy happiness.”

“Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will
flourish like a green leaf.” {Proverbs 11:28}

So if life’s big purpose doesn’t lie in having the biggest house, or the best college education, then how do we realign our dreams to find happiness, fulfillment, and contentment?

What are your dreams?

Are you a stay-at-home mom looking to be back in the workforce but wondering how you’ll ever give up what your life looks like now?  Are you afraid of that might look like?

Are you working a job that makes great money and pours into others but leaves you feeling dried up? Maybe you’re looking to step back from your career a bit and lean into raising your family.

Maybe your reality is drowning under a mountain of dirty diapers, laundry, and dishes, and all you need is a little time to get out from under all the monotonous responsibilities and be able to appreciate the sunshine and outdoors.

The truth is that we women have to face this struggle of finding our place, and sadly it usually means toting a bag of guilt under a hat of shame.  Fulfillment doesn’t come from a paycheck or what car you drive or how many kids you’re raising or how clean your house is.

Recently, my fourteen year old son and I were discussing school and being motivated for a future; he asked me, “What did you want to be, Mom? Did you want to be a mom and stay home and do laundry?”  It’s a good question.  The answer is yes.  I chose this for this season of my DREAM.  My mom did the same thing.  Of course there are trade-offs, and there are different paths I could have or still might pursue.  THAT is the American Dream.  Most importantly to me (and what I told him) is that I get to choose.  And yes, we discussed that it’s not just laundry and dishes.  He knows, but he’s a teenager.

The age-old proverb “All that glitters is not gold” holds true in every century.  We can’t just go for the shiniest option.  We need to go for what we’re called to be in the middle of – whether that’s running a corporation or running a household.

Find your joy today.  Step out in faith if it’s somewhere you’re scared to go.

Why Waco?

I wrote a post for the Waco Moms Blog as a reflection of the question we have heard the most in our transition here.

Feel free to read it here.

Where I’ve Been

 

Photo by Rachel Whyte

These past few months have been a slipped by in a frenzy.  I have been writing less that’s for sure, but not as little as my blog seems to reflect.  For the past 10 months, I’ve been writing for Waco Moms Blog twice a month, so I thought it was time that I post a link here to what I’ve been sharing over there!

2017 was a blur, and I have higher hopes for 2018.  I refuse to declare “resolutions” per se, but I do have expectations of what I hope to accomplish and goals for myself and my family.

• As a family, we are going to do more Bible devotions together – so far, we’re using our phone apps and do the plans together.  It’s been so sweet to hear the kids daily responses to what they’re reading and being challenged by.
• I still have aspirations to publish the book that’s about 85% written
• Along with the above, I want to attend a Writers’ Conference
• Perhaps while at said conference, I will get myself a literary agent
• I’ve written enough about my failing housekeeping skills.  I’m going to own them now and one-up myself by making a weekly schedule and paying myself a housekeepers fee.  I’ll put that money aside for something special. Boom.
• Pray daily for the big things in life that have not been answered in years.  Ex: getting out of school loan debt
• Eat more fruits and vegetables – this is a family challenge. Gotta replace those refined sugars and empty carbs!
• Finally get our master bath updated from torn-off wallpaper dry wall and hot water in my sink (shut off because it was dripping)!  The bids are coming in, and we should be able to start demo in the next week or two.

• Choose joy – I’m wanting to see the upside more and find more to be thankful for in every tough situation.  I figure it can’t hurt in this season of raising teenagers.  They have enough angst for the rest of us!

 

• My word of the year – FLOURISH – who doesn’t want to do that?  At first I thought, “Thanks, God for offering me a word of hope that doesn’t feel like work.” Then I looked up the definition: “to be in a vigorous state; thrive; to be successful; prosper; to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth.”  When a flower blooms, if you watch it in slow motion, there is so much happening.  It is an effort to be sure, but it appears effortless because it is not being watched in the between blooming.  We live life, and the blooming is the embellishment that fills in the process of what is happening.

“Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.”
Proverbs 11:28

“They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.”
Psalms 92:13

“Is not my house like this with God? For He made an everlasting covenant with me ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; will He not make it flourish?”
II Samuel 23:5

Year Two in Waco

 

As of today, we have lived in Waco two years!  It hardly seems possible.  I don’t know that I officially pass as a Texan, but there are many ways we have adapted to our new home state.  We still miss water and mountains and have found a snake and other nasty critters in our backyard (all harmless), but we have also hit some big mile markers.

Settling into our new home

Obviously, we love our home!  We’ve been living in it for fourteen months and though we don’t have every wall decorated perfectly and still have an original master bath (I’ve torn down the wallpaper at least), we can honestly say we feel settled in.  There are maybe a few boxes hidden in closets, but they are the things I have excuses not to deal with.  I’ve managed to keep about 2.5 indoor plants living, and we only lost a few of our front yard trees/bushes (I’m blaming the winter freeze).

Getting a Dog

She has been a part of our family for a few months now.  It’s been an adjustment.  I am still not a dog person, but I see how much the kids love her.  One more mommy sacrifice.  Her hair and strange herding behaviors with random people and my husband still make me sooo frustrated though.  Just like raising kids, we go through seasons.  The good news is each season is a little less difficult than the last – whining and barking are down.  But dog breath – wow, that’s a tough one to take.

Completing Junior High and Grammar School

Our kids are now twelve and fourteen and entering seventh and ninth grade.  It’s baffling.  These two years have been huge milestones, and I know that the upcoming six years will be filled with so many more, I will hardly have time to take them all in.  We entered the world of dances, cell phones, and shaving.  Next up: make-up, driving, and dating. Yikes.

More Involvement in the Community

We have friends and a life group and ties to many locals through school, work, even Instagram.  As most parents, we’re chameleons to the needs and involvements of our kids – each sport or activity becomes our current world.  My husband got back into the triathlon world this year.  The race ended up in a near tornado storm cancellation in the middle of the race!

Infinite amounts of Yardwork

No, really.  Winter is a nice break from the Texas heat, but then there are the INSANE amount of leaves.  We have 50+ trees in our backyard and 90% of them lose their leaves.  Yes, we are doing our own yard work (mostly my husband), and as he has slowly been shaping, cleaning, and redesigning the backyard as time and money allow, the people at the dump think he MUST own a landscape business!

More Travel

We promised ourselves that the move to a new part of the country would lead us to travel to new places.  While we haven’t reached international status yet, we did finally make it to the East Coast!  We spent two weeks this summer driving 3,700 miles through 15 states and saw big bucket list places like New York City, Washington DC, and the Atlantic Coast at Virginia Beach.  As silly as it might seem, I think the drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel was one of the most memorable.  We made it just before sunset and that sixteen miles of driving across the water (and under it) was just magical.  I only wish I had been able to capture a decent photo of the bridge.  We took plenty of others:

Brooklyn Bridge

Virginia Beach

Lincoln Memorial

Shehawken Lake in PA

Hopes for Year Three

Year Three has begun, and I can’t wait to see what amazing surprises God has in store for us.  One day at a time, with the promise that He will be with us and guide us according to His will.  I’m praying for more writing opportunities, more community involvement, and maybe another (dry) triathlon for the hubby!  I’m also so thankful for all the new people I’ve met through this venue.  It also makes me laugh when I have encounters like the one I recently had with a woman in Marshalls.  We had met once at a local restaurant months before as connected by our kids being at the same school.  We talked briefly at Marshalls, and she admitted she didn’t remember my name.  A few moments later, she said, “this might be weird, but are you ‘whyimovedtowaco’ on Instagram?  Isn’t this a weird world we live in now?”  It’s fun to hear so many stories of others who are seeking God’s will about where to live or their experiences while here in Waco.

Where Else to Find Me

I have been posting less on this blog because I have been contributing on the Waco Moms Blog for the past 6 months!  You can find more of my posts there or my random photo and thought posts on my Instagram account.

Blessings to y’all.

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will be carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

When Time Flies in Texas

We moved into our house 1 year ago already!  Isn’t it funny how quickly the waiting period for something greatly anticipated suddenly becomes ordinary and almost a hazy memory?  We left the Southern California coast in all it’s perfect scenery and weather and a picture pretty life in exchange for something different.

We’re settling into our new phase of life; year two is almost down and I can officially say that it feels like time has flown.

I have some specific ways I can verify that we feel like we aren’t the new kids in town.

I’ve started talking about life here in years instead of months.

The one year anniversary of moving into the home I felt would never happen a year ago passed almost without notice.

I drive around the town without using a map app or even thinking much about how to get there; instead, I wonder if I should take one of three ways I know I could get there.

We get connected to other newbies in town who want to know how well we’ve adjusted.

When I talk to my husband, we’re both able to use names of the people in our community without descriptors like a last name or “the guy who works in marketing.”

I feel like I say the “the” before I refer to a freeway number less and less.

I say y’all without even realizing (not much but sometimes).

I sort of know where the small towns are that others mention they’re from.

We are less surprised by the randomness of Texas weather where it can rain at any moment!

Our kids now think athletic brand clothing is way cooler than surf brands and can run three miles in 80 plus degrees and 85% humidity.

We still miss the coast many days, especially as we are entering those hot mid-summer days where the heat index is 100+.  We have to constantly remind each other that what we said goodbye to there was hard, but what God is daily teaching us is new and unexpected.  No place is perfect.  We survive each day He has given us with enormous servings of grace.

Each new season of life is filled with adjustment.  We have a son entering high school and our daughter is officially in junior high.  We are in THAT stage.  We could be empty nesters in six years.  These are the days to hold on to.  I’m thankful for our health, a home, kids who still like us most days, and a faith-filled hope that we have purpose here on earth.

As we celebrate our nation’s independence, I also celebrate our independence as a family who sees the head of our house more often, who own a piece of the American dream, and can “afford” (I say that loosely as the truth is what Americans ever feel they can afford it all) everything we NEED.

Enjoy this holiday and thank God for the freedoms you have and the ability to appreciate all the little things one day at a time whether you’re limping or dancing.  In a blink of an eye, you’re suddenly in a new place, age, or phase of life.

“I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you.  I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.”  II Corinthians 7:4

Wood Floors, Marble, and Shiplap, Oh My!

Pendant lights – Sea Gull Lighting Heirloom Bronze from Build.com

The lights and cameras are gone; the Magnolia trucks have pulled away, and we live here!  It was so much fun reliving the fun experience of filming the show and filling in the blanks of what our house looked like from Demo Day to Reveal Day.  Honestly, it was not the easiest process for us beyond just the fact that we are introverts exposing ourselves on a television show.  The whole process of spending money for a “dream house” makeover is very foreign.

Quick clarification after the sudden surge of readers to my blog – I am not writing any of  this for money.  No one is paying me to write, maybe someday, but for now I am writing because I love to write, and I feel like it’s God-inspired.  I’m convinced writers never write for glory but because “writers write.”  It’s like those people who run or paint or draw or letter or handstand or dance.  You can’t stop the passion.  (You can try to hide from it though.)

Speaking of hiding, sometimes I hide from making big decisions.  Growing up, my sisters and parents would say I was the bossy oldest child, but I also grew into more of a “stay under the radar” kid most of the time.  I would agree to things based on the ease of moving on with life.  When we got married, I was agreeable to just about anything that streamlined the process and lightened my parents’ costs.  Fast forward twenty-two years, and my husband is so sweet to almost always say “yes” to me (even when I beg him not to if it’s not a good idea.)  I’m not at all implying I’m easy to get along with or merely a follower.  I just happen to be content with letting whoever has the loudest preference be happy.  Obviously, I speak out plenty at home – and none of this applies to my mothering!

As I’ve indicated before, our early married life was a financial struggle (isn’t everyday for most of us?), and we have learned to live such budgeted, careful lives that I actually have a really hard time spending money and choosing new, high ticket items (Target is a vortex however).  We’ve bought one new vehicle in our 22 years, and I regretted that decision after about six months.  We’ve never owned brand new appliances (except for a microwave).  We had one rental house that had new appliances and it was kind of intimidating.  We’ve owned three homes and none were new builds.  We did DIY updates to the first two, and they were always filled with the most cost efficient options.

So the idea of choosing all the finishes for a home renovation was daunting.  Thankfully, Joanna and her team made the process much easier.

Thank you for all the kind words in your responses here on the blog and on Instagram.   I love our house and couldn’t wait to fill the house with our belongings and really make it “home.”

Countertops – Carrera marble / Custom hood – Minwax stain: Special Walnut and Classic Grey / Hardware and faucets – Build.com / Cabinet paint – Sherwin Williams Alabaster / Sink – Kohler from Ferguson’s

 

Floors – Vinyl plank Van Gogh Hessian Oak by Karndean / Shiplap and fireplace paint – Sherwin Williams Alabaster / Custom shelves and mantel – Minwax stain: Special Walnut and Classic Grey

Front doors – Golden Oak & Classic Grey / Door handles – Build.com / Exterior Lights – Shades of Light / Siding color – Sherwin Williams Natural Tan / Trim paint – Sherwin Williams Pavestone

 

Ezekiel 34:26 “I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.  I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.”

 

When We Moved To Waco, We Never

 

May 2015 – before we knew we would move to Waco just 3 short months later!

We never planned to move to Waco.  It just came about.  When people here ask us “what brought you to Waco?” I think they expect to hear the common answer of “Baylor” or “we grew up here.”  But we say, “God.”  Because the truth is that it didn’t completely make sense to uproot our family from where we had friends, a job, and a place with a ocean view.

When we say we moved here from San Diego, the usual response is “Oh, it’s so pretty there!” or “I love the ocean” or “Why?”.  When we said we were moving to Waco, I know many of our friends, family, acquaintances, and others have said, “You should be on Fixer Upper!” (after some of them said the expected references to the Davidians or the bikers).  I’d guess that 50% of American households have heard of Chip and Joanna by now.  And we know that they are amazing, but they are NOT Waco.  I know people are moving here by the droves.  Literally.  The housing market is booming – the word is that it’s up 25% in just the past year.  Downtown businesses are growing, there will soon be an expanded riverwalk filled with restaurants and new businesses.  There are good things happening in Wacotown.  Magnolia and what Fixer Upper shows America is one of them.

It is fun to watch Waco scenery flash across the tv and see familiar faces we’ve met in our brief year and a half of living here.  What’s really strange about the whole Fixer Upper thing is that we will be seeing our own faces on there, on the next episode, which airs…TONIGHT!

So when I say “when we moved to Waco, we never…,” I really mean that we never thought we’d actually be ON Fixer Upper.  It all just happened.

We have had to be pretty hush-hush about the process (contractual agreements and all), but now that it is about to air…

Our family is so thankful for our home and everything Chip and Joanna have done to make that happen!

So, if you’re a Fixer Upper junkie or you just really want to see us makes fools of ourselves on national television, tune in tonight.

 

What’s for Dinner?

Where’s my Trader Joe’s when I need it?

Moving to Texas has not improved my cooking skills.  Neither has a new kitchen.  I guess that means I’m officially a hopeless case.  I pin all the recipes and have really good intentions, but I fall short in execution.  So I can confidently state that this blog will probably never have recipes to share unless they are something delicious someone else made.

My biggest excuse since becoming a mom has been that I have picky eaters.  I hate making meals that require extra planning for the one who won’t eat.  And yes, we have been very strict about his eating in the early years.  But when your kid is small for his age and has the stubbornness of a donkey…you start negotiating.  Then you’re boxed into a corner where every meal is a battle.  We are making giant strides – he actually likes steak and ribs now – maybe it’s a Texas-thing, but he doesn’t like hamburgers, barely eats fries, won’t touch salad, and is pretty sure we enjoy torturing him.  Which is true, of course.

Growing up, I felt the same way about my mom’s cooking.  Why did she have to make meatloaf or rice casserole?  Like all kids, we asked “what’s for dinner?”  I wonder if she braced for the moaning like I do now.

He seriously ordered this!

One of the few healthy things I make that 3 out of the 4 of us like!

Breakfast for dinner at least once a week is ok, right?

 

About two years ago, I got smart.  I wrote a menu for the week on a cutesy chalkboard.  Then it was there for all to see what torture awaited.  It wasn’t listed in order – I’m not that organized – so there was room for some negotiation if someone really wanted a particular meal on a certain day.  And if there was a meal they were dreading, at least they could get the moaning done all at once.

My old menu chalkboard – not even sure where it is now…

But somehow I’ve fallen off that train.  Maybe it’s because my chalkboard was packed in a box for almost a year.  I have a new larger chalkboard in the new house, but I’m waiting for meal planning inspiration.  I’ve been invited to the meal planning parties, but I just can’t.  I know it will go to waste and cost me more than I can tolerate.  My family is not great at eating leftovers either.  I’m working on being better at “re-inventing” the leftovers into something different.

The truth is I know the answer: a personal chef.  Right?  My husband basically is one (more on that in a future post), but he can’t really do it all, can he?  I’d have too much guilt.  Which I already have because I make the same boring meals every week.  The staples are rotisserie chicken tacos, spaghetti, pizza, BLT’s (or grilled cheese for the picky), and definitely breakfast.

Now that it’s starting to feel like fall (this week it’s been around forty degrees for a high!), I might find inspiration to add variety to my meals.  Biggest problem there is my kids think Ramen is better than anything homemade.  So, why bother when half of it will go to waste?  Feel free to give me advice, encouragement, or the “make them eat it.”  I’ve heard a rumor that kids need to try something at least 3 times before they truly can decide if they like it and that their tastebuds change every seven years.  Don’t know if that’s true, but I feel like I’m suiting up for battle with every “just try it” or “you’re gonna eat it anyway.”

Last night we had chili – I got the recipe from a friend when we ate it at their house awhile back.  There was definitely complaining!  I even added Fritos to help the allure for the kids. Tonight, we are eating with friends – she’s making extra mac ‘n cheese.  What are you making for dinner tonight? (I’ll need the inspiration for tomorrow!)

The Tipping Point

I have a love-hate relationship with roller coasters.  As a child, I felt I had to go on them.  I was the oldest of four girls, and my dad needed a companion in the thrill.  I have a pretty legitimate fear of heights.  Even today, when I drive on single lane bridge overpasses, it makes me queasy.  I mentally overcome my fears by telling myself “I have to do this” or “it’s not that bad.”  Now, my own kids beg me to go on roller coasters.  When we had passes to Legoland, they had to have an adult to go on the rides (yes, I realize these don’t even count as roller coasters).  I would visualize before we were even on the ride that moment at the peak of the drop, where I knew I would momentarily wish I was dead.  But I had to do it.  My kids needed me to.  Just like my dad needed me to.

I am a people pleaser.  I’ve started to grow out of it though.  I tell my husband that he has helped me stand in my own place and say “no, I don’t have to if I don’t want to today.”

Today, I’m not wanting to.  I’m at a tipping point.  I’ve arrived at the peak of where we’re at in our new home.  I’m surveying the landscape and taking inventory of what this ride holds for us.  This tipping point is also the reality checkpoint.  All the newness has begun to wear off.  Our landscape isn’t filled with so many exciting unknowns.  It’s filled with dips and climbs in the form of house project checklists, homework-filled weeknights, and schedules filled with “have-to’s.”  We have a new life rhythm of school, work, church, and whatever we fill in the in-between.  We have new go-to’s that have new people and places.  All the dreams we imagined for our new life are a little more watered down with truth that budgets, schoolwork, and yardwork bring.  We are leaning into the turns where God is bringing us as a family into deeper spiritual and social growth.  Others are still the ones traveling the world, buying boats, and getting puppies.  Instead, we are filling our lungs with Texas air at the football stadium and cross country meet wildflowers.  Our rain-dirtied car is loaded with schoolbooks and smelly shoes and an exercise mat.  I am still working on that book that should be finished by now.

Does it sound like I’m feeling sorry for myself?  It’s that daily teetering precipice.  Each day, I choose which way I let the scale tip.  Joy or Discouragement.  Fear or Courage.  Contentment or Bitterness.

We all move through life the same way.  One foot in front of the other.  We choose our path.  My prayer this week has been that I could truly let “God determine my steps” (Proverbs 16:9).  When I’m at my tipping point, I need Him to nudge me the right direction, towards His best.  When others fail me, or I fail myself, He can make it right.  I’m trying to be a living example of this for our kids.  This is the point of the school year where everyone feels the squeeze.  Homework and studying are almost all-consuming.  My kids are such troopers.  Somedays, I want to take away the struggle and give up for them.  We’ve hit that point where I’m ready to pull the ripcord and say “this is too much.”  We’ve done this to them – plucked them out of the only place they really remember and put them in a new city, new school, and new way of life.  And it is hard.  Hours of studying doesn’t always produce success.  Being nice to people doesn’t always mean they’ll include you.  Practice doesn’t always make perfect in this life.

But in Christ, our joy will be made complete.  Joy doesn’t mean perfect circumstances.  It’s being thankful that we have each other.  We have everything we need.  I choose to bathe in the truth that “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)  Failure has value.  It can make us better.  It can lead us down a path where God can use us where we might not have gone if we hadn’t met our limit.  We can’t let the shiny things of this world steal our joy.  I want to reflect this to my children, so they won’t get caught sliding into the traps of disappointment, discontent, and disillusionment.

I want to reflect this to myself.  “In Christ alone, my cornerstone, weak made strong in the Savior’s love.   Through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all.”

 

 

Life is a cross country metaphor

I rewatched Julie and Julia, the 2009 movie about the wife who begins blogging because she is challenged by her annoying friend who’s blogging “about every thought that passes through her brain…”  She argues, “I could write a blog.  I have thoughts.”  Julie decides to write a blog about her learning to cook journey as she tries the recipes in Julia Child’s cookbook.  And when she sends out a post asking, “is anyone reading this?” she gets one comment – from her mother!  It makes me laugh.  It is a writer’s catharsis to get words on a page.  An author’s challenge is to shape those words into a lean flow of script, gliding across the page.  It’s a miracle in motion, like a watching a professional ballerina or an olympic runner.

Speaking of running, we’ve been spending a lot of morning hours outside…running.  I say “we” but it’s actually the kids everyday (usually not the weekends, unless there’s a meet), but my husband and I are tag-teaming our place in the “Mom-Squad” (not very many dads out there).  I am NOT a runner.  I had a season in my life of running for exercise where maybe I was running 8 miles a week.  This month, our daughter has logged 6o miles!  And she is much more graceful doing it.  As I’ve said before, she is our girl with fleet feet.  Our son is juggling football at the same time, so he spends his mornings running a few miles and then heading to practice to put on his pads and helmet for another hour of training.

We have begun our season of Saturday morning cross country meets, where we drive to small-town schools at sunrise and cheer on our dedicated children.  While walking the first race’s route with the Mom-Squad (while our kids ran it as a warm-up), someone suggested that my next blog post should be about this.  Well, it started me thinking and then the connections between cross country training and this journey we call life…they started connecting.  So forgive that I am not a true running guru but hopefully that makes it easier to keep up:

Run Til the Cows Come Home.  This started as a joke as we witnessed that the cows in the distance were let out to pasture just beyond the first meet’s field.  But seriously, in cross country, runners just run and run and run.  This year, the team has a goal of running 50,000 miles cumulatively (the distance of the roads within the Roman Empire of course). They rise before dawn and clock their miles and then start the day with the rest of humanity.  The benefits are fitness (obviously), but they’ve witnessed the most beautiful sunrises and defeated the toughest enemy of them all – the pillow – all before breakfast.

Eat Hills for Breakfast.  Yup, they really do.  You can’t eat much before the sun is up and you plan to run 4-5 miles at around a 7ish minute mile pace average.  My kids have had to compromise with my you-must-eat-breakfast rule and have protein shakes.  But once a week, their team runs the best hills they can find in this flatland called Waco, and they repeat its steep pain 4 to 10 times in about twenty minutes.  If it hurts…

Tell Your Body a Different Story.  This is the FAVORITE thing I’ve heard the kids’ coach say!  She’s a running phenom.  No, really.  She’s about to compete for the U.S. at the World Championships in the 50-mile trail.  No biggie.  When most of us stop, she keeps going. and going. and going.  And honestly, most of us stop because our bodies are winded, sore, and begging for a break.  But what if we don’t listen and we push through to that next level?  Your body can take you further than you expect.

Wear the Right Shoes. Since my husband has done his share of triathlons and running races of marathon distances, I know that runners go through lots of shoes (he wears his longer than he even should just to stretch the budget).  And there are now the shoes for your foot’s pronation needs – neutral, stability, minimalist.  The right shoes protect your knees, joints, feet.  I spent all my high school years struggling with shin splints and learned only in the last decade that it had everything to do with the shoe and how my foot was striking the ground.

Watch Out for Obstacles.  Seriously, there has even been a snake that dropped out of the trees near one of the kids’ teammates!  But at every course site, the runners have to take notice of the dips, holes, random drainage pipes or sprinklers, fallen logs, and any other potential hazard that might delay or harm their goal.  Things like rain, heat, or cold do not count, by the way.

So recap – how do I apply these lessons to life?  Well, I don’t do it successfully, but they are goals that I try to apply physically and spiritually:

• Rise Early – Quiet time in the morning takes many forms: reading, writing, running, but always include prayer time with the Creator.  It definitely helps when His creation is a part of the setting. “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” Proverbs 4:18
• Nourish Well – What we put into our bodies affects EVERYTHING whether it’s by mouth, or through our eyes and ears.
• Push Yourself Further – Do it, a little more every time, but just do it.  Be open to challenge and trying something new (even if it’s hard).
• Be equipped – Wearing the right equipment is important for doing life well, being filled with joy and a willingness to dive into whatever lies ahead. “put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” Ephesians 6:15b
• Keep Your Eyes Wide Open – Life is filled with obstacles and hills, but it is what conditions us for what is to come.  When we face it with our eyes open, we can be cautious but also be front row witnesses to everything God brings about.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.  You are serving the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24

“…we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3b-4