Goals revisited

Back in October, I set some goals for myself. They were:

1. Computer- limit to 1 hour a day.
2. Study- 1 hour a day (more than that on weekends).
3. Go to bed by 10pm.

Time to re-assess. How have I been doing?

1. I have to admit, I still waste time on the computer, although the sites I spend time on have changed. I used to be somewhat addicted to Facebook; now I'm more likely to be browsing Pinterest or reading blogs. I'm not sure that it's a big improvement, but I figure that at least I'm learning something or getting ideas for recipes and projects from my new favorite sites. I realized that Facebook has very limited value to encourage or inspire me, while the blogs I read often have good ideas, words of wisdom, or encouraging stories. The sole reason I've kept Facebook around is to be able to share pictures. Anyway, this isn't a huge problem right now, so this goal goes on the back burner for awhile.

2. This semester I've been able to keep up with my classes pretty well. This semester is also easier than the last and it's not necessary for me to study an hour every day. This goal gets scratched. :)

3. Going to bed early is still one of my goals. For a while I was doing really well on this one, but lately I've been getting to bed about an hour later than I want to. I need to get back in the habit! When I go to bed early and get up early, I can get SO much done in the morning. I love to have time for my devotions, a workout, and a long shower and breakfast before I have to leave for school. This goal is definitely a top priority.

New goals:

1. Go to bed by 10pm.
2. Have a daily devotion.
3. Workout at least 3 days a week.

Consider it pure joy

I lost my wallet last week. There was this tragic moment where I was waiting for the bus after a long day of class, I reached for my wallet to get my bus pass, and it wasn't there. My heart sank and my mind started going a mile a minute. When did I lose it? What if someone has it? What if someone used all my credit cards and took all the money out of my accounts? On the outside I was calm, but inside I was panicking a little bit.

I figured out I must have left it on the bus that morning. My wallet has everything in it. My school ID, my driver's license, my credit cards, my bus pass, various store cards and gift cards, and my museum pass. It was so frustrating to lose all that! I called the bus company, but no one had turned in a missing wallet that day. I had to call and cancel my credit card and bank card (and everyone knows how fun it can be to try to get through all the automated messages to talk to a real person).

As I was going through all this, I was also praying that someone would find my wallet and turn it in. I really didn't want to have to go to the trouble of getting a new driver's license, school ID, and bus pass, which would have cost a lot of money. I was stressed out just thinking about all of the stuff I'd have to replace. Then verses from James came to my mind:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
James 1:2-4

Now, my first thought was, this trial doesn't apply. As annoying as it is to lose something, it's not that big a deal. Besides, how is losing my wallet going to help me develop perseverance? What could this possibly teach me?

But the thing I realized is that we can learn something even from small trials. In my case, there was nothing I could do to get my stuff back. Why let it ruin my day? Why worry about it constantly and let it stress me out? That was the old me. The new me put it in God's hands. I did my part and canceled my credit cards. If I was going to get the rest of my stuff back, it was up to God. And I decided that even if I didn't get it back, it would be okay. Maybe I could learn something about responsibility. Maybe I could learn more about the transient nature of money and remind myself not to depend on it (I didn't lose cash, but I lost gift cards with money on them, which is almost the same thing).

Suddenly, as I was thinking of all the things God might teach me, I was actually excited! I still wanted my wallet back, but I realized there's more to life than what's going on at the surface. God could be using this moment right now to mold me and change me a little bit. Maybe that's more important than this minor crisis I'm going through. I stopped worrying and I started trusting God. He has the whole world in the palm of his hand. With either outcome, he's still in control! And if I can't trust him with the small things, how will I ever trust him with something bigger?

Anyway, I did get my wallet back and when I did, I was ecstatic! I was so thankful and excited. It made me think that sometimes we need to lose something to realize how much we have. Sometimes we need to experience a low so we can appreciate the highs. Sometimes we need to go through a small trial so that we can see God's hand at work in our lives. Sometimes we're blessed when we take something difficult and consider it pure joy.

God is Good

I used to love the Little House on the Prairie books and I recently came across this excerpt:

"But, my goodness! How can anybody be good without thinking about it?" Laura demanded.

"I don't know, I guess we couldn't," Mary admitted. "I don't know how to say what I mean very well. But--it isn't so much thinking, as--as just knowing. Just being sure of the goodness of God."

Laura stood still, and so did Mary...There Mary stood in the miles of green and flowery grass rippling in the wind, under the great blue sky and white clouds sailing, and she could not see. Everyone knows that God is good. But it seemed to Laura then that Mary must be sure of it in some special way.

"You are sure, aren't you?" Laura said.

"Yes, I am sure of it now all the time," Mary answered. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters. I think that's the loveliest Psalm of all."

~Little Town on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder~

God is so good, and sometimes the people who seem to have the least seem to know that most of all. Although the books are classified as fiction, they are based on Laura Ingalls' real life. She really did grow up on the prairie. She really did have an older sister Mary who became blind at a young age. If this was her true attitude, I think it's incredible! I want to be sure of God's goodness all the time like she was.

James

I recently joined a Bible study on Wednesday nights where we're studying the book of James. We're going through a Beth Moore study book called James: Mercy Triumphs. It's an eight week format and each week has five days to complete during that week. Each day there's a lesson to read, questions to answer, and Scripture to look up. I have to admit, it's a lot! Usually I spend about 30 minutes each morning doing my devotions; sometimes less if I slept in too late or I'm pressed for time in the morning. This study book takes much longer. Sometimes it takes me over an hour to complete the day's lesson!

It's worth it though. It's more in-depth than I would do on my own. Beth goes back to the Greek to clarify things, she quotes Biblical scholars, and she gives personal insight from the months she spent studying the book of James. It's been really cool to get a few different perspectives on the Scripture.

Another thing that's different about this study is that Beth designed it with different levels of participation. For instance, you can just attend the weekly meetings (level 1), you can attend the weekly meetings and do the homework (level 2), etc. Well I was reading through the different levels in the introduction thinking, "yeah, I can do all these". Then I got to level five. Level 5 included all of the previous stuff plus memorizing the Book of James. My jaw literally dropped. My first thought was "that's crazy". I mean, I don't usually take the time to memorize one verse, let alone an entire book! Who has the time or energy for that sort of thing? Besides, what's the point? I can grab my Bible and read James whenever I want.

Then I kept reading. The very next thing Beth wrote was this: Trying to picture some of your faces almost has me tickled. That made me smile because I'm sure the expression on my face was hilarious. I was a mix of shock and disbelief. I kept reading. Beth said that committing to all five levels would make the Book of James live in the marrow of your bones- probably for the rest of your life. She took on this challenge herself and had some encouraging words about it: Because God led me to take this challenge, I've recited the five chapters aloud more times than I can count in the process of writing this study. The exercise continues to bless me beyond what I could have imagined.

At the end of the little introductory segment, she asked which level seems doable for you. I circled level four. Then she hit me between the eyes again! She challenges everyone to go one level above what seems reasonably attainable for them. She asks you, if you're willing, to stretch yourself one more level. So finally I gave in and decided I'm going to try to memorize some of James. To be honest, I don't know if I'll get through the entire book, but what I've memorized so far has been rich and encouraging.

Memorizing Scripture rather than just reading it causes me to focus on every single word. And since I have to repeat the verses every day to make them stick in my mind, I keep thinking about the concepts in those verses. It's been a wonderful experience to dwell on the same verses for a few weeks. They start to sink in and come to my mind all the time. It's both encouraging and convicting! Anyway, I guess the point of this post is that memorizing Scripture isn't a waste of time. It's been a blessing to me in the past few weeks, just like it was for Beth. I encourage you, if you haven't done this lately, try memorizing a few verses. Read them out loud. Write them down. Say them to yourself every day. If you don't know where to start, you can start with James!

Valentine's 14K

What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day when you're single than to go for a run? At least, that's what Tristan and I thought when we signed up for the Virginia is for Lovers 14K. This was my first race of 2012, but it won't be my last (God willing!). My race schedule looks like this:

February 11: Virginia is for Lovers. 14K (8.7 miles). Virginia Beach, VA.
April 1: Cherry Blossom Run. 10 miles. Washington, DC.
April 22: Muddy Buddy run. 3-4 miles with 8-10 obstacles. Richmond, VA.
May 12: Kinetic Half Ironman relay. 13.1 miles. Lake Anna State Park, VA.
July 22: Old Port Half Marathon. 13.1 miles. Portland, ME.

Yeah, you could say I've caught the running bug! I was a little nervous for this race because I slacked off in training. I didn't do a whole lot of running over Christmas break and since I've been back in Richmond, the longest run I've done was 8 miles- and I only did that once. Still, I was really excited to run this race!

Tristan and I decided beforehand that we were going to stay together and take it easy for this race. We didn't worry about our times, we just wanted to have fun and run the whole course.

The race was a blast! It was mostly flat, so that was nice. We ran through an outdoor amphitheater and by Lover's Lane, where an actual wedding was taking place on the race course. There was a section with cheesy jokes and another section with funny pick-up lines written on picket signs. We ran the whole way, but miles 6 and 7 were a little rough. We finished inside the field house- I had no idea the finish line was inside- it was cool! At the end we got a carnation, a glass, Moe's catered food, and of course a medal.

Sprinting in the home stretch

Done!

We finished in 1:20:10, about a 9:14 min/mile pace. It was a great race and it got me excited for all my other races coming up this year! I can't wait to run a half marathon again!

Palaces

This is one of my favorite analogies from CS Lewis. Sometimes we can't understand what God is doing, but we can be assured that he has better plans for us than we have for ourselves. We are satisfied with the ordinary, but God wants to make us extraordinary.

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

"He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said."
~CS Lewis "Mere Christianity"