Why hockey is the best sport

One thing I love about being home is getting to watch New England sports on TV again! I've been watching lots of Bruins hockey games and I'm reminded of how much I love hockey. I truly believe hockey is one of the best sports out there. Bud and I had a conversation about it, and here's why we think hockey outshines every other sport:

1. It's constantly fast-paced. In other sports (especially football and baseball) there are many breaks between plays. There may be short bursts of speed or great athleticism, but then the play's over, and everyone gets to rest again. Hockey is a game where everyone's constantly moving.  The only stoppage of play is when the refs blow the whistle for a penalty; and even then there's a quick face-off and play continues. Line changes are done on the fly. All the players on the ice are moving all the time. Players typically take less than one minute shifts- and trust me, when you come off the ice after skating hard for one minute, you are tired!

2. Scoring a goal is the right level of difficulty. In some sports it's too easy to score, while in other sports it's too hard. For example, I think it's too easy to score in basketball. The players are tall and can easily dunk the ball and scores get ridiculously high. When one teams gets the ball, they get a basket more often than not. On the other hand, in professional soccer, it's too hard to score a goal. The ball gets booted back and forth across the field without even a goal scoring opportunity presenting itself for many minutes. In hockey, however, there's a huge range. Shutouts are not uncommon (especially if the team has a good goalie) yet scores can range from a few goals to several (7, 8, 9, even double digits). What's more, goals can be lucky or they can a be a result of a great shot that took amazing skill.

3. The Skill. I'm not saying that other sports don't take skill. Each one requires a different set of skills, of course, and the athletes who excel at their sports are truly phenomenal. But hockey is such a unique combination of skills. You need to be able to skate (forwards, backwards, crossovers, and you have to have explosive starts) while controlling a little puck on the end of a hockey stick. You have to be able to deke, pass, and shoot accurately, all while taking hits and checks from other players on the ice. Besides this, you have to be able to play good defense and you have to have the endurance for a 60 minute game.

4. The Intensity. The fights. The checks. The fact that the game is constantly flowing- one minute your team is on the offensive, rattling off shots at the goalie; the next minute the puck clears the zone and your defenseman or goalie has to make a great save. The power plays and penalty kills are exciting because the whole game strategy changes with the difference in the number of players. I love that the momentum of the game can change in a matter of seconds. It takes less than a second to score a goal in hockey, so no lead is safe. There's always the opportunity to come back, even until the final minutes of the game.

5. Moments to cheer for. One of the best parts about being a fan of hockey is that there's practically always something to cheer for. A great goal. A great save. A great defensive play. A fight. Besides cheering, there's an even better reaction that I like to call "the gasp". When a player misses a perfect pass. When a shot hits the crossbar and bounces out. When the puck is sitting in front of the net and the goalie doesn't see it. There's a collective gasp among the spectators because those things are the game-changing, nail-biting moments that hockey is all about.

There's more I could say about hockey because it's such an amazing sport. I think the reason it's not more popular is because it's a sport that a lot of people haven't experienced for themselves. You can go out in the yard and throw a football around or kick a soccer ball. You can play basketball in the driveway. It's harder to find an ice rink to go to. And hockey equipment is expensive. Not only do you need the essentials- skates, stick, puck, and helmet- you also need all kinds of other pads. So there are a lot of barriers to learning to play the game.

The thing is, you don't need to know all that much about hockey to enjoy it. The rules aren't that complicated, and the excitement and enthusiasm at a hockey game is contagious! If you've never taken the time to watch an NHL game, give hockey a chance. You might be surprised at how entertaining it is and maybe you'll even agree with me that hockey is the best sport ever!

Joy to the World

Joy to the World! Yesterday was a celebration of the day God sent his son to earth for us. The God of the universe came to earth as a lowly little baby, born in a feeding trough, surrounded by animals. Our King was born in the most humble of circumstances. From the very beginning, Jesus's life wasn't easy. He would go on to be ridiculed, beaten, tortured, and eventually murdered. God knew all this beforehand, yet he still sent Jesus to us so that He could save us from our sins! How good God is to bless us so much when we are so undeserving.

I saw a reminder this year that really made me think: it was a little slogan that said "It's not YOUR birthday." How true. we make Christmas all about us- the presents we'll get, the trips we'll take, the time off work and time with family we'll get to enjoy. But it's not our birthday- it's Jesus's birthday. Christmas is a celebration of Him. We tell each other to "remember the reason for the season," but do we truly take that to heart? Do we honestly take time to realize all that God did for us on the night he sent his son to earth?

The notes in my NIV study Bible say that many Jews were looking for a political leader to deliver them from Roman rule, while others were hoping for a savior to deliver them from sickness and physical hardship. Instead, God gave them something even better- He sent a Savior who would deliver them from sin and death!

One last thought: It struck me that we use "Santa" as a way to get children to behave. Parents say things like, "You better be good, or Santa won't bring you any presents this year." The message is that we have to be good to get gifts from Santa. Aren't you glad God doesn't work that way? He didn't wait for us to do anything good, anything worthy before he sent his gift. In fact, He sent his son for us "while we were still sinners". Christmas is certainly a season to be joyful, not for what we get, but for what God already gave.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders, of His love!

Cupcakes in cups

A couple weeks ago my friend Bettina invited me to a Christmas tea party. We had lots of good tea party food, including baby lasagnas, little bruschetta bites, and these yummy Shirley Temple cupcakes (I know the site says gluten free, but I didn't use gluten-free flour). They were so good that I asked Bettina to send me the recipe, and I made them myself. I think the reason they're so yummy, light, and fluffy is because there's 7-up in the batter. I love that the bottom of the cupcake is red (extra maraschino cherry juice was added to some of the batter).

The cupcakes were so cute, but I had a dilemma on how to package them with all the other goodies. I didn't want to wrap them up in something that would stick to the frosting and I didn't want to waste tons of tupperware or put them in something that you couldn't see through. My mom had a great idea- we got little clear plastic cups to put the cupcakes in. Then we wrapped both cupcake and cup with clear plastic and tied it with colored ribbon. It looked so pretty- I wish I had taken a picture because they were really adorable! I'll definitely use this idea again the next time I have to package cupcakes!

Pretty Pretzels

I've spent the past couple days baking lots of treats for my dad's coworkers, and let me just say, I am ready to be done with baking now! As excited as I was at first to make all these treats, it's a lot of work. I literally spent three days baking stuff all day long. So while it was fun at first, I'm over it. The good news is, I'm almost done and I've got lots of goodies to show for all my hard work.

One of my favorite blogs is Our Best Bites and I'd been eager to try some of their recipes. One of the first things I made was their chocolate covered pretzel rods. I found some colored sprinkles at the store and thought they'd be so cute on the pretzels. I also found an awesome brand of pretzel rods where not a single pretzel in the 2 bags I bought was broken (and now I've forgotten what brand it was, sorry!). Anyway, here's how the pretzels turned out. I used sprinkles on some and dark & white chocolate on others. I plan to get some ribbon to tie on the ends so that they look extra cute.

Here are some other recipes I tried from Our Best Bites:
Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies
Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
Peppermint Bark Rice Krispie treats

Those three recipes all seem to have a theme- peppermint and chocolate! Mainly because peppermint and chocolate is one of my favorite food pairings. They're each good separately, but together they become super delicious. Speaking of which, there's some awesome mint chocolate Christmas candy in stores right now. Like mint chocolate M&M's and mint chocolate special dark Hershey's. Yum!

Christmas cards

My mom found these do-it-yourself Christmas cards, and I think they are so adorable! All the pieces are there for you to stick on, but you can arrange the parts yourself. I loved making my own designs!

*Tristan and De- yours are different from these since I know you both read my blog! :)

Onion rings and donuts

It's so good to be home. Did I mention that yet? One of the things I was most excited about this year was to get to try some new recipes! Mainly because I finally have time to do so, but also because my mom is paying for the groceries (and some ingredients can be expensive for a poor grad student). I've been baking for the past 3 days, so don't be surprised if the next several posts are about food!

On our first day back, the theme was fried foods. Bud wanted to make homemade onion rings, and I wanted to make homemade pumpkin donuts. We were doing them at the same time, so it got a little crowded in the kitchen, but both turned out to be delicious.

For the onion rings, I sliced the onions thinly, then we soaked the onions in buttermilk before coating them with a flour mixture. Who knew that buttermilk was the key to making your own onion rings? Not me; at least, not until now.

We had burgers and onion rings for dinner. Not only did we have onion rings with our burgers, we put them ON our burgers. With barbecue sauce, too. SO GOOD! Ever since I got the Whisky River BBQ burger at Red Robin one time, I've loved burgers with onion rings and barbecue sauce.

The perfect ending to a good meal is a good dessert. The pumpkin donuts hit the spot. As I mentioned before, I've been addicted to all things pumpkin this year, so I was excited to try pumpkin donuts. I had tried Krispy Kreme pumpkin donuts earlier this year and I wasn't impressed. These donuts are much better!

The recipe for the donuts can be found here: The Family Kitchen. They aren't hard to make and since they're cake donuts, no yeast is required. I didn't have a donut cutter, so I just used a large cup for the big circle and a little protein scoop for the middle. The buttermilk glaze was the icing on top (literally!).

Home Sweet Home

It's so good to be home! Bud and I drove home after my last final on Wednesday. It was a last-minute decision to try to leave on Wednesday. We were going to wait till Thursday but decided that we just wanted to get home! We didn't leave until 1pm, so we drove straight through- only two 10 minutes stops. We didn't hit any traffic and we made excellent time- we got home in 11 hours (usually it's a 12-13 hour drive)! The best part about being home (other than being with my family again) is finally having time to relax and refresh. This semester wore me out mentally and physically. I got sick the last few days of finals and lost my voice. I'm still trying to recover and can't wait to get rid of this nasty cough and cold. The good news is I'm finally done with this semester and I never have to take 21 credits again!

I have lots of fun things planned for break. First of all, I have to help my mom make cookies for my dad's coworkers. Last year we did chocolate & caramel popcorn, but this year I found lots of recipes on Pinterest and other blogs that I want to try. A bigger project that I've been wanting to do is to make a t-shirt blanket with all my old t-shirts. I don't know if there will be enough time over Christmas break, but it's definitely something I want to try in the future.Other plans for break include reading a lot, going to a Sharks hockey game, learning to run in the cold, going to exercise classes at Fitness Concepts, playing the newest Nancy Drew game, and playing on the Kinect.

I'm so excited to be home with my family again! Btw, here's a picture I found from Thanksgiving- me trying to get the frozen neck out of the turkey!

God wants everything

I'm going to be really honest. For the past week I have been struggling spiritually. As hard as it's been, I think it's been a good thing! Let me explain. For a long time, I've basically been ignoring God. Yes, I love him. Yes, I am saved. But I was so self-absorbed that I didn't make a lot of time for God or try to grow in my relationship with him. I followed a lot of the Christian "rules"- I went to church, I was kind to others, I didn't do anything horribly bad. Lately I've been realizing- that's not enough! That is NOT what God wants. He doesn't want us to do our best at trying to live the Christian life. He wants us to follow Him.

Through reading "Crazy Love" and seeking God, I recognized that my life up until now has not been characterized by faith. Now that I am actually trying to follow God, I realize how hard it is. God doesn't want a little bit from us, he wants EVERYTHING. And I feel this inner struggle because I don't want to give him everything. (I want to want to, but right now I'm not there yet). I don't want to give up my plans and dreams. I don't want to leave my comfort zone. I don't want to follow Christ if it will make me look foolish.

Basically, I want to live for Christ, but I don't want it to be hard. I know that's ridiculous, because Jesus tells us time and time again that following him is not easy. I know in my head that the Christian life is not supposed to be easy, but sometimes I still foolishly expect that. For instance, I think "God, I did my devotional today, so you should bless me today and give me a great day." What? When did my thinking become so convoluted? God doesn't need to reward me for spending time with him. It's not a bargain, where if I spend half an hour in the morning seeking God, that means that God won't let anything bad happen to me for the rest of the day. Sometimes I seem to think that my life will be easier and more peaceful if I just trusted God more. Like if I just spend some time with God and trust him more, I'll go about my life never worrying, with an inner joy and peace that no one can touch. The problem is I'm still thinking about it as MY life. I want to get joy and peace from God, but I still want to pursue MY dreams, MY desires, and live life MY way. It's just not possible. If I want to have joy and peace from God, I have to GIVE UP my life. That is the cost. He requires everything. And it's not easy.

In Luke 9:57-62, Jesus talks about the cost of following Him. There are three people who want to follow Jesus, but aren't ready to pay the cost.
1. The first says, "I will follow you wherever you go" (v57). Jesus basically tells him that it's going to be hard. Jesus himself had "no place to lay his head" (v58). He was living in poverty. He was traveling through dangerous places. The first person is so eager to follow Jesus, but Jesus's response wasn't to rejoice that He had gained another follower; it was to warn this guy that it wasn't going to be easy and he had better be prepared for some serious hardships!

2. Jesus commanded another man "Follow me" (v59). This second man hesitates because his father is dying. He wants to take care of his father first, then he will follow Jesus. Jesus's response seems harsh: "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Jesus doesn't want anything to get in the way of us following him. Not our love for someone else. Not a family commitment. Not a son taking care of his dying father. Jesus has to be first in our lives. It's easy to say that we will follow Christ soon. "When we have got clear of such a care and difficulty, when we have dispatched such a business, raised an estate to such a pitch, then we will begin to think of being religious; and so we are cozened out of all our time, by being cozened out of the present time" (Matthew Henry's commentary). There is no excuse for not following Christ now.

(I think I relate the most to this guy. God is calling me to follow Him, but I'm full of excuses. For a long time my excuse has been school. I've told God that I'll follow him as soon as I'm not so busy and stressed out with schoolwork. How foolish I've been to let school come between me and God!)

3. The third man said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me say goodbye to my family" (v61). Again, it seems like a reasonable request. But Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (v62). The third man was too concerned about worldly things. He was worried with family concerns and could not easily part from his relatives. Jesus wants us to be totally committed to following him, not looking back at the life we left behind.

Jesus talks about the cost of being a disciple again a couple of chapters later, in Luke 14:25-33. Jesus says that if we want to follow him we must hate our father, mother, brothers, and sisters, even our own life. If we don't, we cannot be his disciple. That's asking a lot- and Jesus knew it! He does not want a blind, naive commitment from someone who expects only blessings. He wants us to count the cost and see if we're ready to give Him what it takes. We can't be half-hearted followers of Christ; it's all or nothing.

"In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:33

Waterfall Braid

Okay, so I'd heard about Pinterest before, but never really had much interest in joining it. I mean, what's the point of having an online pinboard? Can't you just look up recipes yourself when you need them? But my friend Bettina told me about some of the cool things she's found on Pinterest, so I decided to take a look. The thing is, people are really creative and some of the stuff is pretty inspiring! It's not just recipes and crafts- there's info on fashion, hairstyles, photography, fitness, and even some motivational sayings. There's also the occasional picture of a celebrity, which I don't really understand. And I've noticed that there's lots of pictures of places like Italy and Greece, too. Not helpful. It just makes me want to go there more!

Anyway, I came across a picture of this hairstyle, which I just absolutely LOVE!

My inspiration

It's called a Waterfall Braid, and the trick is to leave out strands of hair as you braid so that the extra pieces cascade down from the rest of the braid. You can youtube "waterfall braid" for tips on how to do it. I thought this was such a cool, unique look. I tried to do it myself, although mine didn't turn out nearly as well as that picture.

My first attempt. I did mine a little differently. I started from each side so that the braids met in a V in the middle. It looks a little uneven in these pictures, but I swear, it wasn't!

This is a close-up, but it's still a little hard to see. I thought this hairstyle was great for my hair, because I have thin hair. Usually if I try to braid part of it back like that, there's not enough hair still hanging down for it to look good. But this way, you leave pieces out, so there's hair coming out of the braid all the way around. I'm going to have to experiment more and see if I can do a better job with it, but I was impressed by how cool it looked even with my first attempt!

*Update* My second attempt. (Actually I had to re-do it about 5 times). This time I tried to do one braid and wrap it around instead of doing two that meet in the middle. The hard part is figuring out what to do once you get to the end! Eventually, I just braided a few extra times and then twisted the hair to make it stay.

So cool, and it's not very hard. Like I said, the hardest part is figuring out what to do with the rest of the hair at the end. Hopefully with practice I can get it to look more like that original picture.

Christmas Cones

Last week at Bible study, I discovered Cinnamon scented pine cones. I had been sitting at the dining room table and something smelled SO good. I thought it was something baking in the oven, or maybe a scented candle (although normally I don't like scented candles too much because they're usually too overpowering). This wasn't a strong smell though; it was a faint, muted smell. Sometimes I didn't smell it at all, but then I'd get a whiff of it again, and it smelled so wonderfully Christmas-y and homey that finally I asked "What is that smell?"

Well, I found out it was the pine cones. I was extremely excited when I went to Joanne Fabrics a few days later and found those exact pine cones for sale! I bought them, along with a basket to put them in. I think they look adorable on our windowsill. I love walking into the apartment each day after school and smelling that delightful scent. It reminds me of everything Christmas- woods and cinnamon and hot chocolate and cookies baking and apple cider. I don't know how one little pine cone smells like that much goodness, but it does.

My adorable little Christmas cones

It makes me so happy! I can almost smell it through the computer. :)

Balance

Since getting back from Thanksgiving break, I've felt a little out of sync. I've had some trouble getting back into my routine. I had been doing really well with getting up early to do a devotional and work out, and now it seems that I can't wake up as early as I could before. I've still managed to do my devotional every morning, but I've been tired and I don't have as much motivation as before. I wonder if this is the devil trying to discourage me? Or if it's a sign that I need to have more balance in my life.

I usually have a lot of enthusiasm for things when I first start them, especially when I plan a new schedule. So when I first started this new routine I was really excited about it. But I also tend to get obsessed with things. I'll be really into something for awhile, then it's on to the next thing. I don't want my relationship with Jesus to be like that! I don't want to be really committed and fired-up for a time, then fall away again. So I'm continuing to have my quiet time every day, but still struggling to find a balance among all the things I want to fit into my life.

Sometimes I would love just to spend time with God all morning, but I have to put my journal down and get ready for school. Sometimes schoolwork becomes my biggest time-consumer, but I still want to set aside time to spend with God. Sometimes my workout/running/word-games-on-facebook/blogging becomes a big passion and I obsessively spend lots of time on those things for awhile. I wish I could find a balance and make time for all the things I enjoy on a regular basis. I'm trying to set up some new goals so that I'll be able to do this. Some of my ideas are:

• Cut out time-wasters (things that I don't even really enjoy that much, but I spend lots of time on anyway)
• Stop procrastinating (because that leaves no time for the things I enjoy)
• Plan time for the things I love.

Simple, really. But easier said than done!

T-break recap

I got back from my parents' house yesterday after a great Thanksgiving weekend. It never seems like enough time when I go home. Like usual,  I brought some homework to work on over break, and like usual I didn't do a blessed thing relating to school! Instead I spent lots of time with my mom and dad. I had them all to myself since Leslie and Bud didn't come home for Thanksgiving this year.

My mom bought herself some really cool Christmas presents this year. She got the new Kindle Fire, which basically has a lot of the same functions as an Ipad for less than half the price. She got it mainly to read books, but I introduced her to Words With Friends and Angry Birds. We may have gotten slightly addicted to those two little games in the past few days. I'd never played Angry Birds before, just heard of it, but it's kind of a fun game (although very frustrating at times!). So the Kindle was pretty entertaining for us. The other new gadget was an latte/cappuccino coffee maker. It's fancy, with a device that steams milk and everything. My mom made me mocha lattes each morning and they were delicious!

On Thanksgiving day, my mom and I decided we were going to go to the gym to get some exercise before eating such a big meal. We went to a "Turkey Boot Camp" class and boy did we get our butts kicked! Two cute twin guys led the class and they set up about 20 stations that we had to rotate to- doing each station 3x each! It was a good workout. Some of the stations were really hard and I did exercises I wasn't used to doing. That was the last time I worked out over break because I was sore for the next three days. Every time I laughed my abs hurt! I'm still a little sore tonight as I write this.

Typically I don't go shopping on Black Friday, but this year my mom had to work, so I got up early with her and we went to Macy's. I was excited because my mom had saved up a lot of Macy's money for me and she had some really good coupons, too. I picked out a bunch of clothes that I wanted, plus some jewelry, and even a few gifts. I ended up getting about $400 worth of stuff for a little over $100. I love getting good deals! All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving break. I'm not ready to go back to school yet!

Pumpkin Treats

This fall I've been obsessed with all things pumpkin. There's something about pumpkin foods that just screams "Fall!" Everyone raves about the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, but there are many other seasonal pumpkin foods that are just as delicious. Here are some of my favorites this year:

Pepperidge Farms Pumpkin Spice bread

PET Pumpkin spice nog

Private Selections Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream- soooo delicious!

I'd never tried Pumpkin Pie poptarts until this year, but they're pretty good.

Dairy Queen's pumpkin pie blizzard. I've decided I love pumpkin ice cream.

Pumpkin roll with cream cheese filling

Other yummy pumpkin treats I've tried this fall:
-Pumpkin pie cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory
-Pumpkin frozen yogurt from Sweet Frog
-Kelly's mom's homemade pumpkin bread

Surprisingly, I haven't had any pumpkin pie yet this Fall. Maybe tomorrow for Thanksgiving?

Walk by the Spirit

I read these verses today during my devotions:

¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁸...For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. (Romans 7:15, 18, 19)

²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. (Romans 7:22-23)

I can totally relate to Paul here. It's frustrating. Deep down, at the very core of my soul, I want to follow Jesus. I want to serve him and love him and trust him. The problem is I'm still human. And I have all these other surface desires that get in the way. I want to be accepted by other people. I want to gossip. I want to lie to save face. Well, deep down, I don't really want to do those things, but I keep doing them! I keep sinning.

It's a struggle. I know I have the Spirit living in me, but I still have my own sinful nature in me, too. How do I win this battle?

Paul says in Galatians 6:16, "live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

Again, how? How do we live by the Spirit?
I needed more answers, so I started looking up commentaries on my computer. I know this is long, but I hope you'll keep reading because this is so good! (the bolding is my emphasis)

"Paul's answer is the Spirit of God. So I say, live by the Spirit (v. 16). The command live by the Spirit is the central concept in Paul's ethical appeal. Since the Christian life begins with the Spirit (3:3; 4:6, 29), the only way to continue the Christian life is by the power of the Spirit. The Spirit is not only the source of Christian life but also the only power to sustain Christian life. Actually, "walk by the Spirit" would be a more literal translation of Paul's command in verse 16. The command to walk in a certain way speaks of choosing a way of life--or we might say a "lifestyle," as long as we realize that what Paul has in mind is more than a matter of outward style. His command speaks of a way of living in which all aspects of life are directed and transformed by the Spirit.

"In verse 17 Paul explains the basis of his confidence in the Spirit. He describes the war between the flesh and the Spirit and the result of that war. The Spirit and the sinful nature are two hostile forces opposed to each other: the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other. So walking by the Spirit (v. 16) means fighting in a war between the Spirit and the sinful nature (v. 17). The connection between verse 16 and verse 17 indicates that those who live by the Spirit are not neutral in this war. They are committed to fight on the side of the Spirit against the desires of the sinful nature.

"This inner spiritual warfare is the nature of the Christian life; it is the experience of all those who live by the Spirit. The conflict Paul is describing here is not the moral conflict that everyone feels at some time, nor the conflict of a wayward Christian who is no longer committed to Christ. This is the conflict of a thoroughly committed Christian who is choosing each day to "walk by the Spirit." Each day the Christian who chooses to walk by the Spirit is engaged in a fierce battle between the Spirit and the sinful nature. It is important to stress this point, because many Christians feel ashamed to admit that they are experiencing such a conflict. They feel that mature Christians should somehow be above this kind of struggle. They imagine that the great saints were surely too spiritual to feel the desires of the flesh. But Paul flatly contradicts such images of superspirituality.

"Those who are living by the guiding power of the Spirit in their lives and are fighting each day against the influence of the sinful nature do not need to be supervised and restrained by the law. So Paul says, If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law (v. 18). Life in the Spirit was pictured in verse 16 as an active determination: "Walk by the Spirit!" Walking demands active determination to get up out of the soft armchair and endurance to keep going at a steady pace.

"Life by the Spirit involves active obedience to the direction of the Spirit (v. 16), constant warfare against the desires of the sinful nature by the power of the Spirit (v. 17) and complete submission to the control of the Spirit (v. 18). Such a life will be an experience of freedom from the control of the sinful nature and the control of the law." (full commentary here, if you want more!)

Wow! This is amazing. I don't expect the Christian life to be easy, but I'm realizing more and more that the battle is against myself! To win, I must give the Spirit control over my life so that I can fight against all the sinful desires of my flesh. It involves active determination (I like that phrase) to follow the direction of the Spirit. It's NOT going to be easy; it's going to be a fierce fight. All I can say to my sinful self is: prepare for battle.

Exercise Tips

Since the half marathon, I've been on a really good workout schedule. Some people say they get a little burnt out on running after they've trained so much for a big race, but I feel like I'm more gung-ho than ever!

I was really sore until Wednesday, so I couldn't run, but I went to the gym on Tuesday and Wednesday and did some weights. I also rode a stationary bike for awhile to provide some gentle ROM for my legs (that's range of motion, all you non-PT folks). On Thursday I finally felt okay to run, but it was pouring rain outside, so I ran a few miles on the treadmill. Today (Friday) was my big day to run again. I planned a 6 mile trail run with a friend from church and all day I was itching to get outside to run! It was great. The trails were covered with leaves so we had to watch our step, but it was such a beautiful day and it was so fun to do a long run again!

I genuinely love running now and I want to be more serious about training for my next half marathon. Last time, I was following a schedule where I was supposed to run 4x a week, but I ended up skipping a lot of the short runs because I was so busy with school. I generally only ran twice a week- one short run during the week and a long run on the weekends. It was enough to prepare me for my first half marathon, but now I have time goals to achieve! I've been much more consistent with my exercise routine this week.

Here are a few things I've learned about working out/training.
1. Have a Goal. Before I started training for races, I didn't really work out that much because it wasn't getting me anywhere. I went to the gym sometimes to "stay in shape" but I didn't have any compelling reason to exercise. I like to have a plan and a goal. Now that I'm training for races, I have a much stronger motivation to work out.

2. Be Flexible. I didn't stick to my training plan 100%, but I was still able to finish the half marathon. Every training plan is different and none are magic. Don't freak out if you miss one workout (or even a week of workouts because you get sick). Stick to your plan as much as possible, but be flexible with it.

3. Don't cheat on the important things. It's good to be flexible, but don't go the opposite route and cheat yourself. Don't take weeks off from running/exercise because you got "busy". While missing a workout here or there won't hurt you all that much, disregarding your training plan completely would be a huge mistake. If you're training for a distance race, the most important thing is the long runs on the weekend. Don't cut yourself short and leave these out of your schedule!

4. It takes Discipline. Not just during a run. Once you're actually outside running or in the gym working out, you're 90% there. It takes a lot more discipline to fit exercise into your schedule - to wake up at 6am, to work out when you're tired, to go for a run when it's freezing outside and all you want to do is sit on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa. It's hard- some days you just don't want to exercise. But if you really want to reach your goals, you need to find a way to make it happen!

5. Have a core schedule. You need to have a core schedule that you can do all by yourself; one that you can stick to each day. For instance, getting up early each day before work/school to run. Don't rely on someone else to make you work out! If you like going to the gym with a friend, that's fine, but you need to go by yourself even if they cancel. Don't depend on them for motivation- you need to be self-motivated and proactive.

6. Switch it up! Okay, so you have your core schedule from #5. Now a friend wants you to go to a Zumba class with her on Wednesday night. That's not part of your normal schedule- what should you do? Go! Replace your morning workout with the Zumba class in the evening. It will be a special treat- you'll get to sleep in a little extra that Wednesday, and then you'll get to enjoy a fun new workout with a friend. It's a little variety like this that keeps an exercise schedule from getting too boring. Try something different every once in awhile!

This isn't an exhaustive list and I'm not an expert on exercise. These are just a few things that have helped me enjoy working out. I feel so much healthier and happier now that I've made exercise a part of my normal routine!

Much of You

This song has really been resonating with me lately. Our lives are so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. We're just a little pinprick in time- our lives are so short! The greatest purpose we can have in our short life on earth is to point people to Jesus. We should not be making a name for ourselves. We should not be gaining riches for ourselves (you can't take it with you when you die anyway!). The only thing that matters is living for Jesus. Life here is short, but eternity in heaven is forever!

How could I stand here

And watch the sun rise
Follow the mountains
Where they touch the sky
Ponder the vastness
And the depths of the sea
And think for a moment
The point of it all was to make much of me?
Cause I'm just a whisper
And You are the thunder and

Chorus:
I want to make much of You, Jesus
I want to make much of Your love
I want to live today to give You the praise
That You alone are so worthy of
I want to make much of Your mercy
I want to make much of Your cross
I give You my life
Take it and let it be used
To make much of You

And how can I kneel here
And think of the cross
The thorns and the whip and the nails and the spear
The infinite cost
To purchase my pardon
And bear all my shame
To think I have anything worth boasting in except for Your name
Cause I am a sinner
And You are the Savior

Chorus:
I want to make much of You, Jesus
I want to make much of Your love
I want to live today to give You the praise
That You alone are so worthy of
I want to make much of Your mercy
I want to make much of Your cross
I give You my life
Take it and let it be used
To make much of You

If you want to listen to the actual song: Much of You- Steven Curtis Chapman

My first half marathon

I finished my first half marathon yesterday! Hopefully it will be the first of many. I had a great time. Crossing the finish line was such an unbelievable experience!

The weather was awesome for our race. We were a little chilly at first, waiting for the race to start, but as soon as we started running, we warmed up. We woke up at 5:30 and left my apartment by 6:30 to get to the starting line well before our 7:30 start time. I was so nervous that morning! I ate a bowl of cereal and some powerade energy gummies and drank tons of water and gatorade.

When we got to the starting area, I was so excited! Music was blaring and there were so many people everywhere. We saw the 8k runners take off for their race, then it was time for us to line up for the half marathon. Tristan, Bud and I were starting in corral H (2:30 finish time) but as the waves started, we got pushed up to corral G and ending up starting with them. We had been in the front of corral H, but we ended up starting in the middle of G, which slowed us down a lot. It was too hard to stay side by side, so I followed Tristan and we weaved our way in and out of the crowd. Bud got separated from us at this point and we never saw him for the remainder of the race.

People were running so slowly at the beginning of the race. I like to start out a little under pace, but I was still passing tons of people. Next time I definitely need to start out in a faster wave, because weaving around slow people takes a lot of time and energy. Tristan likes to start out a little faster than me, so she started pulling ahead. I kept running at my own pace, running slower than what I thought I could handle. The first 3 miles felt like nothing. The crowd was packed and I wasn't running all that fast. It didn't feel like we'd gone 3 miles!

After mile 3, I tried to pick up the pace a little and get into a rhythm. I caught up to Tristan and we ran together until mile 6, then we got separated again and I was a little ahead of her for the rest of the race. At mile 6 (10k), they clocked our time. I looked at my watch and saw that we'd done 6 miles in under an hour- we were set to do 10 minute miles if we kept the same pace! Miles 4-8 were my favorite, I think. We ran through a park, there were live bands, lots of spectators, and I was feeling great. I started to wonder if we could finish in under 2 hours!

At mile 8, I got an Accel gel to eat/drink. I wasted a few seconds trying to figure out how to open the thing. I finally realized that you just tear the top off and squirt the gel in your mouth. I took two gulps of gel and threw the rest of the packet on the ground. It didn't taste THAT bad, and I needed the extra energy! At mile 9, I got powerade at the aid station and walked while I drank it. Up until then, I'd gotten a drink at every aid station, but I'd run through. After mile 9, I walked at every station. It was my reward for making it another mile. I'd walk for 5 seconds and take 3 sips of water/powerade, and then I felt like I could keep going for another mile.

At mile 10, things got a little rough. I always hit a point during long runs where I feel like I'm about to cry, and this was it. Nothing really hurt, but I was starting to feel the effects of running a long distance. I started thinking things to keep myself motivated:

• Don't stop, don't give up. Don't stop, don't give up!
• Just keep running, one foot in front of the other, this is easy.
• My mom doesn't think I can do this, but she's WRONG!
• If I was going to stop and walk, I could've done that 6 miles ago.
• Only 3 miles left! That's not that far!

At mile 11, we crossed Broad Street, and I knew we were in the home stretch- just 2 miles left! I started thanking God for everything. "Thank you that I can run, when some people can't walk. Thank you that I'm healthy and strong. Thank you that I'm motivated to do this. Thank you that I know you and you will never leave me!" I felt so grateful that I'm healthy enough to run 13 miles. I am unbelievably blessed!

At mile 12, I stopped at the last aid station and this time I got water and powerade (usually I alternated at each stop). I walked for 5 seconds while I fueled up, then I was ready for the last stretch. I picked up the pace and pushed myself to run as fast as I could handle. I was still passing people- I was amazed that I had any energy left! Finally I could see the finish line and the last part was all downhill. I pushed myself to go a little faster- arms pumping, heavy breathing, sprinting the last part- and I felt like a superstar when I crossed the finish line! The clock said 2:18, but I knew we had started about 15 minutes later than the first wave, so I knew I'd gone faster than my goal time!!

I walked through the finish area and grabbed all the snacks they were handing out, but I couldn't eat right away. Bud was waiting for me at the finish line. Of course he finished ridiculously fast, but at a price. He was hobbling around like an old man. After I walked around for a little bit, I felt kind of shaky, so I sat down and ate a fruit cup. Twenty minutes later, I was starving, so I went back and got 2 slices of pizza.

Bud and I eventually found Tristan and the three of us went to the Omni Hotel to get free post-race massages! It was wonderful. I think that helped me not be as sore the next day. All in all, a great race. We all felt on top of the world. And of course we took a picture with our medals!

My time: 2:03:30
Tristan's time: 2:04:52
Bud's time: 1:43:28

New goal: Run a half marathon in under 2 hours! :)

Pre-race day

Tomorrow is the day of my first race ever- the Richmond half marathon! I'm excited, but also kind of nervous. My main goal is to run the whole thing, and my lofty goal is to finish in 2:15. Tristan and Bud are running it too, so it will be nice to have them right there with me at the start of the race. I'm not sure if we'll end up staying together for the entire race or not. I'll definitely have to blog post-race about how it all goes!

It's funny how quickly you become a "runner". You have to buy good running shoes, because you need shoes that will cushion your foot (and ones that will last a while!). Then you want the running clothes- spandex, lightweight tank tops, a good sports bra, and running shorts. Even special socks, because your feet can get blisters if you have the wrong kind of socks. It starts to add up! (But it's so worth it!)

It could be a commercial:

Nike spandex running pants: $35
Asics blister-preventing moisture-wicking socks: $15
Gel inserts to prevent foot pronation: $23

Getting a runner’s high on mile 10: Priceless!!!

Saving an hour

Daylight savings time ended last Sunday, which meant that we gained an hour. It was so nice getting up at my usual time on Sunday but having an extra hour in the morning! So nice, in fact, that I had an idea. Wouldn't it be cool if I didn't change the time on my alarm clock so I could feel like I had an extra hour every day? I can "save" my hour and only set my clock back when I'm ready to.

It works like this: during the day I go by normal time (aka "new time"). My cell phone and wristwatch are set to the correct time so that I'm on the same schedule as everyone else. But my alarm clock is still set to "old time" and I go to bed and wake up by the time on my alarm clock. I use my extra hour this way: I sleep in for 1/2 an hour longer, but I still have 1/2 an hour more time in the morning. I've been using that half an hour to do my devotional in the morning and it has been AMAZING. God is teaching me so much. I go to bed excited that I'll be able to wake up and read my Bible and write in my journal the next morning!

In effect, all I'm doing is going to bed an hour earlier and waking up half an hour earlier, but with the time change, I didn't have to adjust my internal clock at all. Basically I've been going to bed at 9pm (but it feels like 10pm) and waking up at 5:30am (but it feels like 6:30am). Somehow it's psychologically easier if I don't see the actual time on my alarm clock when I'm waking up so early! Time is so relative.

One thing I've learned this week is how awesome it is to spend time with God first thing in the morning. I've never been a morning person, so I never wanted to do my quiet time in the morning, but it has been a great start to my day. I'm also learning to covet my time with God. I need to fight to make time for it. I need to guard that time fiercely and not let anything get in the way of it. I need to do whatever it takes to make time to spend time with God- whether I have to go to bed earlier, wake up earlier, stay up later, or plan time in my planner. Even if I have to save an hour. :)

The good outweighs the bad

My last post was about all the bad things that happened last week. It's easy to get hung up on those things and forget about all the GOOD things God has done and is doing for us.

1. First of all, Bettina's mom is alive and awake after her emergency surgery! The doctors are amazed at how well she's doing. She is still struggling with control of the left side of her body and she'll need rehab for several weeks to regain strength, but she's doing well so far. The doctors said that 2/3 of people with that type of aneurysm don't make it. Her rapid recovery thus far is miraculous!

2. The good news about the fridge is that we did get a new fridge that same night, and we managed to save most of our food. It was annoying to deal with, but in light of everything else, not that big a deal.

3. I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do with the car insurance yet. I'm going to switch companies; I just need to do a little research to figure out how I can get good coverage with lower rates. Again, not a big deal compared to everything else.

I've realized this week that even when things go wrong, I still have so much to be thankful for! God is so good. It shouldn't take bad situations for us to turn to him and trust him! We should trust him every day, every step of the way.

Bad things come in threes

Wednesday was an absolutely horrible day.

It started with a phone call that my friend Bettina got between classes. Her dad called to say that her mom had passed out in the shower, so they were on their way to the hospital. Bettina was worried, but hoping that everything would be okay. Then she got a call two hours later to find out that her mom had a brain aneurysm that had burst on the way to the hospital. She was sobbing in the hallway and Alicia and I didn't know what to do! We gathered her stuff together so she could leave school, got her some tissues, and she was crying and I was crying. It was just awful. It was a very emotional day.

Bettina left and the rest of us went back to class and tried to focus on school. When classes were finally over, all I wanted to do was go home, eat some ice cream, and study for my test on Thursday. I opened the freezer when I got home, and everything was melted! That was NOT what I wanted to deal with right then. I called the emergency number for our apartment and they said they would send a repair guy. Meanwhile, I went through the freezer and threw out anything that was complete mush.

When the repair guy got there, he said that there was nothing he could do to fix it and he'd try to find us a new fridge. He told me to start unloading everything out of the old fridge. I loaded up a cooler with all the food that seemed okay, stacked the condiments on the counter, and threw some stuff away, but there was still tons of food in the fridge. I was getting frustrated dealing with all this by myself. Luckily Kelly and Audrey came home at that point and started helping me. We managed to save a lot of the food, distributed among three coolers. The repair guy came back that night with a fridge which he had taken from an unoccupied apartment. Unfortunately, it was dirty inside, so we spent the next 30 minutes cleaning the fridge before we could use it.

To top it all off, I checked my e-mail that night, and my car insurance is going up by hundreds of dollars! Not a good ending to a very bad day.

Halloween Hoopla

All dressed up for Melting Pot

This weekend was so much fun! Leslie, Tristan, and Bud came to visit and we tried to cram as much fun as possible into one weekend (like always!). We had decided at the beginning of the school year that we were going to celebrate making it halfway through the semester, and that's just what we did.

Our fun adventures included:

• Dinner at Melting Pot
• Pumpkin carving
• Halloween party
• Eating lots of Halloween snacks
• Running 8 miles through wind and rain

Hoopla: bustling excitement or activity; commotion; hullabaloo; to-do. I think that pretty much sums up our weekend.

Here's some more pics of the fun that ensued.

Wheelchair Antics

Yesterday in my Pediatrics class we watched an amazing video about a boy who does "wheelchair skateboarding". Aaron was born with spina bifida and was in a wheelchair by the time he was 8 years old, but he doesn't let that stop him from doing what he loves. He essentially created his own sport, and was the first person ever to land a wheelchair backflip. Now he uses his influence to help others, which includes being a mentor to a 4 year old boy who is also in a wheelchair.

Aaron's story brought tears to my eyes and it certainly puts my own life in perspective. Aaron has never regretted what he can't do. He doesn't complain about being stuck in a wheelchair. Instead, he uses what he's been given to be the best he can be. It reminded me that God's given us all different talents and abilities. We might not have the same gifts as someone else- and what they have might look better. We can either constantly be discontent with what we're not, or we can make the most of what we have.

ESPN: Breaking Barriers

Oh, yeah and the world's first double backflip in a wheelchair!