Happy Hands

Why should feet have all the fun when you're running? I was so happy to be back outside moving and listening to great music that I just HAD to move my hands and arms nearly as much as my feet and legs. It felt a little weird but FUN, FUN, FUN! I'm sure there were a few people driving by (oh yes, I exercised on a main thoroughfare through the neighborhood) that had something to talk about at work (STRANGE woman along Shaker Drive). I DON'T CARE! Well, yes I do because if I weren't somewhat self-conscious about the whole thing I would have kept it up as I passed the middle schoolers at the bus stop. I'll have to work on that.

Today was the first I've gone out running for about 5 weeks and it felt so wonderful. The doctor said I should work into it gradually with walking and running (and I did). I still don't feel "right" and there is daily pain down my leg but I'm moving on. We'll see how I feel this afternoon! Honestly, one of the things I missed the most was the music.

There's an old song called "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" by Johnny Mercer and I got a great message from it (try listening to that song and not dancing around the room...or down the sidewalk).

Here it is sung by Bing Crosby and Bette Midler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z45EB4TiYz4

You've got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum

Bring gloom down to the minimum

Have faith or pandemonium

Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate his last remark

Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark

What did they do

Just when everything looked so dark

Man, they said we better

Accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

No, do not mess with Mister In-Between

Isn't that great advice and insight? Put our efforts into the POSITIVE...what are we doing well and which is good? Let's do it even better! Eliminate the NEGATIVE...dwelling on the negative has a way of weighing us down! And don't mess with "Mr. In Between." That's the luke-warm area...just let it go!

"Have faith or pandemonium is liable to walk upon the scene." So true! Faith brings order to the chaos...every day.

May it be a day of spreading joy up to the maximum and bringing gloom down to the minimum!

"No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away." Ezra 3:13

Treating the Symptoms

The orthopedist told me last week that my back bones are good. That's great news for a tallish, thinish 50 year old white woman. He could only guess--based on lots of "does THIS hurt?" questions--that my radiating leg pain is due to a pinched nerve in my back somewhere. He showed me a cool little model that helped me understand how the back bones can push out the softer disk in between (herniating) which then presses on a nerve (pain). I'm to treat the symptoms, attend a back class and wait it out for a few more weeks to see if it gets better (which, I'm told, it does in about 70% of the people).

And exercising is okay...more than okay...it's a good idea. As long as I don't do too much (I told him I'm not that kind of an athlete!). So I ran again this morning. A gentle little run that was all down hill or flat. What a wonderful way to spend some time on a beautiful fall morning. And then I took my prescribed naproxen when I got home! Treat the symptoms, remember?

I had pandora on my iphone as I ran and if you've never used it (it's free and available from your computer too) you should. I listened to "Jars of Clay Radio" which plays (without DJ's or commercial interuption) Jars of Clay songs but also other artists or songs that it deems "similar." It gave me the inspiration for my children's message tomorrow but I'm going to write about something else today.

Another cool app on my iphone is the Bible. It's called the "YouVersion" and I have no idea what that means. I downloaded it because it's free but also because it has a TON of translations, a search option, and especially because of a daily read. It gives you three chapters in three different books to read each day. They are sequential from day to day. So, I've been reading 1 Chronicles, Ezekial, and Luke. Honestly, I've been slogging through the first two to get to beloved Luke's writings. 1 Chronicles in particular is painful. JUST A LIST OF NAMES. If you're ever searching for a boy's name for a baby, this is the book of the Bible for you to read.

Today, however, something very interesting caught my eye and my thoughts. 1 Chronicles 9 is about "The People in Jerusalem" and I was skimming "Of the Shilonites"...and "Of the Zerahites"...and "Of the Benjamites"...and "Of the priests"...and "Of the Levites" and then came to "The gatekeepers."

The gatekeepers? It lists lots of names but it also explains what they do...

"(The gatekeepers) were responsible for guarding the thresholds of the Tent just as their fathers had been responsible for guarding the entrance to the dwelling of the Lord....The four principal gatekeepers were entrusted with the responsibility for the rooms and treasuries in the house of God. They would spend the night stationed around the house of God, because they had to guard it; and they had charge of the key for opening it each morning."

It's an interesting read of all the things they were entrusted to care for--articles used in the temple service, furnishings, flour, wine, oil, incense, and spices. And it got me to thinking...

How well do I guard the entrance to the dwelling of the Lord (me!)? If I believe the Lord dwells in me (and I do) then how well am I doing with that responsibility? How great of a gatekeeper am I in watching what comes in to my body, mind, and soul? How well am I teaching that to my children? To other children in my charge? I could be doing a whole lot better.

Taking care of our body, mind and soul has got to be a whole lot more than just treating the symptoms when we're hurting. What symptoms have you been treating recently? How could you be a better gatekeeper to the Lord's dwelling place?

More Dancing

I'm always "weepy" on my birthday. It's not that I don't like birthdays! 8...18...25...40...even 50....bring em on! There's just something about the day that brings my emotions close to the surface. And today is no different. Lots of tears as I ran to words of many songs.

A bit of pain too. I've got a perpetual pain down the side of my right leg. Runs from my butt on down to my ankle. Creeped in a couple of days after running the Iron Girl relay three-and-a-half weeks ago. And so I haven't run since deciding to wait until after seeing a doctor. But the appointment isn't until next week and after getting advice from a runner who I think knows what he's talking about (thanks TB) and waking up on a beautiful birthday morning, I decided to go ahead and run anyway.

Isn't it interesting that it hurts more after stopping than during the run? I ran so slowly that on a cardiovascular level I felt like I could have run forever! But I didn't. And now I'm sitting here with a pack of peas on my hip. IT WAS WORTH IT!!

My on-the-go playlist today contained lots of songs about making use of your life: Don't Blink (Kenny Chesney), Lord of the Dance (Stephen Curtis Chapman)...and my favorite (and greatest tear-inducing song) this morning:

I Hope You Dance (LeAnn Womack)

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Dance

I hope you dance

I hope you dance

(Time is a real and constant motion always)

I hope you dance

(Rolling us along)

I hope you dance

(Tell me who)

(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)

I hope you dance

(Where those years have gone)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTQfERb9HVk

I love the background voices of the men in that song especially (the lines in parentheses).

My first 50 years have been beyond what I ever would have expected or anyone could have described to me and I'm pumped to see what God has in store for the next 50.

Raising the Roof with Grace

Wow! Running was almost...well...enjoyable this morning. I have never had that experience with distance running. Sprinting was almost always fun...except when I had to run "long" distances like more than a quarter of a mile. Or jump hurdles while running. But I digress...

I did the run to the cross and back (I think it's more than 2.5 but probably not 3 miles). On the way back down the hill, I spied a beautiful expanse of grass in our church's side yard that almost never gets used for anything and decided to take a little "field trip" and sprint to the far fence and back. More fun! Woo hoo! I think I now can do that horrible little trip around Centennial Lake for the Iron Girl relay in a few weeks. Hills and all! Maybe if I repeat that enough I really will believe it!!

I listened to lots of music this morning. That really seems to be key to my being able to run longer (and faster). So my theory is if I train enough with music I'll be in good enough shape to run the race without it (very strict guidelines...I think the rules stipulate that body guards will yank anyone off the course who they see with plugs in their ears). Hopefully no waterboarding involved...

Grace Like Rain

todd agnew

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

that saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now I'm found

Was blind but now I see so clearly

Chorus:

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me

Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed

Chorus

When we've been there ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sunWe've no less days to sing Your praise

Than when we first begun

Chorus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_fgE8V0Kuw

There are MANY versions of Amazing Grace out there! From the Eagles' "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" to the tune of "Theme from Gilligan's Island" (yes, really). But my very favorite of all time Amazing Grace MOMENT was actually a challenge of the Amazing Graces that happened pretty spontaneously at the LOGOS Youth Conference East this summer....

Setting: Evening Vespers Building (Men in one auditorium, women in the one next door)

Timing: Last night of Vespers

Background: Men ALWAYS sing Amazing Grace to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun" and they sound incredible...the only song that they will really belt out and they raise the roof with it! Women decided they would close vespers singing Amazing Grace too...but the more traditional version.

What happened: Men started singing Amazing Grace apparently unaware that the women were singing it too (we could hear them, they could not hear us...yet). As they continued to sing, we got louder and stronger. It sounded so..well...ROOF RAISING! As soon as they ended and started filing out of their auditorium past our room, they could hear us singing. We got louder. They started singing "their" version again. Back and forth...the challenge of the Amazing Graces. Who could sing about God's grace louder and stronger? QUITE a moment!!

Have you sung loud and strong about God's grace recently? Have you even whispered it? It's really something to raise the roof about!