more week 10

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty

He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three

His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth

When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind's progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life

Dr James Allan © 1926. 

That poem was shared with us at our team meeting on Wednesday, along with a brief slide show of Ronda & Lavern's trip to Israel.  So amazing.  (I'm adding that to my bucket list.)

How awesome is that poem?  Hard to believe that one solitary, amazing, impactful life was sacrificed for me.   

This is perfect for keeping me focused during Lent.

And speaking of staying focused, here is a brief excerpt from my devotion this morning:

"We must continually maintain an adventurous attitude toward Him, despite any potential personal risk... All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ.  Never try to live your life with God in any other way than His way.  And His way means absolute devotion to Him. Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus."

("My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers)

Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead.  Wow.  Can I do that?  Am I willing to do that?  I'd love to say, "Absolutely!"  But I know that there is no way I could ever do this on my own.  It will only be through the power of the Holy Spirit that I will ever be able to live this way. 

Heavenly Father, fill me with an adventurous attitude toward You.  I know that I cannot live my life with You in any other way than Your way.  Holy Spirit, help me to be absolutely dependent on and devoted to Jesus.  Help me to walk with Him daily, without worry or concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead.  Lord, you are in control and I am so grateful.  Thank you for loving me, Father.  Amen.

week 10

"The underlying foundation of the Christian faith is the undeserved, limitless miracle of the love of God that was exhibited on the Cross

of Calvary; a love that is not earned and can never be."

-- Oswald Chambers

Love this quote from my devotion this morning.  A great reminder of God's amazing grace.

So... week 10... lots going on.

TJ leaves for Ireland today!  Wow.  I must admit I have totally mixed emotions.  Worry (of course... I am his mom after all)... anxiety... excitement... jealousy  :)  I know he is going to have a fantastic time and I'm so excited that he's getting to have this amazing experience.  And I'm so grateful to all of our family for blessing him with financial support for this trip.  I can't wait to hear his stories and see his pics!  In the meantime, I'll be covering their team in prayer for the next 11 days.  Lord, bless them and keep them; make Your face shine upon them and be gracious to them; Lord, lift up Your countenance upon them and give them peace.

More later...

more week 9

I actually ran twice this week... yay for me!  Hope I survive my 8 mile long run on Saturday.  I'm slowly getting use to my new running shoes (or lack there of, I should say).  My foot muscles are a little achy, but I'm hopeful that will pass as I increase my running and walking.  Only 9 weeks until the Cap City Half Marathon!

I've decided to put a team together for the Columbus Marathon in October.

They announced that Nationwide Children's Hospital will be the beneficiary this year -- it's now The Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon --  so I'm going to do some fundraising and try to get involved with the Children's Champions.  I'm going to work on getting more info this weekend.  I think it'll be really fun... especially once we live over there.

Still no news on M&C's house... more waiting.  The family that came through our house last weekend decided to pass (not enough land), so we've contacted the Colyers and there should be a sign going up in our yard any day now.  Woohoo!

I took several Instagram pics this week, trying to catch up on my photo-a-day list for February.  I didn't so so well over the month (must improve that in March).  I think it kinda defeats the purpose if you do them all in one day. :)  Here are the few I took on Thursday.  I think I'll call it quits for the Feb list and move on to March.

blue (my mother's favorite color)

inside my bathroom cabinet (I know... what the heck?)

inside my closet (the actual closet is too messy to post, so you get the inside of the closet door.)

Sushi with Karen on Thursday... bummed to find out our fabulous restaurant.com coupons for Yamato aren't good anymore.  They said we can go online and exchange them, so we're trading them in for some yummy pizza place in Kettering that Karen found.  I like pizza better than sushi anyway, so it's all good.

No mentoring Friday night -- our friends are passing some cruddy illness around their family -- so we're hanging out with Teej and maybe A&A.  Storms are coming... great night to stay home.  Totally weird weather.  Did I mention that it was in the sixties this week?  I didn't think to capture the temp until evening, but here it is -- 60 degrees at 6:45pm IN FEBRUARY!!

Makes me a little nervous about what our spring and summer will be like.  Probably snow.

Dinner with Teej & Hubby at Los Mariachi's... ummmm... bean dip & guac.  Saw lots of fun people there -- Debbie, Stephanie & Alison Kelly... Suzanne & John Collins... Dan & Cheri Nelson (every Friday!)... and Curt, of course, stopped at two or three other tables to say hello to people that I didn't know.  I seriously think he knows about 80% of the people in Springfield.  Anyhow, always a fun time with my boys.

Ok, so it's 8pm on March 2 and it's almost sixty degrees!  What happened to the "plummeting temperatures" we were suppose to get?  And the storms?

Hope I didn't just jinx us.