Junction City was my home away from home for the weekend. I went to stay with my Dad, step Mom and step Grandma. They are a fun crew. I definitely had my fill of Lifetime and Hallmark channel Christmas movies. (extremely cheesy santa characters who had even more ridiculous ho-ho-ho's. I enjoyed spending time with them though.

Saturday morning I met with my uncle Ronnie who is amazing. My whole life I have looked up to him and have learned so much from him. We spent three wonderful hours talking about work, life, the L-rd, and so much more. I cherish every second I get to spend with him, and I hope for many more years of intelligent, loving, real life conversation.

After my hang out time with Ronnie I decided to drive around Junction to find a place to take pictures. I decided to drive out to Milford Lake-Grandma Jan told me it is the largest lake in Kansas. I was there once before a couple of years ago. I didn't where I was going. It was fun to wing it. The place I found probably wasn't a very popular spot. There was a little dock and a cool rocky point that I walked out on. Other than the wind the day was beautiful. The sun was shining bright and the sky was dotted with clouds. I took a lot of pictures out there. I am excited to go back to other locations at the lake to take more pictures. Freezing temperatures + water = icy rocks on the point. While I was taking pictures on the point I noticed a large white area over on the little beach. I figured it was something covered in ice. Was I correct? Yes I was.

It was actually pretty cool. This was the only spot like this in the whole area.

I finally uploaded pictures of the macaroons that I made a few weeks ago.

I also did some baking for Thanksgiving.

I used my Great Grandma's recipe for the dough. It was a lot of fun to make it from scratch. I made this cherry pie and a pumpkin pie.

"Teach us, O God, that nothing is necessary to Thee. Were anything necessary to Thee that thing would be the measure of Thine imperfection: and how could we worship one who is imperfect? If nothing is necessary to Thee, then no one is necessary, and if no one, then not we. Thou dost seek us though Thou does not need us. We seek Thee because we need Thee, for in Thee we live and move and have our being. Amen."

A.W. Tozer speaks of the self-sufficiency of God. A topic presumed to be known, but how often considered and truly pondered?

While reading this chapter I noticed an objection rising within me. A thought that would indeed make me a necessity to God Almighty. Tozer addresses this train of thought. A way of thinking among some in the Body of Messiah that God needs us, that we are necessary to Him, and that without us, Christians, His good news would not reach the most remote and primitive places on earth.

I kept thinking how impersonal Tozer was making God sound. How "above us" He is. (Who does he think He is? Oh, that's right. He is.) I felt like I wasn't needed. That I am not necessary. I felt that I wanted to be needed. I suddenly had the truth that God doesn't need me forced into my thoughts. I knew this before, but I now realize that it hasn't been informing my daily life. I have been living under a false impression, worshiping an idol instead of the Lord. Lord, forgive me. I am humbled that You would even consider working through me; much less have a relationship with me.

"He needs no one, but when faith is present He works through anyone."

It's not that the Lord needs us to meet the needs of others. That is absurd! The important thing is for us to recognize our place and our dependency, our NEED and NECESSITY, for God.

"That God exists for Himself and man for the glory of God is the emphatic teaching of the Bible."

Fountain of good, all blessing flows

From Thee; no want Thy fulness knows;

What but Thyself canst Thou desire?

Yet, self-sufficient as Thou art,

Thou doest desire my worthless heart;

This, only this, doest Thou require.

Johann Scheffler

Last Thursday evening I baked coconut macaroons for the very first time! I am trying to be more conscious of my dairy and sugar intake so I used agave nectar in place of white sugar. (I do understand that agave nectar is not sugar free, but I do tend to feel better about what I bake when I use it) They tasted great. My one complaint is that the coconut I bought had sugar listed as the 4th ingredient. I don't know if I can (probably can), or should, buy unsweetened coconut. I don't know if the macaroons would taste as good with unsweetened coconut. Does anyone know or have an opinion on this?

I also made almond milk, well, almost. I didn't, and still don't, have cheese cloth so I wasn't able to complete the process. Therefore, I have nearly completed almond milk sitting in my fridge. Next time I will certainly read the whole recipe and have the necessary tools on hand.

The Results Are In...

In my age group (20-29 year old women) I finished 9th out of 19.
Overall I finished 47th out of 100 with a time of 2:04:39.

Great experience overall. Hopefully my first of many adventurous physical endeavors. Which reminds me that I need to clear something up from my last post. I decided to not run in the Nov. 22 half marathon here in KC for a few reasons, but I am about to start working on my swimming and will have access to a gym so that will be good for triathlon training. I have to be disciplined to do these work outs if I am serious about wanting to do a triathlon, 1/2 marathon, and even a full marathon. Self-discipline isn't my strong suit especially with time, physical training, and how I use my energy, but it is something I am trying to improve. I have the ability and the drive within me no matter how hidden it is at the moment. Ultimately I know that the Lord has given me these abilities, so who am I to not work on developing what He has put inside of me to share with the world? (No, I do not think I am superman or greater than anyone else.)

Praise You, Lord, for my vision, hearing, my voice, a strong heart beat, the ability to walk, breath, think, reason, learn, stand, sit, run, swim, hike, sleep, wake up, hear Him, my community, my friends, family, a body that functions pretty much how it is supposed to, You, Your love, Canada, and so much more.

We did it!

Sunday, October 18, 2009, Jacklynn Walters and I completed our first half marathon in Hays, Kansas! 13.1 miles of the sounds of feet pounding on pavement, deep and shallow breathing, the thud-thud of my heart beat, wind blowing intensely against us, off and on conversation, and at times mindless running. At different times during the run I would realize that I had no idea what I had been thinking about. That sounds a little strange, I'm sure, but that's the truth. It was wonderful.

My time was 2:04:38 which is 9.49 minutes/mile. Jacklynn guessed that we might run it in about 2:10 which is just about a 10 minute mile. This makes sense going off of our long run times. I don't know where I finished overall, or even for my age group. Let me assure everyone that I probably was not in the top 10 in my age group. When I find out I will update.

The last mile I ran by myself. It was probably my favorite mile and not because it was my last. As I ran I saw mile 13 spray painted on the ground and I was overwhelmed with thankfullness. I thanked the Lord for helping me get so far. I also thanked Him that the run was almost over. I almost became emotional as I knew it was coming to an end. I was so close and I was giving it my all. I didn't sprint to the finish, but I definitely picked up the pace. That mile was my fastest mile, and that is probably because it was at the end and I knew I could go ahead and exert my extra energy. After I crossed the finish line I did a little jogging in place. One of the guys who had run asked me how I was still moving. I told him I didn't think I could stop. Not yet at least.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. I am going to sign up for another half that will take place on November 22. I hope to finish it around the same time if not a little faster. My good friend Maeret is planning on joining me this time. Jacklynn won't be running this one with me which is a little sad, but completely understandable. The last few long runs we went on her knee would start hurting really bad around mile 7. This happened on Sunday but she didn't stop. She did great! I am very proud of her. Without her I wouldn't have made it this far. She has given me more motivation and encouragement than she knows. Thank you so much my dear friend.

Thank you to Lauren, Jess, Leah, Maason, Matt, Cristina, Cass, and everyone (I apologize if I forgot you) for the special gifts for our first run. I was (am) deeply touched that you all thought about us, wrote us notes, and provided us with goodies. Thank you for supporting me with encouraging words and listening to me talk about running. : )

Race Results from my two 5k's a couple of weeks ago:
Jared Coones: 10.10.09. In my age group (20-24) I finished 5th with a time of 25 min 39 sec. Overall I was 217 out of 3,256 (over half were students from the Olathe schools)
Abby's Run: 10.11.09. In my age group (20-24) I finished 16th with a time of 30 min. 35 sec. Overall I was 331 out of 1,047.

I have not kept up my mileage tracking. If I back track I apologize.

Sunday 09/27 Jacklynn and-10
I think we rested Monday
Tuesday 9/29 Erin and I-1.5
Wednesday 09/30 Jacklyn and I-5
Thursday 10/01 Erin and I-1.5
Friday-Rest
Saturday-Erin and I-1.5
Sunday-Jacklynn and I-11
Monday-Rest
Tuesday-Erin and I-3---I am so proud of my Sis! She seemed to run this 3 miles with ease. She is ready for our races this weekend! After we ran I did some interval training. The intervals felt great, and I realized I should do that more often.
Wednesday-Today-Jacklynn and I are planning to run 5. We have a week and a half until our 1/2 marathon! I am excited!!

A couple of weeks ago my nephew, Cyle, told me he and his mom, Erin, were going to do a memorial run in Olathe for Jared and Jayne Coones. The proceeds from this run go to a number of different organizations to help with cancer research and provide for patients and their families. Here is the link if it is something you want to look in to: http://www.pumpkinrunwalk.org

That is what I am running on Saturday. Sunday Erin, Jacklynn and I are going to do Abby's Run. I am doing this run in memory of precious Zeke. I am emotional just writing this out. I wonder what Sunday morning will bring, but it won't cause me to change my mind. If I cry the whole time I run then that's what I'll do. I imagine there will be a mixture of emotions. I'm sure I will be overwhelmed with feelings of love and loss, among others, from everyone running, walking and those there to support on Sunday morning. So many people being united. 100% of the donations go directly to Viral Myocarditis research (info taken from web page). The link is: http://abbysrun.com

Run Start Times:
Jared Coones- Saturday, October 10-8 am at Black Bob Elementary in Olathe
Abby's Run- Sunday, October 11-8 am at Town Center Plaza 119th and Nall