Philipians 4:13

     Many of us know this verse by heart: I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  Well, I learned another great aspect to this verse while in Florida.  The Disney race is so big that they also had a health and fitness expo the whole weekend.  One of the vendors was called TEAM 413...can you guess why?
     This team is based on Philipians 4:13...that you can do anything you want and accomplish anything you put your mind to because we have God as our Lord and Savior.  This is the prayer they have come up with...that I thought I would share:

God,
Give me the courage to run the race.
Help me to persevere as you taught us.
Grant me the strength to finish strong.
Honor me with your presence on my journey.
Allow me to be a GraceRunner this day.

Oh Lord...
One more breath...
One more step...
One more mile...
FINISH LINE...

This is my prayer.
I can do all things through YOU who strengthens me!
Amen.

I think this can apply to anybody...no matter if you are a runner or not:)

Dreams come true!

     I have grown up with my Dad running...getting up on my days off of school to bike along side of him.  Which I thought was cool, until I was a teenager, and getting up early was complete torture.  Then right after we got Silena I decided to start running myself.  I found the joy in it and it gives me the same adrenaline rush that dancing does.  About two years ago when I started getting the Running Magazine I found this awesome race that I wanted to do: Walt Disney World Half/Full Marathon.  I instantly told my dad and my original thought was to do the full marathon. 
     However, after taking last year to figure out my knee problems I discovered that there would be no way possible my knees are capable of that distance.  So I compromised with the half marathon, which is still a huge accomplishment. 
     So we leave for Florida, check into the condo and go to the running expo and pick up all of our stuff.  We assumed our race was on Sunday so we went for a small run Friday night and we were planning on taking Saturday off.  After putting Silena to bed Friday night Craig, Mom, Dad and I sit down to play cribbage and something caught my eye.  My commerative pin said that our race was on Saturday NOT Sunday...I said something to my dad and we checked all our information we just got and sure enough our race is Saturday.  Although our paperwork said Sunday!  Crap...now we have all this stuff to get ready and it's already 10:00pm and we have to get up at 2:30!
    Praise God that he pointed that out to me otherwise we would have missed it!  This was the coolest race I have ever done.  My dad and I joined 27,000 other runners in the most magical place in the world.  There were disney characters along the route, local cheerleaders and bands, and many drink stations.  Around mile 6 my knees started hurting (I am sure because of our run Friday night) and around mile 9 they were getting painful, so we walked/ran the last 4.  The last mile seemed to go on for days, but as soon as I saw the finish line it was like God gave me a new surge of energy and I sprinted to the finish line.  Tears and all...
     It's an amazing feeling when you accomplish something big, not only accomplish it, but it's been something you have dreamed about.  It was just as magical as I imagined and getting to experience that with my Dad was awesome!  Thank you Lord for the strength:)

Psalms!

     Today's devotion come from Psalm 118:1...Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
     Good thing, right?  Good thing he loves us despite our mistakes...good thing he loves us despite when our kids throw tantrums over the stupidest things.  He loves us even if we make stupid financial decisions and he loves us when we don't love ourselves.  His love is so big for us that he constantly does good things for us despite how we act or what we say.
     We just have to remember to give thanks to him no matter what...even if the trial we are going through is a tough one there is always something to be thankful for! 

This will be my last devotion for the next two weeks!  My family and I are off for a vacation...so I will talk to you in a couple of weeks:)
     ...

Short Devotion!

     As I am sitting here and looking back on the past year and realizing there is just under 10 hours left of 2011 it makes me think of all the awesome things God has done.  Then it also makes me look forward to the things he is going to do not only for me and my family, but for my friends as well.  Don't forget to praise God in the trials as well as the triumph, for in each of these there is a lesson that God is just waiting to teach us:)

     Have a very safe and blessed 2012! 

Friday Challenge!

     Today's challenge is to make a dreamboard for 2012.  A dreamboard is something I learned to do while working on Xango.  A dreamboard is made up of your dreams and ambitions for the upcoming year..Craig does this and we even do it with Silena!
     The subconscious has a way of putting everything it sees on a regular basis into it's memory.  If you put the dreamboard somewhere where you will see it, then before you know it, your memory will help you to accomplish whatever it is you want.
     Why is it that only kids get to have dreams?  It is very important as adults to have goals, dreams, and ambitions.  These are what get you through the really hard, crappy days when you just want to lay in bed.  We all have dreams...no matter how silly they are!  They could be simple or they could be a stretch, but remember your subconscious will help you to accomplish them!
     Try doing this and remember...a dream has no limit:)

Happy New Year!

A mustard seed!

     I hope all of you are recovering from your Christmas events and gearing up for another great holiday...New Year!  I didn't know what to write so opened my bible and decided on a scripture.  It wasn't the first one I opened to, but found it after searching for a few moments.
     Matthew 17: 19-20- Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith.  I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you."
     I didn't exactly know how small a mustard seed was so I went onto google and this is what picture came up:

I can't believe it...We can move any mountain and it doesn't matter what the world says, but God says this is all we have to have, 20 mm worth of faith, for him to move a mountain for us!  How awesome is that?  It shouldn't matter what we are going through here on earth, no matter how hard the trial is, God wants us to know that we just have to believe he will move the mountain for us.  One thing I learned yesterday while doing my bible study...not only do you have to believe miracles with your heart, but you also have to speak miracles, as if you have received them.  Don't speak against the things you are asking to be moved!  We are truly capable of anything:)

2012!

     I can not believe we are a week away from another new year!  It is crazy..I remember this time 12 years ago when people were freaking out about Y2K.  Wouldn't you know it people are freaking about the Myan Calendar and the fact that they "predicted" the world to end at the end of 2012.  Maybe it's hard to believe because we have literally no snow down on the ground and it looks and feels like spring.  Weird!  As I end my year with reading the whole bible and start my new year by running 13.1 miles, I think about how wonderful my life is.  I am accomplishing all these things before my 30th birthday and I have found a new love for the Lord. 
     I think it is an awesome thing to have really small goals and accomplish those because it makes it really easy to get focused on the bigger goals if you can check off the small ones!  What are your goals for the new year?  Not resolutions that will last a whole month, but true goals that you can work towards!  Remember the Lord wants to see if we can be faithful and responsible with the small stuff...and when he can see that then he will give us more responsibility and bigger blessings:)

Have a great last week of 2011!