Monday, February 22, 2010

This one goes out to the One I Love.....

In great thanksgiving and appreciation, I write this post. This is for my husband who supports me to no end. It is not easy being a father of four children 9 and under. He sacrifices so that I can accomplish a goal I've set for myself. His love is amazing, and I don't acknowledge it enough. So today I do so publicly. Call it a late 10th anniversary present, a belated Valentine's gift, an early 10 1/2 anniversary present:), or just a day of gratitude that I wanted to give him.

He has been an undying support as I train for this triathlon, my biggest cheerleader. I know that is takes away a lot of time from us and our family and to you I say "Thank you". Your support means so much to me and is the motivation that makes me want to keep going. I know that you say I am encouraging to you, but I want you to be aware of how encouraging you are to me. Thank you for spurring me on, and I hope you can say the same about me. I see in you the SHIMILY and I hope that this is SHMILY back to you.

I am so grateful to be yoked with you, on this journey together, striving for the same goal. I'm excited to reach it with you, the ultimate goal of getting one another to heaven! I love you so much!!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Winter Blues

Oh, thank you Jesus for the sun today! It get's so old with the gray and clouds. It is so nice to look out and see the sun reflecting of the beautiful snow! I always say that I'm a lover of the seasons, but without snow, winter gets old fast. I tire quickly of the gray yuck, as I call it. So I am happy for the 9 fresh inches of snow that fell throughout yesterday.

I think it does something for my motivation as well. My workout partner and I DID end up swimming last night! We ventured out in the "blizzard", and turned around more then once. We even walked to the locker room door and turned around. We SO did not want to swim. But we did it! We knew that we would feel better if we did. And I do. Today I feel like I could run forever. Though I won't with the below freezing temps and the snow everywhere. But with the outside actually looking welcoming, it is tempting.

Isn't it nice how God plays to our senses? I've been reading about suffering and how there is true joy in suffering. This is hard to grasp for me. But I see that in Christ's death, there is pure joy, the joy of a saved people. So in our daily suffering, when united with Christ's, there is joy to be gained. Now joy is something that my body and senses, shall I say, enjoy? Yes, enjoy! So if I can wrap my mind around this nugget of offering it up to be transformed to Christ, my suffering won't be in vain and frustration, but filled with grace to make myself and offering of joy to others. And that is motivation enough for me to move forward and enjoy the day!