Spring Forward

Enjoy the pictures of our garden!  Happy Spring!

I wrote a poem about daffodils when I was in 2nd grade or so. 

I'm not sure how I still remember it, but here goes... enjoy!

I'm glad God made the daffodils

Which always cover mountains and hills

Why am I glad He made daffodils?

Because of what they look like

Teacups and frills

- Laura Susan Darnell, circa 1990

Running Update

Week 5 -- check!  And we're already halfway through Week 6.  Starting Friday, every run is just that... straight running.  No more walking breaks.  Here goes!

I've been listening to a lot of Chris Tomlin on the iPod while running, and one is becoming a favorite, Not to Us... which is funny because I used to not like this song.  The rhythm of the song + words (very applicable) have been a blessing!

Not to us, O LORD, not to us

but to Your name be the glory,

because of Your love and faithfulness.

Psalm 115:1

Snow!

 

Week 4 Down, Week 5 will be a doozy!

Thanks to the tunes on my iPod, my sweet family (hubby and pup) beside me, and God giving me breath and energy... week 4 was a success.  I can hardly believe that by the end of Week 5, I'm supposed to run for 20 minutes straight.  I'll try my best... and let you know how it turns out.

In the meantime, here's the playlist:
Week 5 Day 1
Walk 5 minutes:  The Welcome Song, Pocket Full of Rocks
Jog 5 minutes:  It's Alright, Third Day
Walk 3 minutes, Daydream Believer, Monkees
Jog 5 minutes, Only You Satisfy, Jami Smith
Walk 3 minutes, A Cheud Dannsa, Ridgely
Jog 5 minutes, Baba O'Riley, The Who (aka UGA pregame song)
Walk 5 minutes, Acres of Hope, Shane&Shane

Week 5 Day 3
Walk 5 minutes:  Nothing Else Beside, Silers Bald
Jog 8 minutes, I Cannot Hide My Love, Enter the Worship Circle
Walk 5 minutes, My God Reigns (not sure who sings this song, but it's an old MBY tune)
Jog 8 minutes, None But Jesus, Hillsong
Walk 5 minutes, Chapter One, Shane&Shane

Week 5 Day 5
Walk 5 minutes:  Healer, Kari Jobe
Jog 20 minutes:  4 Chris Tomlin songs in a row, Unchanging, Not to Us, Awesome is the Lord Most High, Jesus Messiah (basically running until Chris stops singing)
Walk:  Watermark gives me a break from the running... Arise and Be Comforted and In the Garden
 
Wish me luck, or providence, or blessings, or whatever it is that you do!

Run in such a way...

After Christmas I decided it was time to get serious about exercise.  If you know me well, you know that I hate exercising, especially running.  I realized I had gained XX pounds over the last year or so (that will remain a secret between me and the wii). and it was time to get things under control!

I had heard a friend talk about a running program called Couch to 5K.  So beginning December 28, I got to running.  The first couple of days I took Jasper with me (he drug me most of the way), but once I started back to work, Springer joined me in the evenings.  He takes Jasper, and they run really fast around the park.  An added benefit is that Jasper has been much better behaved lately!

Week 3 took three tries before I finished it.  Week 3 Take 1... I was at work until 7 or 8 every night.  Week 3 Take 2... torrential rain.  Week 3 Take 3... success!

The park I am referring to is Lakebottom, here in Columbus.  It is a really neat place... lots of folks walking/running around the track (2 miles if you do a figure-8), tennis courts, a high school on the corner, baseball fields (where Springer played Little League), etc.  This week I have felt better than ever!  It is starting to be fun!

A new addition to the workout is some tunes for week 4.  I created a playlist to match the times I run...
Warmup walk:  God of this City-Chris Tomlin (5 minutes)
Run:  Fill Me Up Buttercup (3 minutes)
Walk:  Stay Just a Little Bit Longer (1.5 minutes)
Run:  Sweet Home Alabama-Lynyrd Skynyrd (5 minutes)
Walk:  Little Wild One-from That Thing You Do! (2.5 minutes)
Run:  Name Sake-Shane&Shane (3 minutes)
Walk:  Larry Munson calling the AU/UGA game 2002 "Michael Johnson in the Corner" (1.5 minutes)
Run:  Nothing Else Beside-Silers Bald (5 minutes)
Cooldown Walk:  Mighty is the Power of the Cross-Chris Tomlin (6 minutes)

So that's what I'll be rocking out to this week.  Praying we will glorify God with our running!

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.

I Corinthians 6:19-20

Everyday Kindness

Last Saturday I woke up hoping to get clean, dry, warm khakis (I just love clothes right out of the dryer) but unfortunately they were still wet... bummer.  Our dryer was broken.

On Wednesday folks from Best Buy came out and couldn't fix it.  They said we needed an electrician.

So today an electrician friend of a friend came and fixed our dryer!  Hooray!

He also said that we are lucky our dryer did not cause a fire.  I am choosing "blessed".  Thanks, Lord, for your protection and provision!

Everything is Different

My experience with new CDs is so interesting.  The first time I listen to a new album, I almost always hate it.  (Most recently occured with both Everything is Different Shane & Shane, as well as Glory Revealed 2.)  Sometimes I have to wait a couple of days before I try them out again. 

Glory Revealed 2 took a day or two, and now I love it!!  Everything is Different took a little longer.  Springer loved the whole album immediately.  Finally after about a week, the song "Worthy of Affection" caught my attention.  Then "You Are My Portion".  Then "Everything is Different".  Then "I'm Alive".  Now "For the Good".

I still don't like their version of "The Lord's Prayer" or "My Hope is Built".  And I think that's ok... maybe I am just old school and think that the old melodies aren't broken, so why fix them?  I do, however, highly recommend this album, along with Glory Revealed 2.

Lately I have been singing "Everthing is Different" in my head.  I love how saturated these lyrics are with God's Word. 

Bottom line:  The Gospel changes everything. 

Who am I to know Your glory

Who am I to recognize your voice calling out

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me

How could I be in Your story

God who was and is and is to come who is One

Rev 4:8 "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!"

I was dead in my sin

Eph 2:1 You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…

You came in

Eph 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy,

because of the great love with which he loved us,

even when we were dead in our trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ

by grace you have been saved

You made a way when there was no way

You covered heaviness with garments of praise

Is 61:3 The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness

You wrote a song and You're singing it over me

Zeph 3:17 He will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing

I feel a dead heart beating now

Ezek 36:26 And I will give you a new heart,

and a new spirit I will put within you

And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh

and give you a heart of flesh

This revelation makes me want to shout

That Jesus has been sent and everything is different

You turn ashes into beauty

Is 61:3 To give them beauty for ashes

You are for me, not against me now

Rom 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us?

You found me somehow

You turn mourning into dancing

Ps 30:11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing

You turn weeping into a joyful noise

Ps 30:5 Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning

Oh rejoice!

Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always

again I will say, Rejoice

What matter of love that You would call us sons and daughters

1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us,

that we should be called children of God!

We cry "Abba! Father!"

Rom 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,

but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons,

by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"

Alleluia Alleluia

I will never be the same

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come