Trusting on the journey...

A few months ago, my friend Jess had taken Isabelle for me because I had a meeting after church, so she was taking her kids and Isabelle to go pick blackberries, at her mother in laws house. I went to pick Belle up and on the way back to the cars from where you could pick the blackberries we were riding in a golf cart, it was her and I in the front with Kimberlin and then her husband and the three kids were on the back seat, anyways I was riding along enjoying the scenery and I wasn't holding on too tight, or freaking out because we were going fast, but her husband kept saying, "Jess slow down" or "watch out for that bump up here." I was thinking about the lack of fear I had, because she knew this path and I trusted her.

In life sometimes we want God to show us the whole picture and we ask Him, "can't You just show me how this is going to work out and I will follow You," or we sit there in fear because we don't know the whole picture. You see if God showed us the whole picture we would probably freak out (to say the least). We couldn't handle knowing where all the bumps and potholes of life are, so instead God says "Do you trust Me?" "Will you trust Me?"

I know that trials look different for us all and sometimes I find myself asking, "God can't you just take this away, I am not strong enough to walk through this valley." Every time I hit this point I feel God gently pull me close to his side and say, "No, daughter I cannot take it away because without this trial, you will not become what I want you to be, what I created you to be, what I know you can be."

Girls Houston Trip

Sister lovin'

Isabelle telling her sister good morning:)

Cousin time:))

One day we went to a water park thing, where the water shoots up from the ground, and the kids loved it...well Kimber not so much.

Time with Uncle Paul too:)

It is so fun having two daughters:)) I so look forward trips with these two girls that God has blessed my life with! They are like my little buddies:) I am so grateful! When Jon was in China then we had the opportunity to go see Doug and Christy down in Houston, it was a refreshing visit! Thanks Doug and Christy for loving me and my girls while we were there! Love you guys!

Midnight Streak Run

I am off for a day of shopping with my sister's but wanted to get these pics up!!

a really good friend....

Sometimes you need a friend, and other times you need a really great friend who is going to love you no matter what has happened. I ran in a race on Saturday night, called the Midnight Streak, no you don't streak during it, but anyways it was my worst run EVER. It started off bad when I forgot to start my watch, then got worse when I remembered my watch, but then couldn't get it working...I finally said forget it. Then the race was super crowded and people would stop running mid run to walk, so all of the sudden someone in front of you would quit running and there was no where to go to get around them because of ALL the people (they should have started us in rounds or something because the course was too tight). I was doing pretty good and then around mile two, I started to have some bladder issues, I am not sure if it was because I was running at night and had hydrated too much, or if I just didn't empty my bladder enough, or if passing two children through that area has taken its toll, and unfortunately has caught up with me, but with every step it was getting worse and worse. I finally had to walk for a little bit because it was so bad. I just wanted to sit and cry and I knew that Kat was coming pretty quick behind me and that she would help, but I fought through the urge to sit and cry, and I finished the race, but it was like I said before my WORST race ever. After I crossed the finish line I just started crying and Kat found me and hugged me in spite of my sweat and my problems and she told me it was OK. I am blogging this because although it is super embarrassing, I really didn't know that it happened to woman (after I talked to several woman about it, I found out it is actually pretty common). After we got back to the car Kat had some extra shorts and we were laughing about it all saying "that is what good friends are for to let you borrow there shorts when you wet your pants!" I have always been super honest on this blog and I want women to know that stuff like this happens, so needless to say I probably won't be doing a lot more night runs, and I definitely won't over hydrate myself again before a race. I will post more pics tomorrow of the race. I would also like to say that the other three who ran with me did awesome and I was glad to have their love and support :) This whole night made me thankful for the community of support that I have tied myself to! Thanks Kat

Even the bad runs must be recognized and remembered because hopefully it will push me on to greatness....

Memorial Day..yeah I know it was a while ago.

Back for memorial day we had invited all of our friends to my parents house out at the lake, and it was such an awesome time!! We started there in the afternoon and didn't stop until way after dark!! The best part (to me) were the smores:) oh yeah and I guess hanging out with awesome people was nice too;) anyway I didn't take a ton of shots but here are some random ones...

Working on a fire, it wasn't cold bnut we had to have smores!!

Rhonni and Zavie! I love this shot

Kat

Isabelle and Isabelle having a little snack!

My friend Jess took this pic of her son Landon, and it really does look like

he is in an action movie, running from the explosion.

Landon

Cadence

all the guys out on the boat

I know this post is beyond late, but I am working on catching up!!

Simple Question

Every morning when my alarm goes off for me to get up and get to the gym, while it is still dark outside, I really struggle and ask myself "do I really want to go to the gym today or would I rather sleep?" The obvious answer is sleep, so I throw my legs over the side of the bed and force myself to wake up, somewhere between sliding my gym clothes on and brushing my teeth I finally wake up.
What I was struck with last week was the thought that getting up and making the gym a priority is easy, I mean the decision is easy, I either do it or I don't. This thought stuck with me all week because our lives are a series of choices, good and bad, we are constantly deciding things that determine our hour, our day, our week, our month, our year and our lives. These small choices add up.
I think often we, as humans make life too difficult, saying that a certain sin is too complicated to give up, that it insnares us too much, or that a relationship is too hard to fight for, or that we are too tired to sacrifice, too selfish to love, and too stubborn to be obedient. It just isn't as complicated as we make it, is it?
Someone I really respect asked me this question when I was going through some hard choices in my life, she looked at me and said, "Randi, it doesn't matter how you feel, the question is are you going to be obedient to God or not?" This question has helped me through so much, and no I don't always make the right choice.
So today the question is will you?

Will you live a life of discipline to God?

Will you pursue a godly, healthy marriage, when it feels too tough to stay in it?

Will you live a life sacrificing for others?

Will you love, when you just can't find it in you to love?

Will you be obedient?

Will You?

Workout Queen

I am trying to live a more a disciplined life, seeing as I have gained some of my weight back, I have realized that this is probably going to be a constant battle between my body and fitting into my jeans, I am OK with this it is just going to take a lot of work. Anyway I have been trying to get up and go to the gym every morning, very early, so onto my story. I was at the gym this morning and I ran, what felt like FOREVER, and then I was on the stair master for quite awhile. There were these two ladies there and they came in after I had began my run, so they did their thing and I did mine, well when they went to leave I was still stepping away and I noticed she was talking to me, so I pulled my ear bud out (I am a little anti-social when I am focused) she said, "man, you are like the workout queen!" I am not going to lie this was flattering, it meant a lot to me to come from from someone asking me when I was due when I was POSTpartum, to being called the workout queen:) Now in all honesty I realize that I am nowhere as fit as I could be or need to be, thus making me NOT the 'workout queen,' but on this day, on this particular Monday, it felt good to hear. So to all those who are trying to stay fit and healthy, workout today like you are the 'workout queen' because at least doing something about it, is worth celebrating.