"You have the power to be brave"

My sister recently shared with me a conversation that took place between my 6 yr. old neice Chloe and 4 yr. old neice Sophie. Chloe and Sophie discovered this summer that one of their favorite things to do is to chase butterflies and attempt to catch them in butterfly nets. One day when they were out in the yard chasing butterflies Chloe apparently had trouble moving a captured butterfly from the net to her waiting "butterfly home" (some sort of container). She likely was a bit anxious about the butterfly flapping around in the net trying to get free. Sophie looked at her and said, "Chloe you have the power to be brave". Apparently at Bible School this summer the kids were taught a lesson about how God gives is the power to be brave. Ever think kids aren't listening to the things they hear or noticing the things they see? I am often amazed at the things kids catch on to and the simple lessons we as adults can learn from them. I thought Sophie's statement to Chloe was precious! Sophie may not have quoted a Bible verse to go along with the lesson. She has not yet had to deal with many "big" fears and battles that life naturally brings to us yet she got the message of the lesson. God gives us the power to be brave. As I went about my week after talking with my sister I found myself hearing Sophie's wise words in my head. As I dealt with a challenge at work that seemed too big for me I heard Sophie's little voice saying, "Missy you have the power to be brave". Somehow I felt encouraged. As I was riding my bike one night feeling discouraged and like giving up again I heard the 4 yr. old voice telling me to keep going because God gives me the power to be brave. What a lesson I have learned. I often find myself in meetings where I am try to understand and follow what's being said while most of the content flies right over my head. I am thankful that God often uses very simple avenues to speak to me.

On a side note... Sophie went to the chiropractor this week (recommended treatment for her asthma). Sophie is generally a child without fear who looks forward to visiting the doctor. She went to the chiropractor once before and did not enjoy the experience at all and cried the whole time. I asked her the other night if she was brave at the chiropractor's that day. She said, "yeah, but I didn't smile at him". :)

My first race

I checked another "first" off my to do list yesterday.

A bit of history first. Many of you know that by some I am not described as a person who takes risks or steps out of her comfort zone. I think that's a nice way for people to tell me I'm no fun and afraid of everything :). About a year (closer to two) year ago I decided to start facing some fears and take some risks. I decided it was time to start some new activities. Now, I didn't go crazy and sign up for sky diving classes. I did face a HUGE fear almost 2 years ago and got contact lenses. I realize that as soon as some of you read that you are thinking, "WOW! She really lives life on the edge!" But for me that involved facing a pretty big fear. I've had glasses since my senior year of high school. My eyes are very sensitive and I've never been able to handle putting drops in my eyes. I was never able to get past the though of placing an object on my eye ball on purpose. For 12 years (or so :) ) I dreamed of being able to go into a store and purchase "regular" sun glasses like everyone else. Yet, I could not get past my fear of sticking something on my eye. I finally decided I needed to just face the fear and give them a try. I was shocked at how easy it was and kicked myself for not trying it years earlier. I think I felt as if I'd just jumped from a plane as I left the doctor's office with objects on my eyes that I had placed there on purpose. How fun it was to go to the store and shop for sun glasses.

Fast forward a year and a half later to yesterday. Yesterday I pinned a piece of paper with the number 6129 on it to my shirt. As I looked down at the piece of paper I realized that that I was crossing off another first on my list. This was something I have always wanted to do. I was pinning my race number to my shirt before I took part in my first official race. I suppose I should fight the impulse to tell you this was a 5k run I was a part of. I'm a bit embarrassed to tell you that this was the Corporate Challenge time predicted 1 mile walk. Yes I did say 1 mile. Having never participated in the time predicted walk I was ingorant to the rules. I assumed that if you were part of a competition you would walk a mile as fast as you could. However, I was informed that I needed to walk a mile and report my time. The challenge was then to walk the mile yesterday at the same pace as the time I recorded earlier. This seemed to take a little pressure off but it also seemed a little silly to me. At any rate I showed up yesterday in my new running shorts, running cleats, sports bra and head band. Can I just say this turned out to be my kind of race. As it turned out the times of all 5 people on our team were added together and this decided the time our team had to walk the mile in. One person on the team did now show up. The mathmatician spoke up and said, "this means we will have to walk as slow as possible". My ears perked up some as I was already half way through my water bottle before we started. We had to make up for the 20 minutes this person who did not show up would have walked. Due to the heat stroke I was experiencing, I was a little confused as to how it would all work but I did get the message that this race was about who could walk the slowest. No problem. I could walk slow and I could do it well! When the race official blew his whistle my team took off out of the gate at a turtle's pace. I was even told by someone at one point to slow down. I don't think I've ever been told that before. I actually crossed the finish line to discover that I walked about 33 seconds too fast. What a bizarre competition! I feel so inspired after watching the olympics and completing my first race yesterday that I'm considering signing up for a n Ironman Triathalon. :)

I'M BACK

Greetings!

It's been about 2 years since I forgot my password and was locked out of blog world :) I finally made myself sit down and do what it took to unlock this blog world. It only took about 2 weeks to hack back into my blog. You will notice a few changes. I hope to write a "real" post by tomorrow. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with you.