Whatever You're Doing...

I've heard this song many times and have always loved the message.  However, right now, I'm going through a season of healing and today the words just gripped my heart and pulled me towards something heavenly.

Praise You Almighty Father for being larger than I could ever imagine and for your faithful and never-ending presence in my life.

It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
And all I can do is surrender

(Chorus)
Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Reevaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...

(Chorus)

Time to face up
Clean this old houseTime to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly
Something Heavenly

It's time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

We Are Family...

Thankful for my family this week.  I'm looking forward to spending time with all of them and enjoying lots of food, good times and exciting football.

Dish Report: Pizza & Dance

Not take-out pizza
Not frozen pizza

It was...
HOMEMADE PIZZA

Tomato Basil

Meatball Marinara

Italian Cheese

Caesar Salad

For the record...

All family members ate and were happy.

So we spent the rest of the evening doing this...

Cute, huh?

Check out these moves...

Hunny bunny looks good :o)

Xbox Kinect Dance Central

Created to give children an eye to a time

when their Moms & Dads had it going on!

YES!

Something Beautiful...

Today is just a gorgeous day :)

On the way home from picking up Little Q we heard this song.

Vicki bought me this CD for my birthday and I love the entire CD.

This song, however, is what hooked me into making sure it was on my "birthday list."

I love the sound of the guitar and I love, Love, LOVE the lyrics.

LQ likes this song too - you should see him right now.

Running around the kitchen singing at the top of his lungs as though he's the lead singer.

He is not a ham.

Really.

'sigh'

He really is MY son.

'heavy sigh'

I know.

Hahaha!!!



In your ocean, I'm ankle deep
I feel the waves crashin' on my feet
It's like I know where I need to be
But I can't figure out, yeah I can't figure out

Just how much air I will need to breathe
When your tide rushes over me
There's only one way to figure out
Will ya let me drown, will ya let me drown

Hey now, this is my desire
Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want something beautiful
To touch me, I know that I'm in reach
'Cause I am down on my knees, I'm waiting for something beautiful
Oh, something beautiful

And the water is risin' quick
And for years I was scared of it
We can't be sure when it will subside
So I won't leave your side, no I can't leave your side

Hey now, this is my desire
Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want something beautiful
To touch me, I know that I'm in reach
'Cause I am down on my knees, I'm waiting for something beautiful
Oh, something beautiful

In a daydream, I couldn't live like this
I wouldn't stop until I found something beautiful
When I wake up, I know I will have
No, I still won't have what I need

Hey now, this is my desire
Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want something beautiful
To touch me, I know that I'm in reach
'Cause I am down on my knees, I'm waiting for something beautiful
Oh, something beautiful

51,107...

... How many steps did I take running my first 26.2 mile marathon?  And I burned over 2800 calories - Wow!

There is no denying the anticipation that I had for this event.  I counted down the days, made sure that I hydrated, carb-loaded, and passed on the wine.  It was all I expected it to be...

Fun... Long... Grueling... Exciting... Exhilarating... Painful...

I ran with a great group of friends, shout-outs to Connie, Karen, Diane, Jim & Chad.  We kept each other motivated and on-track.  There's something exciting that happens when you do something with a group of people that are all running toward a common goal.  A kinship - a community - a family is birthed where you least expect it.  That in itself is priceless.

Running through downtown San Antonio was nice.  The weather was great and the scenery was beautiful.  The crowds all through downtown were excited - which we all appreciated.  I felt great all thru mile 18, then I started to feel shakey and hungry and if I were by myself, I might have considered quitting had this one woman not shouted "Come on!  You can do it!  This is what you trained for!"  Lady - whoever you are - Bless You!  You kept me focused and I needed it bad. 

Around mile 19, I had to take a potty break and told my buddies to go ahead and I'd catch up.  That break made my leg muscles tighten up and it took me longer to get back into a running rhythm.  I ran by my husband, son, mom & sister at mile 21 and they cheered and yelled and all I thought to myself was "Ok, less than a 10k left.  It's a new race, I can finish this!"  About 100 yards past my family, my calves just cramped up and did not want to run anymore.  If calves could speak, mine would have been saying, "Hey! You've never made us run this far before so we're not doing it!"  I spent the next 2 miles walking and stretching A LOT!  By this time, I knew 2 things - I was not going to catch up with my group, and I would not finish at the 5 hour mark.  But, I kept trying to run and FINALLY - shortly after passing the mile 23 marker, my calves gave up their fight against my determination to finish.  My pace was not as strong as it had been but I was moving.  Hallelujah!

That last stretch to the finish line is all I've heard it could be.  It felt great.  I had my "moment."

My official time was 5:20:32 and I'm looking forward to beating that!  You heard that right - I will do this again.

I look goofey in this pic - My smile looks bigger than my head and I should have straightened my shirt and centered my bib but I think at this point it took every ounce of energy to hold up my "bling" :-)

Q & little Q met me at the finish line and I was so grateful they did.  Q helped me stretch out and then drove me straight to Big'z Burgers to eat one of these...  (I passed on going home to shower, cuz I was starving!)

As I hobbled thru the restaurant to a table, I saw 2 others wearing their bling and chowing down on some burgers and then another fellow marathoner came in after me.  They, like me, came straight from the finish line.  Happy to report that the restaurant smelled like a burger joint and not stinky marathon runners.

Down To The River To Pray...

Listening to Alison Krauss today on Pandora - this woman sings like an angel...

I know there are other more recent videos, but I love the sound of the gospel choir in this one.

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way !

O sisters let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
O sisters let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way !

O brothers let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
Come on brothers let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way !

O sinners let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
O sinners let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way !

Remind me... Again...

I wish I could explain how my conversations with God make me feel.  It's so hard to put into words the conversations we have...  I went out for an easy run today at Comanche Hill and I had faithfulness and God's provision on my mind.  I left my house filled with gratitude regarding how faithful Father has been in providing my family with living essentials.  He reminded me of His faithfulness in providing me (and those who I love and pray for) with so much more. 

He reminded me of the time that I prayed for Him to give me rest during a time when my heart was filled with so much anguish that I cried almost constantly.

He reminded me of the time that I prayed for "his" brokenness and that God would bring "him" to us to heal "their" pain.

He reminded me of the time when I cried out to bring "her" down to her knees so the only thing she can do is look up.

He reminded me of the time when I prayed "they" would be brought to a place where they would remember how much they love one another.

He reminded me of the time when He told me to keep my mouth shut and that He would speak to "her" and guide "her" decision.

He reminded me that He knows the cries of my heart before words are ever formed in my head or spoken from my mouth.

These were big God moments in my life, and He reminded me that He, in all his splendor, works daily in my life so much, that "I ain't seen nothing yet."

All I could do at the end of my run was cry and praise Him with my hands held high.

Psa 150:2  Praise Him for his acts of power; Praise Him for his surpassing greatness.

Dish Report #7

Since the cold weather hit last week, I've been in the mood for nice, hot comfort food.

I was going to make chicken caldo on Halloween, but opted for chili.

What made that even better, was that Q cooked it.

I made mini cornbread muffins which were good on top of the very hot & spicy chili.

(bahaha - that's funny!)

For Thursday's out of ordinary dish
I made Beef Stew w/Mushrooms from the Pioneer Woman and mashed potatoes.

This is what I learned about this dish.

I love mushrooms.

Q is not a stew man.

I really like stews.

Q said the beef was too bland.

I thought it could of used a little more salt but not much.

Little Q doesn't like mashed potatoes.

Vicki doesn't like beef stew w/mushrooms, she prefers ham & cheese sandwiches.

Little Q said, "the meat tastes good with the cornbread, cuz you can't taste the meat"
No rating was given to this dish.

As I was prepping the stew meat, I was reminded of when Q & I first got together.

He had bought steaks and I was not a "steak-eater."

So I cut it into little pieces to cook with rice or something.

He said, "What are you doing?! Why are you cutting that?!"

He was shocked that I would cut up a great piece of steak.

I had learned to cut meats & cook with something.

I guess that's why I love stews and caldos.

*****

Marathon day is only 9 days away!!!
26.2 miles to run on Sunday 11/14

Our last benchmark on 10/24 was 20 miles.

Based on these results
I should finish right under 5 hours.
What?!  I'll be running for 5 hours?!!!
Aaaahhhh!!!!!
I'm nervous & excited.
Praying for good, cool weather.
Praying for a good crowd to motivate me when I hit "the wall."
Praying that Q will be on the route to give me a turkey sandwich.
Praying for sound mind & healthy body.
Praying for my running bff's.
Praying.

Take a look at the course map and pick a spot to hang out to cheer the runners on.

Against The Wind

Was out running sprints this morning and found myself running "against the wind" and had to look up this video and lyrics.  Really a great classic song about a life's journey.

It seems like yesterday
But it was long ago
Janey was lovely she was the queen of my nights
There in the darkness with the radio playing low
And the secrets that we shared
The mountains that we moved
Caught like a wildfire out of control
'Til there was nothing left to burn and nothing left to prove
And I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me oh so tight
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then

Against the wind
We were runnin' against the wind
We were young and strong, we were runnin'
Against the wind

The years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
I found myself further and further from my home
And I guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was living to run and running to live
Never worryied about paying or even how much I owed
Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time
Breaking all of the rules that would bend
I began to find myself searching
Searching for shelter again and again

Against the wind
A little something against the wind
I found myself seeking shelter sgainst the wind

Well those drifter's days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out

Against the wind
I'm still runnin' against the wind
I'm older now but still runnin' against the wind
Well I'm older now and still runnin'
Against the wind
Against the wind
Against the wind

Still runnin'
I'm still runnin' against the wind
I'm still runnin'
I'm still runnin' against the wind
Still runnin'
Runnin' against the wind
Runnin' against the wind
See the young man run
Watch the young man run
Watch the young man runnin'
He'll be runnin' against the wind
Let the cowboys ride
Let the cowboys ride
They'll be ridin' against the wind
Against the wind ...

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