It Isn't Ours

Over the past week or so, I have been reminded that everything that I have isn't mine.  Everything I have belongs to the Lord.  He's the only reason why I am where I am, doing what I'm doing, and have what I have.

This past Sunday morning I went to go get gas.  When I arrived at the gas station, there was a U-haul truck, a BMW, and a super fancy Mercedes.  As soon as I pulled up to the pump and got out of my car (which was next to the Mercedes) the man from the U-haul truck came by and asked if I could give him some gas money.  As this guy was talking to me, I could tell that the older gentlemen in the Mercedes was listening in on this conversation.  I told the U-haul guy I would be glad to help and as soon as I started my gas pump, I went over to his, put my card, and started pumping his gas.  I didn't ask the man's story, but from what he said, it seemed that they had recently been evicted and were just living out of the u-haul for now until they found a place to live.  I told the man to pump as much gas as he needed and he only pumped $35 worth.  When he was done he was greatly appreciative and tried to shake my hand a give me a hug but I was way too sweaty for any of that non sense.  

When I walked back to my car the older man in the mercedes was waiting for me.  Mercedes man was on his way to church by the way.  He thanked me for what I did and then handed me $10.  I wouldn't accept it from him.  He told me that he felt guilty for not helping the man out and was encouraged to see me help him.  He asked what made me want to help the guy and I told him that the money doesn't really belong to me.  The Lord has given it to me to bless others.  The money isn't mine to keep.  It felt good to encourage another believer to realize everything we have isn't ours and it was nice to bless someone in need, even if it isn't much.  

The purpose of this post isn't to say "hey look what i did" but to remind myself and everyone to be sensitive to the needs of others and find someone to show them Father's love.  Way to many times I drive by homeless people and make a huge effort not to make eye contact with them and I never give them money.  I see people at the grocery store who could use a little extra help with carrying their groceries or even paying for them but I never offer my help to them. 

My prayer is that I will not be so consumed with myself that I miss daily opportunities to minister to others.  

Stars and Yoga

Tonight Shawn Marion and I were in the same yoga class.  Yep.  He's pretty tall.  We compared foot sizes and I had to shush him in the yoga room because he was talking in a silent zone.  :)  It was his first Fire 60 class and I think he was surprised at how hot and hard it was.  Good times :)

First Week of School

I survived the first week back and this week has been FANTASTIC!!!!  We have such an amazing administration and the 7th grade team is AWESOME!!!
This group of kids are very different from last year's group.  Not the brightest group but they are pretty sweet.  I think my most challenging class will be 1st period--there's a lot of personality in there and I can definitely see them getting out of control quickly if I don't stay one step ahead of them.  My favorite class will be 2nd period.  This is my ESL class.  I only have 17 kiddos in that class--1 is from Abilene (I know west Texas can be like a different country but I'm not sure why he's in this class), 5 are Hispanic, 1 is from Egypt, and the rest are from Burma and those kids are such a joy to be around.  Most everyone in that class is so eager to learn, even the two kids who just came to the country just the past week.
As always, with teaching at this school there are numerous stories that make me want to take almost everyone home.  The kids started their "Lifeline" (using rational numbers to represent their life events) project this week.  The kids have to have a few events from before they were born, their birth, and events that happened not on their birthdays.  It was amazing how many kids didn't have a clue about anything that happened before they were born.  Even students who have older siblings couldn't come up with a fact that their siblings were born before them.  It was weird.  I was even more surprised to hear how many kids didn't know their actual birthday!!!  I don't have a single kid that is a Jehovah's Witness so why did so many have a hard time figuring out their birthday?  I had to look it up on the school system so that the students would know.  Crazy.  It was pretty crazy to hear the Chin students talk about when they went into hiding, fled to Malaysia, and then came to the US.  They are a lot braver that I am!
This week I learned of a student that watched his dad almost murder his mom, way too many of my kids have at least one parent in jail (it seems like more kids than usual are opening up this early in the year) and last night, a few of my kids witnessed a murder.  Ugh, it makes my heart hurt.
It's just now 7:30 and I'm already in my PJ's and I'm pretty sure I would be asleep by now if The Princess Bride weren't on tv right now.  In my defense, I am running 10 miles tomorrow so I should be going to be soonish  :p

Jesus I Come

We sang this song in church yesterday and I woke up with it in my head.  I love this song.

Too Hot To Handle 15K, 2012

On Sunday I ran in my first 15k!  I was definitely slow but that's okay.  The race is called Too Hot To Handle for a reason and I didn't want to push my body too hard in the heat.  My goals were to finish the race, keep a steady pace, and run the whole time.  I did walk through the water stations but that's just because I can't run and drink at the same time.  :)  I met those goals!
We really lucked out with the weather.  It was in the mid 80's when the race began, there was a lot of cloud cover and a lot of shade at the beginning of the race.  I had planned on running with my group for the first half of the race and then I was going to try to push myself a little more on the second half.  I felt great at the beginning but once we started the second half, the clouds went away and the sun was  on us.  I went on ahead of my group but not too far.  That sun really took the energy out of me and I ended up with my group again except for the last mile and I tried to finish that last mile with a little more speed.  We kept a slow and steady pace and at the beginning of the race if felt like everyone and their mom was passing us but at the end, we still had the same pace and we ended up passing a ton of people!  When I came through the finish line there were a ton of people still cheering all of us turtles on.  I was able to find Matthew in the crowd; it was encouraging to see him smiling and cheering me on.  I finished the race a few minutes under 2 hours--told you I was slow but that's okay.  The next time I run a 9.3 mile race, I should definitely beat my time.
The Sunday, I will start my first 1/2 marathon class.  I plan on running in the Dallas Half Marathon in December.  The race benefits the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, as hospital near and dear to my family's hearts.
I see my asthma and allergist today and I'm sure he'll be proud of me.  I see my electrophysiologist and I'm sure she'll be proud of me too.  As of right now, my average resting heart rate is 61 and my average blood pressure is 101/62.
Maybe now I'll call myself a runner.  I spend more money on running and yoga gear than I do on dress clothes and shoes.

9 Miles!

This morning I ran 9 miles with my RunOn! group.  9 miles.  I can't believe I can actually go that far.  The first time I tried to run the entire 5k I thought I had reached my limit.  Apparently not!  It was definitely a hot day today but the RunOn folks treat us well and provide water and gatorade every two miles or so.  On mile 7, someone was out there giving out popsicles and ice cold wet rags.  What a treat!
I'm officially proud of myself.  I may not be super fast but I ran the whole time.  I don't have a single family member that has run more than maybe 2 miles.  Who would have thunk it, that I would become the runner in the family.
I see my miracle doctor the day after the Too Hot Too Handle 15k and if I finish the race, I'm pretty sure he'll be proud of me.

2012 US Open

Last Tuesday, Dad and I flew out to San Francisco to watch the US Open, a Christmas gift from Mom.

We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, walked around Fisherman's Wharf, saw Alcatraz (I didn't leave Dad there but I did think about it), saw the shrinking Sea Lion Colony, and bought Matthew way too much salt water taffy.  We spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at the golf course.

Monday-Wednesday are practice rounds so you get to take your camera.  I took my little camera so the pictures didn't turn out as great.  I've been to 2 US Open's before and have literally about 500 pictures of my favorite golfers so I didn't take very many pictures this time.   There weren't a lot of people there on Wednesday and we were able to follow Tiger Woods for about 9 holes.  Even when he sucks, he's a ton of fun to watch.  He was looking really strong on Wednesday and I was hoping he would pull out a win but he choked on the weekend.  We didn't see Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, or Bubba Watson on Wednesday.  I was a little disappointed about.

Here are a few pictures I took (mostly of Tiger)

Funny Story:  Hole 8 is a Par 3.  Pictures and tv cannot to this course justice.  This was an incredibly tough layout with steep hills and very small greens.  The Right side of hole 8 is a giant hill that spectators were allowed to sit on.  A very steep hill.  It reminded me of the grassy side of the Lake Waco dam.  We loved sitting up there because of the great view and the laughs from all of the people sliding down the hill.  On Thursday, Dad and I set out or area on the hill.  I placed my chocolate chip cookie down except i didn't put it down on the side.  Instead, I accidentally put the cookie on the edge and it rolled all the way down the hill.  It went past the ropes and landed just in front of the right bunker right in front of the marshall.  When I saw the cookie roll down the hill, I started to run to catch it but quickly realized I would end up rolling with it.  I cautiously walked down the hill to grab my cookie.  I grabbed my cookie right before Ernie Els' group walked up to the green.  It was pretty funny.  I think it was a been there moment to really understand what happened.  :)