13.1 Los Angeles Half Marathon

We officially registered for the 13.1 Los Angeles Half Marathon! eeeekkkk!!!! what the heck did I just do?!!! Its a great cause...we will be raising money for World Vision. All the money that we raise will go towards builing wells in Africa so that people can have clean water. Clean water is a necessity to life. Children die of common infections because they are drinking very dirty water. I have heard stories of people who have to walk more than 5 miles a day...every.single.day....in hopes that they will find water. And usually that water is not clean, we wouldnt even let our animals drink the water they drink. I am excited to raise money for something that I have a passion for and to have a fitness goal set in front of me. I am excited to get healthy and push myself. We only grow when we push ourselves to what we think are our limits. It's funny because I think that I have limits, but they are only in my head. God tells me I can do all things through him, who gives me strength.(philippians 4:13) Such an "over-used" verse....but if I really take to heart what that means, it is an amazing verse. God is telling me that there is no limits to what I can do, I can literally do anything! But through HIS strength, I can do nothing on my own...duh! But the same power that He used to raise Jesus from the dead (and thats kind of a big deal!) he will allow me to use so I can do anything for His glory. That means God is going to get the credit for my limitless abilities! woah! :)

I am excited now in this moment for this half marathon. But I know that as time goes on and we are training, running day in and day out, I am going to get tired of it. I am going to get cranky and I am going to want to give up. I am going to cheat on my diet plan and I probably will miss a couple of training days. But I am looking forward to the end, to finishing that race. Hmmm....kind of like this life. I should be looking forward to the end...to the day I get to meet Jesus and hopefully hear Him say, "well done good and faithful servant"  This race will be not about myself but about bringing clean water to those who don't have it....the moment I make it about me, I will be more apt to quiting. I am tired of living this life about me...I want to live like Jesus did. Gahhh...that is a very difficult thing to do!

 running so...

 they can have this

world vision said that for every mile we run...its like giving 2 kids clean water!

Montana de Oro*

We both had a day off for Labor Day! woo whoo! So we decided to take a little hike. Shelden had never been to Montana de Oro. It is a beautiful spot with a lot of hiking trails. It was fun to get out and be a family. Micah did so good too, he didn't fuss or cry. He just enjoyed the scenery and the outdoors. :) I love hanging out with my little family!

missing Micah*

I think I have become a little more sad each day that I don't get to be with Micah. I am so grateful for my mother in law being able to watch him. But everyday that I drop him off I am sad. I don't know what God is doing in this season of our lives. What also made it more difficult is that last week we found out at work that we do not get a day off anymore during the week. That really bummed me out as I look forward to spending a day with my husband and my child, but now Shelden and I do not have one day off together as a family. I am grateful that I have a job and I actually do like my job. But my heart is with Micah. I want to raise him and hangout with him, watch him learn to do new things and watch him grow up into a man of God.
I was hoping that during my maternity leave that there would be a way finacially where I did not have to go back to work. It's funny, I grew up never wanting to be a stay at home mom. I always thought it was wierd when girls said they wanted to stay home with their children. But now I want to do that, I want to be a mom who gets to stay home with the kids.

We are praying into what God has for us, to look past what culture tells us we should do and to seek out what God wants. I can't live in fear of stepping out in faith. Faith is believing in something we cannot see.
We want to live a counter-culture life. So I shouldnt be surprised when people don't agree with how we raise our baby, or live our lives. Jesus was counter-culture...and I want to be like him.