What I Learned in August

I cannot even believe today is the last day of August! This month came and went without a breath it seems.
 School started back for the kids (and for me).  Joseph's Cross Country season began. Work vamped up. And my fall training kicked in hard. It's been a pretty crazy few weeks. Here's a recap of what I took in in the month of August.

 1. I need to delete the word "Slow" from my vocabulary.

Who defines slow? As I have been training for my fall race, I came off the heels of a time in my spring race that was 1 minute off a PR for me, so I thought for sure I could get to where I will beat that in the fall. The truth is, it's not going to happen this fall. I have lost some of my speed. But since my spring race, I have started taking classes myself, Elizabeth began high school and has tons of things going on, Joseph is running cross country, I work full time and of course my hubby needs time, too. Oh yes, and we changed our entire way of eating. So, I have decided I need to be OK with where I am this fall. I'm steady. I'm still out there. But I'm not faster. However, nor am I going to use the word slow. It's not a nice word in the running world and I really need to quit using it to describe myself. How about determined? Steady? Fighter? Strong? Those are good words. It's my own standard, no one else's. (I just have a habit of being a competitor).

 2. Joseph inspires me.

 As my son began cross country this fall, he has been inspiring me. As I teach him it's not about his time, but about what he learns and about being the best him he can be, he is inspiring me to live out those words. I love being the spectator of the sport instead of the participant for once. It's kinda strange, but kinda wonderful.  His teammates cheering him on gets me teary eyed. He is inspiring me to be a better me. And our conversations that follow his meets are teaching me lessons as much as I hope they are helping him.

 3. Change is good.

 August brought on a lot of change for our family. We got full on to our new eating plan. Elizabeth shifted to the high school, which is big (especially for this mom, who grew up in a tiny town and was in the same school building her whole life!) I cut my hair way short.... I like it, but I haven't decided yet if I'll keep it this way or not. I got new glasses. We began prayerfully trying a new church. Joseph started CC, which is something neither of the kids have ever done- a sport. My semester began. Life is full, to say the least. But the more and more change happens, the more I learn to embrace it and the lessons that come with it.

4. Wise Decisions

 Making wise decisions sometimes is nail biting for me. I am not a quitter, so when I feel I have to give something up, I wrestle with the idea of not being good enough to be able to do it. However, in my older age, I think I'm growing wiser in this area. When this semester began, I had a math and and an English course. I figured it would be fine. Well, this math class was ridiculous. It fell at the same time of the first week of the kids' school and if you didn't know, this is my crazy season at work. So, I was pretty frustrated and stressed out that I was not understanding the math. I tried everything and I was not connecting. So, I decided I probably needed to drop it. I did not want to, I don't want to go backwards in this forward journey. Long story short: I decided to drop it. And when I did- a weight fell off me. I will pick it up in the winter when it's not so crazy. But here's the even cooler piece of this story: in dropping it, to keep my fin aid, I needed to pick up something else. Well, I have a bunch of electives that have to take place in my major, and so I chose an Art appreciation course, per my advisor's recommendation. Guess what? that class does not start until Sept 19, which is AFTER my craziest day of the year- the Air Force Marathon. That could not have been a better decision!!!! Perfect timing. God oriented. So exciting for me to watch Him work out these details on this journey He is clearly laying out for me.

 As I move into September, I am going to go quiet for a while. My family and my schooling and my job need my attention right now. I am sure that after the race, I will post the happenings, because when my head is full, I find I have to write to sort through it, no matter how much (or how little) time is there. But for the next few weeks, if you think of me, pray for me, as it is going to be busy and very full. And please drop me a note for how I can pray for you. I have taken in the tremendous value of prayer over the last few months, and while I may go quiet here for a bit, I will still be praying for you. So please don't hesitate to message, email, comment or tell me how I can pray for you.

  Goodbye summer.... welcome, fall. A new season. New opportunities.
 One day at a time.