The BEST!!!

Ahhh...another one down! The weekend that I love and dread and swear to do so much better with next year! Ramblin' Rose!

Yes, it's just a super sprint. Yes, it's a really easy course. Yes, it's all women (almost 1,000 this year!) But it is the BEST! Fun, empowering and a sense of accomplishment like never before.

This year we had 17 ladies. 15 participants and 2 cheerleaders. These women are from 3 different states, ages ranging from 27-54. Can you believe that?!!?!?! They are the best in their class.

We stayed Friday and Saturday at Lake Norman at a wonderful lake house. Yes, it rained, but it didn't stop us from getting in the hot tub and encouraged us to stay in our jammies and light a roaring fire (thanks Scout Wendy!!). It was truly a relaxing weekend. The best!

The food...my mom prepared dinner, baked banana bread and sent High Heel Sugar cookies. I don't need to say much about my mom's food (we all know it is the best) but she is the bestest!

Cheerleaders! For you to come get up early and wait around as people swim/bike/run...that is awesome. For you to do it when you are 3 weeks away from having a baby, while it is drizzling and you are taking care of your friends 6 week old! THE BEST!!!!

Speaking of, I have the most amazing family ever. As we are sitting there waiting for Kim and Me Mi to get into the pool (who btw, did awesome!!) K.Trone says "that looks like Courtney's dad" wendy replies" that IS Courtney's dad!" NO WAY!!!! My dad, mom, Steph's kids and David and our kids come prancing in, posters in hand and smiles on their faces!! A total surprise and so what I needed. Amazingly, amazing. I love you all and don't deserve you.

The best of our group...Lauren Beckner. I know, we aren't here to compete, but let's just think people...this warrior of a lady finished in the top 100...and she had her 6 WEEK OLD THERE. (She nursed while we were setting up our transition areas)...and...SHE HAD A C-SECTION! I know...we don't even compare ourselves to her when we are training...league of her own. So proud to have her part of our team...humbly the best!

The only way this can get better...is if YOU come and do this with us....as I say every year, if I can do it...trust me, You can too. You are the BEST!!!!

I'm sorry...what was I thinking??

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a weekend that is going to be filled. Filled with fun, girl time, new friends, old friends, LOTS of catching up, laughter to tears and so much more.

All of that will be followed by nerves, tears, tears, hopefully no throwing up or peeing my pants.

It is the 3rd annual Ramblin' Rose Triathlon. This year we have decided to make a weekend of it and get a lake house on Lake Norman. There are 17 ladies this year from 3 different states and all walks of life. It has been a whirlwind to plan housing, meals and the BEST Gift bags ever!!!

In the midst of all this, it hit me today...I am so NOT READY FOR THIS THING!!!! I haven't trained enough and I don't have the excuse of being super sick this year. Why, oh why do I agree to do these things.

I will wear my markings for as long as I can, avoiding the soap that will wash them off. I will wear my SWEET t-shirt with pride and not be embarassed of the concert -t mentality. I will place my sticker for all to see on my van, no matter how dorky all my stickers look and pale in comparison to David's accomplishments.

I SHALL STAND TALL AND LIMP WITH PRIDE...FOR I AM...A TRIATHLETE!!!

Lemons and Lemonade

So life has handed us some lemons. Some being "hand-picked", others just put into our basket. So we are left, making decisions that leave our children crying at times (don't worry, nothing life shattering, just evaluating needs and wants) some leaving me crying(Lemon's usually do that to people), and all requiring a lot of Trust. Yeah, the BIG issue of my life. But I am getting clarity on it.

I truly know and believe that I trust in my God. But, do I trust myself? Do I trust that I am making the best decisions, or is David making the best decisions for our family? Not really. Do I trust that I/we won't mess things up big time? Not really. Do I trust that I am worthy of being called out of the boat? Now we are getting somewhere.

I wrote a post on this about a year ago, but God is pushing it in front of my face. Chris Brooks (because I am not permitted to call him Brooks!) did a talk some time ago about Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water. It is clearly stated that he began to sink because of doubt, but doubt in who? Jesus called him out on the water and love able Peter went without thinking it through (at Wayfarer we like to call that "Go before Know") That is why we love him, reckless abandon. But as he began to think, or hear lies, he began to doubt. Did he doubt that Jesus could keep him afloat, or did he doubt in his worthiness to be called out of the boat for such an amazing task?
I have heard it said A LOT about Peter taking his eyes of Jesus and just keep our eyes on Him and we will not sink (which I don't think is necessarily correct) but what hits me about it, is that Jesus didn't let him sink. He BEGAN to sink, but Jesus grabbed his hand pulled him up and tossed him in the boat.
It's a partnership, I have a part in it and for me to be effective, I need to find that "part" (which I have) and believe that I am worthy, as worthy as everyone else, to act that out. And when I begin to sink because of doubt, which I will, He'll pull me up, toss me in the boat for a bit, and call me back out again. Why, because He is good and He has faith in me and He loves me when I can't look Him in the face.

So Lemonade...I don't know, maybe a Lemon Pie or Garlic Lemon Pasta, but we'll do something with these lemons. and it will be great...

New Read

First let me say that I type this with a batman mask on and little "millie fingers" poking me in the eye. Why, you ask...because I'm a mom, and mom's have to do some silly things sometimes. So excuse the typos.

I am reading a book that is refreshingly rocking my world. Refreshing, because it isn't smacking me in the face, stopping me in my tracks or anything like that. But it is taking me back to foundational beliefs that I have and have always had, but refining them.

Forgotten God, by Francis Chan

So good, and Exactly what I need right now. There are parts that, eerily, feel as though were written for me. (addresses Greenville!) Chock full of scripture and not opinion, calling you to step away from the book, again and again and get into the Word and communion with God. Just good, good stuff.

Be Blessed. Batman...out.

Cooped Up.

I have been struggling with a nasty illnes for about a week now. So, I am staying cooped up and am getting close to cabin fever. I need to go out today, only to get a load of lysol and pick Eli up from school. You know how you start to just think about all the germs floating around, don't do that, it's depressing. So I am just earnestly praying my family doesn't get it. If they don't, God gets ALL the glory, because it will be a miracle. If they do, He gets glory anyway.

So, as my head is floating and my eyes are blurry, I have nothing witty, creative or thought provoking to say...nor do I have the energy to copy a page out of a Brennan Manning book (even though I could everyday and it would revolutionize your and my thinking).

So, back to bed I go for another hour until I can grab that Lysol.

Excerpt from The Furious Longing of God

"And then a moment in Jesus' life that is more shrouded in mystery, denser with misunderstanding and incomprehensibility than perhaps any other.
Jesus, the eternally beloved Son of the Father, is abandoned by His Abba. Sin appears to have its way over the entire world. For the first time since He was an infant, Jesus feels Himself to be without the sustaining presence of His Abba, and inner bleakness of forsaken aloneness in the desolation of abandonment.
In a scream that surely split the sky:
My God, My Abba. Why, Why Have You Forsaken Me Now?

St. John of the Cross said it will never ever be given to any human heart to understand the depth of desolation, utter abandonment, indescribable, loneliness and complete forsakenness that lay behind Jesus' cry. But even in that cry, there is no indication that Jesus ever lost trust or hope or confidence in His Abba.

After 35 years of praying over the passion and death narratives in Luke's gospel, French biblical scholar Pierre Benoit believed that the Abba of Jesus spoke to His Son as He hung naked, nailed to the wood with spit dripping down His face, His body bathed in blood. And Benoit believes the words Abba spoke were words from the Hebrew Scriptures, Song of Songs 2:10-14

Come now, my love. My lovely one.
Come.

For You, the winter has passed
the snows are over and gone
The flowers appear in the land,
the season of joyful songs has come.

The cooing of the turtledove is heard in our land

Come now, my love. My lovely on.
Come. "

-Brennan Manning

so good.

I am sitting...all is quiet...so I type.

Hmmm...what shall I type about, there is SO much swirling in my head, I mean so much. Ah yes, just picked a thought to land on.

This past week our church has been having a series of worship services in the evening. They were really,really great. Can I be honest, without people jumping all over me (spiritually that is? I felt very oppressed when I went in. It makes sense, I mean, Satan doesn't stay out of churches, and I tried to make a conscious "cleansing" effort each night. I am not saying that the Lord wasn't there, because He was, but just putting it out there. I really have just thought of this as I have begun typing...so random.

ANYWAY, that is not what I wanted to write about, but it sets the stage. Tuesday, a friend prayed for me that God would come to me with joy. I nodded in agreement and then flinched a little. Am I not joyful? Well, I would never say that people think that of me, or I of myself. So I started looking at people who approached me.
-Yep, I would say she's joyful
-oh, absolutely joyful, always with a smile and a compliment, heartfelt at that.
-Oh my, yes she bubbles over with joy, not happiness, true joy.

Man, I want to be joyful.

Anytime people are asked what they think of me, the words that come out are honest, truthful...not happy,joyful,full of life. What happened to me along the way? I used to be able to say I was a happy person, now, I'm an honest person? YIKES!

Audretta told me a few days ago about a sermon her pastor gave, about the fruit of gentleness. In it he said that this is a fruit of the spirit, available to everyone, it's not a gift that some have and others don't. WHAM! That hit me. I use that excuse all the time, for most of the fruits.
-Patience, is not something I possess (um, it should be)
-I am not a person of gentleness (whose fault is that)

I realize that I do not evoke most fruits of the spirit. Gosh, is that humbling. So, for the next, however long it takes, I am going to yearn to possess and express those fruits.

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, goodness, gentleness,faithfulness and self-control. I am commanded to live those out, as they are already given to me.

So good when God hits you where it hurts.