I ♥ Pam & Jim

Ok, I'm a total dork for posting this on our blog but I love this show and this video clip makes me happy. =)

A Birthday Shout Out!

I wanted to say, as publicly as possible, happy birthday to the very special woman who raised me.

Mom, I'm glad you were born! =)

Retreat Weekend

This weekend I got to go on retreat with the women's group at Trinity. We spent two days and two nights up at Snow Mountain Ranch (near Winter Park) and it was WONDERFUL! 

There were 41 of us and I rode up with Lee and Jennifer. (Two women from the Young Adults group) We were divided between two retreat cabins to sleep but met together for meals and large group sessions. 

Saturday was our only full day and it started early with morning prayers. The worship leader was India, the wife of a retired pastor, and all of her worship materials were written by J. Phillip Newell and Joyce Rupp. (I'll write more about them later!) We had a group session in the morning and then we could choose from the various breakout sessions that were offered. I chose to do the labyrinth with India. 

We did a mini pilgrimage walk to the labyrinth and then she led us in a body prayer before we walked it. The body prayer used movements from Tai Chi and as we did each movement, India spoke aloud the prayer. It was beautiful! I had tears in my eyes because it felt like such a holy, sacred experience. There was something really magical about being in the mountains, in a circle of women, praying with my body, thanking God for God's blessings, and praying for courage, wisdom, and strength. The way the movements worked, when we used our left side, we were praying for ourselves and when we used our right side we were praying for the world. We extended our arms to the sky, held them close to our body, and then extended them wide. It was an embodied way to express the way we receive from God, recognize God's presence and activity in our own life, and then extend God's goodness to the world around us. 

That afternoon we had a lot of free time so I did some yoga with Lee, got a chair massage, and took a nap. Saturday night we ate dinner by candlelight and enjoyed each other's company!

The theme of the weekend was "Pathways through Transition" and the retreat leader had us do a lot of reflection on the transitions in our lives. She compared the experience of transition to the biblical experience in the wilderness. She reminded us of the wandering that the Israelites did in the wilderness for 40 years before they entered the Promised Land and she suggested that the time in the wilderness was less about getting the Israelites out of Egypt and more about getting Egypt out of the Israelites. 

We talked a lot about how uncomfortable it can be to be in transition. We spent time in conversation with each other sharing what resources help us when we are in transition. We were given time to journal and encouraged to reflect on these three questions: What is it time to let go of in your life? What is unlived in your life? What is waiting in the wings of your life to "come on stage?" 

It was a really wonderful weekend. Not only was I given a respite in the midst of our chaotic lives to reflect and journal, but I got to meet and know some incredible women who "loved me up," nurtured me, and encouraged me. It was a real experience of community! 

Here are a couple of "nuggets" from this weekend that I wanted to share:

Ring the bells that still can ring 

Forget your perfect offering 

There is a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in. 

--L. Cohen

What will you do with your one wild and precious life? 

--Mary Oliver

Every time you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved,

you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply.

--Henri Nouwen

Become aware of what is in you.

Announce it,

pronounce it,

produce it,

and give birth to it.

--Meister Eckhart

If God the Great Creator has used the medium of chaos before, then what is God creating out of the present chaos of my life?

Life does not accommodate you, it shatters you.

Every seed destroys its container or else there would be no fruition. 

Be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. 

Then gradually you will live into the answers. 

--Rainer Maria Rilke

Run For Congo Women on Oprah

My Husband is AMAZING

So, in addition to being manly enough to run in a race that raises money for women in the Congo and letting hundreds of girls beat him because he is running at his wife's pace, my husband just found out that he passed his OB class! Only 2 more quarters and I am married to a NURSE!!! =) 

Steve and Patty's Visit

To have family that loves you is just about the greatest thing in the world. Enough said. =)

Learning to Love My Body: 10K Success!

Well, I did it! =)

I would have posted sooner but we have been enjoying our time with Steve and Patty who came for the weekend. (I'll post that next!) 

David and I ran the 10K in 1:12. David was sweet and ran at my pace--I KNOW he could have finished in half the time. For most of the race I was the very last runner, but somewhere around mile 4 we caught up with some runners who had decided to walk and ended up NOT finishing last. It meant a lot to us that Steve and Patty were there at the finish line to cheer us on! 

I was able to keep the same (albeit slow) pace for the entire race and did not stop to walk. Before I run my next long race I will need to practice grabbing water from a water station and drinking it while running--a lot of it went up my nose!

The weather was perfect and Bear Creek Lake was a picturesque place to run. I was worried that, since all of my training had been on a treadmill, I would have trouble running on the trail. There were a couple of tricky places (hilly and rocky) that I had to REALLY slow down but I stayed upright the entire time. =) 

One of the most memorable things about the day was hearing from Ani* before the race. Ani is a woman who came to the United States a year ago from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She told part of her story about what life was like for her in the DRC. She spoke about the violence of war, the raping of women, and the rejection of women by their families after they have been raped. She talked about the effects of war, violence, and rejection on women's minds, bodies, and spirits. She cried as she told us that she was a victim herself. 

And then another woman, someone who works with Women for Women International, put her arm around Ani, looked her in the eye and said something to this effect: Ani, you are a brave, brave woman. You are beautiful and courageous. What was done to you was NOT your fault. You have to remember that. It is a horrific thing that was done to you and we are so grateful that you are here to tell your story so that horrific things might be stopped. 

In a world where women's bodies are exploited, sold, violated, hypersexed, and undervalued I believe that, for women, learning to love and care for our own bodies is a theological issue. We must believe our own bodies, however well they function or however too small/too big our various parts may be, are sacred and holy. I think that this is part of the work that Women for Women International is doing in the world and I am grateful for your generous donations. (Thanks to you, David and I raised over $250!) 

So here's to Ani, here's to women, and here's to loving, loving, loving our bodies!