I Survived...a Story of No Training, the Flu, and a Marathon | Monday Musings

I Survived...a Story of No Training, the Flu, and a Marathon | Monday Musings

If you haven’t noticed over the last 6 (!!!) years of my blogs, I love talking about what I’m doing and what’s coming up, especially when there’s a big event on the horizon. When I was training for my last half marathon, I chronicled a lot of the training runs over on my Instagram stories. So it shocked more than a few people when I posted last week that I had just finished my first ever marathon. Here’s the story behind the surprise!

All the way back in May 2017, some friends in our Bible study group decided to sign up for the 2018 One City Marathon and spur each other on during the long training runs. Always up for a challenge, and one of the few in the group who already enjoyed long runs, I enthusiastically signed up and began to chart out my training plan. I signed up for a half marathon in the fall and trained so well I crushed it, placing first in my age category and third among women.

In the meantime, though, one big piece of life changed…

Leaning Into Difficulty | Monday Musings

Leaning Into Difficulty | Monday Musings

This fall, we started to host a Bible study in our house on Tuesday nights. It is a joy and blessing to pack out (quite literally!) our entire living room and dining room space with people who love each other and love God. We have been studying the book of Exodus which, if you know anything about it, involves the story of how the Israelites escaped from slavery in Egypt. It’s an incredible story but if you don’t know the ending, the beginning of the book seems pretty dismal and a little hopeless - a lot things get worse before they start getting better.

One of the questions posed to us last week was, “How do you respond when life gets difficult?” I didn’t answer out loud at the time because I wanted the chance to really think through my answer. How do I respond? Do I get angry and doubt God, or do I take it in stride? I loved the honest answers that our group members gave, but I just wasn’t quite ready to share mine yet…

How One Small Purchase Changed My Life | Personal

How One Small Purchase Changed My Life | Personal

I have to caveat: I am not selling anything, nor am I a paid spokesperson for what I’m about to recommend. In fact, the company has no clue I’m writing this post - I just love a product so much that I want to pass it along to anyone who could find it useful!

I’ve written this year about my journey through a deeper commitment to prayer and how I have changed through the process. I have not done it alone. Armed with the Bible, books from wise people, a community, and of course a husband who has encouraged me toward the end goal, I cannot possibly claim credit for how far God has brought me - and I still have so far to go! One resource, the first that I actually dove into, is what jump-started it all for me…