half marathon #11, tradition

finish line pics!

my cousin, her hubby, and i

the half marathon weekends are becoming tradition with my family...this was my 6th year to be in nashville for their half/marathon race. my rents and i have gotten to the point where we have done them enough that we book a hotel room well in advance as well as eat at j alexanders the night before the race (or amerigo's) and i walk to the starting line the next morning like a zombie. this year we stayed right near centennial park which worked out well. this year SOOOO many people ran, and a lot that i knew! a few of my good friends and my cousin and her husband ran. it was such a fun race- hot and hilly- but great! michael & btodd came to cheer jessica and me on! today i am letting my body recover,and working on the last assignments for school, a 10 pg paper and then studying for a final :(. so glad this semester is almost over! this week will be busy at work as usual...and this weekend i'll be going to the eric church concert at bridgestone- YAY! one other tradition that my parents ask me after i am finished with the last half marathon (aka yesterday) is when i am signing up for the next one? hha, ironically, i have already signed up for next year's nashville race. such a fun weekend!

meditating on God's Word

so the past couple of days have been trying times as far as school and just daily life are concerned...but they have also been days of growing and growing only by God's grace...and I can't explain how His Word is so endearing with all of the little promises and big promises I have been coming across that give me reassurance of the importance of spending time with Him and ABIDING (the word I love) in the Word. And when i think of abiding, i think of not only staying close to something but where you can't live without it...like it is something you need to go on. and it also makes me think of movement...abiding sounds ilke that point of rest and staying close but not becoming stagnant. the past couple of nights, i have been reading psalm 119 and isaiah 40...i wanted to share with you different verses that have stuck out to me, that i've underlined and circled things in my study Bible to help me better understand what meditating on God's Word and Abiding really mean and what they should mean to me.
verse one says blessed are they whose ways are BLAMELESS, and right after that statement it says, who WALK according to the law of the Lord...next to that verse i wrote, GOD how do i keep my ways blameless?...by walking according to the law of the Lord. how do i keep your statutes? verse two says blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. considering that last part- and SEEK HIM with ALL their heart. really, Lord, do i seek you with all of my heart? how can i do this? and verse 9- how can a young man keep his way pure? by LIVING according to your word. how can i not sin against you---verse 11- by HIDING your word in my heart. verse 14- i rejoice in following your statues as one rejoices in great riches- do i really rejoice in following his statues as i rejoice in great riches? verse 20 is convicting & it says, my soul is consumed with longing for your laws AT ALL TIMES. when the psalmist's soul was weary with sorrow, verse 28, he asked to be strengthened according to God's word...i LOVE verse 32...maybe bc i love to run, but it says, i RUN In the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free! he could have said i walk in the path of your commands, but that great freedom his heart experiences, he runs! do i find delight in his commands? verse 35 says direct me in the path of your commands, for there i find delight. and verse 97- oh how i love your law! i meditate on it ALL DAY LONG. v 99- i have more insight than all my teachers (why---) for i meditate on your statues. v 100 i have more understanding than the elders (how---) for i obey your precepts. i have kept my feet from every evil path SO THAT i may obey your word! i love verse 130 which is a cool picture- the unfolding of your words gives LIGHT it gives understanding to the simple...133 direct my foodsteps ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD; let no sin rule over me. i also love v 152- long ago i learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever. and i love the last 2 verses- let me live that i may praise you and may your laws sustain me. i have strayed like a lost sheep, seek your servant for i have not forgotten your commands.
i also learned from my study Bible that the words at the beginning of each "paragraph" mean something...they explain what he is petitioning for or if he is praising or asking for grace to grow in the statutes etc. and lastly isaiah 40 paints an AWESOME picture of who God is--his mightiness and greatness! speak tenderly to jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed that her SIN has been PAID FOR that she has received from the Lord's hand DOUBLE for all her sins...who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? who has held the dust of the earth in a BASKET or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? who has understood the mind of the Lord or instructed him as counselor? surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket...to whom then will you compare God? what image will you compare him to?..lift your eyes and look to the heavens; who created all of these? HE who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name...because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
God, you are mighty!! give me grace to long for your Word and meditate on it and rejoice in it as one rejoices in great riches.

so little time

so i am caught in a rut with life. i am getting in a bind with school---it is the end of the semester and i have so much to do! so MUCH to do with little time...i work well under pressure, though, so i am feeling okay.
the half marathon is in 19 days...which is crazy. my back is slowly beginning to heal. i have been going to phys therapy about twice a wk for a couple of weeks now. this past weekend i went home for easter, which was so good. our family friend get togethers get smaller and smaller with all of the "kids" growing up and moving to different places. my brother wasn't able to make it, and my family friends are in different places...so it was me, my rents, mr and mrs atkins, one of their daughters, their daughter in law, and grandbaby...who i love! she is the sweetest little girl and gives the cutest biggest hugs. i am partial because she is half korean :) i love asian babies! it is still fun to celebrate holidays with the atkins. we have been doing that since i have been in the united states which was 25 years ago! it became tradition and i am SURE will carry on when we have families and babies. i absolutely love holidays.
this week is crazy at work! lots to do, then phys therapy, and school work at night. that is my life for the next few weeks until this semester is over. this weekend my cousin is getting married in texas, which my fam is going to...i am going to atlanta AGAIN for the braves season opener friday! and then i'm sure i will be working on school stuff :(