Sunday, April 27, 2014

A New Journey

Oh my friends, I'm beyond thrilled to make an announcement here on my blog!  I've shared it with a few close friends (I'm sure those following me on Pinterest have started to figure it out as well), but I know the power of prayer, so I wanted to share my announcement and ask that you join me in prayer as we prepare for this next journey that God is leading us on!

I've prayed and visited with some of my closest friends about trying to figure out God's purpose for this journey over the last two years of getting healthy, growing closer to God and becoming the wife and mother God has called me to be (which is obviously still a work in progress).  I know God works all things for His glory, but it's difficult at times to see His plan and to be patient for His timing.

Friends, this world we live in can be a bit scary and quite frankly it scares me at times as a parent.  My hearts desire is to seek God's wisdom in raising these kids.  Over the last 8 months or so, I've absolutely loved working with kids.  Whether it's been through our AWANA program, substituting for Sunday school classes or helping in Kylee's class at school.  There's just something about working with these kids that brings true joy to my heart.  I was asked one day to do 'story time' during AWANA for the Sparks group and I shared a fun devotion about how running physically is quite similar to running spiritually.  I had so much fun sharing with these kids and they seem to enjoy the lesson too.

Well a few weeks ago, God laid it on my heart to develop a Christ centered girls running group!  It really is in its infant stages right now.  I'm still praying about it, working on the devotions/object lessons, naming the group, and working out all of the details.  It will probably take over a year to work out all of the details, but I'm SO incredibly excited to see God work through this!  The purpose of this group will be to teach girls (ages 8-12) over an 8 week period (meeting twice a week) about spiritual and physical health through devotions, team building games, health tips and coaching them to run a 5k.  I'm clearly not an expert, but I am on fire for Jesus in this adventure and pray I learn and grow right along with these girls!

One goal before kicking off this program is to coach my sweet girl through running her first 5k.  Needless to say Miss Ky will be my guinea pig.  I simply asked her this afternoon when she wanted to start running and she was so excited to say 'TODAY.'  Needless to say we grabbed our 'Kid's couch to 5k program' and headed to the treadmill (the weather is a bit ugly today to do anything outside).

When Kylee handed me her little clipboard, she had this sweet sticky note on it.  I just love it!


I remember having this exact feeling after completing day 1 of the couch to 5k program two years ago! If I needed some affirmation about this girls group, I think it's in this little girls face!!!


Baby girl, I'm so excited to go on this new journey with you.  Ky grabbed her iPhone to listen to some music while she ran (she's watched Mommy too much) and she was so excited about the song she had picked out to start her run with... 'God Girl' by Jamie Grace.  This song is very near to both Kylee and I.  She absolutely loves the song, I love the message and Kylee has touched my heart with this song when I hear her sing it at the top of her lungs while she's in the shower or playing in her room.  Sing it girl!!!

With that... we have officially picked out the name of our group 'God Girls Run'.


Just this morning at church we heard a message about bringing God glory in all we do.  It was a great reminder to stay humble and focused on Him in all we do!


May we bring glory to God as we share His love to girls in our community through this journey!!!  I can't thank the sweet girlfriends who have already prayed for and encouraged us on this journey.  You are all such a blessing!

Thank you all in advance for praying for 'God Girls Run' and for allowing me to share this journey with you!

Blessings,

Krystal







Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A Different kind of 'Workout'

As I shared on my page, I was finally able to get in a 10 mile run in on Saturday.  It's been since last fall that I had a long run in the double digits, so it felt great to hit that milestone again.  Since then though, my workouts have looked a bit different.  My husband calls it his bootcamp.  He says the best part is it's free and saves me time on my normal workouts.

First of all due to Joshua's recent bootcamp implementation, I must admit that had he not gotten up this morning to run on the treadmill, I would have stayed in bed for another rest day, which would have been two rest days in a row!!!


So, here's what my workouts have looked like over the last several days.  After my ten mile run on Saturday, I helped Joshua finish the ceiling in our basement.  I can't even tell you how many times I went up and down the ladder and the stairs to clean up some of the trash from the project!  We really like how it's coming together!


Sunday, we enjoyed our Easter morning with our church family.  My dear hubby and I filled in for the 5th and 6th grade Sunday school class and had such a great time with those kids (and I think we made a pretty good team).  After we came home we worked on the basement a bit more.  We've given ourselves a goal to have this project finished before a lot of our summer travel plans arrive!  I spent Sunday afternoon moving all of the laminate floor across the basement as well as from out in the shop.  This was quite a task :)


Monday night I asked my dear hubby what else I could help with.  He told me that I could take out the laminate flooring out of the craft room.  We're both a little frustrated as there's nothing wrong with this flooring other than we don't care for the color and wanted it to match the rest of the basement.  I carefully took it out trying to minimize damaging any pieces, as we're going to try and sell the flooring.



And here's Joshua working on the stairs.  This part has to be done before we can lay the new flooring and wrap up the basement project!


My intent of this post is to encourage you to think outside the box with your workouts.  I started to fall into the trap that I needed to complete my regular workouts on top of these projects.  My body quickly reminded me that it's okay to have a few days where you're not adding miles or reps.  It's also been quite rewarding to work beside this man and actually be of some help.

Blessings,

Krystal







Friday, April 18, 2014

More than Just a Mirror!

Oh, how I've missed blogging lately.  Our DIY projects have been taking up a lot of my time lately!  As I've shared, we've been working a lot on our basement to finish an entertainment room, a fitness room and a craft room.  While we continue to gather supplies and work on these projects, my dear husband's shop has become rather full and difficult to get around.  Last month we went and picked up a custom mirror for the fitness room and it's been sitting in the shop ever since.


Last night Joshua shared with me that sometime this weekend, we really need to get the mirror moved out of the shop so that it doesn't get broke out there and so that he can actually get to some things out there.  After some discussion of whether or not I would be able to lift it and help him get it down the stairs, we decided to go for it!  The mirror is 68"x84" and REALLY heavy!  What did I just get myself into?!?


Joshua worked on a game plan of putting styrofoam underneath the mirror and blankets around most of it so that we could slide it whenever necessary and sit it down to rest when necessary.  As this dear man began coaching me through this process of getting this very large, heavy and awkward mirror into the house, down the stairs, and hung on the wall, this experience become much more than just moving a mirror (I wish I would have taken a picture of that part of the process).  He could tell by the look on my face that I still wasn't convinced I had the strength to do it!


On Wednesday nights I help with our AWANA program at church and each of the kindergartners I work with can tell you that one of my favorite verses is Joshua 1:9.  "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  God used Joshua to remind me of this special verse and powerful truth.


My dear husband was so patient with me!  At the moments when I felt like I was getting too tired to continue, he gave me just the words of encouragement I needed, reminding me that I was strong enough to do it.  But he also never let me forget that he was also there to protect me when the task was getting a bit difficult.  There's no way that I would have had the strength to do this two years ago at the beginning of my journey. 

God is faithful and He's preparing us today for what He has in store for us tomorrow!

We did it!  You know you have a big mirror when you have to use a ladder to clean it!  I was SO excited to be done with getting the mirror hung!  
PLUS can you tell I'm just a little excited about our fitness room starting to come together?
 

It  required team work to clean the mirror too!

The best part of this DIY project was the hug and embrace from my husband after we accomplished this task by ourselves.  And although we're both a bit tired of this project (and have a ways to go yet), I will never get tired of working on projects with this man!  
On a side note, the french doors/windows from the fitness room lead to the craft room!

We're excited about our basement finally coming together but I was far more grateful for God's reminder that HE is my strength and courage in all things, even the silly task of moving and hanging a mirror!!!

Blessings,

Krystal












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