"The good news of the Bible is that God is not at all disinclined to satisfy the hearts of those who hope in Him." 

-John Piper

(There is that hope, that one little word, popping up again!)

Ramblings of a nurse and {P52: 6 & 7}

Project 52: To get one picture a week. This has now turned into a lesson in forgiveness of self and realizing my limits and not being too self-critical. This equals: new goal.

Time to admit that some weeks there are no pictures taken, none, zero, zilch. Some weeks I run around like a chicken with my head cut off only to fall face first into bed exhausted, worn out, emotionally drained and wondering why in the world I ever thought nursing would be a good idea! Yes, there have been some hard days at the hospital lately. Hard days that make me realize more than ever that being a nurse is what ever fiber of my being was made to do. It was who God has called me to be. These same days have also left me wondering if I am strong enough. 

Am I strong enough to the hold the hands that are taking the last breaths? 

Am I strong enough to be a witness in those times? 

In those moments as I quietly pray for their soul? 

To fight back the tears as I am helping them to breathe? 

All while praying that this may be their last peaceful breath? 

Wondering if I should have done more?

Or possibly less?

Who am I to be at that bedside?

To go home with the memories of them heavy on my heart? 

To hug my parents extra hard just in case?

Now that we got the career/calling discussion handled, we can move on!

I still want to be pushing myself towards using the camera more and not give up completely just because not all pictures fall on the right week, or are taken at the right time. Whatever "the right" time is! So, 52 pictures will be taken, edited and posted. Moments will be documented. Maybe not all in the correct week, there may be many in one week and none in another, but nonetheless, they will be. 

P52: 6

A hike with Avery and Husband. 

P52: 7

A new study with Stephanie. 

"The climax of God's happiness

 is the delight He takes

 in the echoes of His excellence

 in the praises of His people. "

John Piper

Magical Miles : Mom's First Half Marathon

Mom announced that she would like to run the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. Ok! Cool! Great! However, my mom is not a runner. I repeat, NOT a runner. That being said, my mom is incredibly fit for her age and maintains good physical health. She has done Bloomsday, a local 12km foot race numerous times and has done well and enjoyed it. However, the half marathon seemed like a bit of a wild hair. Yet, she persisted, she wanted to run this race! A Disney race! A long Disney race! She was by no means going to be talked into the 5k, no ma'am, half marathon or bust. So, we decided to go for it.
We scheduled a trip.
We paid our admission fee.
We were committed to this race.
Training began.

Training was rough at times because I work nights. Mom was not thrilled about running on her own and really, it was something that we needed to do together. At one point I was really stressed out and told Mom that I felt like I was letting her down by not running with her often enough due to my wacky schedule. She calmly said, "We are doing our best." She was not about to get stressed the way I was stressed. She was working hard and she knew that in the end it would be enough.

We landed in Orlando having prepared to run/walk this race. We had a few days to get acclimated to the weather before we were going to have to run in it. Of course, these days were spend walking our tootsies off at the parks! Duh! The race has a 15 minute/mile pace requirement. You have to be able to meet that speed or you risk being picked up and vaned back to the finish line. Mom and I were not sure how far in front of that mark we would be as we trained for a walk/run pace of near 15 minute miles. Mom proudly announced that if she spotted the sweeper van at any point during the race she would proceed to sprint in front of it so they could not catch her. !!!

Two days before race day we picked up our packets and it felt real, it was real. This was going to happen. Like it or not, ready or not, we were going to be at the starting line of the Walt Disney World 20th Anniversary Half Marathon. And then bam. Sick. Laid out. Like body-aches-all-over kind of sick. Like I-really-just-want-my-own-bed sick. So I took the day before and I slept. At this point, I was scared to death. Images of Mom having to out sprint the doomed pick-up van, and me, who was supposed to be encouraging her, dragging behind, had me intimidated.

Not Mom though! She just said, "There's no turning back now! I haven't done this distance so I really don't know what to be nervous for!" I asked lots of girlfriends to pray that I could scrape the energy together to get through this race. (Thank you ladies! You girls rock and your encouragement meant so, so much!!!) I was so worried that I would let Mom down. She had worked so hard and I wanted to do this together!

So morning of, we woke up to a 2:45 am alarm and left the condo by 3:30. We were off and I was alive! I felt so much better compared to the day before! I was so thankful! And now...Now, I was pumped!!!

Our goal was to run the race in under 4 hours give or take. Fireworks kicked the race off and we ran. Mom ran farther than I thought she would, she just kept going! I was so proud! We walked and we ran out of Epcot, down World Drive, under the Seven Seas Lagoon and all through the Magic Kingdom. The race ends where it began at Epcot. The temperature was a record high for the area, fabulous. We were drenched. It's so humid and hot and then you're running your booty off, man! I would tell Mom "Ok, we will run until X point," and off she'd go. By the end she was getting feisty with me. She wouldn't start to run to a point until I could prove that I could actually see it...luckily, Orlando is a pretty flat place and you can see a long way ;)

We ended up finishing the race in 3 hours and 1 minute and I could not have been more proud of Mom at that moment! It was such an amazing feeling to have finished it, and to have done it together! Do not sell yourself short! If there is something you are wishing you could accomplish but think you can't, now is your time! Finishing a half marathon is cool. But, finishing a half marathon when you always doubted that you could ever complete that distance brings a well-earned pride. And a metal to boot!

Race Day! 3:30 am.

Seeing Dad and Andrew watching us was so exciting! It was so fun to be looking for them at different places on the course. 

No the most flattering picture but this was Main Street, my favorite part of the race.

Isn't Mom beautiful? Even at mile 5! 

So that is the story of Mom's First Half-Marathon. Hope it inspires you to get out and try something you never thought you could do!

Dog Shaming/Project 52 Week 5

This is Avery.
She has been credited with eating a whole days worth of vitamins from my cousin's pill keeper. Sunday was a goner. Though she swears the fish oil did wonders for her coat. Animal poison control was less than impressed.
And we won't even mention the 12 fun size Snickers bars that she swiped from the counter, wrappers and all. Down. The. Hatch.
But today, she got to finish off the last little bit of her jar of peanut butter. Usually we put the peanut butter in her KONG, but today, I gave her free reign with what was left of the jar. And boy, was she in heaven.

Project 52: Week 5

P52 Catch Up

It is no surprise to be that right off the bat I have to do a "catch up". This is how I roll with New Year's Resolutions or plans for my photography. But the point is this: while I may be doing a catch up post, I have been taking the pictures, and using my camera was the point of this goal. One of the things that I have noticed is that I do not take nearly enough photos. I need to take a large quantity and then see what is good. Even though I often feel like I am taking a lot of photos, I get home and realize I could have taken so many more. Therefore, goal within a goal: take more photos to have more options for P52.

Week 2

On the way to the Magic Kingdom

Week 3

Magic Kingdom at night, my favorite time to be at the park. I like that this photo captures the feeling of the bustle of the evening.

Week 4

E man.

There will probably be a lot of photos of Everett in this project. He is a challenge to get a good photo of. It seems that I always wind up with loads of pictures of Avery and very few of Everett. This is usually for no better reason than the fact that Avery will sit for a picture and can be bribed with a treat, while Everett, in true cat form, obeys no one. He is usually seen as a blur running out of the frame.