Weekend Recap!

What an exciting weekend it was...

1) Winter Jam with AP Youth Group -

We don't have a cool Youth Group name yet, our church name is Ambassador's Pointe Community Church (AP) so we're going with "AP Youth Group" right now.  Real original, I know.

Friday was our FIRST Youth Outing and we headed downtown to US Bank Arena for Winter Jam!  If you've never been to Winter Jam, it's 10 concerts in 1 night!  A pretty awesome night!  Although all of the artists were awesome, RED completely stole the show!  Their performance was ridiculously amazing!  From fire to fireworks... they totally rocked my face off.

Out of the group, I was only able to snag one picture of 4 of the students!  I didn't want to come on too strong with my camera and scare them off ;)  The students haven't necessarily been exposed to my excessive picture taking yet...  They'll learn soon enough to accept it!

After the concert, they kept me up and we bashed on pancakes and waffles at IHop!  If you know me, staying up late isn't something that happens too often.  I'm a 9:30pm bedtime kinda gal.  Well, I didn't get home until 3 am.   Although I was extremely exhausted, it was a wonderful night pouring into students, hanging out, and getting to know them outside of church.

2)  15.5 miles

"I have learned that there is no failure in running, or in life, as long as you keep moving. It’s not about speed and gold medals. It’s about refusing to be stopped. "

- Amby Burfoot

Training is in full gear, we're almost to the halfway point!  Can you believe it?!  I am SO EXCITED!

The Mini-Heart Half Marathon is just 19 days away!  I am SO excited for it to be here.  Carb loading and race mornings are SO FUN!

The last two weeks Chad, BJ, and I have taken on some pretty intense routes.  The total elevation climb for 2 weeks ago was 692 ft. and this past Sunday was 804 ft.  Preparing for the Mini Heart Half and Pig is a bit intimidating but I'm very excited about tackling the hills and elevation climb and seeing what I can finish in.

It's been really awesome watching my pace change these last 3-4 months.  Prior to the Chicago Marathon, I was pacing between a 10:30-11:30 minute mile for longer distances.  Now for longer distances, I am pacing around 9:30/9:45 minute mile and in my shorter distances 8:50 minute mile.  After discussing with my running buddies, I am thinking of setting my Half Marathon Goal at 2 hours (that's about a 9:09 minute pace).  We've been pacing around 2 hours and 5 mins for our Half Marathon distance on our long runs.  This Sunday we get to drop down to 13.1 miles so I'm going to see where I'm at.  I think it's a good goal but a little intimidating... it's a challenge.  Part of me wants to just enjoy the race and see what I finish in and then there's a side of me that wants to see what I've got.

Erin and I are going to head downtown to check out the Mini Heart Half route to see how it compares to our hills here in the country ;)

I remember standing in my corral with Nicole for the Chicago Marathon - looking 26.2 miles in the face, tears welling up in my eyes, thinking- well, this is it, I am going to run 26.2 miles....WHAT IN THE WORLD have I gotten myself into?  Then crossing the finish line and thinking, I AM IN LOVE with running, when is my next race?!

3) Demo on the Youth Room -

The church we are at has one very large room and one smaller room all for Youth.  What a huge blessing!  We don't have to share it with another ministry - it's all ours!  It definitely needs a fresh coat of paint (we're working with hot orange, lime green, and baby blue) but outside of paint, it's ready to go!  One of the things I wanted to do was blow out the wall between the two rooms so they were connected.  The smaller room will be our hang out room (couches, food, coffee shop feel) and you know me, there will be highlander grogg brewing ;) and the baby blue room will be our worship/teaching area!  How blessed are we?!

Another AMAZING thing... one of the dad's is demo-ing our room!  He is taking time out of his work schedule to do this for us!  See those awesome mint green chairs on that orange wall?  We've had a few congregation members offer to reupholster them for us!!!  It's so awesome to have the support of the Pastor, other ministry leaders, parents, and congregation members who want to help.

Once the room is completed, we are going to have an "open house" for all the congregation members, parents, and students to go through and see our new place!

Thank you Lord for blessing us beyond what we deserve.

4) Rainy Runs

Well, this morning's 4 miles was a bit rough.  4 miles tends to be easy but throw in some 12-16 mph winds and a steady downpour and you've got yourself a challenging run.  The reason I still run in crappy weather like this morning is because I'm not promised sunshine and blue skies on race day.  I need to know, rain or shine, I can take on whatever mother nature hands me.  Erin and I were drenched and had squishy shoes!  Totally worth it!

I cannot lie, I am BEYOND ready for warmer running weather!  To not have to wear 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, ear warmer, hat, and gloves... getting dressed for cold running weather takes about 20 minutes. Remind me of this post when it's 87 degrees and I'm complaining about the humidity and heat ;)  Mr. Groundhog got me excited about our early spring and I am SO READY for it!

Have a great week, friends!

The ABC's of me...

Sunday Pastor Shawn preached on 1 Samuel 30 but focused on this verse specifically;

“David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” ~1 Samuel 30:6 

It was in his sermon that he challenged us to ENCOURAGE ourselves in the Lord -

When the enemy puts doubt, fear, anxiety and anything else he can in your life to create a spiritual gnat.  What's a spiritual gnat?!  It's things that pop up in your life that distract and discourage you.  When you're overwhelmed, stressed, filled with frustration.  When things just don't seem to be going right.  When you feel worthless, with no value, ashamed, stagnant... When the enemy tries to convince you your sin is too much, unforgivable, and before you know it you've allowed these lies to convince you, you are not worthy of the forgiveness, grace, and unconditional love of our Savior.

Instead of giving into and accepting the lies we are to be ENCOURAGED in our LORD.  The Bible is full of TRUTHS and power to end the lies that sometimes feel so overwhelming.  Sunday morning, Pastor shared his "ABC's of me" and encouraged us to write our own and be encouraged by the truth of our Lord!

Here are mine...

A)  I am Advised by the great counselor, He is my Aid and Alliance.  He is Amused by me. He always gives me Answers.  I am Authentic, Accepted, Anointed, an Ascendant of Jesus Christ, and have Authority in His name!

B)  He Believes in me.  His compassion goes Beyond my understanding.  I am Born again, Bought by his Blood, and part of the Body of Christ.

C)  I am Carried, Claimed, and Comforted.  He desires to Communicate and Connect with me.  He has place me in a Community of believers.  He is in Control.  He does not Compare me to anyone.  He has Converted and Called me.

D)  I once was Dead but am now alive in Him.  He gives me the Desires of my heart, Dismisses my sins, Disciples me, and invites me to Dwell in His presence.  He Delights in me.

E)  I am reminded daily this Earth is not my home.  He Equips me and Establishes my feet.  Gives purpose for my Existence, allows me to Experience His perfect love.  Explains His word, purpose, and vision.  I am part of the Elect and am promised Eternal life.


F) I am His Faithful servant, Free in His presence.  He Fills me with Faith to trust His lead.  He is my Father and Friend.



G)  I am Guided by his Gentle hand.  He is beyond Generous to me and His Grace is sufficient.  He has filled the Gap.  He Guards my heart, mind, and spirit and Goes before me.  He is Gracious.



H)  His Hands are always on me.  I am an Heir of the King.  He has given me the authority to Heal, Help, Hope, and make things Happen for His glory.  I am filled me with His Holy Spirit.
  I am the Head not the tail.

I)  I am not alone.  He is Involved in the matters of my heart and life.  He makes my Impossible, possible.



J)  I am filled with Joy.  He removes my Junk and replaces it with treasure.  He is a Just father.



K)  I have answered the Knock at my heart.  He does not Keep a record of my wrongs.

  He is my Keeper and is all-Knowing.  He is Kind to me.

L)  I have abundant Life in Him.

  His Love for me is Limitless.  He Lavishes me with His presence.  I am able to Live Life to it's fullest because of Him.  I am a Light in the darkness.  He is the Lifter of my head.

M)  He is Molding my Mind to be prepared for a Movement.  I am Marked by his Mercy and a Model of Him.



N)  I am Noticed by Him and have been made a New Creation.  He is Near to me at all times.  His mercies are New each morning.



O)  He Overflows my cup.  I am far from Ordinary.  I am Overwhelmed in His presence.  He is Omnipresent.  His hands are always Open.



P)  I have freedom to enter into His Presence, He is the solver of my Problems.  I am a Prophet of His word and freely Participate in worshipping Him.

  He is Proud of me.  He makes all things Possible.  He is Pleased by me.  He has given me Power, I am not Powerless.  I am Purified and made Perfect in His Presence.

Q)  I am able to sit Quietly before Him.

  He is Quick to my rescue.  

R)  I have a personal Relationship with Jesus Christ.  I have been Ransomed, Reborn, and Redeemed.

  He invites me to Rest in Him.

S)  He Shares His love and forgiveness freely, He Speaks over me, gives me Spiritual healing, has Sanctified and Saved me.  He Sincerely is concerned about me.



T) I am invited to his Table, he invites me to Talk, share my Thoughts, and Touch me.  He has Torn the veil and I have free access to Him.



U)  He Understands the Unexplained and Unknowns of my heart.   I have Unlimited access to Him.



I am Unable to escape His love.  I am Useful, Understood, and Uplifted.  He sees my Unclean heart and still accepts me.

V)  I am a Visionary. He has given me a Voice. 



W)  He Warms my heart and Watches over me.  I am a Witness. I Walk in the spirit and am Washed in the blood.  I am free to Worship Him.

  In my Weakness He is my strength.  He Waits for me and is Worthy of my praise.  

X)

  Your hand is always eXtended.  I eXalt Your holy name. 

Y)

  I Yield to His call.  I am Yours.  

Z)  I am zealous for Him. 

What are your ABC's?!

I heart V-day!

One holiday I get more and more excited about each year is Valentine's Day!  I'm sure that sounds pretty random, but each year I find myself more and more excited about Valentine's Day.  I'm not sure if it is because I have a little girl, if it's all the fabulous decorations, or the adorable treats- no matter what, I heart V-day!

A favorite tradition of Valentine's Day is one my dad set way before I can even remember.  Every year for V-day my dad would have a card & small box of candy hearts waiting for my sister and I.  He always made sure we knew how much we were loved and cherished not just by him but by our Heavenly Father!  Into adulthood my father has still carried that tradition on and I love it.

My house decorations become more detailed every year for V-day, I keep my eye out all January and February for the V-day decorations that I love... then a day or two later hit up the clearance racks at Michaels, Target, Walmart, and Kohls to build my V-day decoration collection for the following year!  Talk about some steals!

This year, we celebrated the WHOLE week of V-day!  Savannah and I baked our FABULOUS cut out sugar cookies on Sunday afternoon!

         

We iced and decorated them for our Valentine's!

Monday, we had our sweet friend Peyton and her mommy over to decorate and make V-day crafts!

Wednesday, we had Clay and Landen so we had our V-day Party!

We were getting ready to go outside for our walk and THIS is what we found... it was POURING SNOW!  They were SO EXCITED to play in the snow!  Me, I was not so happy about it.  I'm completely over the snow but let them soak in the awesomeness it!

 (Savannah, Landen, and Clay)

Thursday- Since it was Valentine's Day I surprised Landen with heart-shaped pancakes.  He has been begging me to make blueberry pancakes for a few weeks, so he was VERY happy to dig into them!  Not only that but they were SO HAPPY to eat off of my "fancy heart plates" haha!

 
This year, a sweet friend of mine-Courtney Munafo- had posted in early January - If you want a Valentine to private message her your address and she would send you a card!  I thought that was so thoughtful, so I did the same thing!  An opportunity to love on friends!

One thing that I absolutely LOVE and miss doing is my art - creating, sewing, and just making random stuff.  So being able to sit down, make cards, and put an individual and special message in a card for friends I truly love was so gratifying for me.  I love gift giving, no matter how small it may seem... giving gifts brings me so much joy!

So I spent a few of my quiet evenings (after Savannah went to bed) making girly Valentine's and sent them to a handful of friends...

Honestly, who WOULDN'T want to receive a card in the mail reaffirming they are loved, cherished, and treasured?  It was such a blessing, because one of the girls private messaged me that evening with this;

"Thank you so much for the Valentine's Day card. You have no idea what perfect timing it was. I was having a rough end to the day (long story) and when I finally got home and saw it in the mailbox it really made me smile. I had forgotten all about it. Thank you so much - I really really appreciate it. ...perfect timing - a time when I could really use a smile. Thanks girl!"

That right there really is what it was all about...  That was my heart behind sending them out!  Talk about overflowing my cup!  What a joy that was to read!


Speaking of overflowing my cup...

I was beyond blessed to worship with Jesus Culture at the Taft Theater last Friday night!  A dear friend blessed us with tickets and it was the most amazing gift!  Talk about a night of worship!  It honestly gave me hope for our city and nation... I saw that there really are people that LOVE the Lord, desire to be in His presence and truly want to see undignified, unscheduled, genuine, spirit-filled, raw revival and worship!  Oh it was so beautiful worshipping with so many people!

I believe it is just a taste of what Heaven will be like... it was beautiful.

All the angels cry out, Holy is the LordAll the earth replies, Holy are YouAll the angels cry out, Holy is the Lord All the earth replies, Holy are You

If you haven't purchased these cds:  Jesus Culture- Live from New York or Kim Walker-Smith's - Still Believe YOU MUST!  Don't hesitate, seriously... get on itunes and BUY THEM NOW!

 

A few firsts...

We've had some crazy weather lately and last week I was forced to run on the treadmill for the first time...ever!  I was so nervous, thankfully a great friend let me use hers so I didn't have to go to the gym and completely humiliate myself. 

First of all, Vicki's set up is AWESOME!  I couldn't have asked for a better place to run.  The treadmill was right in front of the tv, in a super nice finished basement, and Savannah was able to hang out and run around.  It was really ideal.  I was hoping I would LOVE it, get a treadmill for our basement, and be hooked.  I can hear you laughing... I know, high hopes.

Let me tell you how much I suffered on the treadmill.  It was terrible. Ugh, my knees and back were killing me, sweat was flying everywhere, and I promise you TIME STOOD STILL!  

Where was my fresh air?  Where was the breeze?  Where was the scenery?  I felt so unmotivated, very unchallenged, and just bored.   Thankfully, I logged my 6 miles and survived.  To those of you who run on the treadmill, I admire you!  What an ability and gift you have!

Shy of the treadmill experience, marathon training has been going great!  I've braved freezing weather, brutal winds, and early mornings!  I've had my gatorade freeze in it's bottle, gu become so thick in the cold air that I can barely get it out of the container, and have my hat and hair covered in frost.  Pretty crazy!  It's in this last week though, I've got to see first hand the benefits of braving the wicked winter and how it's made me a stronger runner!

Chad and I logged 6 miles Saturday and 9 miles Sunday - we finished both with an 8:40 pace!  WHAT THE?!  Sunday's weather was nice, it was high 30's low 40's and I totally over dressed for it (I'm still trying to figure out the whole layering thing).  My muscles were nice and warm but I would be lying if I said I wasn't feeling the burn and push in my body.  That was the first time I've ran at that pace for a long distance.  It was definitely a push!

Running alone is great quiet time, I really enjoy it but there's something awesome about finding a running buddy that challenges you in constant conversation while running, it's great!  Conversation not only challenges your breathing and pace but completely sets your abs on fire!

And it never fails,  in that last mile I watch Chad slowly break away from me and push to finish strong... Ugh, why does he have to do that?!  It makes me so mad!

So with less than a mile left, I tell my body to shut up (the burning in my abs, legs, arms, butt...) and I push to the finish.  AND IT FEELS AMAZING!

This week our training takes it up a notch - Sunday is 14 miles and I'm pretty excited!

I often get told that I'm insane for all the running, race goals, early morning runs, and braving the cold weather!  I honestly love running and when I saw this I thought it was perfect!

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Do you enjoy running on the treadmill?

What sets a fire in you to push in that last mile?

What upcoming race are you training for?

Spiritual "whack in the face" moment...

In my time in running, the Lord reveals a lot to me about my sin, the condition of my heart,  my priorities, attitude, and I'm not going to lie... some of the things the Lord uproots and exposes are hard to hear and often embarrassing.  Thank goodness no one else can hear them!  He often reminds me of the things I take for granted, overlook, and calls me out on my doubt, fears, and anxieties - you know, those things I haven't fully turned over to him yet.

I guess that's part of the refiner's fire, right?

In that time on the road listening to the Lord correct me, He never leaves me filled with doubt because he also reminds me of his great promises to provide, never leave, and bless my obedience.

I recently accepted the Youth Pastor position at Greater Cincinnati Worship Center in Batavia.  To be honest, I never thought there would be another opportunity for me to lead Youth again.  Although I was happily serving as a small group leader for the high school girls at the church we had been attending, I truly missed being in a spirit-filled church.  I never thought the opportunity to be a Youth Pastor would happen for me again.  So the thought of leading, teaching, and investing into teens has filled my heart with excitement.

Thursday we had our first youth gathering... it was exciting for many reasons.  1)  It was my first gathering with the students and 2) It was the first gathering for the students in a long time!  The students are great, excited, and anticipating great things!  I love how the Lord orchestrates things in His perfect timing for His perfect will.

My runs recently have been filled with different prayers - Lord please let these students and parents like me, trust me, believe in me...  Lord, help me trust and believe in you to use me, to work through and in me, to be completely yours in this process and ministry.

It's so easy to become worried and overwhelmed with the doubts of "What-If"when stepping into something new -especially ministry related...but just when I allow those thoughts to slip in, the Lord swoops in, takes those thoughts captive, and reminds me of his promises.

It's in those moments he gently reminds me; "Hillary, this has absolutely nothing to do with you and everything to do with me.  You will not be able to do this in your own strength but if you use my strength, rely on me, this is going to be huge!"

In this last year of running and preparing for my marathons I've learned exactly what it means to rely on the Lord for strength, to be rested in Him, restored through His word, and recognize that my success is not in my strength but his.

The Lord, through running, has birthed a "free-bird" in my spirit.  Weird?  It might sound weird but one of the things running has brought me is freedom.  Before starting this blog, I had a "healing blog" where I blogged about my journey to forgiveness.  My heart was ugly, filled with anger, and hate.  The Lord had his work cut out, I was hurting and He used a lot of things and people to restore my heart and allow me to forgive, remove anger, hate, and bitterness.

Running was one of those things he used in my time of healing.

In this last year of running, I thought the Lord was teaching me a lesson in forgiveness and endurance - allowing me to truly understand His strength and power.  To trust His control, His promises, and rely on Him fully.

This is where the spiritual "whack in the face moment" happens (ever had one of those?!)... You know, when you see how crazy awesome God really is and how He just brought you full circle...  Where you see how God has been preparing you for something HUGE and you just didn't know it - or you thought you knew what it was for ;)

Pastor Shawn keeps reminding me, "Hillary, this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon!"  I always laugh when he says that because I totally get it...

This week on one of my runs, the Lord let "it" hit me (I honestly believe He loves sitting back and watching my face when I see it all piece together.  I'm sure he laughs and delights in my awe.)  He hasn't been using the training of running to only help heal my heart and prepare me for the marathons BUT (here is the WHACK!) to help me understand the spiritual endurance and discipline I'm going to need as a Youth Pastor...  He's good, isn't he?!

I am very excited for what is to come...