Just a thought

I'm not one to post spiritual comments on my blog. It's not that I don't have my share of them, but some things I just keep to myself and enjoy them within the space of my own heart. But I was taught a profound lesson by a child yesterday and I wanted to share it.
Yesterday was one of my favorite meetings in Church: The Primary Program. I seem to enjoy them MUCH more now that I am not in charge of them anymore. I no longer worry about the logistics of who is doing what part, do they know the songs, or how the heck are we going to fit 190 primary children on the stand...AND keep them quiet?! I just get to sit back and enjoy it. Which is exactly what I did yesterday.

There was a little class of 5 and 6 year olds (guessing) about the middle of the program who were sharing their thoughts about what they would do "If the Savior stood beside me." These children were sharing their own thoughts, not something they had been told to say. One after the next these children stood up and gave their answers which were all very similar to the next along the lines of "I would try harder to be nice." "I wouldn't hit my brother" and so forth. And then a little girl stood up and said something totally different than all the others.

"If the Savior stood beside me I would hold His hands."

My heart was touched, as it often is when I am taught a simple, yet profound truth by a child. I have thought about this much the past 24 hours. What answer would I have given? Would I try and improve upon various aspects of my behavior, or would I be at peace enough with myself that I would want nothing more than to hold His hands in mine? Isn't that what He would want, after all? Isn't this the very thing that He invited every child to do when He was in their midst?

I will never be able to hear or sing "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" without thinking of this little girl and her answer. May it be a constant reminder to me of what it truly important in my life and of the very personal relationship our Savior desires to have with each of us.

Caleb's Big Day!!!

I'm a little behind on this post, but I just wanted to say Congratulations to Caleb for his decision to be baptized. It was a great day and Mike and I are so happy to have this little boy in our family.

Here are some of my favorite things about Caleb:

1- Caleb is naturally kind to everyone. It doesn't matter what you look like or where you live or what kind of bike you have, he just wants to be your friend.
2- Caleb is all about comfort. He couldn't care less about fashion or what is "cool" or "in." It's all about if it feels comfortable or not. His favorite thing EVER to wear are his silky soccer shorts and a silky soccer shirt. He would wear them non-stop, every day, every night, if I let him. And in the Winter his favorites are his fleece pants and fleece pullovers. (Caleb doesn't even like jeans, much to my dismay. I think I got him to wear them once last year when I told him I would pay him a quarter if he did it. And then he changed as soon as he got home.)
3-Caleb still kisses me every night, right on the lips and gives me a big squeeze.
4-Caleb is always the one who wants to ride his bike with me to church, so it is usually just the two of us in our Sunday clothes on our bikes out on the trail at 8:30 AM every Sunday.

I could go on, and I'm sure Mike could add many as well.
We love you, Caleb!!!

Legacy Tour 2008

It's not very often that you get to run/ride on a new highway, and yet that is just what Mike and I got to do this Saturday (Sept 13) on the new Legacy Parkway before it was opened to the public. I had decided to run the 10K (6.2 miles) to give me a goal to work toward in my running, and Mike decided to do the 20 mile bike ride because he had nothing better to do that Saturday morning. (My point: one of us had to work hard to train to be able to do this, and the other was just able to do it with no prior training. Kinda makes you a bit sick if you are the one who had to to train...running 6 days a week...in the dark...uphill both ways) Actually, I was thrilled to have him there with me and to cheer him on and vice versa. I love doing things with this guy!

Another great part of this run was that there was a fantastic group of women from the neighborhood who had decided to run also, and we were all able to meet up with each other and start off together. I say "start off together" because that is about how long most of us were together before we all broke off into our own strides and ran at our own individual paces. But we all finished, and we all ran the entire way.

Here we are the following morning looking much lovelier than we did the previous day after we finished. =)

The little one is 4 year old Ashley, daughter to Rachel, the one in the black behind her. Rachel ran the 10K, and her little daughter rode next to her on her little bike the entire way.
(My 4 year old gets tired after about 50 feet.)

And speaking of feet...

(Mike was going to put his foot in there too, but someone had to take the picture!)

And the Awards go to:

Cami: for leaving us all in the dust with those long legs and long strides. (She told me she was a "slow runner." Uh huh... sure.)

Joni and Natalie: for having the coolest watches of us all that told them exactly how fast they were going and all kinds of cool stuff; and, for running that fist mile in just over 8 minutes!

Kathy and Judy (Kathy's mom): for having the most inspirational reason for running. They have 3 members of their family battling cancer, so they ran for them. (Proceeds of this run went to the Hess Cancer Foundation.) Also, for running as a mother/daughter team. How cool is that?!

Faye: for running the whole time without getting her i-pod to work. I seriously could not have done it.

Hollie: for having this unbelievably upbeat attitude that is contagious and running the entire way next to the i-pod-less Faye.

Rachel: for deciding just a few days before the event to run in it, and then show up and do it, and not long after having a baby either.

Ashley: for being not only her mom's inspiration, but mine as well. They were about 30 feet in front of me, and it was so cute to see little Ashley riding that 2 wheeler in a sea of runners.

And last but not least:
Mike: for being the only one in the bike event who wore sandals, and shorts that had no spandex in them whatsoever!!!!!

"I run because it's my passion, and not just a sport."
~Sasha Azevedo