These words from a local Pastor really spoke to me:
"When you say, 'That's just the way I am' I would say, 'That's just not good enough.' You can change! Just because you have been one way all your life doesn't mean you have to be trapped by the restrictions of your temperment for the rest of your life."
Wow, so that means I don't have to be an anti-social introvert for the rest of my life? Sign me up!
Maybe easier said than done, but I'm up for the challenge. I'm not going to be able to make disciples with this earthly temperment of mine, so my God-given temperment must be so much different.
Exciting!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Qi Deficient
My trainer suggested that I try acupuncture to help release my tight hips. I have never been a big fan of the thought of someone poking needles into my body, but my trainer has never steered me wrong, and so I went after my training session on Friday.
I had met the acupuncturist before at a function with my trainer, so I already knew who she was and I really liked her. She took the time to explain the procedures, and after many questions, asked me to lay on the table while she poked a bunch of needles into me.
I'm happy to say that I hardly felt any of the needles going in (other than the ones into the tops of my feet). My back had one spasm and my right glute had a big spasm, but once they were all in, it actually felt kind of nice.
As I relaxed, my acupuncurist made me a concoction of various Chinese herbs - known as "Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang" when they are all mixed together. Drinking this mixture twice a day is supposed to bring my Qi levels back to normal - to a point where everything in my body is working in harmony again.
After researching this Chinese medicine stuff, I became very intrigued with how the Chinese have been practicing this medicine for thousands of years, and how it all makes perfect sense. How often have we gone to a regular doctor with this ailment or that complaint, only to have drugs prescribed within 5 minutes and then be ushered out the door? While in many cases synthetic drugs are justified, how many of our ailments could be cured purely by eating a better diet and practicing some alternative medicine?
And don't even get me started on what stress does to our bodies....I don't think most of us even realize how are bodies feel when they are functioning at an optimal level. We're all too sleep-deprived, hopped up on caffeine, ruled by our to-do lists, and we are ignoring the malourished cry from our insides....from the only body we will have while on this earth.
My acupuncturist also suggested I try wheatgrass to help improve my iron levels (which have always been deficient and for which I take a supplement). I would have laughed at the prospect a few years ago (organic-schmorganic, I say!), but the benefits seem to be amazing.
I'll check in a week from now....after another acupuncture session and a week on Qi-boosting tea and wheatgrass, and see if there's anytruth to this hippy-dippy lifestyle.
I had met the acupuncturist before at a function with my trainer, so I already knew who she was and I really liked her. She took the time to explain the procedures, and after many questions, asked me to lay on the table while she poked a bunch of needles into me.
I'm happy to say that I hardly felt any of the needles going in (other than the ones into the tops of my feet). My back had one spasm and my right glute had a big spasm, but once they were all in, it actually felt kind of nice.
As I relaxed, my acupuncurist made me a concoction of various Chinese herbs - known as "Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang" when they are all mixed together. Drinking this mixture twice a day is supposed to bring my Qi levels back to normal - to a point where everything in my body is working in harmony again.
After researching this Chinese medicine stuff, I became very intrigued with how the Chinese have been practicing this medicine for thousands of years, and how it all makes perfect sense. How often have we gone to a regular doctor with this ailment or that complaint, only to have drugs prescribed within 5 minutes and then be ushered out the door? While in many cases synthetic drugs are justified, how many of our ailments could be cured purely by eating a better diet and practicing some alternative medicine?
And don't even get me started on what stress does to our bodies....I don't think most of us even realize how are bodies feel when they are functioning at an optimal level. We're all too sleep-deprived, hopped up on caffeine, ruled by our to-do lists, and we are ignoring the malourished cry from our insides....from the only body we will have while on this earth.
My acupuncturist also suggested I try wheatgrass to help improve my iron levels (which have always been deficient and for which I take a supplement). I would have laughed at the prospect a few years ago (organic-schmorganic, I say!), but the benefits seem to be amazing.
I'll check in a week from now....after another acupuncture session and a week on Qi-boosting tea and wheatgrass, and see if there's anytruth to this hippy-dippy lifestyle.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
My New Baby
Even though I am a self-professed geek, I'm not really a gadget person; I have always been very happy with my cell phone that is just a phone, and was very happy to pay very low fees for my phone that was just a phone.
I was determined never to be one of those "texting people" - people that walk down the street texting, walk down the mall texting (the funniest scene ever: three friends walking down WEM, two with their heads down texting and one on his cell phone talking, each oblivious to the others), and who basically ignore the beauty of the day, and the fresh air, and the blessings they have been given.
However, back in April I decided to get a small texting package as a trial, it was only $5.00, and if I didn't use it, I would cancel it. Days later, my son broke his arm and we were in the hospital for four days, and the texting was very useful. I was able to keep my parents up to date on the situation without incurring long distance charges, so that $5.00 was worth every penny. When we were in BC for my sister's wedding I was able to text and again saved myself long distance charges. So, even though I text on a rare occassion, I'm still not one of those "texting people".
And I was also determined not to cave into the media juggernaut known as the iPhone. I seriously think that people must have a screw loose since they spend a fortune on the "latest models", when the old models were just fine. Now, with the new iPhone 5, not only are they spending money on the new phone (when the old phone was more than adequate), but the new phone is shaped differently, so they need to buy new cases, and apparently the headphones are different, and the docking system is different. Apple is laughing all the way to the bank.
But then.....Telus was offering "old" iPhones (that were released a year ago) for $79, and I had always thought the voice recognition software was neat (the funny commercials with John Malkovich didn't hurt either). So I decided to treat myself to a Gadget - an iPhone 4S that is amazing, and it makes me sad that millions think that they need to ditch this amazing piece of technology for the "next new thing", basically because they believed that this "next new thing" is better. They must also believe it will make them faster, stronger, smarter, more popular, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.....oops, I digress.
I admit that I love my little iPhone 4S. I have configured all of my e-mail so that I can easily check it straight out of my pocket, and I speak text messages now instead of typing them (so cool!), and it's very convenient and has made work a little bit easier.
However, the iPhone is still just a phone - it gets turned off at night, it gets turned off at church and in restaurants, and I will never interrupt a conversation with a friend to check an e-mail or a text message.
I love my iPhone, but it's just a gadget.....I wish more people would remember that.
I was determined never to be one of those "texting people" - people that walk down the street texting, walk down the mall texting (the funniest scene ever: three friends walking down WEM, two with their heads down texting and one on his cell phone talking, each oblivious to the others), and who basically ignore the beauty of the day, and the fresh air, and the blessings they have been given.
However, back in April I decided to get a small texting package as a trial, it was only $5.00, and if I didn't use it, I would cancel it. Days later, my son broke his arm and we were in the hospital for four days, and the texting was very useful. I was able to keep my parents up to date on the situation without incurring long distance charges, so that $5.00 was worth every penny. When we were in BC for my sister's wedding I was able to text and again saved myself long distance charges. So, even though I text on a rare occassion, I'm still not one of those "texting people".
And I was also determined not to cave into the media juggernaut known as the iPhone. I seriously think that people must have a screw loose since they spend a fortune on the "latest models", when the old models were just fine. Now, with the new iPhone 5, not only are they spending money on the new phone (when the old phone was more than adequate), but the new phone is shaped differently, so they need to buy new cases, and apparently the headphones are different, and the docking system is different. Apple is laughing all the way to the bank.
But then.....Telus was offering "old" iPhones (that were released a year ago) for $79, and I had always thought the voice recognition software was neat (the funny commercials with John Malkovich didn't hurt either). So I decided to treat myself to a Gadget - an iPhone 4S that is amazing, and it makes me sad that millions think that they need to ditch this amazing piece of technology for the "next new thing", basically because they believed that this "next new thing" is better. They must also believe it will make them faster, stronger, smarter, more popular, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.....oops, I digress.
I admit that I love my little iPhone 4S. I have configured all of my e-mail so that I can easily check it straight out of my pocket, and I speak text messages now instead of typing them (so cool!), and it's very convenient and has made work a little bit easier.
However, the iPhone is still just a phone - it gets turned off at night, it gets turned off at church and in restaurants, and I will never interrupt a conversation with a friend to check an e-mail or a text message.
I love my iPhone, but it's just a gadget.....I wish more people would remember that.
Friday, August 31, 2012
"I Envy You Jo"
Tuesday was a typical night - I drove up to The Mustard Seed in my little red car, said hi to the gang waiting outside for dinner, and started my usual chores: handing out plates, chatting with the community members, clearing away coffee mugs, and all the while just seeing all the people as just people, no different than I, and I always thought they saw me as an equal as well.
But maybe I was wrong.
I was chatting with one of my homeless buddies as we usually do - about work, the street, his "issues", and then suddenly he spoke frankly: I envy you Jo.
My first thought was, "Why would he envy me?" Maybe it should have been an obvious answer, but I've come to know some of these people so well that they are no different to me than our neighbours across the street. The answer did not immediately come to mind.
And then his reply: Because you get to drive home in your car, to your house, and to your family.
Oh, how we take our everyday life for granted! To think that a person would envy me because I live in a house, when I never think twice about it. And to have a family, when some of these people have such battered family pasts that maybe they lay awake at night thinking about what life may have been like if they had just been born into different circumstances....
As much as I see them as the same, these people are different. The ebb and flow of their lives has brought them to one of the harshest and violent streets in Edmonton to get a meal and find some conversation. Some of them are homeless by choice, but I'll bet lots of them dream about the day when they won't have to stand in line for food, won't have to use an outdoor toilet in the middle of the night, and won't have to freeze for most of the day in any given January.
How blessed we are.....I'll never forget that again.
But maybe I was wrong.
I was chatting with one of my homeless buddies as we usually do - about work, the street, his "issues", and then suddenly he spoke frankly: I envy you Jo.
My first thought was, "Why would he envy me?" Maybe it should have been an obvious answer, but I've come to know some of these people so well that they are no different to me than our neighbours across the street. The answer did not immediately come to mind.
And then his reply: Because you get to drive home in your car, to your house, and to your family.
Oh, how we take our everyday life for granted! To think that a person would envy me because I live in a house, when I never think twice about it. And to have a family, when some of these people have such battered family pasts that maybe they lay awake at night thinking about what life may have been like if they had just been born into different circumstances....
As much as I see them as the same, these people are different. The ebb and flow of their lives has brought them to one of the harshest and violent streets in Edmonton to get a meal and find some conversation. Some of them are homeless by choice, but I'll bet lots of them dream about the day when they won't have to stand in line for food, won't have to use an outdoor toilet in the middle of the night, and won't have to freeze for most of the day in any given January.
How blessed we are.....I'll never forget that again.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Strength in Numbers
My running program has become a little intense - this morning I ran 30 minutes, followed by 13 hill intervals, and then another 30 minutes of running. I've been doing hill intervals for a couple of weeks, and preferred to go with a friend, since you never know what could be going on down in our river valley. However, my running bud moved back to Scotland, and so I was faced with the prospect of doing hills alone.
However, on Saturday the 11th I plodded over to the hill to find that a guy was doing hill repeats on his bike at the same time. Yay - I wouldn't have to be alone! I didn't know who he was, but he was crazy enough (like I) to be up at 630 am on a Saturday to get in a brutal workout. We passed many times, and he was still there when I left, and it was nice just to have somewhere there and not worry about potential issues popping up from the river valley.
Last Saturday, I reached the hill and found the same little white car at the top of the hill - could the bike guy be back? Sure enough, he was! We exchanged a cordial good morning as we passed the first time (he was going up, I was going down), and I ran without worry. This morning, the little white car was there again. I thought it was kind of crazy that he was doing hill repeats again after just doing them three days earlier, but then again, I was there too.
I found it interesting how just having one person around, sharing in the pain, seemed to make the work go by more quickly and not seem so difficult.
I stepped out of my comfort zone last night and went to a movie (gak) with a bunch of ladies (barf) - a "girls night out", no less! (aargh). Even though I wanted to go home after, I went for coffee after even though I didn't know anyone (kill me now). However, one of the ladies made a profound comment. To paraphrase, she said that if we are going to be in Christ, we have to grow, and in order to grow, we need to move out of our comfort zone. Jesus said, "Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." It's so easy to stay complacent, stay comfortable, but it's also so hard to find Christ on our own. A solid group of friends can feed off each other, can make the journey easier, and provide strength for each other. If I am going to grow in Christ, maybe I need to get out of my comfort zone and actually make an effort to make some lifelong friends.
They will stengthen me, just as the bike guy provided a different kind of strength. We were designed to work in community, so why don't we all do it more often? A pondering for another day.....
However, on Saturday the 11th I plodded over to the hill to find that a guy was doing hill repeats on his bike at the same time. Yay - I wouldn't have to be alone! I didn't know who he was, but he was crazy enough (like I) to be up at 630 am on a Saturday to get in a brutal workout. We passed many times, and he was still there when I left, and it was nice just to have somewhere there and not worry about potential issues popping up from the river valley.
Last Saturday, I reached the hill and found the same little white car at the top of the hill - could the bike guy be back? Sure enough, he was! We exchanged a cordial good morning as we passed the first time (he was going up, I was going down), and I ran without worry. This morning, the little white car was there again. I thought it was kind of crazy that he was doing hill repeats again after just doing them three days earlier, but then again, I was there too.
I found it interesting how just having one person around, sharing in the pain, seemed to make the work go by more quickly and not seem so difficult.
I stepped out of my comfort zone last night and went to a movie (gak) with a bunch of ladies (barf) - a "girls night out", no less! (aargh). Even though I wanted to go home after, I went for coffee after even though I didn't know anyone (kill me now). However, one of the ladies made a profound comment. To paraphrase, she said that if we are going to be in Christ, we have to grow, and in order to grow, we need to move out of our comfort zone. Jesus said, "Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." It's so easy to stay complacent, stay comfortable, but it's also so hard to find Christ on our own. A solid group of friends can feed off each other, can make the journey easier, and provide strength for each other. If I am going to grow in Christ, maybe I need to get out of my comfort zone and actually make an effort to make some lifelong friends.
They will stengthen me, just as the bike guy provided a different kind of strength. We were designed to work in community, so why don't we all do it more often? A pondering for another day.....
Sunday, July 15, 2012
One Year Ago Today
A year ago right now, I was lying in an operating waiting room, prepped for surgery, and when I awoke, my body was all jumbled up and stapled shut, and I didn't feel well for a long time.
I naively thought I would be running again six weeks postop, and that a little surgery wasn't going to get in the way of my love of the outdoors. I didn't realize how big of a surgery it was, and six weeks later I could still barely walk around, never mind run!
In the fall I thought I would be ready, but I often felt sick after running, I had vertigo if my heartrate was too high, and I just didn't feel right. I wondered if I would ever feel normal again. I felt like a fraud teaching fitness classes when I couldn't even do the exercises myself, but I am so grateful that the owner of the local fitness centre looked past my scars and gave me a chance to teach classes. She didn't care that I was out of shape, and her confidence in me gave me the confidence to move forward with teaching fitness, when I had been so close to just giving up on the whole thing.
This morning I ran for 50 minutes and it felt great, and I think my body is finally ready to take on some challenges. If I would have known that it was going to take a year to get back to normal, I never would have believed it.
I can't wait to see what the next year has in store!
I naively thought I would be running again six weeks postop, and that a little surgery wasn't going to get in the way of my love of the outdoors. I didn't realize how big of a surgery it was, and six weeks later I could still barely walk around, never mind run!
In the fall I thought I would be ready, but I often felt sick after running, I had vertigo if my heartrate was too high, and I just didn't feel right. I wondered if I would ever feel normal again. I felt like a fraud teaching fitness classes when I couldn't even do the exercises myself, but I am so grateful that the owner of the local fitness centre looked past my scars and gave me a chance to teach classes. She didn't care that I was out of shape, and her confidence in me gave me the confidence to move forward with teaching fitness, when I had been so close to just giving up on the whole thing.
This morning I ran for 50 minutes and it felt great, and I think my body is finally ready to take on some challenges. If I would have known that it was going to take a year to get back to normal, I never would have believed it.
I can't wait to see what the next year has in store!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
I'm Missing My Peeps
It's 7:17 on a Tuesday night, and I would normally be standing at the front door of The Mustard Seed, handing out plates for dinner, and smiling and chatting with the community members. But I'm in South Dakota instead, in the middle of an awesome family vacation, having visited Mount Rushmore this morning and basking in the glow of Matthew's excitement.
But I find myself thinking of everyone, wondering how they are doing in the heat without air conditioning, without constant access to water, and many of them being shunned in the shopping malls while looking for a cool place to rest. I have confidence, however, that the staff at the inner city agencies are watching for heatstroke as diligently as they watch for frostbite in the winter, and that the Hope Mission van is constantly circling, looking for signs of distress.
The coffee bar would be steaming hot, and the fans would just be blowing hot air around, and people would be cranky from the heat. But just as in the dead of winter, just one smile might brighten the day of someone who was grumpy from too much sun.
I read a quote on Twitter that one positive relationship can change the course of a person's life, and I'm determined to be that one positive relationship.
But for now, I'm enjoying the dry heat in the Black Hills, looking forward to a day at the local waterpark tomorrow, and hanging out with my family in our air conditioned hotel room.
I'll be back with my peeps next Tuesday.
But I find myself thinking of everyone, wondering how they are doing in the heat without air conditioning, without constant access to water, and many of them being shunned in the shopping malls while looking for a cool place to rest. I have confidence, however, that the staff at the inner city agencies are watching for heatstroke as diligently as they watch for frostbite in the winter, and that the Hope Mission van is constantly circling, looking for signs of distress.
The coffee bar would be steaming hot, and the fans would just be blowing hot air around, and people would be cranky from the heat. But just as in the dead of winter, just one smile might brighten the day of someone who was grumpy from too much sun.
I read a quote on Twitter that one positive relationship can change the course of a person's life, and I'm determined to be that one positive relationship.
But for now, I'm enjoying the dry heat in the Black Hills, looking forward to a day at the local waterpark tomorrow, and hanging out with my family in our air conditioned hotel room.
I'll be back with my peeps next Tuesday.
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