quality time

Last time I posted I was gearing up for my 1/2 marathon..well I ran..and did alright. I'm happy with running it in just over 2hrs- next time I'll aim for under 2.
After my sore, beaten body recovered my sister Lauren came for a visit. She is both my best friend and sister... I hate living so far from her so when she comes I try to show her the best time possible hoping she'll eventually move to Toronto.
She flew back to Thunder Bay yesterday. Although there was no talk of her moving she said she had an awesome time.

run Forest run

Tomorrow I'm running my first 1/2 marathon ever. 21.1km or 13miles... I just went and picked up my kit that includes my race number and a tote full of freebies. The realization that I'm so not prepared hit me especially hard seeing a room full of fit runners. So I faked confidence and pretended I was as excited about the race as everyone else seemed to be. Little do they know I ran like max 3 times in the past 2 weeks, was sick and perforated my ear drum. Hopefully being partially deaf won't hinder my performance! Maybe they won't recognize me straggling at the back of the pack tomorrow..
I may post about the whole experience depending on how I do. Right now I'm just trying to get pumped up for the whole thing.

This guy's my hero. Don't be fooled by his goofy running style! Eric Liddell won gold back in the day for Scotland. Afterwards he went on to be a missionary in China.

When was the last time you were absolutely astounded, dumbfounded, mesmerized by God?
I think if we were in a constant state of amazement and fear of God we wouldn't be able to move. Shouldn't be able to move. In comparison to a being who is so holy, everything we did or said would shrink us further. Then again, God did not create us as static beings.

The prophet Isaiah was completely ruined at a glance of God. I relate to Isaiah when he cries, "I am a man of unclean lips." (except for the man part)Jesus himself said that its not what goes into a man's mouth that defiles them, its what comes out of it. Isaiah saw his corruption when he saw the holiness of God.
This holy God is also full of grace. This truth is the reason we can move and continue speaking. Like the hot coals which touched Isaiah's lips, Christ's pain took the full punishment for us. True repentance is painful. We must be completely stripped of all the corruption and crap so God can use us to our full potential. That's hope.

In "The Holiness Of God" by R.C Sproul he writes, "Isaiah was shattered into as many pieces as any fallen egg. But God put him together again. God was able to take a shattered man and send him into the ministry. He took a sinful man and made him a prophet. He took a man with a dirty mouth and made him God's spokesman."
That amazes me.

What's love got to do with it?

This guy just oozes Valentine's day charm.

...pretty...

On Prayer

“The gospel, God’s free gift of grace in Jesus, only works when we realize that we don’t have it all together. The same is true for prayer. The very thing we are allergic to – our helplessness – is what makes prayer work. It works because we are helpless. We can’t do life on our own. Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of Jesus and gives us the gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us because of Jesus and gives us the gift of His help. We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us. God looks at the adequacy of His Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers.” - Paul Miller, A Praying Life

Quote of the day.

‎"To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love" - A.W.Tozer

I also enjoyed reading this blog post and wanted to share:

http://paracletos.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/132/
Felt like it ties in with the second last post I did. Plus he writes a whole lot better.

Happy February 1st,2011!