Jersey Shore?

So I posted a couple of years ago [seems like I've been writing this blog since I was like 25.  So that was like two years ago right?]  about going to disaster relief training through my church.  I learned about recovery and how to use a chainsaw [scary], patch a roof, and clean up mud. There have been several opportunities for me to use these skills and do this work yet I haven't taken a single one since the training. Not one. I am ashamed.  Everytime the email from the NC Baptist Association would show up I would read about then move on. 

Not this time. If I am not mistaken, in a matter of 3 days after Hurricane Sandy hit, I recieved about 10 emails.  Each of them started with the desperate need for volunteers to help.  Around email # 7 I finally hit the "I Volunteer" button.  [I would love to say it was with passion but more like out of regret.]  Not really expecting to hear anything  [or maybe scared of what I might hear] I also emailed the contact at my church about any opportunities.  His reponse? "Can you leave this Wednesday?"

What did I say to him?  What did I say to God?  Yes. I will go.  Here Lord, please send me. After all, I look around and I have a beautiful house, I spent Thanksgiving inside with family and friends, and I was able to rake 14 tons of leaves [no lie] out of my yard.  What right do I have to say no to helping someone else clean up what is left of their home...their town...maybe their life? 

I learned, that Wednesday night at M-Fuge two years ago, as I watched the youth in praise, that I spent a lot of time running from God's voice.  I didn't listen. [Not a shock to my husband or my daddy.]  Even when He spoke louder and more urgently I chose to ignore.  But that night I listened to His voice in my head and He told me to get it together.  To be a better mother. To be a better wife. To be a better person.  And He said that I should listen when He is asking things of me...and to stop living my life worrying about what might happen. 

I will be leaving this coming Wednesday for a 4 day trip to New Jersey to aid with mudouts and recovery.  I don't tell you this to fish for compliments.  I say all this because it is part of my witness...it is who I am.  Helping others is what I am supposed to do...it's one of my gifts.  I believe that is why I am a teacher.  [Now I know the paycheck is outstanding but let's get some perspective here people.] So help others I will because doing it my way and living that life of not listening to God's call just wasn't working for me or those that I affected.  [My favorite coach calls that our bubble - we should take care of the people in our bubble.] I have been helped in soooo many ways in my life ~ why wouldn't I choose to help someone in need?  How can I teach my own children to respond to those who are helpless if I'm not willing to show them how that is done? 

Will I miss my family?  I cannot tell you how much it pains me to think that I will be gone from them for four days.  We are a tight bunch [look at Ducky Dynasty - us rednecks are close] and they depend on me. I have no doubt that Craig will take super good care of them but they still depend on me.  We depend on each other.  But I know that God's going to take care of all of us and that we're all sleeping under the same big sky.

My other concern was for my "other" children. [No...none that you don't already know about.] If you are a teacher then you are with me on this one: it ain't easy leaving sub plans and activities for your babies at school...trust me.  I have an awesome sub so I'm not worried about that part but finding things that my students will do and that will be worthwhile [hopefully not 3 days full of crappy worksheets] is the challenge.  I have a responsibility to facilitate learning [according to this workshop deal we are no longer "teachers" but facilitators of learning] and to make sure my job continues despite my absence. 

I hate springing subs on them when I know I'm going to be out so I shared what I was going to do with them...and I wasn't quite prepared for their reactions.  Several of them clapped [I think it was for me helping with clean up versus me being gone.  I'll keep thinking that.....], I heard several of them say, "That's cool" [which is like winning the lottery to a teacher], and a couple of them asked me what I might be doing up there.  God is good and he's eased my fears about leaving them....they will be fine without me for a few days.

One of them ask me was I going to visit Jersey Shore and Pauly D.  [I am ashamed that I even knew what they were talking about even though I've never, ever watched the show.] I told them that I had no intentions of meeting Snooki and her new baby or figuring out why the Situation has that absurd name.  However, if I were venturing down to Louisiana then I would most definitely have to meet the Robertsons and eat some of Miss Kay's fried squirrel brains [or probably not]. "No, I will not be meeting the idiots cast/crew of Jersey Shore.  Sorry to disappoint." 

Gabe asked tonight if I was going to come home before Christmas.  Bless his little, tiny baby heart. [It's no wonder the boy is rotten to the core ~ little, tiny, baby heart?] "Yes, Gabester I will be home for Christmas." He just smiled and gave me super sweet kisses all over my forehead.  Then he asked was he going to get a prize :)

As always, life as a Short is simply grand :)

Giving Up....Sorta

I made an executive decision to officially retire from the triathlon circuit.  [Some of you are asking what in the heck an I talkin' about?]  I mean, I have conquered [I use that term vvvveeeerrrryyyyy loosely] the Ramblin' Rose - isn't that the very same as doing the Ironman? [Ummmm, in my eyes, yes.]

I just do not have the time or the money to invest in cycling.  I had a bike, on loan, but I didn't have the proper equipment to really ride distances. [Have you ever ridden a road bike for a distance without cycling shorts?  Let's just say it's not easy on the fanny.]  It's an investment if you want to be competitive cycling and I just can't invest in that right now. 

I really hate swimming.  I could be OK, if I practiced, but I just don't care to practice.  I am not a huge fan of the water [I do shower. DAILY.] and I don't see that changing.  Again, this is an investment of time and money because I would need a coach and again, I don't have either. 

But I can run.  I can buy running shoes. I can be good at running.  I like running. I can invest in running because I only need to buy the shoes every six months.  I don't need a coach but instead, some excellent running partners [I have those and they are awesome] that make it fun and push me [sometimes literally] to run a little farther. 

I think sometimes that we have to face reality.  My reality is that I am not good at cycling and swimming and I don't have the resources, at this point in my life, to be any better at either one.  I am OK with that because I know that I can be a better runner.  I believe God has provided me with an opportunity to do something with this way beyond myself.  I have had so much fun being the sponsor of Girls on Track and I am blessed to have had this opportunity.  I love being with these girls and encouraging them to be those "out of the box" girls that God wants us to be.   I absolutely love my running partners [we've dubbed ourselves Bosely and Charlie's Angels] and the time we spend getting better, together. 

Most importantly, I have found my prayer life growing exponentially.  I pray while I run.  [Yes, admittedly, I pray for the strength to make it up the hills] For my family, my co-workers, my students, the people who live in the houses I run past, my church, the folks driving the cars that pass me, our community, our country...I pray.  I try not to think about the time that has passed, the distance I've gone, or the that monster hill I know is looming...I just pray. 

Did I need to start running to be better with my prayer life?  Absolutely not but what an amazing plus and definite need this has been for my life. 

I thinking giving up on being a triathlete is addition by subtraction [one of my favorite sayings from my favorite coach♥] because I have gained so much more in my heart that I would ever get from the swim, bike, run...ever.