Spiritual Insight

This post is more for me to look back on than anything else, but feel free to keep reading. :)

In Sunday School today, one of Jesus' parables became a little more clear to me.  The reason why that has any kind of significance at all is I often read the same "Bible stories" over and over again and seem to think things like, "Oh yeah, I know this story" or "Yep, I understand the meaning of this one" and sit patiently in class, feeling confident that I already know the answers, etc.

Today it was the parable of the 10 lepers (Luke 17:11-19).  So the simple version is Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and passed through a small village where he met 10 lepers.  They ask Him to heal them and he does.  Only one comes back to thank him and Jesus asks-- But where are the other 9?  There were 10 healed.  So that one who comes back is made whole because of his faith.   The end.

What do we learn from this parable?  Well it has come up in talks, lessons, and discussions at church several times in just the past 2 weeks, and the main concept is gratitude. It teaches us the importance of giving thanks to the Lord for the blessings He gives us, and we often seem to view the other 9 healed lepers in a negative light, like they were selfish and ungrateful.  Well... today I learned a little more.

We had split up into groups to read certain passages in Luke, discuss them, and come up with a few main points to share with the class.  We read our simple verses on the 10 lepers and I was thinking, "Really?  We just heard about this in Sacrament Meeting, and talked a lot about it in Relief Society last week."  Our group was relatively quiet and it felt as though anything that needed to be analyzed or discussed had already been said previously.  So we all sat there staring at our scriptures-- a few of us giving obligatory comments just to break the silence.  Finally the teacher joined us all together again and continued the lesson.  I sat there thinking about our verses in Luke, wondering which person in our group was going to be the "spokesman" and what else there was to say that wouldn't be repetitive and boring.

So I re-read the verses again just to feel more confident in case I needed to speak up.

This time I noticed a footnote in verse 14 that I hadn't read before.  It was about leprosy and the custom back then for a leper to show himself to the priests to receive instruction on what to do, etc.  Interesting-- I'd never read that.  So that verse became different to me.  After the lepers went to Jesus asking for His mercy, he told them: "Go shew yourselves unto the priests.  And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God."  I realized something I'd never noticed before!  Jesus told them to go to the priests, and AS THEY WENT, they were healed.  Already, this shows the obedience of all 10 lepers.  They came seeking help from Jesus and He gave them a solution.  But it's the one who saw that he was healed that came back to thank Him.  What does that mean for the others?  Perhaps they were so determined to get to the priests, to do what Jesus had told them to do, that they didn't notice right away that they had already been healed.  For some reason that one leper noticed before the others, and therefore got to thank Jesus face to face.

But how often do we pray and seek for answers and continue down our "tunnel-vision" path and perhaps fail to see the blessings... or the answers that have already come?  I don't think that makes us ungrateful or selfish-- we're just not totally in focus with the Lord's perspective, but we'll probably get there.  It takes longer for some than others.  And I have a new found appreciation for those other 9 lepers!  :)  Indeed, this parable teaches us about gratitude, but I'm glad that I learned a few other tidbits just by re-reading those verses one more time today.

Have I mentioned that I love my new ward?  Well, I do.

Automatic Faucets

Automatic faucets seem to be more trouble than convenience.  You stand there waving your hands around like an idiot, not quite sure where the magical invisible sensor area is.  Like the picture above, you can usually see where the actual sensor is, but most times putting your hands there doesn't trigger anything.  

Recently I've had the following situation happen to me, more than once --->  I move my hands around impatiently to trigger the water until finally it comes on.  Then I hold my hands under the soap dispenser and wait a few seconds.  Nothing.  I look around, bend down, try to find the sensor... nothing.  Oh, wait.  Is this a normal soap dispenser?!  You can't throw me off like that!  So then I actually have to push the soap thingy myself, and then go back to setting of the automatic water sensor to rinse them off.  That doesn't seem fair to confuse a person like that.  You can't mix automatic and manual!

Then, if you're lucky, you have a normal paper towel machine and get to take as much as you need to actually dry your hands.  I'm not a fan of automatic paper towel machines because A) they give you like 1/4 of what you actually need to dry your hands, and B) they're usually "out of order" and you stand there waving your hands around until you realize it's a red light flashing instead of a green light... aka... there are no paper towels coming your way.  Boo!  Wipe them on your pants.

Sooo... all in all, automatic anything in the bathroom really throws me off.  Don't get me started on automatic toilets.  Not a fan of them either.  But I'm sure for all you germ-a-phobes, you really appreciate the new technology.  As for me-- bring on the germs.  I like the old way better.  :)

My Childhood Favorites

So tonight I bought "The Never-Ending Story" movie for $6.99 and watched it.  Kind of ridiculous, the terrible graphics and what not in that movie, but for some reason I watched it all the time as a kid.  That got me to thinking about all the other things in my childhood that I loved.  Let me know if you liked any of these too! :)

BOOKS

I kind of love Amelia Bedelia even MORE now, 

because I often do dumb things like she would do.

I'd like to read this again.  I hardly remember it, but I DO 

remember that it was my first "favorite book" I could talk about.

TV SHOWS

Cheesiest show in all of TV history, complete with the sappy

music at the end of every episode.  But I sure did love it. 

(Not as much as my sister Heather.  She pretty much has every season memorized!)

Looking at it now, this show looks a little creepy!  

The "Polka-dot Door."  I seriously don't remember a single thing

about this show, other than I watched it and I remembered the title.  (?)

TOYS

Good, old school Legos.  Now-a-days they're so high-tech and weird!

Loved everything about these little guys.

My first one looked exactly like him!  Only his little outfit was green.

I named him "Mikey Blackey". I have no idea-- kids are weird.

Mine wasn't as "Princessy" as this one but I loved these things! We would turn them

upside-down, sit on them and spin the pedals to pretend like we were making ice cream.

Marble Works-- every kid's imagination gone wild.

A "My Child" doll!  Soft fuzzy skin and sparkly little eyes. :)

MOVIES

 This was a TV movie that we taped on VHS and watched ALL the time!  I just now found it 

on Amazon and will SO buy it!  Tons of cameos of famous people before they all grew up.

 Probably not even "kid appropriate" but watched this all the time!  :)

 This original version is SO much better than the newer one!

I love all the songs in this movie... I should buy the soundtrack. :)

Brittney and I just remembered this one the other day! Wow! Back in the day...

Definitely a weird movie, but good to laugh at. :)

It was good to grow up in the 80's.  I even embraced the florescent colors, feathered bangs, spandex, and pegged jeans.  But seriously, I'm glad the 80's are over.  2011 isn't so bad... 

Red Rock Relay (MOAB)

I'm pleased to say I survived the latest relay that I ran in May 14th.  This was more like a mini-relay because it was 70 miles (6 people), as opposed to 180 miles (12 people), and only lasted one day instead of over-night into two.  Last year, about this time of year, my friend invited me to join her Red Rock team for the race in St. George in September.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I figured it would be good training for my half-marathon (2 weeks later) and I was excited.

That relay weekend in St. George was probably one of the best weekends of my life!  We had a blast and I loved the opportunity to meet people and make new friends.  One of those new friends would turn out to be Jessee Goates.  She is a strong runner-- far better than I am-- and we clicked right from day one.  The two of us decided we wanted to create our own team for the upcoming relays the next year, and that's exactly what we did! 

With the help of our trusty "team sponsor" (my roommate Cassity), we "bought" our team the end of January.  It was like a 2 for 1 deal-- pay early and get to run in the Moab AND Zion relays without an extra fee.  So this little Moab race was like a freebee... and a taste test for what's to come in September!  I recruited half the team and Jessee recruited the other half.  And together we will all live happily ever after.  Moab was only a 6-person team and we had 3 boys, 3 girls.  We picked some great runners and I knew that I would be the weakest runner on our team. No hard feelings!  It's just the truth. :)  But as team captain I put forth a lot of energy and encouragement and made sure everything worked out smoothly. Cassity was a huge help in making preparations for the weekend-- she took care of the car rental and secured a place for us to stay Friday and Saturday nights-- her house in Grand Junction! (less than 2 hrs from Moab).  It worked out perfectly and saved us a lot of money!  Her mom was a gem in supplying us with plenty of food before and after the race, and we surely lucked out on a wonderful, hospitable place to stay.

So What Is The Red Rock Relay?

Basically, it's a 70 mile loop that takes you through the beautiful, amazing scenery of the mountains and Red Rock structures of Moab.  Each person ran 2 legs (2.5-8 miles, depending on elevation, uphill, etc.), spaced about 4 hours apart, and there was always someone running on the road.  The van follows either a mile or so in front of or behind the runner, staying close-by to offer water and make sure the runner is doing okay.  We're surrounded by other runners and vehicles and the goal--of course-- is to pass other runners and feed off that sense of competition to keep you going.  Let's just say the boys before and after me always passed up a good number of runners... but during my leg I would usually get passed by the equal amount. Sooo... at least they kept things evened out!  My last leg I passed 2 people so I felt good about that.  :)

My legs were considered "medium" and everyone else had "hard" or "very hard".  I really wanted to avoid elevation issues because I found out the hard way in my last relay that high elevation is not fun to run in!  I only had about 2.9 miles to run and I could hardly breathe and felt so sick and almost considered stopping on the side of the road to take care of business.  If I had toilet paper or cardboard handy, I totally would have.  Needless to say, it rocked me and I felt embarrassed and defeated.  I didn't want that to happen to me in Moab. So I chose "good legs"... but they turned out more difficult than I'd anticipated!  My first leg showed a nice, flat 5 mile run.  I figured that would be cake... but that "flat run" was really a series of rolling hills, up and down all over the place, along the cliffy edges above the Colorado river.  Great scenery but I was not mentally prepared for all the hills!  I survived though. 

My last leg was supposed to be a steep 7 mile downhill run. I was excited and a little nervous about the impact I would feel in my knees.  But once again, that "downhill" turned into a lot of uphill and I was frustrated!  That leg seemed to go on and on, and finally I asked some people on the side of the road, "Am I there yet?!" and the lady told me it was all downhill from there!  I began down this very long, steep, downhill descent and I booked it... like, ran really hard!!  And it felt so good as I envisioned the bright flags at the bottom, signaling the exchange point for the next runner.  But wait... no flags... no sign of being finished... and just then my van was driving back towards me to give me the bad news that after this downhill bliss, there was a switchback that went all the way back uphill and around the bend... a mile or so to go. What?! I wanted to cry like a baby after just exerting so much energy flying down the hill.  Luckily my teammate, Scott, jumped out of the van and ran the rest of the way with me.  I really wanted to quit.  I just wanted to crawl to the next exchange.  But somehow I made it, and I was soooo glad when it was over!  5 miles and 7 miles turned out to be much harder than I'd planned on... but what a great accomplishment.  And the scenery was breath-taking!

It's funny when I run  these relays, all the mental thoughts that go flying through my brain.  In September when I was running at that high elevation point, I was yelling in my head, "I hate running! I quit!  I don't know why I even do this crap!  This is ridiculous! I'm no good!" ... and then it turns out okay. :)  This time I was thinking more things, but not exactly yelling.  These thoughts were more calm and controlled:  "I'm not a competitive runner, nope.  I'm not fast either, nope.  Why do I even like to run?  I have no idea.  I guess it's just a good way to exercise and stay fit... but I'm not a fast runner and I'm okay with that."  And yes, I'm okay with that. :) 

All of my pics are posted on Facebook, but here are a few highlights from the weekend:

 My  cousin's wife did Red Rock also-- we saw each other at the starting line-- great timing!

 Cassity was our driver all day, and the only one approved to drive the rental vehicle. Lucky her!

All geared up, literally.  I ended up tossing the water bottle belt to my team members towards the end of my leg.  I couldn't stand the bouncing and jiggling around.  I need to get a new belt that fits better!

 My creepy team vehicle passing slowly...  :)

 The exchange.  Only Rob can get away with wearing short shorts like those!

 You get a "bar" after each leg you run.  Great feeling!

 Miss Jessee Goates and I!  It was so fun to do another relay together.

Tyler was one of Jessee's recruits and he was awesome!

Nateal used to be in my ward... such a cute and fashionable girl.

I love that sweatshirt.... wearing it right now!  So cozy.

Cheering on Jessee.

Behold the beautiful Moab landscape!

Port-a-Potties= Must have "Wet Ones" afterward.

The beginning of my 2nd leg.  This was the fun and easy part.

This was the hard and miserable part... but almost finished!  That's Scott running beside me-- lifesaver!

I loved our happy vehicle.  "Red Rock Rhythm" was our team name.

I was happy to see Nateal embrace the trusty bandanna.  Gotta have it!

Finished with our legs, so happy to relax!

Approaching the finish line with Nateal... yay!

I love our team!  We'll all be together in St. George... plus 6 more!  It will be fabulous.

The best part of the whole day:  DINNER!!!  Pizza buffet in Moab.  I ate like crazy. :)

Speaking of food, I really tried to be smart about the things I ate the week before the relay, and especially 2-3 days before.  In September, I had diarrhea ALL weekend and it was terrible!  I'd never used Port-a-Potties so much in my entire lifetime, all years combined.  I don't know what it was, but I was determined to not go through THAT again!  So I read quite a few things on the internet that advised me to avoid eating bran, fiber, broccoli, lettuce, and other specific foods a few days prior to the race.  Instead, I ate more breads, macaroni (& tomato juice of course), baked potato (from Wendy's, mmm!) and other "safe" foods.  My digestive system is all out of whack as it is, so I felt like I had to be EXTRA careful in order to have a successful and painless weekend.  Cassity's mom also prepared a delicious chicken pasta meal the night before the race, with garlic bread.  I probably ate waaaaay too much of that but it was impossible not to keep filling up my plate.  Oops!  Anyway, I'm happy to say that I had a pretty smooth weekend and no huge moments of wanting to run off the road to find relief.  I was like a normal human being.  Of course I used the Port-a-Potties probably more than others... but I just wanted to stay ahead of the game instead of having to run in there out of control. :)  

Well, overall, the Moab relay was fantastic and we all had so much fun.  I love that it only lasted one day (8:50am-7:04pm) and the rest of the weekend was play time! :) 6 people, some who have never even met before, come together to be a part of a team, and leave as friends with life-long memories.  That's what it's all about it... and if that means I have to do a little bit of running and maybe hate it for a minute... it's worth it. :)