30 Days of Thankful- Days #3 & #4
Sometimes being thankful doesn't have to be super deep. It doesn't have to have a lot of explanation. It doesn't have to have a lot of thought. Being thankful is a state of mind and a part of who you are. So being thankful for little things should just be part of it.
Yesterday I was thankful for Tylenol and that thankfulness has overflowed into this morning. My body hurts. It's a good hurt from exercise, but my oh my, it hurts. And I have a migraine.
Tylenol is currently my best friend.
Which brings me to two ladies that I greatly admire and respect, Diana Barrick and Leann Barr. Both have played a role in my current desire to get into shape and run. Both have been influential to me as a runner and on a personal level in different ways.
Diana has been voted my unofficial coach. I was the only one that voted and she didn't know she was a candidate until it was too late to back out, so it wasn't really a fair race, but she did the job without complaint (at least to me).
When I first started running I was having a difficult time finding motivation. There were days I wouldn't go and many days I would only do just enough to say I had been running. I was overweight, lazy and completely floundering in what to do to improve.
I have no idea what made me reach out to Diana for help, but I am so very thankful I did. For months Diana gave me a workout schedule to follow each and every day. She was encouraging and I don't use that word lightly. If I made it to the end of a day and had not done what she said to do, she happily told me to do it the next day. If a week went by and I hadn't made it out the door of my house, she gave me the same schedule to follow the next week without a hint of condemnation. When the treadmill became my biggest enemy she was there rooting me on to do whatever I could do. Without Diana, I would NEVER have run 9 miles yesterday. NEVER. Thank you, Diana for not giving up on me.
Without Leann, I would not have had the desire to run 9 miles in the first place. When we moved to Carlinville I knew very few people. That may sound odd seeing as we have a church full of people to know, but it is sometimes hard to find a place to fit in in a small, tight knit community. All I really knew about Leann was that she was the daughter of our nearest neighbor, she had 3 beautiful daughters, she had a joy & peace about her, and she ran. A lot. I would hear the tales of her half Iron Man, the marathons she was training for and once I got to know her, I could see the release of stress running brought her. More than that, I could see the love she had for Christ and the joy that knowing Him brought her.
I was not a happy or joyful person at that time. I had been hurt and I was struggling to find my place but seeing Leann made me want to grasp some of what she had, so I did, I started running. Through running I regained the lost time with my Father that I had been so desperately missing. Through running, and a little Bible study called Run for God (which Leann taught), I regained a relationship with my husband that had not been quite struggling, but was definitely in need of refreshment. Because of Leann's faith, I was able to remember my first love, God, and I remembered my purpose.
And since sometime this summer, I haven't looked back; until yesterday as I was running mile #8 and I was contemplating how far I had come in 3 years and what had caused those changes.
Thank you Diana and Leann. Your willingness (albeit forced) to invest in me has changed my life and the life of my family. As my husband runs along side of me, and I see a much slimmer man (70lbs lighter), I know that it was because of you ladies that all of this started and was able to keep going. You are an inspiration, whether you set out to be that or not, and with all that I am, I am grateful.
Yesterday I was thankful for Tylenol and that thankfulness has overflowed into this morning. My body hurts. It's a good hurt from exercise, but my oh my, it hurts. And I have a migraine.
Tylenol is currently my best friend.
Which brings me to two ladies that I greatly admire and respect, Diana Barrick and Leann Barr. Both have played a role in my current desire to get into shape and run. Both have been influential to me as a runner and on a personal level in different ways.
Diana has been voted my unofficial coach. I was the only one that voted and she didn't know she was a candidate until it was too late to back out, so it wasn't really a fair race, but she did the job without complaint (at least to me).
When I first started running I was having a difficult time finding motivation. There were days I wouldn't go and many days I would only do just enough to say I had been running. I was overweight, lazy and completely floundering in what to do to improve.
I have no idea what made me reach out to Diana for help, but I am so very thankful I did. For months Diana gave me a workout schedule to follow each and every day. She was encouraging and I don't use that word lightly. If I made it to the end of a day and had not done what she said to do, she happily told me to do it the next day. If a week went by and I hadn't made it out the door of my house, she gave me the same schedule to follow the next week without a hint of condemnation. When the treadmill became my biggest enemy she was there rooting me on to do whatever I could do. Without Diana, I would NEVER have run 9 miles yesterday. NEVER. Thank you, Diana for not giving up on me.
Without Leann, I would not have had the desire to run 9 miles in the first place. When we moved to Carlinville I knew very few people. That may sound odd seeing as we have a church full of people to know, but it is sometimes hard to find a place to fit in in a small, tight knit community. All I really knew about Leann was that she was the daughter of our nearest neighbor, she had 3 beautiful daughters, she had a joy & peace about her, and she ran. A lot. I would hear the tales of her half Iron Man, the marathons she was training for and once I got to know her, I could see the release of stress running brought her. More than that, I could see the love she had for Christ and the joy that knowing Him brought her.
I was not a happy or joyful person at that time. I had been hurt and I was struggling to find my place but seeing Leann made me want to grasp some of what she had, so I did, I started running. Through running I regained the lost time with my Father that I had been so desperately missing. Through running, and a little Bible study called Run for God (which Leann taught), I regained a relationship with my husband that had not been quite struggling, but was definitely in need of refreshment. Because of Leann's faith, I was able to remember my first love, God, and I remembered my purpose.
And since sometime this summer, I haven't looked back; until yesterday as I was running mile #8 and I was contemplating how far I had come in 3 years and what had caused those changes.
Thank you Diana and Leann. Your willingness (albeit forced) to invest in me has changed my life and the life of my family. As my husband runs along side of me, and I see a much slimmer man (70lbs lighter), I know that it was because of you ladies that all of this started and was able to keep going. You are an inspiration, whether you set out to be that or not, and with all that I am, I am grateful.
Comments
Post a Comment