Simple Thoughts

This evening, the kids helped Adam work outside. They were moving rocks from a pile into a wheelbarrow and then spreading the rocks out in the driveway. Most of the time, Adam was doing the wheelbarrow.  Then Samuel wanted to do it. Adam let him and Samuel did pretty well. Adam had to help him push just a little going up the hill but for the most part, he could do it.  The whole time Samuel was pushing it though, Danielle was right at his heels yelling, "I want to push it, Daddy! Let me push it! I want to push it!" I knew there was no way she would be strong enough, but Adam told her she could do it further up the road.  She kept asking to do it like any three year old would and finally we got to the point in the road where Adam let her try.  She tried. And pushed. And tried some more. That wheelbarrow wouldn't move.  She didn't know how to lift up while pushing and I doubt she was strong enough even if she knew how. She was determined ...

I’ve been thinking a lot about celebrating victories. I may not be talking about the victories you’re thinking about though. No, not victories where the war is won, the movement is finally mastered, or the thing you’ve been worrying about is finally done. I mean the small victories.     It is the most incredible feeling in the world to finally have your kid potty-trained. (I hate potty-training!) However, the random day that your child actually keeps the underwear dry is worthy of celebration, even though you have a feeling tomorrow will be different. In the world of CrossFit, there is what feels like a million different skills to try to master.   It can become overwhelming unless you learn to celebrate even the small victories.   Maybe you’ve been trying to get toe-to-bars for a while but suddenly, your toe gets an half inch away from the bar… Celebrate! Maybe you’re trying to get pull ups and you finally get one pull-up, but the person next to you ...

There is an ache in the human heart that happens when there is injustice. There is a deep longing for that justice when we see someone vulnerable and no one will fight for that person. Won't someone stand up for them? Isn't there anyone who will fight for them?   I was talking to my husband recently about a similar situation and told him, "Every human heart longs to have someone who will fight for them and should have someone who will fight for them." I paused and contemplated that statement. Every human heart. The thing is, every person has felt vulnerable at one point in his or her life. Even the strongest, scariest man started out as a helpless boy and will eventually become fragile in his old age once again.   The beautiful promise for humanity is that the ultimate hero will fight for them. One day, when Jesus returns, He will make every wrong, right. Like the last fight scene in a superhero movie, just when it seems all is lost and ev...

I've been thinking about fifth grade Michelle a lot.   When I think about the peak of my insecure self, I think of fifth grade. I didn't feel pretty. I knew I wasn't popular. I wasn't athletic at all, so getting picked for kickball teams were always an adventure. I loved to sing, but I also knew there were others better than me. I wore glasses. I was lanky. I had plenty of zits. I didn't have a boyfriend. Quite honestly, I would have been okay being anyone but me. I remember wanting to be different, wishing I could change some of those things about me. Life was consumed with constantly comparing myself with others around me.   Fast forward... I survived junior high, thank God. I even survived high school, got a high school sweetheart, and married him before he could change his mind in college. Junior high, high school and even being in the music school in college had many moments of comparing myself and feeling insecure. Something amazin...

God often uses things in our every day lives to speak to us and teach us lessons. When I started CrossFit, He began using it to show me things. He's taught me things about humility and pride, endurance, finishing well, and more. This blog is about just one of those many things that I have learned from CrossFit about the Christian walk.   In my not-that-long CrossFit career, I have watched a few athletes come 110% right out of the gate on some marathon workouts and they burned out quickly because they did not pace themselves correctly. Because I have seen it with own eyes, I understand what a few well-intentioned individuals meant when they warned me before I had an important competitive workout. They warned "Be careful not to let your adrenaline kick in and go too hard in the beginning." My response was the same, "Don't worry. That's not my problem. My problem is I never go hard enough."   You see, I understand there is way more potential in...

  I only have one word to sum up what I have felt this election season: embarrassment.   It has been embarrassing to see Trump's rise and to see Christians' sad attempt to excuse his moral failings, arrogance, and foolish words.   I watched a news clip the other night of a Trump supporter trying to defend him when the topic was his "locker room talk." I was embarrassed.   I was slightly proud of the woman just because she stayed right on talking points.   Everything she said, I have heard or seen a thousand times.   However, hearing her say what she did and watching the news anchor's response made me cringe.   Wrong is wrong, whether or not the person is your party's pick. Last night, two weeks before Election Day, I sat and racked my brain.   Is there any Biblical example of righteous people endorsing an unrighteous leader and God being okay with it? As I asked the question, an example immediately popped into my head...

I am a big believer that the Holy Spirit will teach you in every situation of life if you allow Him to.   I've learned so much in motherhood, that I feel like a different person than when I had my first child 2 years ago.   So here I am again, learning again, in another situation.   I am 39 weeks pregnant.   I'm impatient, uncomfortable, and exhausted.   I am extremely ready for my situation to change.   I am ready for labor and the pain associated with it.   I am ready for a baby in my arms instead of inside me. And it's not that I hate being pregnant.   I love being pregnant.   But change is so close that it is too close.   Close enough to physically prepare, to mentally be ready, but it feels far away simply because it isn't happening yet. The last few days, God has really been speaking to me, or maybe I should say revealing things to me about me in the area of waiting on the Lord.   In the recent seasons ...