The One Where I'm #wrecked after IF:Gathering {Session 1-A}

That was the theme for me this weekend.

Wrecked


Ever since I found Jen Hatmaker through my running buddy Sarah, and found Ann Voskamp though a Jen Hatmaker's comment "I wonder what Ann Voskamp would do?" I ended up spending a lot of time on their blogs, reading their books, reading books and blogs they suggest.  Friends I don't know where in the Inter-Web world I've been that I hadn't known about these ladies.

I've read She Reads Truth for a year,  I started last year with Fresh Start and I read all year!  I formed a bond with the ladies of SRT.  Well I formed it with them…. I'm pretty sure they think I'm a stalker! Pretty Sure of that! I email them, I tweet them, I follow them, I like them.  If they have a stack of books, I have a stack.   Anyway.

Those ladies led me to more resources, resources that tell me You Are Normal.  We All Struggle.  Some Days Parenting Just Sucks.The.Life.Out.Of.You.  Perfection Is Unattainable.  Fix Your Eyes On Jesus.  Find One Word Instead Of A New Year To Do List, It Is All Gonna Be Okay.  And not in an I'm Okay, You're Okay kind of way, but in a real and authentic way.

I say all of that to day, one day while reading a blog, we'll give Jen Hatmaker credit. I read about IF:Gathering.  I see a lot of ladies I admire will be there, ladies I don't know or heard of, and one I held in my arms when she was born.

I read the blog, I longed to be in Austin.  Oh don't I always.  But totally wanted to be there for this.  I only know one person who will be there and well she's speaking.  It's too far out to make plans, who knows what will come our way by then.  Hope it's really good!

I follow along more and Whaaaaaaatttttt….. A Live Stream!! A. LIVE.STREAM!  Put that on my calendar.  Talk to my girlfriends.  Get ladies together.  This will be fun!

As it got closer, I just felt this anticipation come over me.  Alysa Bajenaru said it best: "There has been something stirring in me for a few years… I'm tired of comfortable Christianity, frustrated with how my faith is portrayed in social media…. I crave authenticity, messy authenticity….. Real people having real conversations.  And I'm not the only one."

Indeed, she's not the only one.

A tweet from her later that day, Strip away that which usually defines me and get to the core of how I really am I have been feeling RESTLESS!!  I am ready to be brave, ready to be bold, ready to run the race Jesus has marked out for me.  Run the messy race of authentic faith.

DITTO!  Ditto to it all!

I'll just write my notes out.  Maybe later this week I'll be able to process more of it.

Day One:

Jennie Allen

I was built to run races for God, eyes fixed on Jesus, but I was missing it.

Hebrews 11:1  Faith is the Substance!
Jesus says two things:
Repent!
Believe!

Repent, confess, be honest, broken, throw off your sin, don't miss this moment!

We have prayed for a movement of God, that women who are afraid, scared, in bondage, would be set free! That you would run your race. Because this is our time, this is our leg of the race! By Faith!
RUN!

It's okay to be terrified, just obey!  Quit with the comparisons and just do what you are called to do!  Throw off all the junk and live like God is Real!

My biggest fear is that we would walk away and do a bunch of great stuff.  A great movement of God isn't doing a bunch of great stuff.  a great movement of God is 10,000 women all around the world on their knees depending and coming to God in brokenness.

By faith, we could be a generate that wasn't fancy, wasn't perfect, but we lived like our God was real!

Get back in the race! We are all human and we are all jacked up, just fix your eyes on Jesus!

Christine Caine:

The wilderness did not denote freedom, but deliverance.  It was for freedom that Christ set us free, but many of us settle for deliverance!

It was an eleven day journey to freedom that too FORTY YEARS because of fear, doubt, murmuring, grumbling and complaining!  It's time to lay aside the weight and the sins that ensnare us - the unforgivness and jealousy and bitterness and anger.  If we set these aside, some of the injustices of the world would be solved overnight!

Redefine your comfort zone, because wherever you go you are with the Great Comforter!  Just as he was in the wilderness! A pillar of fire at night, a cloud by day!

You came out of Egypt, but Egypt is still in you.  But God want to get Egypt out of your so we can walk into the Promised Land free!  Go from Deliverance To Freedom!! The wilderness is where you shake off Egypt!

A generation came out of bondage and slavery.  But they died in the desert! That generation is Gone!! You have to have our own "cutting away"

LET US lay aside the weight…
A weight could be anything, it could be good, but holding you back.
An anchor.
A thought.
Culture.
Tradition.

The Weight of:
Opinion
Entitlement


The day after they ate of the promised land, the manna stopped.  Because God is doing a new thing!  Don't become so used to the systems of God that you don't need Him!! The manna Ceases!! Don't get stuck in the past!

You allow the past to define you like the Gospel isn't True!! When you owe it to the next generation to get free!  We either believe in this Gospel or we don't!

The most potent force on the planet is not a missile or the atomic bomb! The most important force on the plant is the Blood of Christ.  It sets people free!

Many of us prefer the comfort of victimhood over what it takes to be free!! Time to move on girls, get a new problem!!

God starts with impossible!  A Virgin, A Stable, A Cross, A Risen Savior! It's all Crazy, so believe the impossible anyway!

If you want to see the promises of God worked out in your life, then you must believe the truth of God's word over your circumstances.  Yet most of us base our lives on the facts, and that's why we never go into the Promised Land, why we never walk in freedom.

Let's build our lives on the truth of God's Word, not the facts of our circumstances.

Sue Davis and Shauna NeiQuist:

Table People

Stop
Gather
This Time Matters

Toast - raise a glass says I see you.  You matter.
Prayer - every good thing we have is from God.

Where ever you are BE ALL THERE especially at the dinner table.  Acts 2:46 They worshipped together, they ate meals at home, with glad and sincere hearts.


Once a Month IF:Table
6 Women from all walks of life, some you know well, some you don't (you count as 1 so you can 5 other women)
4 Questions about God (see the website….information coming soon)
2 Hours  (Present not perfection)

Revival Starts At Home!

The One Where I Don't Push It (or push it real good)

Saturday was the first race of the year!  It was dreary and cold.  I didn't want to go, but I laid my flat mama out anyway.

I text my friend - made sure we were still on. Went to bed.  But not to sleep.

My sister was texting with me, I finally had to tell her I needed to sleep I had to be up early for the race.  Yea, it's just a 5K but still I needed to sleep.   I've been up late quite a bit over Winter Break.

I got up on time.  I got dressed.  I  made coffee and breakfast.  I picked up Holly.  I needed to be there a bit early because I forgot to register!  Yea, I'm that girl.  The one who knows I need to register and then don't thinking I'll have plenty of time.

We got parked, walked to Winfrey Point and made it there just in time for me to register.  I got my chip anyway, they ran out of bibs.  Holly and I tried to stay warm while looking for other friends.  I saw Mimi and Clay. 

I knew Shannon was coming but I hadn't found her yet. 

It was race time so we  headed to the start.  And we're off!  I felt good.  I was happy the wind wasn't whipping off the lake.  We were sort of sheltered from it.  I've been at races where there was a significant lake effect.

I made it to the one mile mark and decided to unwrap my hand from the jacket, glove, long sleeve situation to look at my garmin.  I was running comfortably with a bit of a push.  10.06! Wow.  That didn't seem possible. 

I kept going.  Saw a few runners I knew at the turn around.  I slowed down at the water stop, took a few sips and kept going.  Not much longer now. I see the familiar bend in the path and know I'm not too far out. Maybe a half a mile.  I picked up the pace a bit, but not really pushing it.  I didn't want to sprint it out.  Just see what a comfortable pace is.  Without the obsessing I've done in the past.   I wasn't out to PR.  Just trust the process of not obsessing on times and paces and foot counts.  Just running.

I see the finish and I'm see that I can make my goal for the run, under 33 minutes!  I looked at the clock as I crossed 33.03!  Gun time! Yay!!

I turn my Garmin off (32:47:51)  I found Shannon and waited for Holly.  She came in a minute after me.  We got some water, walked off the race, went to the club house for some snacks and walked back to the car.

Then Hypnotic Donuts!  You can't go to White Rock and not go there!  Yum!!  A little post race goody.  Although I know it's not good for me and it's way more calories than I need.  It's only once a month.  And I've committed this year to not obsess over the numbers.

The One Where I Crush Last Years Time

Wow! WOW! WOW! That's all I know to say. The day started with the alarm going off at 5:50.  I laid out my clothes the night before, so I was ready to roll. I got up, got dressed, made coffee, put my contacts in.  Well I put in my old pair and realized that they were indeed old and I wouldn't get another days use out of them. Text my friends for my ETA update.  Changed my contacts. I'm not the most gracious contact wearer, I drop them, blink them out of my eye while trying to get them in.  I normally don't wear them for weekday runs, but on Race Day it's a must!  Particularly because I'm driving! I got my quick breakfast and coffee, laced up and was out the door. I was picking up a Sole Sister on the way!  SO Excited for her!! It was her first DRC Race!! WOOT! We listened to 80's music on the way, I wore argyle socks to represent my age group.   This was an age handicapped race, so the older people got a head start, the younger you are the later your wave started.  Our age group was at 8:24 [caption id="attachment_52" align="aligncenter" width="300"] 80's all the way[/caption] We made it to DRC we met up with some of my running buddies and my older son.  We laughed, we chatted, we made future race plans. We walked down to the start, found our age group and were ready to race!  We didn't have to wait long... I think there were 1-2 waves in front of us.    We laughed about the way the age groups were divided, because we had 16 year old girls and 11 year old boys in our 40 year old age group as well.  Joked about how the 16 year old girls would smoke us. [caption id="attachment_58" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Swift Feet!! Great Running Friends![/caption] In true Running Pfuhl fashion as we started I didn't set my Run Meter!  We were about a tenth of a mile in before I realized that.  Oh well, I usually run about a tenth over, so this would be a good barometer for me. I have the run meter set to notify me of my pace every 3 minutes.  The first 3 minute notification said I was running sub-10!  Wow, that's kinda crazy.   I didn't feel winded or like I was going too fast or that I would fade out either.  I tried to slow down a bit, but keep a good pace. I knew my Sole Sister was a little behind me and I know she doesn't run that pace, I didn't want her to fade out either. The other Sisters I ran with are in a younger age group, kept razzing me that they wouldn't be able to overtake me.... I laughed because she's so much faster than me and I only had a 1 minute head start.  Yup Yup less than a half a mile in she passed me!  She's an awesome runner! We made it to the wonky bridge.... this thing may as well be made from rope and planks..... it moves when you run on it.   It's the strangest feeling.  The first time I ran it I totally lost my umph and slowed down considerably.  It messes me up for sure. I ran when I could on the bridge, slowed down when I felt the Earth Move Under My Feet! I made it to the water stop and was grateful for the drink and to get my bearings from the bridge.  Now it was the uphill climb to the turn around. I'll post last years race blog too, but it is at this point that I start looking for my running buddies and my son to pass me, although they started later!  5 minutes later. As I climbed the hill to the turn around, I saw a fellow RRC Member.  I cheered for her.   I saw my other Sister, running strong, we high five as she passes by.  I kept looking at the shadows behind me.... Looking for my son.  I made it to the turn around and he hadn't passed me yet... wondering if I'd missed him... then I saw him coming up to the turn around as I was going down hill.  We smacked hands, said I'll see you at the finish! A few other buddies passed me, running strong.  Before I made it all the way down the hill to the water stop, my son passed me! WOOT!  LOVE IT!! He ran a strong race! Now back over the wonky bridge and pretty much uphill all the way back.   Grrrr.... the bridge GOT ME!  It was more difficult that I remembered to go up that hill after the bridge.  I kept talking myself into running faster, because my average paced had slowed considerably.  Although I was CRUSHING last years time. On the slight downhill sections I'd speed up.  And try to keep pace on the uphill.   It's only 5 miles but it seemed like forever!  I made it to mile four and was psyched to get this race done! I sped up a bit, trying to keep my average pace to a sub-10.   I saw the clubhouse and knew I was close to the end and again tried to pick up the pace more, although I had extra miles to run after the race to stay on track with RNR Half Training. I ran to the finish, saw my friends and kicked up my pace.  I saw the clock and chuckled... it's age handicap!  It said 1:14 (and some change)  I wasn't expecting that! LOL Crossed the finish and stopped my Run Meter.  I didn't get sub-10, but a major PR nonetheless!  50 minutes 15 seconds!  WOW!! Great Race!!   Great Day with Good Friends! My Sole Sister crossed the finish, we got some water, talked to some other runners and headed out for our extra mile!  :)