From the Couch to a 5K

Today is what I hope to be the beginning of a new beginning for Keith and me. We accomplished our very first 5k. If you don’t know, that is 3.2 miles. We did not run the entire thing; in fact, we did not even run half of it. But you know that is ok. We accomplished our goal either way. (1) We completed the race (2) We did not come in last!! We did a run walk combination but running a portion and then walking. We alternated the entire race. I don’t know how much we actually ran but it is more then I expected to be able to run.
In my adult years weight has never been a friend of mine. I am continuously up and down. I loose a couple of pounds to only gain double what I lost. I am the largest that I have ever been. I am not about to tell you what I weigh, haha! Though I am very tall, I can fortunately hide my weight very well. But I am still not about to give up that number. Maybe I will give it to you once I get fit.

This race is just the beginning for Keith and I. I am very excited to see what we do from here. We are determined to continue training and we look forward to more 5ks. We recently had a friend suffer from a massive heart attack at a young age and he lost his battle. His death has been an eye opener for both of us. We have realized that we have Noah to live for and we need to live like we do. We have changed our eating habits, included more veggies in our meals (which is huge for Keith!!) and we have cut drastically on our carbs, pastas and breads. Keith is a very picky eater and does not like vegetables or anything green. He is definitely a meat and bread kind of guy. I love vegetables but have often found myself giving them up to cook what he would eat. (Enter weight control issue!!)

I have recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I know, sounds big, right? Well, in fact, it could be. It means that my thyroid is not producing correctly. It is under active. Basically, it means I feel tired all of the time and more or less, could have issues loosing weight. I take medicine for it every day and probably will for the rest of my life. (Oh it makes me feel so old!) But I am determined to win this battle and hopefully be able to come off of my medicine. I also have heredity high cholesterol (Thanks, Dad!!) It was in the 200’s in my 20’s. Yeah, I know!! Getting my rear in gear will hopefully help some future heart issues. I kind of like my heart beating and would like to keep it that way!

Keith has already lost a little over 10 pounds in our little weight loss journey and I have lost but not as significantly. Running this 5k this morning is definitely a good start for us.

For documentation purposes, I am posting a picture of us from this morning at Sloss Furnace after our race. (Excuse the horrible looks!!) So, thank you, Rumpshaker 5k. We look forward to more races in the future!!

~Randi

God, are you serious? Me?

Do you ever feel like God is asking something of you but you are not quite sure what to make of it? Sure, we all go through this at some point in our lives. That is part of God’s plan. Will we follow through? Will we run and ignore? How will we follow through?

I have just returned home from an amazing weekend in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee with the wonderful ladies of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church. If you don’t know, my dad is the pastor of this church. Each year their ladies attend a women’s conference. I have had the privilege of going with them for the last 3 trips, this one included. We decided that this was their 6^th year to go. Let me tell you, it is one weekend every year that I thoroughly look forward too. It is a weekend with very Godly women attending a well known conference with well known speakers. It is weekend that I cannot come home from and not feel the blessing of Christ. I love coming home feeling refreshed. This was a weekend I definitely needed after the year that we have had. (Yes, our neighborhood is still in turmoil and let’s just say that I do not come home feeling refreshed in the afternoons. But that is a whole other post for another day!!)

While sitting and listening to 3 very talented speakers this weekend, I felt a tug on my heart. Yes, it was one of those God tugs. The tug is something that I have wanted to do but not sure how to do it. The thoughts that I kept having were “yes, this is something I want to do and have wanted to do. But me?” I thought about this “thought” all the way home from Tennessee just trying to tell myself that it is nothing I would be able to do. There is no way I am equipped for that job. In a way, I was telling God no. How dare I? Shouldn’t I know better than that by now?

I came home, so excited to see my family. I came home to Noah waving at me through the window. I rush over to him and pick him up, expecting a hug and he says “NINA!!” Yes, of course, he was excited to see my mom! LOL. We went through our evening routine, put Noah to bed and I soon followed. I typically lie in bed and watch tv to fall asleep but not last night. I decided to read from a little devotion book that Mrs. Tiny gave us in a goody bag for our trip. It is something she does each year and we always look forward to. The devotion book is called “God’s Promises to a Woman’s Heart.” (How fitting, huh?) Nanny had opened her goody bag on the way to Tennessee and read the first devotion to Mom and me as we traveled. I decided to skim back over it last night as I breezed through to day 2. But the verse on day 1 caught my heart. It says:

 “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:19.

No lie, that’s really the verse. Talk about a slap in the face. Day 2 (yes, it gets even better) says:

“I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food.”

Psalms 132:15.

Not only did I try to tell God no yesterday because I did not feel equipped to handle the task that he is giving me but he turned right back to me and said “Yes, Randi, YOU can do this. I will meet your needs and bless you with abundant provisions.” So, with that being said, I am not sure what God has up his sleeves, but I am excited to see where he takes me. I will follow his guidance and just trust. Please pray for me that I will be open to listening to the word of Christ.

~Randi