Glory and Grace

Grace is but Glory begun, and Glory is but Grace perfected. 

~ Jonathan Edwards, Preacher

Let us open our hearts, let us open our eyes, let us open our ears to this beauty life has. 

Let's not miss out on the marvels for the mundane. 

At 48 years of living, that is 47 winters, summers, springs and falls, that a multitude of experiences that have been duplicated, but each one just a little different. 

"Andy, I have seen 48 winters and each one is as beautiful as the first one." I shared as I looked out the car window at a fresh snow. 

That joy of creation, the awe of magnificence. 

Today, I chased behind my running partners through the trails at Holdridge. 

For all the years I have been running it, every mile looked beautifully unfamiliar.  

A fresh snow spread across the forest like a thick cozy blanket. The snow was glorious so perfect and unmarked. 

However, in its beauty I knew what was hidden beneath its delicate overlay would be my demise. 

I was not safe from what was tucked just 3 inched below. 

I fell not once, but twice. I knew tripping and falling would most likely be part of my 16-mile wooded adventure but that wouldn't keep me from not experiencing such splendor. 

GRACE

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

My name "Anita" actually means Grace. The funny part is I have no grace. I am a clumsy, awkward and sometimes unmanageable mess. 

I knew running outside I would be taking some chances, but it wouldn't trump the beauty I knew awaited. 

Life is meant to be lived. Life is meant to take chances. No regrets, I want to live this life fully in whatever capacity I am in. 

The Grace of God does all my heavy lifting. He doesn't promise perfection. 

But His Grace gives me the endurance to not give up.

His Grace gives me the power to stand back up, wipe myself off and get back out there. 

When I see God's Grace on me, I see so many opportunities waiting for me to live out that Grace.  

If we want to venture into this magnificent life God intended for us, we must learn how to live by His Grace to experience His Glory. 

RUNDOWN: 

Onesie Christmas Eve hike at Holly Rec.  

December13th-19th= 32 miles

Long Run 20 miler. I ran a loop from my house to Clarkston and back home in SHORTS! 

December 20-26= 44 miles.

Long run 19 birthday miles at Holdridge. 

 
Joe surprised me with birthday cake!

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see. ~ John Newton, Hymnist

In your hurt, in your pain, your sadness, your disappointments, there is Glory and there is Grace. 
Anita~ 

 

Disguised

"Beauty is the shadow of imperfection."

 Simon Van Booy, ' Everything Beautiful Began After'.

Today it felt more like fall then winter driving out to the tree farm with no snow and 45'. We parked the truck, listened to the directions on where to cut down our tree and went in different directions to find the perfect tree. Being mom, I want it to be aesthetically flawless, Alec just wants to get it over with and Andy wants to be the hero! 

I shout, "Check this one out!" 

Andy responds "I like this one over here..." 

Alec says, "Come on, just get one!" 

I think we picked Andys tree that looked to be about 10 feet tall. Of course, being on the short side myself all the trees appeared to be twice my height!

They wrapped it up, we threw it in the bed of the truck and headed back home to unleash the beast. 

Truth be told "Big Betty" is larger than life, she was all kinds of discombobulated with random branches shooting up, down and out. She was pretty heavy at the bottom with a very large hole in the back or at least what was going to be the back! 

This would be our family Christmas tree, the one we put our families' yearly ornaments on, the sentimental ones, it is a traditional no theme kind of tree. 

My arms and hands were destroyed from cutting branches, trying to maneuver garland, hide holes, and create some kind of beauty from a hot mess. 

The more I tried to disguise the imperfections of the tree the more I laughed. 

Such is life. 

Altering appearances. 

This is what some of us do, especially this time of year. We want everything to look perfect, or at least to appear perfect. 

We snap a photo, look at it, and snap 4 more to get the perfect photo. 

I couldn't stop laughing at this photo we took last night as a family at Meadowbrook. This original had a funky purple hue to it, so I altered it to black and white. Upon doing this I realized it was a "live" photo, so when I examined it for a few seconds I noticed the picture was perfect until the last second when you see Andy teasingly push Austin. The truth is it was like pulling teeth to get the boys to take this photo and we were all getting frustrated with one another. The beauty of the lights, the music in the background, the magical emotions of the evening were unnoticed at that exact moment by the boys not wanting a picture. "Ok, everyone fake it!" Andy chuckled right before we took the picture. 

"I realized that I don’t have to be perfect. All I have to do is show up and enjoy the messy, imperfect and beautiful journey of my life." Kerry Washington 

Perfectly Imperfect. 

I just couldn't stop laughing as I looked at the photo.  It really was perfect. I actually loved the live photo. This is us. This was our tree. 

We are a hot mess of imperfections. 

I can try my best to fit in, I can work really hard at making things look pretty, disguising imperfections but the truth is, I have a lot of them. 

I am flawed, faulty and forever trying to fix things. 

And that's OK. I can still laugh at myself and everyday try to find security in my imperfections. 

RUNDOWN: 

Monday: Trails 12m

Thursday: Trails/road 13m

Saturday: 21m

Sunday: 4m

Weekly Miles: 50.26

Favorite post drink Drink: Boathouse Coffee protein drink

Power Song: Survivor, Nathaniel Rateliff& the Night Sweats

Anita~

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself." Anna Quindlen