It's now or never...

Today was day 1 of my new exercise routine. This is a really good thing because over the years I've had a love-hate relationship with exercise. I've never really been a fan of running or going to the gym. Lifting weights is ok but the free-weight section (aka the testosterone zone) intimidates me. Swimming is great, but not in the winter. Mostly, I prefer to be "tricked" into exercising by fun diversions such as playing sports, dancing, walking or by taking group fitness classes. Notice one key theme in all these activities: other people. The main element that keeps me going when exercising is people! So of course I was so excited to learn about a free group circuit training class lead by one of the personal trainers at the fitness center in my workplace. Even more exciting was that one of my co-workers was interested in going with me too (accountability is a good thing)!! So Katie (my co-worker) and I have been semi-faithfully attending the class for about a month now and just 2 weeks ago we learned that Peter (the personal trainer) is going to be conducting a study on any willing circuit training participants. To be a study participant, one must attend the class 4 days a week (it's only 30 minutes long) for 8 out of 10 weeks. He is measuring the difference in our fitness level before and after the 10 weeks. Last week we enrolled in the study and had our beginning fitness level measured (height, weight, BMI, percent body fat, flexibility, back strength, number of sit-ups in 1 minute, resting heart rate, and recovery heart rate time). That was an interesting time. My percent body fat is too obscene to repeat and I was shocked to find that I had shrunk 1/2 to 3/4 an inch in height! The dorky dietitian in me immediately began recalculating my ideal body weight and calorie needs based on this new information. Both figures are frighteningly low and would definitely be difficult to maintain during this, the most calorie-dense time of the year, without some semblance of an exercise routine. No matter what the numbers say, I'm happy with my new-found routine with its built in accountability and I'm excited to see the results!

Thankful Reflections

A little of my comings and goings and things to be thankful for over the past month: * My brother, who is in the Army, returned to the states from Iraq on Nov. 20th and my family and I got to spend time with him at his new post in Kansas over Thanksgiving * Established initial contact with places to move to * Shared my story with folks in the med center fellowship * Had the opportunity to talk to some families from India and China during the Family Fall Festival held in the med center * Developing new relationships with people in the med center * Learning about perseverance and waiting ... and beginning to see - piece by piece - a vision of where in the world I'm headed to

Finish Well!

“You don’t have to finish first to finish well,” says John, our teacher on the subject of language learning. “Can that really be true?” I thought as I looked doubtfully up at him, cranky and tired after four days of information overload in session after session during C School. The rest of the class stirred restlessly. Undeterred, John went on, becoming very animated – “The two keys to finishing well are to start well and DON’T STOP!” I’ve never seen a teacher so on fire for his subject. Of course, his is one of the sessions I remember the most from those 2 weeks. So what will it be like to finish well? Seared in my memory is his illustration about finishing well. He showed a video of his daughter crossing the finish line of the Bataan Memorial Death March. Sounds terrible, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s a race honoring a special group of World War II heroes in which a team of five “crazy” people with forty pound backpacks on their backs run 26.2 miles over mountainous terrain in the New Mexican desert. During this grueling march, the team must help each other out, supporting one another both physically and emotionally. Isn’t this a perfect picture of the race of life? I’m so grateful for the “running partners” in my life. Without the team, finishing well (if at all) would be impossible. Though team is important, John’s video showed me one thing that is even more important. And that’s the presence of the Father Himself. As John’s daughter crossed the finish line full steam ahead, arm in arm with her teammates, the camera literally shook as John ran the last few yards alongside them, shouting, “Go Falisa! Yay Falisa! Go!” This was the clencher for me. I was moved to tears as I realized that this is exactly what He does for me and all His children. He’s watching, waiting, cheering, loving and delighting in us. He wants us to finish well. And He will be the One to reward us when we’re done. If that doesn’t compel us to finish well, I don’t know what will!

Top 10 Things Gained at C School

10) LOTS of poundage: nine pounds worth of books, binders, and training materials 9) $25 savings on boxing up the books rather than paying for an overweight checked bag (thanks to Continental baggage guys who helped me formulate this plan!) 8) The secret to finishing well (start well & DON'T STOP!) 7) A love for the dry, sunny climate and beautifl landscape of the southwest 6) Sharper peacemaking skills 5) A better understanding of myself and how I work on a team 4) New friends! 3) A greater love for ALL people 2) Healing from past hurts 1) A deeper sense of my identity

Hunkering Down

With Hurricane Ike coming through the region, I found myself literally camped out at work over this past weekend. What an adventure that was - I came in to the hospital for work at 7:30 AM on Friday morning with sleeping bag and overnight bag in hand and was released to go home at 4 PM on Sunday afternoon. The hospital fared the storm with very minimal damage, never even losing power or water, though the water pressure did fall on Saturday, prompting management to forbid all employees to shower or flush the toilets (yeah right). In spite of that very minor detail, I was grateful to be there rather than anywhere else in the city throughout the storm and its aftermath. My apartment sustained minimal damage and had power when I returned on Sunday. I've been extremely blessed throughout this whole ordeal. There are so many who still don't have power or worse - they can't find or have lost family members and/or have lost all they own. Thankfully, the weather has been very mild with temperatures in the 60's, hopefully making it more bearable for those without power and AC. When I got home on Sunday my roommate had opened our windows and we were able to leave them open for a couple of days - no AC even necessary. Perfect timing.

And the journey begins...

First of all THANK YOU for reading this! I’m excited to share this journey with you guys. The role you play is VITAL in this process. Please check back often as I will be trying to update frequently.

Though I can't see very far ahead at this point, the plan is to go ahead as far as I can see for now and hope that I will know what choices to make at each big milestone.