Dad,

Growing up you were always so active, you jogged most mornings before work, and you would ride your bike on the weekends, you even ran on the track in our backyard. I would watch you and I wondered what it would be like if I could do everything you could do!

About 18 years ago you asked me if I wanted to run the St. Patrick’s 5 mile run with you…’F-I-V-E miles’ I thought, that seams really far! And I was afraid I would hold you back, but you encouraged me to run the race with you anyway.  We joined hundreds of other runners in St. Louis and flooded the streets downtown.   I think I made it about the first two miles, then I had to walk – you ended up running part of the race with me on your shoulders and I remembered thinking how strong my Dad was!  We jogged and walked the remainder of the race and I was just so proud when we finished together; I experienced a feeling I had never experienced before.  This was just the start of running for me.

I went on to participate in middle school track and high school cross-country and track.  Dad, you didn’t miss a single meet – you were my biggest fan!  I knew I could always count on you to be at several locations on the cross-country course to cheer me on!  In my running career I have completed countless 5ks, a half-dozen half-marathons, and two marathons…and you have been there every step of the way.

You instilled in me the passion to get out, keep moving, and sweat a little.  You would tell me “a little sweat is good for you!” I want to thank you for teaching me important life lessons and planting a seed in me when I was young to run – what a gift! Running is an outlet for me; it clears my head and empowers me – thank you for showing me the way.  I hope to run the rest of my life and I will never forget who taught me how.

Happy Father’s Day

I love you!

Ashley

What is the Gospel to me?
The gospel is God’s salvation to those who believe, those who believe in His son Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth; he suffered, died, was buried, and rose from the dead to save us from sins. Jesus is my savior! He lived a perfect sin-less life that I am not capable of living. When he was nailed to the cross he took on my sins so that I could live forever. There is noting that I can do to earn salvation, the only way to God’s salvation is through Christ Jesus.

I wanted to be baptized to express what God is doing in my heart. It’s an outward expression of an inward reality for me. As you know, I was baptized as an infant in the Catholic church. I grew up in church, but it wasn’t until I was in college that I started searching for answers. How do I have a relationship with God? How do you pray? How can I walk with Jesus? For me something was missing from the story… I accepted Jesus as my savior before graduating college and the Gospel started to come alive. I realized it’s not about what I DO but what Jesus had DONE for me.  I began to read the Word and get connected in my community.  I became a member of The Journey in 2007 and baptism was something I have wrestled with, since I had been baptized as an infant. Do I need to be ‘re-baptized’? My answer is yes! After much prayer and consideration I felt the spirit call me to be baptized as a symbol of the gospel, what Jesus did for us.  I want to express my devotion to Jesus through baptism – born into new life. I continue to pursue God and I am thankful for His unconditional love and grace. He continues to pour out blessings in my life and I am grateful.

The week of the race my Nike+ stopped working so I decided that I’d just wear my watch to keep my time; however when the race started I hit a button on my watch and when I got to the one-mile mark I checked my watch and it read 00:00:00 – Oops! I must have hit the wrong button (FAIL).  I was not totally sure of my pace, so I guessed my first mile time and at every mile marker I was trying to calculate my pace to try and reach my goal time – it turned out to my benefit, I suppose, since I surpassed my goal time of 1:50 – by a few minutes!

My husband (who ran a 5k on Sunday 23:24) was at the finish line along with my mom and dad to cheer me in!  I am blessed to have such wonderful support.

P.S. We got an extra hour of sleep on Sunday; however it started to wear off by Wednesday…

I was warming the casserole dish (wanna be skillet) as instructed on the stove top (bad idea) while stirring my cornmeal mix on the counter right next to the stove when all of a sudden it sounded like a gun fired in my kitchen!  The beautiful ceramic casserole dish exploded right in front of my eyes, pieces flew across the room (literally) and I screamed at the top of my lungs.  I froze for a few seconds, in awe of what had just happened, I was in my robe with wet hair (I usually don’t cook in my robe, but I was just out of the shower and I remembered I was suppose to make the cornbread! – So I did! Maybe a case of ADD?)

Michael was in the garage loading up his car; however he heard the explosion and my scream and came back inside to find quite a site. I looked around and pieces of the casserole pan scattered around the entire kitchen – I now have batter on my face and arms – I must have thrown some batter and the sound of the explosion. I am just thankful I was not hurt in this cooking disaster.

My wonderful husband excused me from the kitchen (I don’t think he wanted me to do any more damage than I had already done) and cleaned up my big mess.

I was able to salvage the batter and make cornbread muffins instead – maybe I should stick to Jiffy next time….they turned out a little salty for my liking.

Moral of the story: maybe it’s ok to substitute ingredient in a recipe – but not the bakeware.

I had an exciting summer – we went on a family vacation to Grand Haven, MI and celebrated a friends’ wedding in Cancun, Mexico. The get-a-ways were fun and relaxing. Michael and I participated in our very first tri-athalon in August! My Dad joined us in the feat too!  It was a lot of fun and I would definitely consider doing another one.

I am about one and a half weeks out from a half-marathon race that I have been in training for about two months. I am doing my best to stay in good condition and to pick another marathon to run in 2011. (Where did this year go?!?)

Michael and I are part of a new community group in our neighborhood studying an Alan Hirsch book, The Forgotten Ways. It has been an eye-opener and challenging at the same time.  A section that really stuck out to me this week is the term “Discipleship” – What does that look like?  We call ourselves ‘believers’ – but are we ‘disciples’? I have been encouraged by the group and by God to really step out of my comfort zone, and JUST DO IT!

“Whatever you do, weather in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through Him” Colossians 3:17

Final Kick

I began running over ten years ago and got hooked.  I participated in Cross Country and Track for my high school team – the girls shared a strong bond and my sister and some of my closest friends were on my team.  Running has always been an outlet for me; it’s something I enjoy, it relaxes me, and helps relieve stress. 
I will admit, a lot of days I have to motivate myself to get out the door – but once I’m running – I feel great!  

I decided last fall that I was going to run a marathon – it something I’ve wanted to do for years; however I never fully committed to do it.  I picked the Go! St. Louis Marathon in my home town, on Michael’s 25th Birthday!  I thought it would be something fun to train for all winter.  I started training in December and I convinced Michael to join me in the feat.  We trained for four and a half months – in freezing temperatures and most of our runs were in the dark.  While training I ran in the St. Louis Track Club Frostbite Series to get a few races under my belt before the main event.  I ran a half-marathon in January in 1:54 – I remembered thinking that day – Can I run another 13. 1 miles?  
I followed a training schedule I found online – Hal Hidgon’s Novice 2 program – and set my goal to run my first marathon in 4 hours.  Due to an injury Michael was unable to participate in the marathon; however he was my biggest fan and helped me through the entire race.

I was a nervous wreck the morning of the marathon; I even dreamed about it the night before.  I woke up in the morning and looked at Michael and said, “I can’t do this” – I was second guessing myself.  Michael reassured me that I COULD do it – I guess I would have to give it a try to find out…Ready or not…
I remember walking up to the start line along with thousands of other runners and the sun was coming up over the St. Louis skyline.  It was a beautiful morning and the crowd started to get thick.  We turned to face the giant flag hanging above Market Street and sang the National Anthem and waited for the race to begin – which felt like an eternity… 
Finally – the race began and excitement filled the air – about three minutes after the race began we were able to start moving forward – then I began to jog and crossed the start line.  It was such a site to see thousands of people crowd the streets of downtown: runners, volunteers, and spectators! 
We started off the race down Broadway and into Anheuser-Busch Brewery – I distinctly remember smelling hops at 7 AM.  The race was off to a good start and I kept my pace in control so I wouldn’t go out too fast.  I felt my typical knee pain at about 2.5 miles in; but I knew I had to just push though it.  I was excited to see my Dad and Kristi right around mile 6 where I took my first Chocolate Gu pack to give me an energy boost. 
The running pack started thinning out – the half marathoners made a turned around mile 10 and the race went from over 15,000 participants to about 2,000 marathon participants.   My Dad, Kristi, Mama, & Papa were in Forest Park encouraging me and at the half-marathon mark my Mom, Papa, and Renee were there cheering me on.  It was awesome to have so much support from my family.  I started to feel the hills as we left Forest Park and started up Forsyth into Clayton.  I was loosing track of mile marketers; but just trying to stay consistent. We made a turn at 18 to start our way back downtown – I was still feeling good at this point.  Mary Ellen and Steve were right at 19 and I still had some fuel left in the tank.  Right around 21 I saw the 4:00 Pace Group coming up on my right – I hung with them for about a mile; but then started to slow down.  It was probably somewhere between mile 22 and 23 that I hit the infamous ‘wall’ – I’ve heard marathoners talk about this before, but didn’t quite understand what that felt like – until now.  I took my last Gu packet and tried to keep my legs moving; I tried to focus on my arms so that my tired legs would follow.  I am pretty sure miles 22 through 26 of the race were UP hill – at least it felt like it.  Many people around me were walking; but I knew if I let up now I wouldn’t be able to get my legs to turn over again.  I passed mile 26 and headed towards the finish – the crowd was amazing and it felt so good to cross that finish line – 4 hours and 42 seconds! 
I am well pleased with my first marathon time.  After the race I had so much adrenaline flowing – I felt great!  What an accomplishment!  I could not have performed as well as I did without the loving support of my wonderful family that came to cheer me on.  I am so blessed to have my health and strength to complete such an endeavor.  Go! St. Louis did an amazing job of putting the event together and I look forward to competing in my next race.

And it is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

not a result of works, so that no one may boast”  

Ephesians 2:8-9

This is one of my favorite picutres of Joey taken October 2009 because Joey has a BIG smile on her face after she has completed a job well done.