08.08.08 What an awesome date! All day I've been packing for my trip to Costa Rica. I got all the mini shampoo bottles and charged up my camera batteries and iPod. I'm ready to go... except for one thing. The Olympics. When I signed up for this trip, I did not realize that it would overlap with the first week of the games, and I'm that girl who records every sport so I can stay up all night watching and gets into all the sap stories. I love, love, love the olympics. When I watched the games in Atlanta in 2000, I fell in love with gymnastics, and I started that year.
I'm watching the opening ceremony right now. There is something so great about watching the world come together. So, maybe it is perfectly fitting that during the games, I will be with people very different from myself, in a different world. Yeah, that may sound cheesy, but I like cheesy.
No surprise to anyone, I'm most pumped for gymnastics: men's and women's. My favorites: Raj Bhavsar and Shawn Johnson. Raj wasn't originally on the team; he was the alternate, a spot he knew all too well, for he was the alternate at the 2004 games when everyone, including Raj, expected him to make the team. Once again in 2008, he rocked the olympic trials, being the only male gymnast to almost get automatically nominated to the team. He missed it by a few tenths. He waited, only to find out that he was again an alternate. However, the captain of men's gymnastics, reigning all-around gold metalist, Paul Hamm, removed himself from the team recently due to his injured hand that would not be ready for competition. The door flew open for Raj. It is his time. To learn more about him, watch these videos...
Fluff about Raj from the Olympic Trials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T53lZyDQw1Q
Raj on High Bar from the Olympic Trials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ci15wDTuSo
and just for fun, because she is amazing, watch Shawn Johnson's beam routine and floor routine from the trials.
Beam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qQq9lhNwHA
Floor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbd67f9wK0s&feature=related
Friday, August 8, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Drenched in Insanity
Running is not my favorite pastime by any means. Since retiring from gymnastics over 3 years ago, I've been on a hunt for a new favorite work out routine in the hopes of staying fit. I've tried classes like kick boxing, step, weight training, yoga, pilates. My school offers a nice gym, complete with fancy machines like the stairs, eliptical, and treadmill. Said machines do nothing for me except make me depressed and self conscience. I can't handle the idea of running without actually going anywhere or walking up an endless set of stairs. I think the flat screen TV in front of me is suppossed to distract my mind from the actual pain I'm experiencing; well, that doesn't work.
The search still continues for the regular work out routine, but on the rare occasion that all the variables allow me, I have an unusual activity: running in the rain. In my hometown, it really means it when it rains - serious downpours. Today, I was sitting in my room when I noticed it was beginning to pour. An excited grin crossed my face, and I sprinted to don my running clothes and shoes. Once I was ready, I acknowledged that I was insane and set off to get drenched.
Conveniently, the neighborhood across the street has a lake which is surrounded with tall trees and a winding path. Once I made it there, I was alone, finally able to escape the strange looks. There is a part of the land that extends into the middle of the lake like a mini-peninsula. I made my way there, stood at the edge, with the lake all around me with the rain seriously running down my face, clothes, collecting in my shoes. The only thought in my mind was grace like rain. Todd Agnew, a K-Love favorite and Memphis native, wrote a new version of "Amazing Grace" by adding a catchy chorus and a new rhythm. I couldn't help but acknowledge that he was right to compare the two. His chorus says, "And hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me. And hallelujah, and all my stains are washed away -they're washed away..." Drenched, soaked to the core, looking out at His beautiful creation, I thanked God for his grace.
I'm studying Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster with a few girls this summer. In the chapter on the discipline of study, Foster encourages us to learn from nature, not merely from theology books. I feel the Lord's grace pour over me when I run in the rain. Go ahead, get soaked in his grace.
The search still continues for the regular work out routine, but on the rare occasion that all the variables allow me, I have an unusual activity: running in the rain. In my hometown, it really means it when it rains - serious downpours. Today, I was sitting in my room when I noticed it was beginning to pour. An excited grin crossed my face, and I sprinted to don my running clothes and shoes. Once I was ready, I acknowledged that I was insane and set off to get drenched.
Conveniently, the neighborhood across the street has a lake which is surrounded with tall trees and a winding path. Once I made it there, I was alone, finally able to escape the strange looks. There is a part of the land that extends into the middle of the lake like a mini-peninsula. I made my way there, stood at the edge, with the lake all around me with the rain seriously running down my face, clothes, collecting in my shoes. The only thought in my mind was grace like rain. Todd Agnew, a K-Love favorite and Memphis native, wrote a new version of "Amazing Grace" by adding a catchy chorus and a new rhythm. I couldn't help but acknowledge that he was right to compare the two. His chorus says, "And hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me. And hallelujah, and all my stains are washed away -they're washed away..." Drenched, soaked to the core, looking out at His beautiful creation, I thanked God for his grace.
I'm studying Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster with a few girls this summer. In the chapter on the discipline of study, Foster encourages us to learn from nature, not merely from theology books. I feel the Lord's grace pour over me when I run in the rain. Go ahead, get soaked in his grace.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Yes, I Blog Too
It's an interesting phenomenon - blogging. I have enjoying reading those of my friends for a couple of years. It's gives one the freedom to argue, challenge, and oppose ideas that one disagrees with, without actually having to say it to one particular person. It is the easy way out - I recognize that. I would rather have a conversation about anything I post than this one-sided conversation. What a wonderful gift it would be to have someone reply, "hey, me too. i understand how you feel; let's talk about it." Then, I wouldn't feel so strange.
The title of my blog, "How All Were Very Busy" is a chapter title in one of C.S. Lewis' Narnia books, Prince Caspian. I really loved the picture it paints. Lewis probably thought, "well, in this chapter, all the action has to unfold. a million different storylines and themes need to merge. what should I title it?" My hope is that in blogging, I will encourage myself and others to be still, to take a break from all the list making and rushing to think about things outside their small world. I've learned that sitting still is an almost impossible task for me. I have a million thoughts running around in my head all day long. I hope this blog gives me the motivation to dwell on the bigger picture. If you enjoy reading, let's have a conversation about it.
I was blessed to hear God speak through Louis Giglio recently, and he said, "We often make the mistake of thinking that because we were moved, something happened." It's time we took action. If poverty breaks your heart, do something to fix the problem. If you believe something is ethically wrong, take a stand. Let us all be moved to action, not merely moved.
The title of my blog, "How All Were Very Busy" is a chapter title in one of C.S. Lewis' Narnia books, Prince Caspian. I really loved the picture it paints. Lewis probably thought, "well, in this chapter, all the action has to unfold. a million different storylines and themes need to merge. what should I title it?" My hope is that in blogging, I will encourage myself and others to be still, to take a break from all the list making and rushing to think about things outside their small world. I've learned that sitting still is an almost impossible task for me. I have a million thoughts running around in my head all day long. I hope this blog gives me the motivation to dwell on the bigger picture. If you enjoy reading, let's have a conversation about it.
I was blessed to hear God speak through Louis Giglio recently, and he said, "We often make the mistake of thinking that because we were moved, something happened." It's time we took action. If poverty breaks your heart, do something to fix the problem. If you believe something is ethically wrong, take a stand. Let us all be moved to action, not merely moved.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
