Ready or Not?

As most of you know, I'm training for my first marathon on September 28 in Akron, Ohio. I have been following a 16 week marathon training schedule and let me tell you some days are tough! This week is my last week of hard training then my runs get lighter leading up to the race. 

During my training, I was really excited to start the plan. Then as weeks progressed a few months into it, it became less exciting and more work. Then summer hit and the heat was brutal, disgusting, painful,exhausting-well you get the idea.

 There were days , I wanted to quit early and not finish my miles. And some days I did due to sickness. I felt like a failure on those days. But I got up the next day and kept working on my running. 

I thought, if I could endure the summer heat, just maybe it would pay off when fall came around. 

I learned to endure a 20 mile run without stopping and to press on when I was exhausted. I knew these workouts although they were not my personal best, would hopefully produce a stronger runner in the end. 

Today, I finally saw great results with my speed. (And the weather was 59 degrees!) My hard work during the summer has paid off. 

6.25 miles with an average pace of 8:30. My last mile was my fastest at 8:09. And let me tell you, it's hard to run the last mile as your fastest. But come race day, I want to finish strong. (Something James has taught me to do since I started running.)

So it got me thinking...

In life we run a spiritual race.

When a person first accepts Christ into their life, they are so excited about living the life of a Chrisitan. They are ready for a life change! No longer to live the way they did before but to live for something much Greater than themselves. No longer to walk on the broad path but the path less traveled- the straight and narrow. 

But then something happens along the way. Maybe a trial or tribulation and life gets tough. They start to look at their situation and not to God. They slowly lose the joy of their salvation and begin to cut miles out from their daily run, and spend less time in prayer and Bible study. 

But as children of God, we are called to endure the race. Finish strong. The tough days are preparing us to run even stronger in the days to come. God will be our strength when our energy left us at mile 14 on that huge hill. 

Sure there are hot and humid days that will be tough but thankfully those days don't last forever! 

(Well unless you live in Florida...) 

Fall is just around the corner and race day for me is only 25 days away. I'm ready for race day and to cross that finish line! 

How about you? Are you ready to cross the finish line? If God called you home today, would your race be a strong finish or barely crossing the finish line? 

Stay strong and finish strong in God's strength. You never know who you'll influence to join the race! 

Romans 5:3-6

"...but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. "

Hebrews 12:1-2

"... let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

My experience with LASIK surgery

LASIK surgery- does it hurt? what exactly do they do? Is the procedure long or painful? 

Many people have asked these questions to me lately. I was also very curious before my surgery and couldn't find much information online. So now I share with you my experience and exactly what I went through pre, mid, and post surgery. 

Pre-Surgery- "The Consultation" Do I even qualify for LASIK?

Yes, you have to qualify for LASIK. Some people may not be eligible for one reason or another to get LASIK done. Personally, it kinda felt like a marketing ploy to me, waiting to hear if I qualify for the procedure. 

Who is a good candidate? Anyone with bad vision. 

However, your eyes need to be healthy enough to undergo the laser treatment. 

Luckily, "my enormous pupils and juicy corneas" passed the test. (These were the words of my eye doctor, Dr. Oldenburg. He was a little eccentric and full of energy!) The thicker your corneas are the better to undergo the laser treatment. 

After the consultation, I had one more extensive eye exam where he wrote down all my measurements for surgery. 

The LASIK Process- How LASIK corrects your vision. 

First, what causes blurred vision?

Glad you asked!

Simply, the light coming into the eye is not focused properly on the retina. The light either falls short of the retina (far sighted) or goes too far beyond the retina (near sighted). 

LASIK corrects this problem by allowing light to bend (refract) light rays to focus more precisely on the retina. The laser reshapes the cornea to allow light to properly pass to the retina resulting in clearer vision. (That's why my "juicy" corneas were good candidates. Haha) 

Day of Surgery:

I arrived at 7:45 and surgery was scheduled at 9:15 ( I ended up not going in for surgery until 10:30 but no big deal.) I was prescribed two medicated eye drops and a Valium to take right before the surgery. I decided to not take the Valium since it was only a ten minute procedure, I figured I could get through it and stay relaxed. ( If I could stay relaxed during child labor, this would be a piece of cake. ) 

I had my surgery at the Novus Center in Tallmadge, Ohio by Dr. Beyer. He and his staff were wonderful! They operate like one big happy family and make you feel a part of it. It was nice to joke around and talk to the nurses while they were preparing me for surgery. 

Before surgery, a nurse went through five different eye exams with me double checking my doctors work and making sure everything was still on tract for surgery. When they did the eye exam with me ( you know when they ask " Better one or Better two? Three or Four or the same?") I was nervous! Talk about an eye exam of your life. One wrong answer and there goes my chance at perfect vision! Okay, not really. But I still didn't want to answer wrong. So after that was all done, they took me in a room where I got to put on a pretty hair piece and shoe covers. 

Pretty, I know! I was a bit hyper (maybe my way of not being nervous) so I found the hair piece to be enjoyable. 

There was a man in front of me who was pretty nervous but stayed pretty relaxed with his Valium. The woman going after me was totally slumped over from her Valium, it worked a little too well. I was happy to be awake and alert. I did my best to keep the morale high and calm their nerves. When it was my turn, I walked into the room and laid down on the table. 

The nurse asked me my name and birthday, so I told her. Then she asked me what kind of surgery I was getting done, and I smiled and said foot surgery. She wasn't laughing...apparently she took a Valium too. So like a good patient, I said LASIK eye surgery and she was satisfied.

 They swung the table under the laser and then my heart started to race a little. Now I was getting a little nervous. I knew The Lord had calmed my nerves thus far and would help keep me calm. 

(Dr. Beyer, also a concert pianist, played his music for me to listen to which was nice and relaxing.)

 And just when I thought they were ready, they had to change something in the laser since my eyes are smaller than the person before me. (Big pupils, little eyes- sheesh I'lll be self conscious for the rest of my life. ) 

While I was waiting, One of the other nurses asked me if I was nervous because he thought I was shaking. Then he realized he was shaking not me. Very reassuring.

After everything was all set up they began. 

They taped open my right eye and he was about to cover my right eye when one of the nurses asked, aren't we starting with the right eye. 

Again, very reassuring. 

So he covered my left eye, and put lots of drops in my eye causing it to go numb and blurry. There was a blinking light, I was suppose to look at. Then they put something in my eye which felt like a contact lens then there was a little pressure and everything went dark for about 6 seconds. (which I knew was going to happen). Then the laser started for about 10 seconds and shut off. Then it seemed like he was polishing my eye with something like a nail polish brush. My eyesight was blurred the whole time so I couldn't really tell what was going on. Then more eye drops went in and they were done with the right eye and did exactly the same thing to the left eye. I could feel a little more pressure or discomfort on the left side but nothing painful. I kept reciting verses in my head and trying to relax my body. I also sang a couple Russian songs in my head to help keep my mind elsewhere. After about ten minutes, it was all done! 

They sat me up and put on these awesome goggles to protect my eyes. 

Today was not a day for family photos. :) I had to wear them the rest of the day and could take them off in the morning.

 I felt super light headed and began to feel nauseated after we left the clinic. My eyes stung just a little and were very sensitive to the bright sun outside. Even closing my eyes didn't help with the brightness. It drove me crazy to have my eyes burn a little and not be able to touch them. Most people take a four hour nap after the procedure since the Valium makes you sleepy, but it took me a little while to fall asleep. 

After I ate some lunch and got home, I was able to fall asleep. My eyes felt much better after I woke up. I wasn't allowed to text or be on the computer all day but watching tv was allowed. 

The next day, taking off the eye gear was awesome! Since the eye gear had holes all around it, I couldn't see perfectly out of them. But now my vision was perfect!! Everything was in focus, my son looked even cuter and my husband even handsomer. The only down side to taking off the eye gear was getting the medical tape residue off my face. My husband recommended eye make up remover and it worked! Definitely beat scrubbing my face for hours. :) 

The end result- clear vision! 

I went to my eye doctor the next day and my vision was already at 20/15. He said my vision will continue to get better as my eye continues to heal. 

In the end it cost me around $3000. We were quoted $3250; but somehow it ended up a little cheaper. We were recommended to get this surgery done since we will be moving to Russia to start missions work soon. It's hard to keep up with prescriptions over there. 

We are very thankful The Lord opened this door for me to get this done. I would highly recommend this surgery and my doctors to anyone interested in getting LASIK done. 

Hope this informed you a little bit about LASIK and all it entails! 

Together Tomorrow

As some of you know, our family has had to say goodbye to a very special little boy, Gabriel Michael Pranger. The world was blessed on June 10, 2012, with his arrival. And early on June 29, 2013, the Lord saw fit to call him home to heaven.

Lately, I have been reading a lot about the promises of God.

Promise "ground for hope, expectation, or the assurance often specified of eventual success." or "A declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that guarantees that a particular thing will happen."

II Kings 8:56 "...there hath no failed one word of all his good promise." 

 The Bible is often called God's Word, in other words it can also be called "God's Promise". God always keeps His word, He can not lie. Simply, what He says, He will do. I'm so thankful that God keeps his promises. It's from His Word, His book of Promises, we find hope and strength in our daily needs. Our family has definitely experienced God's grace and strength in a mighty way this past week. We have clung to many of His promises this week, that have given us hope and peace. 

Gabriel was born with a genetic disorder called Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia. (NKH) is an inherited condition in which the body is unable to breakdown and process some of the building blocks of protein (amino acids). Gabriel and his daddy, Amos Pranger, went to Cincinnati Children's Hospital in hopes to find out some answers as to why he would go a few seconds without breathing. His sister, Annabeth, also has the same genetic disorder, and it wasn't uncommon for them to make trips to the hospital. We had all thought, this was just going to be another trip to the hospital and then he would be back home. 

The doctors concluded Gabriel was having small seizures but they couldn't find out what was causing them. By Saturday, the had him stabilized and he seemed to be doing better. However, over the next 48 hours his little body took a drastic turn for the worst. 

His brain activity had gone down to almost nothing, and he wasn't able to breath on his own. When we heard the news of his sudden decline, we began to pray even harder for his healing. We knew God could heal our little Gabriel if He choose to. 

Tuesday came, and I was praying so hard for our little nephew. His mommy, Liberty Pranger, was on her way to be with her son. He was making some improvements, but not much to make a difference in his fragile condition. The doctors were clueless as to why he was declining so quickly. They could only assume one of the seizures had lasted longer than a few seconds and caused the brain damage. 

By Thursday, his kidneys and liver were shutting down. We were losing our little Gabriel. My in-loves, Jim & Laura Pranger, were on a flight back from Hungary in hopes to see Gabriel before God called him home. Their plane was scheduled to land on Friday. (Unfortunately, a bad storm kept my in-loves from making it on time to see him.) 

Friday came, and we were told if we could, to make our way to Cincinnati to see Gabriel one last time. James and I immediately packed up the car and headed to Cincinnati. I had hopes to take some family pictures for them and to capture little Gabriel's last few moments. 

We pulled into the hospital, and went up to Gabriel's room. There were many friends and family gathered around and nurses in the room. One of the nurses was making "sweet memories" with Gabriel and his three sisters, Annabeth, Deborah, and Breanna. They made some hand prints, and molds of Gabriel's hands and feet. And she was finishing up by taking some photos of the family all together. I was right behind her with my camera. When the nurses all left, the kids were a little restless, so we agreed to take more photos in the morning. I went about taking candid photos of everyone with Gabriel. 

His oldest sister, Annabeth

Breanna, Jacob and Deborah

I got to have some time with Gabriel, kissing his sweet face, holding his hand and talking to him. James came over and was playing with his ear, as he loved on him. Later that night, I went back in the room with Liberty and her sister, Bethany. Everyone else was now gone or in the waiting room. I wanted some photos of Jacob and Gabriel, like the ones we had taken back in December when they first met. I'm so thankful I did, because the opportunity to take more photos in the morning never came. 

As we left that night, I said good night to Gabriel and kissed his sweet face. I told him Grandma and Grandpa were on their way to see him, and to hang in there. 

That was the last time we saw our sweet Gabriel. A phone call later that night told us Gabriel had gone home to be with Jesus. 

My heart felt relief and peace when I heard he had gone home to heaven. Relief in knowing he was no longer suffering, his body was now made whole. Peace in knowing that we would see him again in heaven.

When Gabriel took a turn for the worst, the Lord flooded my heart with promises from God's Word. With those promises I found hope, peace, and strength.

One of the verses God gave me on Tuesday was from Isaiah 40: 29, 31

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. 

In our darkest of days, we don't have to have strength- God will be our strength. I know this has been true for Liberty and Amos as they said their goodbye's to their son this week. How can someone go through a trial so hard? With God, that's how. 

"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is the victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God!! (this gets me excited) which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Corinthians 15:55,57

Death has no victory over God's children! Death is merely a stepping stone to heaven for all those who have put their faith and trust in God. God has given us the victory over death through Jesus Christ. How?

"But God commendeth his love toward us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Jesus Christ paid the penalty of death for our sins so we can spend an eternity in heaven. 

"...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10
"Every good gift and perfect gift, is from above..." James 1:17a

Our Gabriel was truly a special and perfect gift from the Lord. He is now experiencing life more abundantly with Jesus Christ. He has whole and perfect body now and is leaping on the streets of gold. Sure our hearts still hurt from losing him here on earth. "...weeping may endure for a moment, but joy comes in the morning." Psalms 30:5b 

We rejoice in knowing that we will see our Gabriel again in heaven. We will get to spend an eternity with him which far outweighs any time here on earth. Gabriel along with his mommy and daddy would want nothing more than for his death to bring about life more abundantly. If you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ, won't you make sure of that today? Gabriel's short life is a testimony, that we are not always promised tomorrow. Death may come at any moment. Are you ready for eternity?  

We would love to share how you can know for sure that heaven is your home. Please feel free to email me or message me. 

Lastly, this is my favorite promise. 

"...one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." 2Peter 3:8

It's because of this promise, that we can say to Gabriel, We sure do miss and love you but we will see you tomorrow. 

Together Tomorrow. 

Here is a post I wrote about when little Gabriel was first born. May it be a blessing to you. 
http://simplysiberia.blogspot.com/2012/06/uphill-battle.html

Gabriel when he was just a couple weeks old. 

My First Half Marathon!!

My motivation for running, these two handsome men. My family! 

On October 31, 2012, my life was blessed with a sweet little baby boy! I had started running in my second trimester about 1-2 miles each day. It really helped me with all the aches and pains that come along with pregnancy. I had some friends concerned about running while pregnant but my response always was "It's not like I'm preparing for a marathon!" But now I actually am preparing for a marathon!

Who would have thought that I would be training for a marathon? Not me! When Jacob was a month old, I started running again. By January, I was doing distance and signed up for a 10K (6.25 miles).  I had only been running long distance for six weeks at the time of my first race. After crossing the finish line, I couldn't imagine doing a half marathon. Double of what I just finished! No way!

After my race, I felt so accomplished that I started taking it a little too easy. I didn't have any motivation to get out and run distance. I would run, but without motivation it was hard. Then I heard someone say, "You need to always have a goal to be working towards when running." So, I signed up for a half marathon in September.
That should motivate me! But it was only February and the race was in September. Seven months away! Ahh not motivating enough! September was so far away!
I needed another goal...
In April, I set a goal to run 100 miles for the month. Which was really motivating since it was already the middle of the month. That meant, I needed to get movin'!
I hit my goal at 101 miles. Rain, snow, sleet, nothing would stop me now! Then my husband had a crazy idea! He suggested I switch from doing the half marathon to the full. What?! He crazy. Did he realize that was 26.2 miles?!

So what did I do?

I registered for my first full marathon... Yikes! Did I just do that? No turning back now. ( No refunds allowed.) Akron Marathon here I come! 

I was itching to run another race. I started looking for a half marathon to run some time in the summer that coincided with our traveling. I came up with--- nothing! Then as we were planning a completely spur of the moment family reunion to Branson, Missouri, my little eyes spotted something. (Okay my husband pointed it out.)

A half marathon only eight miles from where we would be staying!

As an added bonus, a Baptist church was putting the race on to raise money for their youth group to take a missions trip. And as a double bonus, I called to ask if they gave missionaries a discount on their race, and she graciously gave me the price for the 5K instead of the half. (Thank you, Dave Ramsey!)

*Week of the Race*

The week of the taper was upon me. My favorite week! ( Tapering is a week of rest and easy runs. It helps to rebuild muscle tissue so your body is ready to be pushed on race day.) I had run the distance of a half once and done a couple 11 mile days so I felt pretty good about the distance! I was hoping to run in 2:08 minutes.

Friday came, and I got everything ready, clothes, shoes, water pack, fig newtons and a pack of peanut butter crackers. (Crackers to settle my stomach before the race and fig newtons for energy. My stomach can't handle the GU chews or other energy packs.) I pillowed my head and hoped for a good nights sleep (pending on my son sleeping through the night.)

Off went my alarm at 5:30am, and up I went...at 6:00am!

I hopped in the shower and yes, did my makeup. James was confused why I would shower before the race and do my makeup. Pretty smelling girls run faster, it's a fact. My brother and his wife had gotten up to wish me good luck. I felt so special they would get up just for me!  (And by "up" I mean lying on the couch barely moving! But still so sweet! )
The race started at 7am at the Table Rock Lake. Everyone was starting at the same start point at the race. There was a 5K and a kids one mile fun run. I was a little skeptical of everyone starting at the same point and then running into the trail all at once but it worked out just fine.
We all lined up at the start, and the Pastor came and prayed with us.
And finally the count down started and we were off!

Ready to go! 

The kids were running with all their might! Sprinting towards the trail. And about a quarter mile in, they started panting and trying hard to catch their breath.
Hehee- cute kids.

I was working on pacing myself so I wouldn't tire out too soon and then I would be able to push myself at the end. We had to do 3 loops of 4.37 miles. At the half mile marker for the kids run I noticed I had forgotten to turn on my GPS. Oops!
On went my GPS. I thought to myself, since I won't know exactly how far I've gone that will be good to help me to keep my mind on running and not miles.

Then a little rain drop fell from the sky. It didn't take long for that little drop to be followed by a down pour of rain!  I'm running in the rain, I'm running in the rain, what a glorious feeling...
I was really energized by the rain and was ready to finish the next 12 miles in it!
Then after about five minutes, the rain completely stopped. Not a single drop. We were all completely drenched! (Guess James was right, no need to shower before the race!)

During my training, I had practiced running distance with taking a small walk break to refuel. However, at the pace I was going, I didn't want to stop too soon. I told myself I would stop at about the halfway point. But halfway turned into 8.5 miles and I forced myself to walk. My body felt like it was ready to shut down and I didn't want that, so off I went with only a thirty second break. At the turn around for the second loop, James was there with Jacob and he high fived me as I was running and cheered me on! Talk about sweet motivation! It was great to see his smiling face!

My family making it just in time to see me finish! 

My favorite part was the spirit of all the runners during the race. The other runners would cheer you on as they passed you (going the opposite direction) and say "Good job!" "Looking good!" So I decided to join in and cheer on the other runners as I passed them. Towards the end, the smile and encouraging word turned into more of a head nod and eye brow raise. We were all trying to conserve what was left of our energy! I also liked the face there were no mile markers, so mentally you could concentrate on finishing.

At ten miles, I starting to feel a little tired and thought of my twin sister. My heart hurt as I thought she was the only member of my family not going to be at the finish line. I began to pray for her and choke back tears. I decided to run that mile for her. She became my motivation at that point.

At the 11th mile, I walked for a minute and stretched along the way preparing to push myself for the last couple of miles!
Off I went!
Only two miles left to go.
As I came close to the finish line, I saw the time was at 1:59 and counting! I sprinted across the finish line in just under two hours!! And there was all of my family, standing there and cheering for me! ( I later found out they had all just pulled in minutes before I crossed. Ha! Nothing like last minute. :)

Almost...

I made it! 

Finishing Time 1:59!!! Second in my age group

I later found out I took second in my age group 25-30. And placed about 31 out of 100 runners. Oh and did I mention I did it all in a skirt?! I know you're impressed!

What about you?! How's your running going? Are you working towards any goals? Get out there and run just one mile! Build a base and work your way up! And if you're already running keep it up! Stay tuned for my next post on My Two Cents on the 5K Color Runs!

What a great looking bunch of people!
(This is my whole family minus my twin sister. Mom is on the far left, my sister, Heather next to her hubby, Chet who's holding their cute son Noah. Then James holding Jacob, My dad behind him, My brother, David next to me with his beautiful wife, Charity on my right. And their awesome kids in front. Davey (left) Gracie, Anna, & Jon! 

A day in the life...

Today started off like every other day...

On my run the birds were softly singing, the cool breeze gently moved across the open fields, the wind mills were slowly making their rotations, and the sun was shining bright in the morning sky. Ahh what a refreshing run! This is going to be a great peaceful day!

I came in to make breakfast for my family ( we are staying at my brothers house in Weatherford, OK) since this would be one of the last days we would have with them in awhile. At breakfast my sister in law, Charity, asked if I would watch the girls, (Gracie, 5, and Anna, 2) while they went to visitation because Gracie was a little sick. I didn't mind at all! I thought to myself, I can pack up our things, clean up the house, and get everything ready to leave tonight. And right as they were about to walk out the door she realized the boys (Davey,8 & Jon, 6 3/4) needed to stay too so they could make some visits to a few families from the church. Charity asked if the girls could get a bath and the boys needed to clean their room.

Sure, not a problem! How hard could it be to watch five kiddos for a few hours?
Piece of cake! 
We said our farewells and off they went.
Okay, now to clean up breakfast. 

"Aunt Amber, can we eat our food from last night? asked Jon.
No, Jon, we can eat that for lunch, you just ate breakfast! I said.
Okay, well when can we have a snack?
Later, bud. Why don't  you play with baby Jacob while I get ready for the day. 
Alright, well I'm really thirsty, said Jon. Then Davey piped in yeah me too! Then Anna and Gracie follow with their request for a drop of water. Drinks could wait while I cleaned up the kitchen.

Mentally I'm thinking, hurry and get ready, put girls in bath tub, make sure boys clean their room, bathe Jacob, pack up clothes and clean the girls room. I gave the boys some instruction to clean their room and keep an eye on Jacob, while the girls were watching a cartoon.
All seemed well so I went go get ready.
Then the knock came at the bathroom door...
"Aunt Amber, Aunt Amber"...
Jon was informing me that baby Jacob was getting a little fussy. As I'm doing my best to break record speed to get ready, I come out and pick up Jacob and lay him on the floor to play and find the boys  distracted by the girly cartoon on the TV, so I redirect them to their room and tell the girls when the show is over that they will take a bath (they cheer for bath time) and the boys will go outside to play. "Okay" they all say.
Okay, I thought to myself. 

After the show, the girls came in to take their bath, and the boys went outside to play. Jacob starts getting a little fussy since no one is playing with him and he's getting bored. Five minutes go by, and Jon comes inside.

"Aunt Amber, I'm thirsty."
I tell him to go play and when it's time to come inside they can get a drink then. And Jon goes back outside. Two minutes pass...Jon comes back inside.

"Aunt Amber, I have to go to the bathroom."
Okay, then go back outside and play.
"Okay!"

I go and get Jacob ready for his bath, grab his clothes, diaper and towel. Wash Jacob really quick, and pull him out. Tell the girls to play a little while longer in the bath and I'll be back to wash them. Feed Jacob. Dress Jacob. Put Jacob in bed to sleep...

I run back into the bathroom to wash the girls and I hear Jacob crying. In the middle of this, who comes back inside? You guessed it-- Jon.

"Aunt Amber, our friends are outside can we play with them?"
Yes, go play.
Out goes Jon.

I run back and put Jacob's paci back and run back to the bathroom.
"Where are our clothes?" asked Gracie.
Run back to their room, grab their clothes and towels and begin the wash process. Had a fun time playing with them in the tub. We laughed, we cried, we hugged. It was a memorable experience. :)

Jon comes back in... "Aunt Amber, when's lunch? I'm thirsty." Jacob begins fussing again as I'm trying to get the girls dressed and answer Jon. "Lunch is later, I'll get  you a snack and yes, you can have a water from outside."

Jon comes back in. "Aunt Amber can our friends have a snack?"
Yes, go play!!

You get the picture. Jon came in almost every five minutes. By now I'm thinking, I'll be lucky to get anything accomplished today!

Jacob finally gives in and falls asleep. One down. I got the girls dressed and fixed their hair with pretty bows and sent them to color. By now it's 12:30 and I have managed to begin cleaning and packing. Jon comes in (surprise surprise) and asks about lunch followed by Davey. Then Gracie realizes she's "starving so bad" too.
Okay lunch.

I find some iced coffee in the fridge, some liquid energy sounded great. It tasted a little watery since it was from yesterday, but in the moment of desperation anything would work!

I find poor Anna in the hallway fussing and I asked her what was wrong.
" I don't want to get a pankin (spanking)."
Anna, you're not going to get a spanking. Com eat and take a nap.
"Okay," she sputtered out with tears in her eyes.

Lunch was a success. Then I cleaned up lunch, and even put some cookies in the oven. Each kid got a cookie, then the girls went to bed. The boys were reluctant to go back outside and play, but they did.

Sixty seconds later...
Jon came back inside goes to the bathroom, and Davey comes in yelling for his brother.
Jon lets me know that he doesn't like having accidents, so he came inside to go potty.

Finally they go back outside to play and there's a peace and quiet in the house. I had about a solid thirty minutes of time to get everything done. It's amazing what one can do in a small amount of time when you realize you may not get another minute to yourself. I was able to get all packed, lay out clothes for Sunday, and finished all the cleaning I wanted to do and then some! I felt like Super Aunt!! Then around 1:30 the rest of the family got home and all was well. :)

I know most of you are thinking to yourselves, sounds like your typical day, especially if you have multiple children. I definitely gained a new respect for my sister in law who does this same thing everyday along with home schooling, being a pastor's wife, and fighting her allergies ( which usually leave her pretty sick.) I also became thankful, that the Lord gave us one child and not four all at once. :)

So my quiet day turned into a crazy fun one. It was kinda fun to try to balance out my priorities of what needed to get done first and what could wait. Of course feeding and bathing the children took priority then the cleaning followed. Which was hard for me, I really wanted to clean up our mess and get organized first. 

I will definitely miss my nephews and nieces as we hit the road on Tuesday. We may get to see them only one more time before we move to Russia this fall. We have had a lot of fun with them this week, and I'm grateful for every minute I get to spend with them! Even when they come in every two minutes to ask questions, I will miss that!

So to all you mamas out there (especially with more than one baby), my hat is off to you. Children are truly a blessing from the Lord!

Meet my nephews and nieces from the Corley side of our family! 

Anna & Gracie Easter Sunday

Beautiful Gracie! 

Handsome little Jacob!

Coloring the eggs Easter weekend. 

Awe, Sweet Anna

Uncle James and the kiddos last week.

Anna at bath time. Hehee love her!

Jonathan - need I say more?

We got to take the kids to the Air & Space Museum in town the other day. Cute little guys

Davey and I after a run

Noah is my sweet almost 2 year old nephew. ( My oldest sister's son!)
My morning run today

Running my first race!

My journey into running began when I was in the second trimester of being pregnant. Yes, I know you're not suppose to start anything new while pregnant but my doctor and midwife were okay with it. I was only running a mile at first then worked my way up to 1.5-2 miles. It felt great!! It really took all the aches and pains out of being pregnant. I had tried to run before but would always give up after a week or two of running. I tried doing too much too soon and it wore me out. As I began running while pregnant, I gradually worked my way up. I think that was the key for me. Starting small and building on that. Four weeks after giving birth, I began running again. By the end of the first week I was running four miles without stopping! I decided a race would be a fun thing to do! So I signed up for my first race- a 10K (6.2 miles) on St. Pete Beach. The week leading up to the race I was so anxious about making my time. My goal was to do it in under an hour. I had run the distance about four times, so I knew I could do it, but didn't know if I would make my time. So here is how my race went...

Morning of the Race:

Well Jacob decided he was hungry at 2am and 5am last night. He has been sleeping through the night from 9:30pm-7:30am for a whole week now! But of course the night I could use the sleep the little booger keeps waking up! I still feel pretty well rested! I rolled out of bed at 6:30am and got myself ready. I was feeling pretty anxious and decided I would eat a little oatmeal and half a banana. I thought it was light enough that I would feel fine as I was running. I usually only eat a Kashi fruit and nut bar before I run, but I thought since my race was a good two hours away I would be fine. That was a mistake... (I ended up pretty sick to my stomach after the race but at least it was after the race!) 

We pulled into the Sirata on St. Pete Beach at 8am. We had a good 45 minutes before the race. After killing time by taking photos and stretching, I made my way out onto the street with some of the other runners. Everyone else around me seemed to have a running buddy or someone they knew, so I awkwardly stood there pretending my “date” was in the bathroom. It was awkward since I wasn’t sure what to expect because it was my first race. So I did my best to act like I knew what was going on. A lot of the runners around my had on shirts from previous races- “Women’s Half Marathon; Iron Man; Meatless Runner (I think I saw her eating some grass along the way); ...etc” Some of the runners had on some serious gear for their 10K run, all decked out in name brand gear. My shirt was from Target...but it was a pretty pink color and it matched my shoes- so there! Alright so back to the race...

The weather was perfect, 60 degrees. A little chilly at first but I decided to not wear my jacket which was a good choice. I turned on my music, pulled up my Nike running app, set it for the 10K and waited for the race to begin. I made some small chat with a nice fellow next to me as we waited for the start. That was the last I ever saw him too, he was either super fast or super slow. Before I knew it the people in front of me began to run. I didn’t hear anyone signal to start but I went with the crowd! 

I ran in between some people and made my way to the side of the road. This way others could pass me and I could pass them easily. I paced myself and remembered to not go too fast at the beginning of the run. My throat was really dry as we began and I had to go potty (nerves I think haha). I thought mile one and two would feel like a cake walk and I would push myself to get through miles 3 and 4 then I would be golden for miles 5 and 6. Finally, I hit mile one and my time was 8:21, my fastest mile ever. Oops, so much for pacing myself. So I thought I had slowed down some to pace myself but by mile two my time was 8:45. Okay now to get to mile three, I can do this! And what was before me but a group of angels passing out water! I grabbed a cup and tried to drink it while still running. Bad idea. I was almost choking and decided to slow down a minute to get a sip of water down my throat. One sip successfully down, and off I went. I thanked the Lord for my water and then passed the three mile mark. At the 5K mark my time was 27:37, my fastest 5K to date also. My goal was to get to the 4 mile mark, I knew once I got there the last two miles would be great! Another water stop, so I walked for 20 seconds to drink and then off I went. I felt pretty good, my legs were going in a groove, my breathing was in a rhythm- I was going places! Running to the five mile mark, I started feeling pretty tired. 

To play a mean trick on all of us runners, we had to run past the start line an additional half a mile and turn around and come back through the finish line. (So just when you think you’re done you have another 1.21 miles to go.) It was kinda weird at the five mile mark everyone is there cheering you on like you’ve finished the race. But I tried to soak up the encouragement and use it as motivation. As I was running one way, I kept looking at all the other runners who were running the other way on their way back to the finish line.  Oh how I wanted to be on that side of the road with them! The last mile was a killer. I kept looking and searching for the turn around point but it seemed endless. Would I ever be on my way back to the finish line?!! So I decided to walk for about 30 seconds. My time was good enough that I had a little cushion to walk. I felt better when I saw some macho guy also walking for a few seconds. Okay back to running, and there it was the turn around point!! The hallelujah chorus went off in my head at that moment. Then I kept making little goal marks for myself to get to. I heard the sweetest words from my Nike running app, “You’re almost there, keep it up!” Which means only .21 miles to go! So I pushed myself to pick up the pace. I hit the 10K according to my GPS about .25 of a mile before the actual finish line. My time was 57:44, my fastest 10K to date! A little bit further to go, I can do it! I sprinted towards the finish line to victory! I did it!! A total of 6.44 miles in 59:22!! 

My accomplishments for the day: Ran my fastest mile 8:21, fastest 5K 27:37, fastest 10K 57:44- and barely broke a sweat, thanks to the nice weather! 

Me with my favorite guys! 

I came in 103 out of 272 women runners! And 6th out of 15 in my age division. Not too bad for my first race!

"My mom is fater than your mom" It was suppose to read "My mom is faster than your mom" but Jacob decided to change that. 

My favorite part was seeing my husband all proud of me at the finish line and being able to kiss my little boy! After the race though I was exhausted!! But Oh what a great day!! 

Before it's too late...

As I was out on my morning run, my mind reflected on all that God has done in my life this past year. What an incredible life changing year this has been. Who knew becoming parents to the most adorable little boy would be the highlight of 2012 for us! That little 7 pounds 7 ounces that was placed in my arms on October 31, has changed my life in the best way possible. I would do anything for my son! I would give my life for him in a second without thinking twice. Unconditional love, I believe is what they call that. As a parent, I desire God's best for his life and well being. I never knew my heart could hold such love. I believe I now know a small portion of God's love for His children.

Our finite minds will never know just how much our heavenly Father cares for us. I believe if we did, we would all be much more motivated to give our lives completely to Him. How could One give His only Son to such a wicked world. A world that was created by Him and for Him. I wonder how God could create a beautiful perfect world knowing that one day it would become filled with wickedness. God knew that His very creations would reject Him and yet He still created mankind. (If I were God, I think I would have left mankind out of the equation! What heartache that would have saved Him!) But God still gave each of us life and a chance to choose Him.

As Christmas has come and gone, may we not soon forget the true meaning of it all. God knew that mankind needed a Savior. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" Romans 5:12 Sin had entered into this world. The punishment for our sin is "death" not physical death but a spiritual death- separation from God. "For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 3:23a God can not let sin enter into heaven because heaven is a perfect place. God knew that a perfect spotless sacrifice was required. "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 3:23b That gift is the very reason we celebrate Christmas, Jesus Christ. The Bible says that eternal life is through  Jesus Christ our Lord. We can not obtain eternal life through our own good works or through church or through the priest but only through Christ. We are imperfect and nothing we do can take away our sins. That is why we need a Savior to save us from an eternity separated from God. (Insert God's unconditional love for us yet again.)

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16 

A very "familiar" verse to most of the world, but do those who read the reference "John 3:16" really know the truth behind it? I would hope so. Maybe they do but they choose to reject its meaning. They think if they choose to ignore the truth of God's Word that they will be fine. To many the story of Christ birth, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection is nothing more than a nice story or a fable. However, rejecting the truth won't change it. Truth remains true whether you believe it or not. There will come a time when Christ will return to this earth to call His children home. There will be a judgment day where we will give an account for our sins and our life.

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Corinthians 5:10


God's gift of salvation and eternal life in heaven is simple. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:9,10,13

First acknowledge your sinful condition and need of a Savior. Next, confess your sins to God and repent. To repent means to turn from your old way of living and to put on a life lived for Christ. Believe  in all that He did for you on the cross of calvary. Put your faith fully and completely in Christ alone to save you. Simply call upon Christ to save you.  

What do you have to lose? Nothing in comparison to what you will gain- eternal life, hope, peace, true joy... Won't you accept His free gift of salvation before it's too late?


May those of us who know Christ as our Lord and Savior live each day for Him. Before it's too late, may we go and make sure thy friend. Our life is but a vapor that appeareth for a little time then vanisheth away. 

It is for this reason we are going to Russia. To spread the gospel of Christ to those who have not heard and give them a chance to accept or reject Christ. Won't you pray with us that God would prepare the hearts of the Russians even now before it's too late.

From the heart,
Amber