Running vs. LIFE

Well, as I ventured out on a morning run by myself I was enlightened by certain parallels between my running experiences and my life.

Flat and Straight = Sometimes a run seems simple. It's flat and you can see far enough ahead that you know exactly where you are going. Sometimes you can predict exactly how long it will take to get to the end of the straightaway. I find similarities between this type of run and my "coasting" times of life. There is minimal day-to-day type stresses (aches/pains) and things kind of keep rolling on. I begin to feel confident in my abilities and position in life.

Curves = Now curvy paths may be uphill, downhill, or flat. This type of running can be very emotional. You never quite know where you are going, exactly. You can't see far ahead in the path. You may hit a short downhill and feel respite, "This is going to be OK." Then you turn a corner and there is a daunting hill. I think that most of real living is curves. We rarely are able to see our path for any measurable distance before us. Each day is filled with surprises that throw a wrench into our well laid plans or bathe us in God's mercy.

Downhill = For all intents and purposes you would think the downhill would be a blessing to the runner. You are partly right. A short downhill can give you a chance to catch your breath, work a little less, and let your feet just fall one in front of the other. There is relief in a downhill run, initially. If a downhill run is too long it can be murder on your body. I learned many years ago that hiking up a hill is much easier on the body than coming back down. If our downhills in life are too long, each step can become excruciating and jarring causing you to wish you could just sit down and stay there forever.


Uphill = Ugh! The most overwhelming to me as a runner. My neighborhood has many hills. The worst hills are brutal because you can almost see the end from the beginning. When I start that first step up a hill I know I have a long way to go. It is too overwhelming. I have found the only way to get up our hills is to focus on one footfall at a time. If I keep my eyes up looking at the end of the hill I convince myself I will never get there. This hill will never end. I will never get relief. However, if I draw in and focus on putting one foot in front of the other, eventually I find myself at the top. At this point, I look back at the hill and thank the Lord for getting me through it. I hate hills, but they do show us how strong we really can be if we are "running with Jesus".

Humidity = Finally, since I am a Minnesotan I must address the humidity factor. Humidity can make the simplest task difficult or seem impossible. Even those blessed flat/straight areas become difficult because the air is so thick you have to slice it and chew it before you can inhale. Bodies need oxygen to function. So, when you find yourself running or living with a dew point of 81, slow down - WALK. Be gentle with yourself, hydrate with water, living water to keep yourself from passing out along the path.

God promises us he will never leave us. I love Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait (lean) upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles. They shall RUN and NOT be WEARY, they shall WALK and NOT FAINT." You will notice that I refer to life as a run/walk not a race. We are not competing with anyone. We are simply trying to get through one day after another with the Lord by our side. Some days we will run and feel like champions. Some days we will walk and feel lucky to have made it a couple of feet. But, every day we will get up and move because we love our Father in Heaven, we know we are saved through the atonement of Jesus Christ and we want to be more like Him.

Where have I been?

Nowhere, really. I have found that spring is a neck-breaking catapult into summer. Just when I get hopeful about spring coming around the bend we are in the downhill slide to summer. I can't seem to get a hold of anything as time speeds up with choir tour, end of the year field trips, school programs, annual work trip with D, Memorial Day...

In March I envision myself crawling into a comfortable hammock-type apparatus. I know that I can survive the rest of the cruel Minnesota winter and I look fondly to the horizon of a far off summer. "There is still time" I tell myself. I enjoy the schedule of school, lessons, rehearsals, and church activities. Routine wraps me in a warm, predictable embrace all school year long. I snuggle into my proverbial hammock feeling as if predictability will be my companion for a good-long time.

Little do I know that my snuggly hammock is really a fully cocked catapult ready to let loose. And so it does. It lets loose and sends me hurtling through time until I land in a gelatinous puddle of fatigue and bewilderment in late June. I am not saying that March to June are unpleasant days; quite the contrary, I love the blossom of spring and the anticipation of warm days, late nights, and sleeping in. Oh I love to sleep! But my June puddling self can't seem to be present in any of the moments I have "flown" over. Not sure how to slow all that down and really suck the marrow from each day.

My oldest daughter B is well on her way to young womanhood and all the blessings that come with that transition. Her life seems to swirl around my head and I try to keep smiling as I know her time with me is fleeting. I love that child. She is the product of prayer, fasting, and faith. A joy to me she has always been. Even in times of struggle, my interactions with her convince me that I am truly alive and a mother. Is it possible to both dread and eagerly anticipate the future? I am so excited to know her as she journeys into adulthood, but my heart will always ache for the days of snuggles, milk mustaches, and story books together.

My middle child M is an amazement. She colors my world vivid. If not for her, my life would be black and white and often without a soundtrack. Her perspective has opened up new experiences for me and my appreciation of all creation. What a blessing she has been to all of us with her tender heart and sensibility. What will she be and more importantly, what will she wear?

My boy C is my little man. Muscle from head to toe and a heart of gooey caramel. He smothers me with kisses and wants to help and take care of all "his girls". He has an old spirit that seems to communicate easily with heaven. I often sneak up to listen at his door as he talks with God and tells him all of his thoughts. Tender and simple, he thanks God for making his life possible, for frogs and beautiful rocks. He asks that no one will ever be hurt. No one will ever have their house burn down or get sick from carbon monoxide poisoning. (latest obsession) Help us to love each other and for everyone to know God better.

So, where have I been? Right here. Not present in the blogosphere, maybe not even present enough in my every day, but still right here - hurtling through time trying to grab any little bit of joy as it flies by.

Kalahari 2011

We have been so blessed to have the opportunity to meet, as a Brey family, at the Wisconsin Dells for 5 years. Our first two years we stayed at Treasure Island, it is now some Greek or Roman name. The last three years we have stayed at the Kalahari Resort. This year we stayed in the Kondos. They were fabulous. We had 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, family room, pool table, and home theater with 6 recliners. It was pretty much perfect! Here are a few pictures...


Each time we get together we have some sort of family night. We play games (Do you love your neighbor? is a favorite), share testimonies, sing songs, and share talents. This year we were blessed to have a Skype visit with our Mitchell at BYU. It was so wonderful to be together and feel of the love and support that our family offers one another.

"Talents" shared: H, E, and C interpretive dance to Voice Male's Once There Was a Snowman; Josh juggled with glow in the dark balls; C wrestled me to the floor; Mindy shared poetry; Spencer and his amazing tongue!

H brought music for a sing along, including her own pre-recorded accompaniment. We sang "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need", a song from EFY, In Christ Alone. Also, on a musical note there were a few moments when we had to break out with praise and worship just to get the blood flowing. God is good and it is a blast to lift Him up in song.

We also shared testimony and scriptures that have been written on our hearts. Later, in the pool we girls had a minute to discuss more scriptures we are memorizing. It is a miracle for all of us to be memorizing God's word together. We are really tapping in to the Spirit in a new way. Hallelujah! I feel so blessed to have a family that began with two people committed enough to work things out on a day to day basis.

As we were walking to the waterpark we saw this little sign, "A Kalahari Moment". We had to take a picture.

I just can't believe that we have been able to figure out ways for all of us to be together. When we first start trying to figure it out it can seem difficult, expensive, and overwhelming, but when we all are together it is magical. There is no other way to describe it...wait, yes there is - ETERNAL. After the festivities are over and everyone is settled back into their day to day lives I think back on the memories of our time and seems like a perfect dream. I guess that is what we have to look forward to in heaven - every day is a perfect dream. Won't that be a blast!

Scratchin' the Record

For some more "mature" people the idea of scratching a record is probably horrifying. I remember learning how to avoid scratching a record and protecting the turntable from harm. It will become obvious to all that I am not talking about gouging an LP beyond playability, when I say "I love scratchin' the record".

Let me explain. Some time ago I was talking with a wise sister about trying to erase images that I have burned in my brain and continue to haunt my conscious and subconscious. She explained that we cannot erase an image, but we can forever alter an image just like scratching a record.

I will illustrate the concept. C came downstairs last night describing an image of a mummy that was troubling him and keeping him from sleep. He was clearly troubled by this pesky mummy so I asked him to describe some details to me. We decided that rather than a menacing face on the mummy, he now had googly eyes and a silly grin. His eyes were so googly that he became very dizzy. He fell down and hooked some of his bandages on a nail. He was trying to get back up when he began to roll and unroll down a hill. As he unrolled we could see that the mummy was nothing more than bandages wrapped around thousands of bouncy balls. So many bouncy balls, all different sizes, all different colors, and all for C to gather up and play with. In fact, some of the balls were so large that C could ride on them and bounce up to the sky. We were able to change THIS











TO THIS! And a little boy went to bed with a smile. Little boys going to bed can put a big smile on a Momma's face too.

I had this scratchin' method work for me on several occasions. The first time it REALLY saved my life was after a very "bad mommy" moment. I thought I was being a Good Mommy by taking my children to the free "children's movie" a couple of summers ago. I figured since the movie was for children that I didn't need to read all the reviews and background prior to taking my children to see the movie. I WAS WRONG! About 10 minutes into the movie, my two youngest children had curled up on my lap and were ready to leave. For heaven sakes, I was scared too. B insisted she wanted to stay so I took the other kiddos and wandered around Target until the movie was over and the rest of our group was ready to go.

That very night, while trying to go to sleep, all three of my children had visions running through their heads and they weren't sugar plums. This is what they had printed on their brains:
I had to take this creature and "scratch" it into a sweet dream...




So, I glitterized this fella and all of his friends in these:




and in my new story the trolls were not trying to kill the three children home alone. Rather, they were thrilled and so very anxious to prance over to the fabulous and oh-so-important...







TEA PARTY! Oh, the cookies were going to be marvelous! The little cucumber sandwiches were world famous and delicious. Every troll for miles around was dressed in their festive tutus and tiaras and headed straight to the tea party hosted by the three children!

Huzzah! What a glorious party they had and there was plenty to eat for everyone.

This Spiderwick scratch taught me a lot. The more vivid and profound the bad image is, the more vivid and profound the scratch must be. We invented this new story for the hideous trolls in about 40 minutes. We really had to put in a lot of details to properly squash the darkness out of those images. But even now, I can't look at those trolls without picturing them in their tutus, tiaras and glitter wands, prancing to the best tea party ever invented for a sweet dream.

Note to self. Avoid garbage images at all costs. Clearing out the trash requires more imagination than this old brain can handle and I am not sure I have enough glitter to go around.

Little Feet

I went to a doctor appointment this morning and again I heard music. This time I heard the theme song for The Land Before Time children's movie, "If We Hold On Together" sung by Diana Ross. The first time I saw the movie I was at my sister Bonnie's house and I was expecting B. The characters in the story are so endearing. It has been a favorite movie of mine since my children were small. The main character of the story is "Little Foot" a long-necked dinosaur. He and his new friends have many adventures trying to make it to "The Great Valley" where they find their families.

Now that my children are older it has been years since watching The Land Before Time. It just reminded me that a chapter has closed. No more diapers, strollers, sippie cups, and nap times. Time has an interesting effect on our memories. Generally, time sifts through our memory and selects several pleasant vignettes to retain. I know there were MANY difficult experiences with my little ones, but now looking back through time...it seems pretty great.

We are in a new chapter now with all of the successes and pitfalls of a prize winning novel. The challenge is to enjoy the day today. Do not wait until time has faded the color and flavor of the experience. As much as I like leftovers, the presentation of a meal the first time is unequaled. Enjoy today while it is still here and buy The Land Before Time it is so cute.

Footprint Poem
The pitter patter of little feet
Leave behind something dear and sweet
A precious treasure for me to keep
The memories of your little feet.