On Cultivating Friendships

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.  True friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation."

 

~ George Washington

 

 

Seize The Day!

"The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice ... it is a positive attitude we choose to express. It is not a gift delivered to our door each morning, nor does it come through the window. And it is certain that our circumstances are not the things that make us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never laugh again."

~ Charles R. Swindoll

 

 

On A Proper Perspective

"I like living.  I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."

 

~ Agatha Christie

 

 

On Measuring Up

"The only person who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measure anew every time he sees me, whilst all the rest go on with their old measurements, and expect them to fit me."

 

~ George Bernard Shaw

 

 

Live It To Preach It

“Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.”

~St. Francis of Assisi

The Wretched of Muirwood, Teenagers, and Other Noteworthy Tales

I’ve been talking with the author of The Muirwood series, Jeff Wheeler, via email and Facebook (#shoutout #shamelessnamedropping) this past week. As I said before, I’m really enjoying this book series. I’m a very picky reader, mind you, so when I find a book that I think about all day and can’t wait to get back to it’s no wonder that it becomes a blog topic, is it?

My genre of choice is YA fantasy (but I’m a sucker for a great historical fiction tale as well). There have been many books that have caught my attention quite well over the years. Here are just a few at the top of my list:

• Twilight - I am an admitted Twilight fan. For a quick, easy, morally clean read and a story line that sucks you in and takes you away (key criteria for me), this series will do the trick.
• Hunger Games - (Duh.)
• The Chronicles of Narnia - Wow … so many well developed characters, *"a whole new world", one epic adventure after another, and they have a talking lion.
• The Mark of the Lion Series - This is a faith based series written by Francine Rivers that centers around the Roman Empire, gladiators, and a Jewish slave girl. If you’re into dashing romances that put you on the edge of your seat, you’ll want to read these.
• Redeeming Love - Based on the Biblical story line of Hosea and Gomer (WHAT were her parents thinking when they named her?!). This book made me cry. LOTS. It also helped me to see God’s love in a whole new and wonderful light (hence the crying), thereby making it my all-time favorite book for a standing record of 13 years now.
  

In light of these best-selling and uber popular novels, I had to ask myself why I’m so drawn to Muirwood. The author is still relatively unknown as are his stories (for a limited time only), so I’m not being swept up into pop culture here. The tale does include a great opening hook, cliffhangers a-plenty, forbidden romance, worthy adversaries, an interesting setting … but what does this book and the others listed above have in common that’s so powerfully drawing me in at this point in my life?

Ah. I know what it is.

AMAZING TEENAGERS.

Teenagers being good and kind and thoughtful, taking ownership of their mistakes and fixing them. Teenagers acting like honorable young adults, rising to extraordinary circumstances, accepting challenges, willingly putting themselves in a path where they will have to sacrifice something to go through the pain of being stretched beyond comfort levels and, thereby, find out who they really are. Teenagers being dependable, integrous, inspiring, honest, and selfless.

I know kids like this. I've raised a couple of them AND they have stellar friends who frequent our home. I'm a fan. I can relate. These kids go above and beyond for each other and they take pride in their own responsibilities as well.  When they mess up they make it right, all of their own accord. They're going to college, getting jobs and renting their first apartments (Macy and Maddy). They're raising thousands of dollars for children in hospitals (Mia), starting their own businesses (Haley), teaching Theater Arts to children (Taylor M.) and rockin' the High School Golf Team (Jacob). They're going to Spain to better learn culture and language (Taylor H.) and they're the glue that lovingly brings all the friends together ... the faithful friend they can always depend on despite her already full plate (Claire).

A friend of mine who is expecting her first child in her thirties keeps getting the negative "just you wait ..." message everywhere she turns. "This is your first child? Oh boy .... just wait until you have to deal with Cheerios all over your car, interrupted sleep, dirt all over your house, picky eaters and the dreaded unruly teenagers." I'm happy to say that the teens I know (and we know oh-so-many of them) don't fit this bill. Not even a little.

These kids are worth writing about ... these are kids that inspire.   These kids make me grateful to be a parent.

So thanks, Jeff, for writing about teens doing challenging things well. It's a relatable tale, tried and true, and come to find out one of the key elements of writing a successful novel (or 5).

*Quote credit to Jasmine & Aladdin ;)

 

On Happiness

"There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious. 
It is too good to be wasted on jokes."
 

~ C.S. Lewis

Tried and True

"Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar; those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel."

 

~ William Shakespeare

Sunlight on Water

"I want God. I want God to play in my bloodstream the way sunlight amuses itself on water."

 

~ Elizabeth Gilbert

On Becoming Beautiful

"We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it." 

~  C.S. Lewis  (being profoundly genius with words, as usual)

Running For Beginners

This post should actually be titled "Running For Haters".  Am I right?!  I don't know about you, but I have always HATED running .... and I hated people who loved running.  Traitors!  HOW COULD THEY?!

I remember having to run as a requirement when I was in High School for P.E.  They only asked a mile of me each month but I thought I was going to die.  I couldn't breathe, couldn't find a rhythmic pace to get comfortable in, my legs felt like they were going to detach from my body and walk away in violent protest, and it felt (and tasted ... sorry, but it's true) like I was swallowing knives.  When the P.E. teacher shouted out "How's the running going?!" as we passed him at each completed lap I wanted to rasp back at him with "Whaaaaaat???  Running?  Me?  No.  I'm not running.  I'm bloodletting my throat.  It's healthy.  All the Medieval physicians say so."

My relationship with running hasn't gotten any better as I've matured.  I've tried.  Oh, Lord knows I've tried.  I bought cute outfits, read articles written by seasoned experts and Olympic gold winners in all the big magazines, talked to friends, thought I had E.I.A. (exercise induced asthma) so I got inhalers, bought gadgets, downloaded the Black Eyed Peas on my iPod, and Googled "running tips".  Determined to conquer running through sheer will power I even signed up for a half marathon *falls off chair laughing*.  I walked most of it.

*sigh*

Then, almost like magic, something happened.  That sheer will power is not to be taken lightly it seems.  Determined to try again I bought new shoes, and I changed things up, and I tried again ... and  it started working, and then I tried to go further ... and it felt good!  And then I ran 3 miles!  And then I finally felt that coveted "Runners High" where you don't want to stop and feel like you could go on running for miles yet.  Honestly, I'm still pinching myself.  The best part is, I can't wait to run again!  (What is this witchcraft?!)

So, here ... from one beginner to possibly another, here are my tips.  These have worked for me.  If learning to enjoy running is on your Bucket List too then I hope these will help you.

1. Invest in good shoes and replace them every 600 miles.  I've found I that really like Asics.  I've seen them on sale as low as $55.00.  They're light weight, supportive and comfy.  Win!
2. Do a few light stretches before you start.  Don't go over board.  A few leg swings, standing quad and standing calf stretches and I'm good to go.  I've even thrown in a few squats before for good measure, but I never spend more than about 3 minutes on stretching or I'll lose my mojo.
3. I read on the treadmill to hold my interest and LOVE IT.  There's nothing like getting lost in a great book (shout out to The Wretched of Muirwood) to keep me running (yes, it can be done. Your eyes adjust to the bouncing in no time), but you may prefer nature and some hoppin' tunes on your iPod.  To each his own!  Go with what moves you.  Literally.
4. I'm 5'4 and as I said before, I use a treadmill.  I start out walking at a 3.5 for a one lap warm up.  When I first started out I walked for half a lap (after the warm up) at 3.5 and then jogged half a lap at 4.2  alternately until I'd gone 2 miles, finishing with a cool down at 3.2 for one lap.
5. As your endurance and stamina increase over time (you'll feel it ... you'll know when it happens) so can your distance and speed.  I increase my speed by .2 when I'm ready to step it up and my distance by .5 miles.

 

It's only been a few weeks and already I've found that I'm running more than I'm walking.  YES!  The thing that did the trick for me was slowing my pace waaaaaay down.  I was trying to run at a 5.5 as a beginner before and that was a total fail for me.  I'm up to 4.6 now (after a few laps at 4.2 to get the blood flowing) and it's a very comfortable pace. 

 

That's it!  Viola.  If I can do it, you can do it!   Now come on over to the dark side and get your run on! 

[Image via 1 & 2]

On Having a Good Character

"A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble".

 ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

It Begins With A Thought

Several years ago I told a Women's Ministries pastor at our church that I hoped to be a public speaker some day. 

"Interesting" she said.  "What are you going to write about?"

"Oh, I'm not any good at that.  I'm not a writer." I replied.

"Yes you are!  If you have something to say, you have something to write."

That thought really stuck with me.  How I Met Your Mother wasn't on TV back then, but if it had been I might have replied with "Challenge accepted!  Later ...?"  The thought overwhelmed me a bit at the time (still does, truth be told), so I shelved it .... put it way down at the bottom of my Bucket List.

Fast forward to present day.  My boss took me to lunch recently to talk about a 5 year career plan that makes my tail wag.  Happily, it involves a lot of public speaking .... and a lot of writing.  Time to work on the Bucket List and sharpen my writing skills.  Oooooh!  New project + right time = exciting!  Knowing that I'm normally a "Ready, fire, AIM!" kind of person when I get excited about new projects, I laid out some attainable goals with time lines in place to set myself up for success (here's where you come in!)  The first thing on the list is:

1. Blog.  For real.

And here we are.  Can I write?  Who knows?  Not yet.  Maybe?  Meh.  Time will tell. But I'm all about new adventures and with the kids heading off to college and life settling down, this seems like a great time to find out. 

I read a great quote the other day.  "Writing is like a muscle.  The more you exercise it the stronger it becomes."  If you can bear with me while I lift the 5 lb weights, maybe we'll get to some 45's down the road.  Anyway, there will be pictures in the meantime.  LOTS of pictures. Promise. 

So with Blogging For Dummies on the desk before me, a glass of wine, and without further adieu, I welcome you officially to Moum's Musings.  Let's do this!

Me!