Sacred Mundane: The Blog

Well, three days into my vigorous 10k training (only one of which I actually ran) :-), I found out that they found someone else to fill the Hood-to-Coast spot.  So, I am now the relieved runner.  I’d still like to do the 10k training because I think it’d be a great way to motivate myself to get in shape, but it is definitely a relief to not have the race hanging over my head.  So, it’s bittersweet–I’m a little disappointed and a lot relieved. 

Today Dutch and I had an unexpected treat. Jeff asked to go to a church kids’ sports camp at a church in West Linn in order to get ideas for a similar camp at our church next summer.  My dad was supposed to go with him, but wasn’t feeling great, so this morning about 45 minutes before departure time I got a wild idea to pack Dutch up and go with Jeff, figuring Dutch and I could explore the West Linn parks while Jeff jotted down camp notes and helped kids with their form. 

What a great time!  We first went to a huge state park right along hwy 43, with trails that led all the way down to the river.  We went down to the river, which of course looks nothing like a river compared to the rushing rapids outside our back door, and more like a giant lake with water lapping up on the sandy beaches. But Dutch had a ball: “Whoa!”  was all he could say. After that park, we found a kid’s park compete with the works: slide, swings, climbing structure.  He could have stayed all day.  Gotta love parks. I sipped my Starbucks and thought about how I wanted to kiss whoever thought to create public play structures.  It had to have been a mom. 

Now we’re home.  Dutch is sound asleep in his new room, the sewing room.  We’re so excited to have my brother and his wife and their daughter coming tomorrow to stay here at Mom and Dad’s for the next three weeks.  So Dutch moved into the sewing room!  It’s really just a big closet, just big enough to hold a crib and room for a person sucking in their stomach to stand beside the crib.  It’s perfect for a toddler!  He’s loving the change of scenery and is sleeping great in there already.  Jeff and I have been just marveling at how good God is to let us spend the past year here.  I know I’ve complained a lot, and I do regret how often I’ve griped, because the truth is we have been so blessed here.  We’ve saved oodles of money, we’ve gotten to watch Dutch explore with awe and wonder the majestic outdoors complete with river, horses, dogs, tractors, pool, grass, trees, you name it.  And we’ve gotten to see Dutch develop an amazing relationship with his grandparents, Oma and Papa.  It’s definitely an unusual circumstance, but how sweet it’s been to see Dutch on the tractor with Papa or reading a special book cuddled on the couch with Oma.  Definitely memories we will treasure always.

So, how’s that for a post that all over the road? Relieved of running duty, enjoying parks, and thankful for our home.  Just a day in the life of Kari…thanks for reading.

“All the things that make for the enriching of this present life are sacred gifts of God, but we spoil them by our misuse of them. If we want to know the reason why, it is because we are always entertaining the delusion that we will go on forever in this world. The result is that the very things which ought to be of assistance to us in our pilgrimage through life, become the chains which bind us.” -John Calvin

I just got done running two miles.  I know, not a lot. But it’s a lot for me.  You see, I’m a “Runnabe”…a wannabe runner.  I like to think of myself as someone who likes to run, but the bottom line is that I like to, well, walk.  So, Jeff and I have been talking about how much we need to make it a priority to get more exercise, as “sedentary seminary” has taken its toll and we just want to be healthy and have an active lifestyle. So, he’s been riding his bike to work each day, and loving it.  And as I mentioned, he is taking the 100 push-up challenge.  This week he did 181 push-ups total.

So in the middle of this new motivation, I get a random email from my dear friend Candi (from the Road to Santa Clara) saying that they had a runner drop off their Hood-to-Coast team and she wanted me to join. (Hood-to-Coast is the largest running relay race in the world, 197 mile relay from Mt. Hood to the Oregon coast).  Ok, I will admit that I once said that I wanted to do Hood-to-Coast, but that was pre-baby when I was actually running regularly…a long time ago!  And, most people train for months and months, but the race is only 2 months from now!  So immediately my response was Absolutely No Way.  No way did I want to give up my summer to train for something that would absolutely certain to hurt…a lot.  Any amount of running that causes thigh chafing and loss of toenails does NOT sound like a fun time to me.  Plus, I don’t have that competitive edge anymore.  I am completely content these days to sit and sip iced tea while the world around me competes for the athletic prize.  But I told her I’d sleep on it and pray about it.  And I did.

And it kept nagging at me. Again and again.  And again. I hate that! I hate it when you feel like maybe God wants you to do something and so you can’t quit thinking about it and no matter how many reasons you think of against it, you still feel like it’s what you’re supposed to do.  I hate that. So I came up with a million reasons not to do it. It’s the same day as my 10-year High School reunion that I was actually really excited about attending.  I don’t have a great place to run, other than just laps up and down our driveway.  I’m breastfeeding.  And, the biggest reason: I’ve never ran a 10k in my life and this relay would basically be 3 of those in one day.  Totally out of my league.

You probably think I’m blowing this way out of proportion, but I’m telling you sometimes I get this feeling like something is a big deal, like God wants me to do something and there’s something at stake, which makes me not want to do it more than ever. So I was laying in bed one night, praying about it, and I had this picture in my mind of God dragging me by my arm like a toddler off the playground, and me shaking my fists like a spoiled brat and shouting, “But I’m not a runner! I’m not a runner!” (I know, that’s probably a symptom of some disorder).  But then I began to get this sense that God has something for me in this.  I don’t care about my mile times or proving anything or getting a t-shirt. I do care about getting to do something totally bonding with my precious friend Candi, which I think will be the highlight. But most of all, I think maybe God wants to teach me some stuff, definitely challenge me, maybe bless me. I don’t know, and I actually haven’t made my official decision yet…but I can feel my resistance starting to crumble.  I know it sounds totally dorky to say I’m running for Jesus, but that’s the only way I know how to articulate it.

So this morning I started “training” with a big whopping 2 mile run.  I am the reluctant runner, but I’m trusting there’s a reason God’s dragging me onto the track. He’s so good, so trustworthy, and I guess He’s promised to run with me, right?  I don’t know.  I’m still a little scared…

If you asked me what one area of ministry most fascinates, intrigues, and energizes me, I would without a moment’s hesitation respond: Soul Care.  I really believe that the nourishment and care of one’s soul is presently one of the most neglected areas of life.  We spend our time, energy, and resources tending to the things that are visible.  I often spend more time washing, dressing, and making presentable my body than I do cultivating my inner soul each morning.  I have countless times been convicted realizing that I have entered the house of worship to sit before the King of Kings, and have spent more time contemplating my clothing that setting apart my spirit for the presence of God.  Basically, our souls are too often neglected.

By soul I am speaking generally of what some would refer to as both the spirit and the soul. I mean the spirit, intellect, emotions, basically all that is unseen and incapable of measure.  Of all the four areas we will examine (emotional, physical, time, and financial), this is by far the hardest to quantify.  While we can objectively look at our checkbook and determine whether our financial margin has disappeared, who can so easily sit down and look at one’s life and determine that the emotional reserve is eliminated and overload is imminent?

So how do we know if our emotional margin is gone?  I remember situations in ministry where I was overjoyed when someone canceled our appointment.  That should have been a sign.  I have personally seen pastors leave ministry, even abandoning their wives and children, because they didn’t recognize the dangerous symptoms of burnout.  Depression, anxiety, substance or other kinds of abuse, compulsive overeating (or compulsive anything), are all symptoms that something is not emotionally right.

I feel a bit of freedom in this area right now because of my circumstances, so I must confess that this is not a huge area of concern for me at the moment. However, I have lived without emotional margin, and it’s HARD!  Circumstances change, so my prayer is that when my circumstances do change (i.e. we’re back in “full time” ministry), I will have already set up the emotional margin in my life, so that I know my limit and can keep a good 1.5″ away from the edge of the page.

So what are ways that we can promote our emotion margin, so that when crises do come, when someone does need help, when God knocks and has a challenge for us, we can respond with grace, easily drawing upon the emotional reserves, rather than collapsing and breaking down, unable to muster up any emotional energy.

Here are our LiveDifferent Challenges this week for restoring Emotional Margin:  Choose one or two to focus on; and I’d love to hear responses or other ideas.

1. Reconcile Relationships: “Broken relationships are a razor across the artery of the spirit.”  Unforgiveness drains your emotional energy.

2. Serve: Of 2,700 people studied for over a decade, “those who performed regular voluntary work showed dramatically increased life expectancy.  People not involved in such altruistic activity had 2 1/2 times the morbidity than those who volunteered at least once a week.”

3. Rest: Relax, sleep in, take a nap, turn off your phone.

4. Laugh & Cry:  People who laugh more heal faster.  Try laughing every four minutes (how often children laugh), you will be astonished at the results.  Similarly, cry.  Those who cry more get sick less often. That’s amazing!

5. Grant Grace: Judging others is a weighty emotional burden–“it is a form of emotional and spiritual suicide–like chopping a hole in the bottom of your lifeboat because you dont want the other person to be rescued.”

6. Create Boundaries: Try not answering the phone at dinner. Learn to say no.  Not with selfish motives, but for the sake of soul-care.  Protect your family.

7. Envision a Better Future: This isn’t about the power of positive thinking, it’s about knowing where your hope lies. We don’t hope in a better economy, world peace, or the end of hunger. We hope in the coming of Jesus Christ who will make all things new.  Know where your hope lies.

So this week, consider one or two of these areas and let’s counter our culture and refuse the temptation to run on Emotional Empty.  Let’s add Emotional Margin to our lives.  Let’s tend to our souls and cultivate the inner health of our emotions.  We’ll then we healthy, whole people, fit for the Master’s good work.