Meditating on the elliptical?

²⁶ "Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

~1 Corinthians 9:26-27

Today I tried combining two things I want to make a daily part of my life: exercise and scripture memory & meditation. Usually when I run or work out, I want music to keep me upbeat and keep up my pace; and I did put on some KT Tunstall at about a mile and a half to pump up my energy. :) But today for the first half of my workout I kept my (bright neon!) index cards with Psalm 119:1-16 written on them in front of me.

Like mediating on a certain passage while I run, memorizing turns my heart to Jesus, who bore the greatest suffering for me and submitted His body even to death. I'm beginning to find that meditating and memorizing give me the motivation I need to keep going, to discipline my body.

"He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin...." Not that I think a tough hill at mile three is really what Paul means, but I do really think that the more disciplined my body is and the less I listen to its desires, the more willing I will be to deny myself and listen to Jesus. If I can keep running when I feel completely out of strength, maybe someday I will keep going when it means much more than a good workout. If I can persevere through the temptation of an order of french fries or a cold coca-cola, I will be more able to deny other temptations that come my way.

Ultimately I want my dedication to fitness to be a reflection and outpouring of my love for Jesus. I want to carry around in me the death of Jesus, proclaiming it till He comes, and identify with His death. I also want to take good care of the body and life He gave me to use, and I can do that by being healthy.

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

All I Need Is A Sunlit Garret.

Over the past year I have turned into a writer. Almost a real writer.

(I'm not sure what that means. At least I get paid for it.)

Here I sit at my desk, the fading light of Sunday sunshine behind me, typing away; I have my notebook on one side, my coffee on the other, thinking up vibrant verbs and snappy headlines.

I think in leads, nutgraphs, and catchy endings. I file away quotes as if I were using them later. When did this happen? I mean, I've always written silly stories with crazy characters and sent them to my best friend to read. My makeshift closet is full of notebooks. But when did this turn into my job and my and future?

Not that it pays much- that's why I need a romantic little garret somewhere. I have to be able to keep it warm with a tiny wood stove and stock my mini-fridge like a college student, so I don't starve while I track down impossible-to-find sources and start writing breaking news stories thirty minutes before they're due.

But boy, do I love it.

Tea.

I have always considered myself a coffee person, but lately I have rediscovered tea (thanks, Seattle's Best, for the invitation!) and I think in many cases tea is better than coffee.

I've liked tea for years, especially PG Tips black tea. I never liked Earl Grey or any sort of fruit tea, though. Then one cold Michigan-winter afternoon I sat in a professor's living room, where she had hosted our small Tolkien class for tea and class as a treat. I drank the tea and loved it- it was so flavorful and full-bodied. It turns out, it was Earl Grey, and I was hooked.

I once had a friend who drank English Breakfast every morning. One morning the dining hall at the camp we worked at was out of English Breakfast. I suggested he try Earl Grey, since the others were all herbal teas. He did, and he almost stood up in amazement when he tried it. He looked at me wide-eyed. "It tastes like flowers!" he said. "It's amazing!" From then on he had a hard time deciding between his usual and his newfound tea love.

Now I feel the same way about Earl Grey, and tea in general. Now that I'm back at school, a strong cup of coffee just seems like the natural first step of the morning. But tea really is my new favorite. It's just the thing for pretty much any time of the day or night.

TOMS for Haiti

These are TOMS shoes. I think. They're my brother's shoes, and he wears TOMS, so those are probably TOMS. In case you didn't know, TOMS are awesome because for every pair you buy, they give away a pair to a child who needs them, across the world and in poor U.S. communities.

My brother got me a pair of TOMS for Christmas- the red ones, which, he says, are the most popular right now. But I can't wear those cool red TOMS until I get them in a different size. So they will be on order pretty soon.

That was kind of a bummer for my feet, until I realized that the timing just might be perfect. Who could use shoes more now than the kids who just lost everything in Haiti?

I've been wishing I could go to Haiti, or at least donate enough money to really restore even one person's life to them- food, clothes, housing. But maybe my TOMS will make a small difference now that they're coming a little later than intended. Maybe the sister pair of my red TOMS will end up on the feet of some little girl in Haiti.

Wouldn't that be amazing?

A Fitting Christmas Observation

The other day at Hillsdale Christian Fellowship (our version of IV), we spent our time talking and singing and praying about Jesus' birth and how best to celebrate it. It was really good to think about. One of the students read from a sermon by George Whitefield, which you should really read all of, but here is a passage from it. It's not very long, so check it out (http://www.reformedreader.org/rbs/whitefield/observation.htm).

Therefore, if we do but consider into what state, and at how great a distance from God we are fallen; how vile our natures were; what a depravity, and how incapable to restore that image of God to our souls, which we lost in our first parents: when I consider these things, my brethren, and that the Lord Jesus Christ came to restore us to that favor with God which we had lost, and that Christ not only came down with an intent to do it, but actually accomplished all that was in his heart towards us; that he raised and brought us into favor with God, that we might find kindness and mercy in his sight; surely this calls for some return of thanks on our part to our dear Redeemer, for this love and kindness to our souls. How just would it have been of him, to have left us in that deplorable state wherein we, by our guilt, had involved ourselves? For God could not, nor can receive any additional good by our salvation; but it was love, mere love; it was free love that brought the Lord Jesus Christ into our world about 1700 years ago. What, shall we not remember the birth of our Jesus? Shall we yearly celebrate the birth of our temporal king, and shall that of the King of kings be quite forgotten? Shall that only, which ought to be had chiefly in remembrance, be quite forgotten? God forbid! No, my dear brethren, let us celebrate and keep this festival of our church, with joy in our hearts: let the birth of a Redeemer, which redeemed us from sin, from wrath, from death, from hell, be always remembered; may this Savior's love never be forgotten! But may we sing forth all his love and glory as long as life shall last here, and through an endless eternity in the world above!

Another thing T. said that was really good was, after summarizing the gospel and how we celebrate the coming into the world of our salvation, was that "all this will mean nothing if we do not treasure Christ more than the world." Amen. I want to rejoice this Christmas with a pure and joyful expectancy and hope of Jesus, and to treasure Him above all else.

On Break in Maryland

This photo has nothing to do with anything, actually, except that I took it over summer break and I am now on break again. The point, maybe, is that I forgot my camera this time. I know, it's awful! I knew I was forgetting something important....

But maybe we can still have some funny quotes to make up for it. :)

"Wanna get on the bus, you crazy hobo?" said Joe, to everyone, after Thanksgiving dinner.

"Anyone have a joint?" said an anonymous grandparent when we were talking about smoking pipes and then about marijuana after dinner.

"I look cool in short sleeves!" said Joe, looking in the mirror at his Old Navy tee.

I am sure I can think of more soon....

better get back to my "non-comparison" paper on David Copperfield and James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Soon we'll head over to the Diggs' friends the Pauls' house, for Thanksgiving round 2, because they wanted to smoke a turkey. Sounds good to me. :-)

Memory Verses, part 2

Only about two weeks after I started memorizing verses, I was talking to a friend in the student union in between classes who had also begun to memorize verses recently. We talked about how much the memorization has been helping us understand God and our daily lives in relationship to Him and our redemption.

Since then, we've started meeting every Monday night with several other people, talking about the verse we've been meditating on and choosing a new one. The goal is to have the verse memorized in the beginning of the week, then meditate on it every day and see how it transforms our minds and our actions. And it really has.

It's amazing how applicable the Word has been, too. I already knew that it was, but for instance, all of us who meet are aspiring runners. We've realized that, a) running can be a great time to meditate on the verses- it keeps our minds off the effort of running. :) b) They have really helped us remember that "bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable in all things." (1 Tim. 4:8). We can really cry out to the Lord in desperation, understanding that as hard as we work our bodies sometimes, we're that much more desperate to be godly and run our real race with endurance.

It has been so good. This week we're on 1 Peter 4:1-2, which is such a good verse for me to keep in mind; I've been thinking and praying about how I have the mind of Christ. I love what the next verse says, too: we've lived long enough in the ways of the world, and it's time to move on to the things of God. Worldliness is something we once enjoyed, but that time in our lives is over. And the Word helps so much in the fight.