Run, Anna, Run!

Another 13.1 over and done with.

This is a Thankfulness post. Recently a missionary acquaintance wrote me a note after I had posted a picture to facebook. His note was a reminder to not get caught up in my accomplishments, but to remember to thank God for what He's done. And I know there are moments when I forget to be thankful, but there are so many more when I just stop and marvel at what He has done and allowed me to do over the last 2.5 years. One of those moments came this past Sat. I ran my first Half Marathon a month ago, finishing in 2:24. As soon as I finished I knew that I had paced myself too slow. But since it was my first and I'm not a fast runner, and I wasn't sure what to expect, I just said I was going to run somewhere around an eleven minute mile and that's what I did. That in itself, just a year after I started running, was an accomplishment. But this time around I had a better idea of what to do. This race was a 5k, 1/2 Marathon, and Full Marathon. The full marathon is a Boston Qualifier, so they have pace groups you can run with. I really, really wanted to run a consistent 10 minute mile and come in around 2:10, but had decided to put myself with the 2:15/4:30 group. When I got there, though, I found myself heading straight to the 2:10/4:20 group, because, hey, if you've got a goal, why not go for it, right??

Having never run with a pace group before, I had no idea what to expect, and I certainly didn't expect the group leaders to consistently run a 9:15 mile for the first 5 miles(which is a fast pace for me). I kept up, though, and when they started to pull ahead at mile 8(or I began to slow down, one), I let them go, but kept them in sight. They stopped at the water stations, I grabbed the water and ran, sloshing it all over my face, and managing to get some down my throat. It was a cold morning, about 26F when we started running, but a beautiful day. The route was rather hilly(normal for Charlotte), with some long, steady climbs, and as I began to head up the tenth mile and was beginning to slow down, I had this thought, "How amazing is this??!! How incredible is it that you're on your tenth mile, running your 2nd 1/2 Marathon, after completing two Triathlons this year? How amazing is it that you're keeping up with this pace group, feet pounding, legs strong, lungs breathing easily, feeling good, and loving it?? How amazing is it that after years of carrying lots of excess weight, you're doing great, and not even near the back of the pack? How amazing is this??" And so I pushed harder and ran my way to the end, crossing that finish line right at 2:10:07, having averaged an under 10 minute mile consistently for 13.2 miles, and hitting my exact goal. How amazing is that??!

And so, during this month of Thankfulness, I'm thankful for:

*the amazing, incredible body that God designed
*the body's ability to rejuvenate and heal
*a healthy, strong body
*a body that continues to grow stronger and continues to heal
*the physical changes that God has allowed me to make
*the time to make those changes
*a body that now runs, and swims, and cycles, and cross trains
*the difference that my physical health makes in
 regards to my viola playing(stronger arms, muscles, tendons)
*being able to challenge myself physically
*being able to enjoy the things God created me to do(run, jump, climb, hike, etc.)
*being able to enjoy more and more of God's amazing creation

An afternoon with Z

Zariah and I had a great day a few days ago, with beautiful weather, BBQ lunch, iced coffee, and pumpkin carving. My other mentee went out of town at the last minute with her family, so it was just the two of us. It's hard to believe that this is my third school year with her. She's a sweetheart with a hard life, but has a great attitude about it. When I first started with her, she was beginning to improve with her academics because of the help of FHL, her school, and her other mentor- but she really struggled with reading. Now, reading is one of her favorite things to do, and it's so much fun to see her and Brianna arguing over who gets to read next when we're all reading together. She's also doing really well academically and can't stand getting below a B, which is remarkable considering her living conditions and that she gets zero help with schoolwork at home. She's also really growing spiritually, which is exciting to see. As we were sitting on the porch carving pumpkins, out of nowhere she burst out with, "I can only imagine," and she knew most of it. It was a super sweet moment to just sit there and listen to this sweet girl singing about what it's going to be like to be with Jesus.

BBQ! She really likes this BBQ restaurant, so it's become our special place to go

Checking out our handiwork in the dark

PTM

Oct. 7th-11th was the Pastors to Missionaries' Conference sponsored by Barnabas International. This year there were seven of us there from IM, the largest number yet! As always, the conference was encouraging and a great place to learn, network, and be better equipped in the ministry of helping missionaries thrive.

The IM contingent

The theme of this year's conference was "Overflow," and as always, the main speaker and worship leader were challenging and a great encouragement to my heart and soul. There are great workshops to chose from and this year's choices were no exception:

*Caring for Business as Mission Workers – Their Needs and the Opportunities
*Parents of Missionaries: An Overlooked Part of the Team
*Because of God’s Love, Suffering Produces Endurance, Character and Hope
*Healthy Influence in the World of Member Care
*Mind the Gaps: Engaging the Church in Missionary Care
*Blind Spots and Worldview Assumptions in Cross-Cultural Member Care
*Mentoring a Millennial – Mentoring for Life
*Same Sex Attraction: What Missionary Caregivers Need to Know
*Changing Seasons: Providing Care over the Missionary Life Cycle
*Soul Care
*Debriefing through Collage, Parts 1 & 2: A Different Approach to Presenting One’s Story 
*Women in Missions    
*Coaching: Drawing Hope from Rivers of Living Water
*Bringing Hope to Ministry Marriages        
*Outsourcing your Services – Ways to Expand your Ministry and Increase your Income
  

Depending on which workshops you chose, you had time for 4-5. I went to 3, but one of them was in two longer parts over the course of two days. I attended "Women in Missions," "Blind Spots and Worldview Assumptions in Cross-Cultural Member Care," and "Debriefing through Collage, Parts 1 &2: A Different Approach to Presenting One's Story.

My favorite workshop was the one on Debriefing Through Collage. I've never been a big fan of Collage work, but I loved this workshop! I wish I could explain the whole process in writing, but I think it's probably something you just have to experience for yourself. I absolutely love having this new tool in my Member Care toolbox and will be excited when I get to use it. The above picture is my collage about my Grandmother, who passed away on Sept. 16th.

At one of the evening sessions with some of the other IM'ers

And a Fall photo from the last morning there(Black Mountain, NC)

13.1

Well, I did it. 13.1 miles. And I ran the entire way, and kept to my pace goal of an under 11 minute mile. I was calm mentally the whole time, and other than my joints feeling very achy the last 2-3 miles, I felt really good. Good enough, that I'm seriously considering doing another 1/2 Marathon Nov. 15th to see if I can easily pick up my pace by 30-45 seconds per mile. I know, I know- I'm a little touched in the head. :-D

Pre-race

I ran past my parents' house 2x- at miles 2 & 9

Mile 9- still feeling good

Finally!

It's over! I did it! 2 hrs., 24 min. & 10 seconds of constant running

My cheerleaders(otherwise known as parents)

Back in the Swing of Things

JV/Varsity Retreat. We had a large group this year at our retreat, but had a great time of fellowship, activities and learning more about our Relational God, and how we relate with others because He created us to be relational

I've got two girls at Faith, Hope, & Love that I mentor now. Brianna joined us last Spring, and since she's Zariah's best friend, I agreed to take her, as well. These two are so much fun and are constantly making me smile. :-)

Since I was gone much of the summer, and the NC Triathlon series finished in late Sept., I didn't feel like I'd have enough time to train for another one. But since I could run while overseas, I signed up for a 1/2 Marathon, which quite honestly, freaked me out. But I'm now less than 2 wks. away from the big day, and feeling great! I won't be the fastest, but unless something happens, I'll finish that course and enjoy doing it. :-)

Staff Visits

With Teniece in Odessa

As always, I so enjoyed my visits with IM staff both in Ukraine and Poland. Here are just a few of our staff I had the pleasure of spending time with and getting to hear how they've been doing over the past year:

Lesya & Caleb serve in Odessa and are getting married later in the year. It was lots of fun to hear about all the changes that are going on in their lives and ministries.

Kim and her husband serve in Odessa and are the leaders of the team I served with during my time there

Sergei and Yulya serve with my former team in Odessa. This was my first time getting to meet with them after their marriage last year. Sergei is the ultimate romantic and it was so fun to hear about their first year of marriage and how God brought them together.

Zhenya also serves with my former team. I met with him and his wife, Lidia, that morning, but we had gone running first and I didn't have a camera. I ran into him while meeting with Sergei and Yulya and we said we'd have to photoshop Lidia and little Matthew in. :-)

Jen(center) serves in Warsaw at an international church. The day I arrived was her birthday, so I got to celebrate along with some of the students she serves.

Saying Goodbye. :-(

Saying goodbye, when I only get to see them 1-2x a year is a tough thing to do. But God is gracious and merciful, and I left with a full heart and didn't cry on the bus like I've done in the past. :-)

Family Time

Whewwwww! All I can say is that if I ever have kids, I hope I survive them and they survive me! Following camp, I had a great visit with my brother's family. They moved from E. Ukraine last year and are now only 3.5 hours from Odessa by bus. I was so, so thankful for that move, b/c IM had asked me to not go to anyone that I knew in the eastern part of the country, due to all of the conflict occurring there. I so enjoyed getting to see their new home and new city, and just getting to see how well everyone is doing with all of the changes that were involved in the move. Seriously, I had a fantastic time, but four kids ten and under are exhausting!! I know that some of it was simply the excitement of having Tyotya(Aunt) there, but there's just a lot of energy involved, regardless. :-) I took a lot of pictures while there, and it's so hard to pick, so I'll start with these, and then as a good aunt should do, maybe add some more later.

A good Aunt goes on lots & lots of walks and buys ice cream and kvas every time she is asked. :-D

A good Aunt explores what seems like every playground in the city.

A good Aunt lets children climb on things they shouldn't & set off little fireworks thingies that light a field on fire, and then runs around with said children stomping out the fire and trying not to panic. Whew! Crisis averted.

A good Aunt climbs on things with children & forces them to take lots of pictures

A good Aunt watches children spin out of control from tiredness and lots of sugary gelato and sits there with children's father and laughs hysterically

A good Aunt plays with children at the river and lets them jump and climb all over her, until she can no longer handle it, and exits the water. :-D

A good Aunt reads, paints, colors, and plays endless card games, realizing how limited her time is with those precious children

A good Aunt passes out and sleeps hard at the end of each day, and treasures each and every moment.

English Camp

This year I did English Camp in Poznan, Poland. Many of the IM US staff do English camps so as to serve alongside of our staff, and many return to the same location year after year because of relationships with campers, families, staff, etc. I wasn't sure which camp I was going to go to this year and had been praying about several different ones, when I found out that this location, in particular, could really use an extra person with English Camp experience. I was excited to go do this smaller camp with Amadeusz and Monika Shaded in Poznan, Poland, because Amadeusz was in the first training center class after I moved to Odessa, and I've got a great relationship with both him and his wife. Compared to the camps I've done in the past, this was a tiny camp, with only twelve campers, two short-termers, and three full-time IM staff. We all stayed in one house together on the outskirts of the city, and did almost everything in that house. At first I was a little concerned about the lack of privacy, but it turned out to just be a fantastic blessing in the way that it caused our relationships to grow with the campers.

My Advanced English class with their children's story book that they wrote

N. American breakfast prepared by me and Billi Gean- eggs and pancakes

My Advanced English Bible Study group. This group kind of fluctuated throughout the 8 days, with people coming and going, which was tough for me. At times, there were 6 of us, at other times, only 2. I was working through the gospel of John with them, which was great, but a challenge for me personally to keep continuity as people came in and out daily.

The entire little camp(minus the few that came and went)

I was so incredibly blessed by the two short-termers that were there, a mother and daughter from Canada. We roomed together, laughed together, prayed together, and I was just so very thankful for them(Sandra & Billie-Gean).

This camp felt so different to me than the larger camps that I've been accustomed to, but it really was a blessing. Being together in the one house with only 12-13 campers every day caused relationships and trust to cement much faster than at a larger camp. We had the opportunity to individually share the gospel with various students at a much faster pace than seems to be normal; they were just very open to it. I left blown away by the work I saw God doing in many of the students' hearts and minds. Quite a few made professions of faith, and others said that they understood that salvation was by faith alone and has nothing to do with works- they're just not sure if they're ready to commit to following Christ yet. I appreciated their honesty and was really excited to see their openness and hear some of the amazing questions and thoughts that they were working through. It was a long, hot week out in that house on the edge of Poznan, but a week full of blessings as I watched God working in people's lives in ways I never could have imagined.

Hello???

I feel like the long lost relative that no one has heard from in a long time. I know, I know. My blog writing skills have seriously atrophied. I've been gone from the States for three solid weeks now and zip, zero, zilch has been posted on here. I have a decent, but not really complete defense for that. ;-) Internet access has indeed been very poor for most of my trip, so I would jump online where I could, post a brief note and picture to facebook, and then jump off again. None of my internet access up until this point has been strong enough to let me upload multiple pictures without it taking FOREVER. But does that excuse me from not writing any updates at all? Not really. So, where have I been and what have I done?? Ok, here's the whole trip itinerary, which should have been posted on here before I ever left(except that I didn't really know the entire itinerary before leaving. :-D

7/23- depart CLT
7/24-7/25- rest in Warsaw, meet with former IM intern, Szymon
7/26- bus to Poznan, Poland
7/27- help get camp set up
7/28-8/3- Evangelistic English Camp for university age students
8/4- sight-seeing and debriefing time with short-termers and team
8/5- bus to Warsaw, flight to Odessa
**I got stuck in Kiev overnight, so my plans for the 6th got a little off
8/6-flight to Odessa from Kiev
8/7-8/12- go to Kherson to spend time with my brother's family
8/12- bus to Odessa
8/13- rest day
8/14-8/21- meet with Odessa staff and friends from my time living there
8/21-fly to Warsaw
8/21-8/24- meet with staff in Warsaw and Piaseczno
8/24-bus to Krakow, brief stop in Kielce to visit staff
8/24-8/26- spend time with Krakow staff
8/26- bus to Warsaw
8/27- return to States

Ok, there's the whole shebang that has happened up to now, and what will potentially keep on happening. Starting tomorrow, I'll actually begin to catch you up on what actually went on in those various places. :-) I'm alive and well, I promise! ;-)

A New Home

I just wanted to pop these three pictures on here real quick, and I'll come back later and write a little about my FL trip. After a steady downward progression with dementia, culminating in several falls within several days, the decision was made that Grandma needed around the clock care. So last week she made the transition to a nursing home that's only a few minutes away from us. Because of the dementia, she has moments of confusion about what she's doing there, but overall, the transition has been fairly smooth. Someone goes every day to spend time with her, and she's actually had quite a few extra visitors this past week. She and Pop did Sunday morning ministry at this same nursing home when I was a child, and so there are moments of confusion as her brain tells her that she's there visiting people, sharing the gospel, etc., but still, she's doing quite well. Quite often I win the prize of "Best Family Member," because her brain tells her that I came all the way from Ukraine. Of course, other times it tells her that I'm her sister, or niece, or sister-in-law, or she'll look at the pictures of the two of us and think that I am her. The brain of a dementia patient is a perplexing thing.Placing a family member in a nursing home is not an easy thing, or at least it wasn't for us. People make assumptions, and have opinions about what they think they would do, when the reality is that each situation is different for every family. Because of the circumstances in our family, after keeping her in her own home for as long as possible, it was decided that this was the option that would give her the best care. I'm thankful that we can continue to spend time with her, and cherish those moments when she still knows who I am.

A camera with a timer can be a confusing thing.

She managed a smile for this one, but when looking at it, thought that I was her. :-)

This is just a cute photo from Sunday, with one of my Varsity girls

Tri-Latta Triathlon

Today was my 2nd and bigger triathlon: 1/2 mile open water swim, 17 mile ride, 3 mile run. I had three specific goals: to complete the swim in 20 minutes(I'm slow), to run a 10 minute mile even after the swim and ride, and to have a finish time of right around 2 hrs. It's been rather rainy here the last few days, and I was rather disconcerted at all of the mud in the transition areas and on the trail run, and had no idea how that would effect my time goals.

The swim didn't feel so good to me, because I'd never done an open water swim before, where you can't see when you're swimming and people are kicking you and swimming over or super close to you. I intentionally stayed to the back of the group when they all took off, which was a bit of a mistake if you want to be competitive. I was safer there, but much slower. Happily, though my swim time was quite slow, it was 20:16, which was close enough to my goal for me. :-D Then I was out of the water, running up a muddy hill to jump on my bike for the 17 mile ride. That portion was just lovely. It was a nice course and I had a relaxed ride. I probably should've pushed a good bit more in that(but was trying to save for the run), because by the time it was over, I realized I still had plenty of energy left in my tank.I finished that section in 55 minutes, putting me at 2nd place in my category for the bike ride. Then off the bike and on to the muddy, hilly trail run. It wasn't my favorite run ever, but I kept going and finished in 30 minutes and a few seconds. And making it even better? I completed the entire thing in 1 hr. and 52 minutes, putting me in 7th place in the Novice category and meeting all three of my goals! I definitely enjoyed this one a lot more than my first one, even though it was longer. I've worked really hard on pacing and endurance from the triathlon in March until now, and it was so encouraging to see that work pay off. It was also encouraging to get to the end and realize I probably could've given a bit more. All in all, an excellent day!

5:30 am- getting ready for the race

5:45am- pre-race snack

With Jesse before his group started the swim at 6:30am(he's a recent GBC highschool grad.)

My group waiting for the air horn to start our swim

Coming in from the swim.

Finishing up the ride

Beginning the run

Triathlon #2- completed!!