Glass by Malinda

This year for mom's birthday, I had a little help from Groupon. When I saw the offer for a "hot glass" class with artist James Michael, I thought that sounded like a great birthday idea. Mom has a big background in art, and it used to be her day job as well as a passion. I knew she had never worked with molten glass, and I remembered her watching a few shows about glass making. I called to confirm that she would in fact like to go and then signed us up. I don't think it could have been any better. We had a great day and tried something new. She's been talking about it ever since.  Here are a few shots of the day...

Some beautiful pieces in the studio.

  

Jim giving us a demonstration.

 Mom working on her first piece. Here she is adding the color to molten glass.

Forming the piece with instruction from the artist.

  One of mom's and one of mine. I put it on a lit stand with rotating colors to see how it would look. 

 

Three of our pieces

Mom bought a beautiful piece by James Michael that now sits in the living room. 

We learned a lot. We had a lot of fun. We were around some great folks. We made pretty things. What a great day! There are so many things to learn and do in life. It just takes a little imagination, an open mind, curiosity, and help from those around you. 

Happy birthday, Mom!

Thawed at the Frostbite 5 Continued

This past Sunday at 1:45 I was prepping for a four mile walk through a Centerville neighborhood. I was sitting on a bench stretching when a man walking by paused and addressed me. “You’re going to need to replace a lot of fluids,” he warned, “not just beforehand, but throughout the race.” The concerned man proceeded to describe his experiences with another bird like me: a severely dehydrated, overheated dancing turkey. I didn’t exactly heed his warning. I should have.

Now, not even a mile into the course,  I stood before the course marshall as he questioned me  “Chicken, you’re not going as fast as you usually do. Are you okay?” I didn’t think I could make it. I felt beyond miserable. I so wanted to make it. That was the plan. That was success. Quitting now would be failure and I hadn’t worked so hard for weeks to get to this point and fail.

I also hadn’t worked so hard to get to this point, pass out, and be carted off to the hospital. I turned and left the course. The surprising warmth of that day was just making it too dangerous for this chicken.

So, I stumbled along the west side of the high school toward the finish line. I meandered like a drunken rooster towards the part of the parking lot where I left my car. Inside I had stowed an emergency cooling pack and an extra bottled water. Only problem was the heat truly was affecting me. I can’t tell you how long I roamed about before I found my car (it was pathetically long). I was at the point of hitting the car alarm button on my key chain when I finally spotted it in the distance. Clearly the weather was not jiving with me. I flung myself into the car, promptly guzzled water, deposited my Yoda backpack, and grabbed the cooling pack. I then plodded to the finish line and decided to perch on the concrete base of a light pole. I slumped back against the pole, activated and smacked the cooling pack against my neck and wrists, all the while gulping water feverishly.

I reflected on the past fifteen minutes. Yes I had planned to complete a four mile course and had failed to do so, but maybe there was still success to be had. I could have just jumped into my car and gone home to roost but that wouldn’t have been any fun. Here at the finish line I could be a part of the success of so many different people; I didn’t have my own success but I would help to celebrate theirs!

That is how I passed the afternoon, cheering on those runners who did complete the course. I felt better about my decision after one of the faster runners went out of his way to seek me out for a post-race high five and after a mother and child walked past and the boy smiled at me, not knowing or caring whether I had finished, just because he was glad to see me. :)

This over-baked chicken didn’t crawl into the nest at the end of that day with sore leg muscles, but since I clapped so hard for so long I ended up with sore arm muscles. In the end, I bore witness to so many different kinds of inspiring finishes that I’ll have plenty of motivating memories to drive me to be better prepared for the conditions of my next event.

Follow Dayton’s Charity Chicken on Twitter @CharityChicken

Guest Blog: Thawed at the Frostbite 5

Cluck! Hi, I’m Dayton’s Charity Chicken, and I’m acting as a guest blogger on Enjoy the Journey. I’m a walker: strictly short distances. Hey, I’m a chicken. Chickens aren’t exacly known for embarking on long distance journeys. Crossing roads? Pecking the ground? Sure. Ultramarathons? Migrating to the equator? Not so much.

I normally walk for health charities, but this past Sunday I was going to walk strictly for my own health, and for fun, at the Ohio River Road Runners’ Club’s Frostbite 5 at Centerville H.S. It’s your choice of a 5 mile run or 4 mile walk. I’ve completed the 4 mile walk twice before and that was my goal this year: complete the four mile course. Nothing fancy, but a big step after struggling through back and lower leg difficulties at the Jingle Bell 5k for Arthritis in December. I trained seriously for the Frostbite since it is my longest event. As the day approached, my confidence was high.

The Frostbite is always on Super Bowl Sunday. Aptly named, it’s always frigidly cold, well below freezing. But not this year. Sunday it was a balmy 44 degrees Farenheit. The sky was perfectly clear and the sun was strong.

I joined the throng of racegoers entering the high school’s gym and proceeded to engage in my typical pre-race routine of registering, posing for some photos, waving at lots of people who call out to me, drinking lots of fluids, holding up my sign so people could read it easily, stretching, socializing, and accepting compliments for my accessories (this time it was my stylish Yoda backpack that caught everyone’s attention). I tried to hang out in the gym for a while, since I do enjoy hanging with my peeps, but it was getting too hot for me.

I had been worried about the warm temperature before I arrived, but I was feeling okay when I was lining up at the starting line. There was a cool breeze.

There were a number of dogs also lining up at the starting line, but one particular one stood out. I heard this doberman pinscher vocalizing to my left. It wasn’t barking, it was whining, moaning, and declaring “Ahr ahr AHRRRRR!” I should have heeded that doggy’s words of warning!

The gun fired, the runners burst forth, and I started clucking along okay, but by the time of the first big left turn something wasn’t right. As I continued up the east side of the high school I was hyperventilating, wheezing something awful, and fighting to push ahead. I was getting passed by all the other walkers. I fell to last place. I was struggling to keep up and was failing miserably as the last of the walkers pulled further and further away. I was circling around the front of the school and the gaping hole between me and the walkers ahead had grown considerably. The hole was big enough for me to know I would end up on the course with no one in sight and only a vague idea of how to get to the finish line.

As I was about to leave the high school grounds, the very nice course marshall at the high school’s entrance was starting to move the cones from the start of race position to the end of race position (the course is a big loop through residential streets that returns everyone to the high school). He looked up as I approached and said “Chicken, you’re not going as fast as you usually do. Are you okay?” I slowed down to a stop and said “I don’t think I’m used to this heat and I don’t think I can make it.”

To be continued …

Will the chicken dance its way to glory, collapse in feathery despair, or be abducted by a horde of chicken wing loving Super Bowl fans? Come back tomorrow for the dramatic conclusion!

"On a hill like this..."

"I need the Lord to help me!"  He kept singing it over and over.  HE needs the Lord to help HIM? There he stood looking nice and comfortable at the top of that hill with a walking stick.

There I was at 18 as a West Point new cadet trying to get up that hill.  All 120 pounds of me carrying a full ruck, in BDUs with sleeves down in the middle of summer, a big ol' heavy Kevlar on my head, and an M16 in my hands.  What did he have?  A walking stick!!!  Why o' why would HE need the Lord to help HIM?

♪ "On a hill like this I need the Lord to help me!" ♪

You know those certain moments in your life that will always stay in your mind no matter how long you live, and you really have no idea why? This was one of those. Perhaps it was because I was exhausted. Perhaps it was because his singing and high perch made me mad. Perhaps it was because he seemed a little pompous, and I felt like falling over. He was an Army chaplain, and to be honest, I really wanted to push him down that hill. More than that, though, I wanted to be done with that 14 mile road march. 

From that time forward, every time I saw that chaplain, there it was playing in my mind...

♪ "On a hill like this I need the Lord to help me!" ♪

Those feelings came right along with it. 

The women's lacrosse team was once invited to dinner at his house with his family and then to a small Bible study.  I still remember struggling with not wanting to be there. 

A few days ago, I headed out for a hill workout. Hill workouts are pretty amazing in that they increase endurance on both a physical and mental level a great deal. They make the runs that come after seem easy. I have to admit I was not feeling like running up that almost half mile long hill 3 times. During my 1 mile warm up, it dawned on me that instead of fighting my way up that hill as I always do, I should try handing that hill over to God before I started on my way up. Would this change anything? Would it be exactly the same as last time and the time before?

I turned for my first attempt up the hill...

"God, I hand this hill over to you. You created it. You conquered it. Jesus conquered death." As I ran up it, I just kept handing it over.

My second attempt up the hill was exactly the same, and I managed to run up the entire hill a second time. In the past, I had always needed to walk during my second ascent.

It was time for the third ascent, and I thought that running up that hill a 3rd time without walking was a pretty big deal since I had never managed it. Half way up, I felt complete exhilaration. I was actually running up that thing and grinning from ear to ear.  And then I heard it...

♪ "On a hill like this I need the Lord to help me!" ♪

Ha! I realized that it took me many years to arrive at a place where I could fully understand the message. That time was last week. That place was running up a big hill. Many moons ago I was exhausted, frustrated, and angry on my way up a hill; God was there. When I focus on God and ask him for help, his joy is always available... even when the path leads me straight uphill.

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice! Philippians 4:4

Choose Your Own Adventure: Peru

As you continue to walk, you come upon ancient ruins. The undulating trail begins to ascend. To your left you see a donkey along the trail.

What do you do?

Continue to walk 

Try to catch the donkey

As you walk up to the donkey, you notice there is a bag on the ground. The bag contains two maps. One map says Inca Trail, is 28 miles in length, and goes through the heart of the ruins. The other map says Lares Trail, is 21 miles in length and goes off of the beaten path.

Which trail do you take?

The 28 Mile Inca Trail

The 21 Mile Lares Trail

End of the Trail: Machu Picchu...

 

After four days on the trail, you board a plane to the Amazon Rainforest basin. Surrounded by wildlife, you travel by canoe deep into the jungle...

Spring 2012.

.  

Next Up: 2012!

I've tried a few times to write about next year. It just doesn't seem to be working. I have a lot of great things planned with some wonderful people, but blogging about it feels more like typing an agenda than sharing my life so I think I have been going about it all wrong.

There are many mornings when I jump into the car and head off to work, and I love being alive. Recently the journey has been a dark canvas painted with multicolored Christmas lights. Some days it is a beautiful sunrise with a colorful sky and white, fluffy clouds.  Yet other days, it has been pouring rain. The other morning I was driving in what I like to call a nice Irish rain (steady, soft, without lightning), I couldn't help but think it was a very nice rain for a run. I'm usually listening to K-Love, and if you were to look over as you pass, you would most likely see me singing. I really enjoy my drive into work. Of course, I still have a few of those days where I don't feel too great or people are driving like wild banshees.  I consider those days to be homework days, and I work on trying to be more thankful. 

The truth is that whether or not the upcoming year looks promising or difficult, this moment is what counts. If I am able to continually find joy in this moment, my year will be great. It really doesn't matter where I go or what I accomplish. I'm still a big fan of setting goals. I feel that if I pick a positive direction, at least I will be heading in that direction whether or not I decide to change course or life changes that course for me. It sure beats flopping around directionless. 

In the past week, I've begun training for a March 50K. I'm still a little worried about my foot, but it seems to be getting better. Last weekend was a 10 mile day followed by a 13 mile day, and my foot is feeling good. My legs, on the other hand, are crying a little, but muscle soreness beats a swollen foot any day of the week.  It's also been 3 months since I put down the sugar "crutch" so I think I'll keep skipping it. I've found that I enjoy other foods with good flavor a lot more these days. It seems like a diet high in sugar dulls the brain to taste and puts the focus on the sugar high obtained. Saying no to sugar still feels pretty empowering, and I no longer feel that something has to be sugary to be a treat.  My biggest and most important goal this year has to be accomplished moment to moment, requires focus, and offers things I cannot really put into words.

Philippians 3: 12-14
I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

Whatever your goals, resolutions or plans are for 2012, I hope you have a great moment, day, and year!

Charlie says Happy New Year!

Jesus

5 years ago, I never would have written a blog about Jesus. It wasn't that I didn't believe. It was more that I was completely into standing on my own. In a country that celebrates Christmas, it often feels that we are not supposed to say the name Jesus. Odd.  I spent well over 30 years not talking about him very often and thinking that I was strong enough to do just fine supporting myself. After all, we are told that pure might and will power are enough to make everything possible. Work hard and things will go your way!

Supporting my own world felt lonely. I thought relationships were supposed to fix that. I found that they did not. I thought that if I behaved a certain way and followed certain rules, I was a good person.  Sure, I read that when it comes to Jesus, it isn't works but faith that gets you there. How in the world can I be given something great if  I don't earn it? That just made no sense to me so I basically just ignored it. I worked hard, and a lot of things did go my way. That must mean that I am doing things right! Right?

Then I came across those people who spoke about Jesus and weren't very nice. Just turn on the television, and you will see plenty of people who speak the words being thrown in jail for stealing or worse. How fair is that? These people believe in Jesus, do terrible things, and yet they are still supposed to get the good stuff after they cross the finish? No way.

Follow the rules, or go to hell! Obey! Jesus is Love. God is good. How is any of this supposed to make any sense?! It didn't. I continued on doing the best I could at being a good person and looking to myself to get the job done.  Of course, I made mistakes along the way, and then I would once again pick myself back up and continue on.

Then it happened. You hear people talk about "it", but really you don't get it unless it has happened to you. You just assume they were having a rough time and figured a way out of it ... on their own. For me it wasn't an exact moment in time. It was more like putting the clues together and finally waking up. Sure, there was an event that felt pretty terrible that sparked introspection, but this time I realized that there had been something feeding me information the entire time. I had just been choosing to ignore it. Instead of trying to control life (mostly because it wasn't working), I reached out and asked God for help.  It wasn't in words so much. I just finally gave up the illusion that I could control what happened in all circumstances with my actions.

As I started looking back on my life, I realized that I had spent a lot of time ignoring a very important link that had been providing me information for as a long as I could remember. I didn't have a name for it. It was exciting! It felt as if a new portion of my mind was now accessible to me, and at the same time (please forgive the geeky computer reference) it seemed as though I went from being a dumb terminal to a computer with an internet connection.  I started discussing it with my mom, and I started looking for answers in the Bible. I had heard of the Holy Spirit, but I always thought it was just a figure of speech or something. Then I realized that is exactly what I had been ignoring all of my life.

John 14 says "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."

Wow, that was a surprise! Never in a million years did I think the Holy Spirit was real.

With this new connection, I stopped feeling alone. The more I paid attention, the better I became at paying attention!  Had this been the only change, I still might have been skeptical.  I also began feeling more joy than any other point in my life. Sure, I was running in 90 degree heat, without enough water stops, and feeling physically miserable and tired, but I still had a center of joy beneath all the difficulty. I was still thankful.

The entire concept of God's grace also began making a lot more sense to me. Nope, I don't have to earn it.  There's another side to that, though. When I began asking Jesus for guidance and actually listening, I realized that I stopped making choices out of fear or "wanting to be a good person" and instead based them wanting to do great things for him.  I don't have to earn his love, but because I love him, I naturally want to do the best I can and follow his guidance. I follow out of joy rather than fear, and let me tell you, there is a HUGE difference in the way it feels. Since I'm anything but perfect, there are still going to be mistakes in my future.  Instead of relying on myself to try and fix it all, I can ask Jesus for help. Instead of feeling shame and guilt, I can focus on the joy that Jesus shares with me and be thankful that he can bring joy and good from all things.

Sure, I could have probably made it through my entire life just trying to rely on myself.  But knowing what I know now, there is no way in the world I would ever want to try that again. I missed out on way too much.

Merry Christmas! Every day is a good day to celebrate Jesus and know his joy.