New found respect...

Okay, so this is random and I fear that I will sound like a commercial, but I'm going to share anyway. Most of you have probably heard of P90X right? Well, I found something even worse!! (Worse in a good way of course.) There is this new conditioning program called "Insanity," and it truly is insanity. The program is a cardio intensive training program designed to deliver P90X results in 60 days without any extra exercise equipment. That's right, just you and your body. The guy (Shawn T?) developed the program based on his experience from years of track and field training. The program has you do max interval training for long periods of time with brief, and I would like to emphasize the brief, periods of rest. It has a heavy plyometric tone throughout the program. Which if you don't know what that means, here is the wikipedia definition. "Plyometrics is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system, generally for the purpose of improving performance in sports. Plyometric movements, in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence, use the strength, elasticity and innervation of muscle and surrounding tissues to jump higher, run faster, throw farther, or hit harder, depending on the desired training goal. Plyometrics is used to increase the speed or force of muscular contractions, providing explosiveness for a variety of sport-specific activities." All this to say it is horrible! I'm only on day 3 and I am super sore. Pathetic I know. What can I say, I'm out of shape for real! I mean, if my body looked the way it feels right now, I would be ripped from head to toe! Unfortunately, that is not the case. Anyway, the new found respect comes in for athletes such as football players, soccer players, military personnel, Olympians, and other athletes. I can't imagine how bad "2 a days" and basic training and those things must be! I mean this workout lasts about 40 minutes and I am ready to throw up, pass out, and cry all in one. So kudos to you!
There you have it, my promo for "Insanity." I'll keep you posted on how it's going if I can find the willpower to make myself keep it up : )

Okay one more...

One more video that will give you a better idea of what the facility is like, rather than just how adorable the children are!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM-7wmcAzN0

Faces of Angels

If you don't know, which you might not, I will be serving on a mission trip with Show Hope... in China... for 2 weeks this summer!! First, let me just give you a little background about how all of this came about and how awesome our God is! So after the earthquake in Haiti, I was just overwhelmed with thoughts, emotions, and a desire to do something, anything to help. (I posted a long note about it on Facebook if you're interested.) Anywho, I began to be burdened in particular for the insane amount of orphans, both old and new, in Haiti. If you know me, you know that I love kids, and have a special love for orphans. So, I began looking at adoption information. Yes, I know, I'm not married, and I am not financially able to adopt at this time anyway, but it doesn't hurt to hope and prepare for the future, right? Well, this led me to Shaohannah's Hope, an organization founded by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife as a movement to care for orphans. I remember first hearing about the organization in high school at a concert of his. Once on the website, I stumbled upon Maria's Big House of Hope (MBHOH). MBHOH is an orphange/medical facility in Luoyang, China dedicated to saving the lives of special needs orphans...my heart immediately began to pound out of my chest! I began looking for opportunities to serve/volunteer there, but found none at the moment. (In case you don't know, you should probably know that I am an RN, just one reason this facility in particular touched my heart.) I did find however, a place to sign up for updates on upcoming mission opportunities with Show Hope, which of course I did. About 2 weeks later, I received an email about Show Hope's summer mission trip...you ready for this...to MBHOH!! I immediately called my parents and sent them the link to check it out. I also called one of my very best friends who I knew would pray about the opportunity with me. I hastily filled out the application and mailed it to Show Hope. Then on March 5th I received a wonderful phone call inviting me to join the Show Hope team this summer! I could barely tell her yes due to the excitement I felt! I wanted to squeal and do a nice little dance around my room : ) All of that to say, our God is SO Good! He knew I had been battling discouragement. He knew/ knows my heart for orphans, missions, and children in general. He knows my desire to glorify Him with my life, my desire to die to self and live for Him alone...And our faithful Father is allowing me an opportunity to make that happen. Not to say this is the first time, but this is the most recent of His blessings to me. Oh how GREAT He is!! So, if you would like to know more or see a little bit more of MBHOH, here is the website as well as two video from MBHOH. The videos will explain the title of this post. I know this was a rather long post, but I just wanted to share.
-with love
http://www.showhope.org/OrphanCare/MariasBigHouseofHope.aspx
Videos: Sorry I can't figure out how to post the videos on here, but here are the links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71Of0GBKQ5I and the 2nd one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTs3_UCiLwg

Well Hello Friends!

In light of the recent overwhelming outpour of blessings from my Lord, I have decided to start a blog. Why, you ask? 1)to keep friends and family up-to-date on the happenings of my crazy yet wonderful life and 2)as a way to journal/ share thoughts, pictures, concerns, and life in general. In light of that, I should probably give you fair warning... this blog will be random. It will truly embrace its title- "skill-less raconteuring"! I hope though that you can find and see encouragement, laughter, love and my Jesus throughout my ramblings.
- with love