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Marathon Mania!

I am a loser! And proud! I came in dead last, along with Teresa and Steve in the 99th Annual Thanksgiving Day Race. Knowing that coming in first would be futile it became the goal to be that last ones across the finish line. And so we were. We hooked arms with the 3 other people coming in last like Dorothy and gang and headed across the finish line. Lofty Goal reached! And if you think it's easy, it's not! Just when you think you're last you look behind and there are 6 people who have somehow lagged further than you. It takes strategy to be last!

Here are some fun pictures. Video to follow!

Teresa, Theresa and Melanie


The catalyst - this whole thing was his idea. My back and legs aren't so sure they're happy with him. But I am!


The view from the gathering place.


Theresa was the official number attacher.


Headed to the starting line. Look at the sea of people already lined up!

Apparently there was a nudist colony that participated in the event. There were random clothes flung about from beginning to end. We never saw the nekkit people. They must have been under invisibility cloaks.


Leah needed a little push up the first incline. I'm not sure if this could be considered cheating or not...

This was my bus stop during high school. I rode the 36 Express.


...And be a hooker!
...Or a stripper?

ONE MILE!

The random clothes along the street started to disturb me...Maybe I missed the Rapture??


Oh, look - something else is on the road!

Must have come from Teresa's new friend...



Another haul up a hill.

When you're last in line you get an escort!


Someone thought this building design was worth millions.

I don't get it.


uhhh...


The finish line!

The tag removal!

The grand collapse.

Love Wins!

When people should be ashamed of themselves...

All this for material goods...And during a season that supposedly celebrates the birth of Jesus...

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20243367,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

Preparing for the race

Tomorrow is the big day...My first Thanksgiving Day race ever. My first organized marathon of any kind ever (ok, except for the 24-hour rock-a-thon I did when I was in high school but that was sitting in a rocking chair). This is the real thing!

1. Check weather

WCPO.COM says for tomorrow

Low of 33

High of 50

At 8:30 in the morning it will likely be the low.

2. Get clothes ready

I'll need:

Two body suits

One pair of double layer workout pants

One pair of warm socks

One long sleeved t-shirt

One sweatshirt

One groovy pair of new walking shoes

New coat made with down and feathers.

One pair of red gloves

One pair of red mittens (to go over red gloves)

One complimentary head band from the race people

One knit cap

One cozy scarf

OK....that oughta cover it!

Somehow this reminds me of....



But by gummit I won't be cold!

Bring on the race!!

Storming the gates...

One of my favorite preacher-people is Bill Johnson...He says "Wake up each morning and ask 'what are we going to today, Lord?' then go to bed each night with blood on your sword".

If anyone is up for some pain here is a prayer challenge inspired by my friend Elizabeth...

For lent one year she took the "pray for your enemies" scriptures and applied them to herself... Everyday she prayed for Osama Bin Laden. She said it was very hard to do this.

Here is the challenge:

-Select one person. It can be someone you know or someone you don't know but that you have issue with (like Elizabeth did with Bin Laden).

- Each day for one week, pray for them. If no one comes immediately to mind, ask God to bring someone to mind...

Here are the guidelines:

1 - Pray with the heart and mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Remember there isn't a person we lock eyes with that Jesus didn't die for...His heart is love. He is love first and foremost - it is what everything He does flows from. The love we have inside us as believers is a love unknown/inaccessible to mortal man. It is God's kind of love (agape) and is only available to those who love the Lord. WE HAVE IT, brothers and sisters...we just gotta tap in.

2 - Set aside judgment of the person you are praying for (no matter what they have done, God loves them. If this is hard, confess to God how you feel about the person and ask for His thoughts on it. Ask him to show you something he loves about them.

3 - (optional) Write out your prayer or say it out loud - not just in your spirit. There is power in the spoken word. Then write anything you "hear" from God...Many times he will show you areas where you could pray for them...Maybe against fear or for a health issue, etc. If you know the person, maybe ask them if there's anything you can pray for them about.

4 - Have fun storming the castle! You don't have to weep and travail or be pious. Just talk to God about the person and see what He says and how you can serve this person in your prayers.

5 - Come share your experience in the comment section and invite others to take the challenge.

God loves the little doggies... :)

Sketch was at the vet's office on November 11th. He had a growth on his chest. The vet found that it looked suspiciously enough like a mast cell tumor that we scheduled surgery to have it removed.In my circle of Jesus freaks, we believe that God has empowered us to do what Jesus did. And Jesus taught that instead of just asking God to do stuff for us, we should use what He has equipped us with and "speak to your mountain"...I have done this in the past and each time I have seen the fruits of it. Maybe not immediately in any dramatic earth-shattering on-the-spot miracle, but when I stood facing the mountain of being laid off from my job a couple of years ago I told that mountain to move and it did. A year later I was called back to the job and employers I love. So, for Sketch I prayed everyday. I put my hand over that ugly thing and commanded it to die. I prayed for it to shrivel up and fall off (any 80s movies fans know where I got that line??!).
Earlier this week I looked at it and what did I see? It had scabbed over...And it fell off.

Woohoo!

This is what it looked like after the scabby thing fell off:

And this is what it looks like today:

His surgery has been canceled and he goes in for follow up next week.

If you are a follower of Jesus, believe that you have been equipped for battle! Because you have. If God can heal a little 12 pound dog through a broken busted up vessel like me, think of all the other stuff He can do through people willing to take a risk...

We are Royalty!

End of the Line

I've been married for 5 and a half years. The bulk of those have been spent trying to right what went terribly wrong somewhere early in year two. Last night I took a step that leaves both of us reeling. In a moment of insanity - or maybe sanity - after another 4 hour conversation rehashing the same stuff we always do, I said "I'm done. Unless you can convince me that this is the biggest mistake I could make in my life."

For me this means removing my rings and living as if we are going our separate ways. This means no backing down. No fearing. No lolling back into comfort and allowing us to live in stagnation just because it's easier than facing the big split. That's a merry go round we've been on for far too long and it hasn't done either one of us any good.

I hate this.

I hate it.

Hate it.

At the same time I feel a weird, queasy sense of relief.

I don't know what this will look like in the next weeks and months. No clue. I don't know what I am doing or how to go about it. But I have to muster up trust to lean on the One who makes all things new and works everything together for good for His children. Having trust issues is a hard one all around because it leaks into the fact that I so believed that marrying this man was God-led. I'm learning that perhaps I misread some things or missed the still small voice that might have been saying "yes, but wait for my timing".

What good does it do to look back? None.

I have to look forward.

Even if it means forward into a life on my own.

This song spoke to me today in alot of ways...And it became something of a prayer.

I have entered love's asylum.
Stripped of what I thought was real
I pray its more than just illusion.
Can I trust in what your eyes reveal?

The water rises all around me
And the ground shakes at my feet
My worst enemies surround me
And I feel the sun's heat.
The flames threaten to consume me
And the wind howls from behind
But I'd risk everything to know
That you are mine
At the end of the line.

© Phelps/Jones 2008

Walking out the blues...

It's fall...My least favorite season of the year. Even the happy bunnies in my head which usually look something like this:

Look something like this:





Due to some stuff that God and I are working through in my own soul, I felt the need to ditch doing family stuff for Thanksgiving this year. I didn't know what I would do. But the thought of putting on a happy clappy family face for Thanksgiving wore me out so I resolved to find something else to do whether it was hole up somewhere with a book and burrito or go away for the day. Then my friend invited me along to a 6 mile walk on T-day. I don't like to be outside in the cold. But it seemed like it would be warmer amongst friends than by myself.

So I registered.

http://thanksgivingdayrace.com/index.php

Join us!

Sozo Conference '08

This gets a big Dan WWWWWOOWWWW...

What a weekend! It was awesome, it was awful, it was amazing and it was a wild ride! Talk about a roller coaster. But I learned a lot and grew a lot and I am still processing. The Sozo folks from Bethel Church in Redding, Ca. are gifted teachers and administers of emotional/spiritual healing. I went on Friday to be in the "hot seat" for a Sozo with somoene from the Bethel team. This was good because it gave me a chance to see them in action. I was able to observe how they work, see what I did and did not like in how they did things and decide what to do and not do when we are ministering here. It was very confirming to see that they work very similarly to how we do on our Sozo team. YAY!

And now, a few pictures from the trip. First of all, I needed a travelling companion. So I kidnapped a Horgan Gnome. He's the one who always moons us as we exit their house. So I called him "Gmoony".

Here he is with my kidnapping accomplices.

Crossing over the border into Indiana

Playing hide and seek behind my diet coke.

This was a God-send. I was feeling really sleepy and while I don't like caffeine I knew I wouldn't make it without something to keep me awake. In Harrsion where I work there's a Shell Station with a Circle-K store and they sell these giant pops for 59 cents. I was longing for one of those...I figured I'd just settle for a drive through pop at a Wendy's. So I pulled off at the next exit...Well, there sat a Shell station/Circle-K! Wooohooo! They charged 10 cents more than here...But still...Look at the size of that! And better still - they had caffeine Free diet coke that I mixed with regular diet so I'd get a wake up but not climb the walls.

Inspecting...

For bed bugs at the hotel...

We were clean...

So we slept well.

Checking morning e-mail.

At lunch with my new friends from the church that hosted the conference.

These folks were the nicest people in the world. They welcomed me in like I had been one of their own for years. It's funny how there are no strangers in the Kingdom of God. The lady there in between the guy and the woman in red was neat. When I met her, her face looked tired. She was having a hard time finding where God was in her life, where he was in her difficulties. But by the end He had shown up in such a real way for her that her whole countenance changed. Her cheeks had color, her eyes were shining and she looked at peace. She told me she had a breakthrough...And it came just by prayer over her and her taking some time to rest in the presence of God's love. He must have spoken really great stuff to her! I was so concerned that she would leave that conference dissapointed. But God always shows up!

Me and the Bethel Sozo team...Theresa, Dawna, Deborah and Susan.

Gmoony has been safely returned to his gnome garden at the Horgans. He had fun too. He wanted to meet the Sozo folks but I was concerned he would frighten them. So he stayed in my backpack. I did get Kevin the autograph he wanted - even though I felt goofy for asking!

I am glad to be home amongst my own, but it was a good visit to extended family and friends!

Road Trip!

Just me. Just some music and God. And a little ceramic friend I kidnapped. Hoping for some awesome learning and to meet new friends!

Pics forthcoming!

Change I can't believe in...

Today is a day that will, if it goes as predicted, change the course of our country and alter the very fabric of the ideals of our founding fathers. Socialism will begin to be introduced into our lives. I recently heard this summary: Socialism is the step between capitalism and communism.

Because I am a Christ follower I have likely been seen as a hypocrite because I stand against the principals of socialism as a form of government. After all, socialism seems to be all about sharing. And God calls us to share. I love sharing. But the United States government was not designed to do what individuals and church communities should be doing. The founding fathers did not intend to make the government a social problem solver with laws and rules that mean to make things "fair" but that wind up infringing on basic freedoms.

Communism is:

1.	a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.

2.	(often initial capital letter) a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.

3.	(initial capital letter) the principles and practices of the Communist party.

The following countries are currently communist:

China
Cuba
Laos
North Korea
Vietnam

Communism and Marxism are closely linked. According to Wikipedia, the following countries had governments at some point in the twentieth century who at least nominally adhered to Marxism:

Albania, Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Republic of Congo, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Ethiopia, Grenada, Hungary, Laos, Moldova, Mongolia,
Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, North Korea, Poland, Romania, Russia, USSR and its republics, South Yemen, Yugoslavia, Venezuela, Vietnam.

I note that a number of these countries have been or currently are places where people are killed for being Christ followers.

I love generosity. I believe in the call Jesus put on my life to love Him first, others next and myself last. I believe in the call to set the captives free. I do not believe that a society based in communism adheres to these principals because it arbitrarily binds people to the will of the government. And I believe God loves us so much that he has given us a basic freedom of will. God doesn't force His ways on us. He loves us into choosing them.

Socialism will not change hearts. And that's where it has to begin.

Farewell, United States of America as it was intended to be.

God bless us all...God bless our leadership. Teach me how to pray in this new world.

Jesus, Bono and Barry Manilow

Religion is what you have left when the Spirit leaves the building

-Bono

The 80s rock star has it right. Don't get me wrong, I love beautiful buildings and I like traditions. They are great. But too often the building and the tradition, the routine of "doing church" become what church is. But the church isn't supposed to stop there. Jesus walked out what God intends us to walk out: A life full of love and of power. Anyone who believes the words of Jesus to be true IS the Church because they have been indwelled with the Spirit of God. I am the Church. I am walking around with God inside of me. No, really, I am! The God who created all that is in the earth and in the universe, The God who spoke the world into being. The God who raised Jesus from the dead. His Spirit resides in me. That ain't just pretty talk or a neato metaphor. It's true. The more I allow Him to show me, the more I understand this to be true. It's not something I can argue someone into believing. It's just something one has to experience.

I can liken this to

BARRY MANILOW?!

Ok, stick with me here...it's similar to the Manilow-concert phenomenon. Barry Manilow carries a stigma. To say you like Barry is to open yourself to ridicule. Yet, after seeing him in concert I have seen former naysayers proudly proclaim that they, too, have become believers in the talents of Manilow. They buy his CDs, long to see another show and tell others they have to see him live on stage to understand what a fabulous showman he is.

To say I am a believer in Jesus and especially to say that I can do the things Jesus did and things even greater, is to risk having eyes rolled at me or having people smile sweetly to my face and then make fun of me later ...Even to be called a heretic. But I care less and less about my reputation. When you start to see the stuff of the Gospels happen before your eyes it's hard to turn back. I have seen physical healings and I've seen demons flee. I have seen Jesus show up and melt a person's hardened heart with His love - just because I was willing to risk looking foolish and invite the unseen to speak to them personally. I was healed myself. It's worth it all to give others what I have been given.

I used to wonder why I have always liked things that other people think are goofy or weird...From the music I like




to the animals that I find loveable



to my days in improvisational comedy.

But I don't wonder anymore.

It has prepared me to walk in the world like a sheep among wolves.

I am willing to speak out that yes, I believe that through the power of the Jesus Christ, the lame will walk. The deaf will hear. The blind will see...

The dead will rise....