Dream Job…

A few months ago, my daughter asked me, “Mommy, if you could do anything, what would your dream job be?”  She’s 8, super smart, opinionated, quick-witted, funny, and really inquisitive.  I thought for a sec and said, “You know, I’m super lucky and blessed to love what I do already!”  I’ve been a Chiropractor for 15 years and I really do love helping patients and seeing their lives transform.  She pressed and said again, “No Mom, your DREAM job!”  Without thinking, “author” flew right out of my mouth!  Honestly, I was as shocked as she was!  I’ve always been an avid reader, since I was little.. in fact, my girl had just been teasing me about how many books I was into.  We counted 9 – reading ADD perhaps? But to write a book?  A book worth reading???  That would absolutely be my dream…

I think there’s pure magic in reading something that touches the heart and changes the mind to see the world differently, even just a little.  Ever since she asked me that question, I’ve felt little nudges to start writing.. and so I have.  Today, I registered the domain name and here I am writing my first blog.  It’s a huge (scary) leap of faith for me.  Feeling exposed and vulnerable… but that’s what life is all about, right? That’s where God really digs in and does His best work.  My prayer is that sharing my experiences will help others along a similar journey. 

 Running and faith are so interconnected for me… I’ve been running pretty regularly for years, since my first divorce in 2012. It was an ugly divorce, a long grueling process.  My world was crashing and I felt like I had only a few options for handling it… I would try to make light of things and say, “Well, I could either hit the bottle or hit the pavement.”  I was trying to manage staying sane through the divorce, while raising my little girl (less than 2 at the time), running my practice, and dealing with the lawyers. I was on the brink…

I’ve never been athletic, never played sports growing up.  In fact, I still will duck anytime a ball comes toward me!  Oddly enough, though, I ran here and there over the years.  Never longer than a few miles and not with any goal in mind.  There was always something cathartic to me about running, even when I couldn’t go more than 2 minutes without feeling like I would die right there on the trail.  

I decided to train for a half-marathon and it was life-changing.  At a time when there was so much of my life out of control, running was one thing I could work at, see improvement, and feel a sense of pride.  I didn’t have much support back then.  No running group or running buddies.   No support from family.  In fact, a family member said, “What makes you think you could even do that?  You’re not a runner!” But, something in me needed to keep going. The first time I crossed that finish line, it was incredibly emotional.  The sense of accomplishment was completely overwhelming.  That’s the thing about running… the only way to cross that finish line is to do it on your own.  There’s something so incredibly gratifying to that…. so empowering!  After that, I was hooked and now have completed many halves and even a full marathon.  

I’m not a fantastic runner.  I have good seasons and really rough seasons.  But, it’s not about that for me.  It’s about how I feel.  It’s about being outside in God’s beauty.  It’s about putting that training plan up on my fridge and marking off my runs.  It’s about my daughter watching me set goals, train hard, and accomplish them.  It’s about praying while running through the hills and valleys of life.  It’s about connecting with the running buddies I’m blessed to have.  It’s about knowing when to listen to my body and reel it in.  It’s about feeling strong and passing other runners when I can!  It’s so much more than just putting one foot in front of the other.  

That verse from Hebrews is what I hope my writing may do:  to spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  I feel that my daughter really provoked that in me, brought that dream to reality.  Here’s my first step down that path, my first blog.  Hopefully, the first of many.