Jessica Stone

A half marathon !!!!!!!

So I find myself running, a few times a week. However, as the weeks turn to months, I was needing some inspiration/motivation. I tried getting Brandon to run with me, but he would much prefer his workouts to be in the water. That, and he quickly realized I was using him- cause when we would run together I would make him push the double jogger and that is enough to make anyone not want to run.

Wouldn’t you know it, but a week later two girls who I’ve come to know at our church had just signed up to run a half marathon-for a great organization we actually knew of and loved in Haiti-and were encouraging/asking if anyone else wanted to join them. I half listened, but was mostly thinking, “13 miles?” That’s funny. That’s actually hilarious.

And then I thought, maybe I should pray about it. It seemed ridiculous to pray about running a race. But here’s why-I didn’t want to do it for the wrong reasons. I had to check my heart. Now hear me on this one. I didn’t want to do it just so I could possibly become better friends with the girls running it. (of course I’m hoping that’s a possible side benefit) If you’ve ever moved and been lonely after that move, you know exactly what I mean. And even though I would love to raise money for a great cause, I didn’t want to do it soley for that reason either. Because, let’s be honest, it would be a heck of a lot easier to ask people to donate without having to run for it!!

The truth is, I want to do it for me. I want to do it because I have been convicted of having a serious lack of discipline, in a few areas of my life, and want a change. I desperately need a change. The Lord has been faithful as I have been getting back into the regular discipline of meeting with Him, and my soul is once again finding rest and satisfaction in Him alone. And I feel like my physical body needs that as well.

So, I signed up. I’ve been casually training for this for about a month, just testing the waters and seeing how I feel. I also think I have been putting off signing up for the race, because then I have to actually run it! I mean geeze, once the word is out, there is no going back. (eeeeeeeeekk!!)

If you would like more information about the big race, and about the amazing organization we are running for, you can go to a fundraising website we set up. Please feel free to donate,throw out some encouragement, or pray for the health and safety of the girls running- My goal is to run the whole thing-who cares about how long it takes!

https://www.crowdrise.com/heartlinerocknrollru/fundraiser/jessicastone4

A little bit of running

Running. It’s been a mostly hate hate relationship my whole life. Well, that’s not entirely true. I did run regularly a lifetime ago when we lived by the beach, and even did a 10K with some girlfriends. I also ran for a few months in Nicaragua when I had a next door neighbor who loved to run so she somehow tricked me into three days a week. (the kicker being I have had bad knee problems, and never really could run more than a mile without them hurting-and oh my goodness-I’m almost embarrassed to admit that after researching tons about it while training for that 10K, I realized it was due to be stretching before I ran, while my muscles were cold and tight. Can you believe that?! Years of pain and it simply stopped!)

For some odd reason, I started running a little bit a few months after Hudson was born. I think it began in my need to leave the house for a few moments and get some fresh air. And then I realized, having two kids under two is, well, stressful. And I quickly realized how much of a stress relief it is to run. I know you runners are thinking, “ummm hello, we’ve told you this before!” And it’s true. Who doesn’t have stress in their life?! And for some reason, much to my surprise, I am enjoying running. Like really enjoying it. So I started running about three days a week, pretty regularly since we moved here. But as it got hotter and hotter, I was slowly starting to lose motivation. I would brave the heat, after the kids went to bed, and it was still 95 and like 120% humidity. It would take me over two hours to cool down-from a two mile run! And I just loathe running on a treadmill. So I lost a bit of my momentum.

However, I have been back at it again. For about two months nows. And I want to tell you why …!! Stay tuned for the next post !!!!!

A lovely visit.

Grandma&Grandpa came for a visit. It was delightful. We of course took them to Eliana’s gymnastics, and she loved that Grandpa sat with her in the circle,stretching and trying new moves with her!

Brandon and I went to Living Water’s yearly Gala, and they watched the kids for us. It was fun to dress up (wow, i have’t worn heels in a long time!) and we enjoyed getting an update on what is going on with LWI. It was a good reminder that even though it was time for us to move on, they are still a good organization that are committed to bringing people clean water in Jesus’ name, and that is great thing.

We were so excited to take them to our small town parade, the annual Rice Harvest Parade. It’s in honor of all the rice that used to be grown right here in Katy, but sadly there are really only two large companies left and the rest is basically suburbs. It was pretty legit, with some great floats, and man it felt like the entire town came to watch! Our church decorated a float, and it was low key but cute with hay stacks and such. But at the very last second, as we were pulling into the street someone noticed the trailer tires were flat. Like flat flat. So we all jumped off, made a quick decision that we had to unhook the trailer and so we yanked all the signs and streamers off and attached them to the truck! We got it all worked out, even though we didn’t look as cute, and only 1/3 of the people could fit inside, so a bunch of us just walked alongside it with the kids. I was amazed at how many people lined the streets for block and blocks!

We somehow also crammed in the Zoo, a few fun meals at new restaurants, and they even watched the kids so we could get away for a night. We went to Austin, and let me tell you, that is a great city. It kind of felt like San Diego-kind of eclectic, lots of unique places to see and visit, good national parks and hiking, and very scenic. It was delightful!!