conestoga trail run

colby asked a month ago if i wanted to do this race with him and i was hesitant, but said yes because i figured if he was doing it - and he doesn't even like to run - then i should be okay. the conestoga trail run can really not be described, only experienced. it is ten EXTREME miles from the pequea campground to the holtwood park.

colby's friend said his time on this race is usually double what it would be for running ten miles on the road. a lot of the time running is nearly impossible as you climb up muddy rocky hills on all fours, or try to navigate the trails without injury. colby and i both agreed that the series of hills leading to the pinnacle overlook was the most difficult. it is a very steep incline that goes on for miles.

we both passed people in the section through tucquan glen. little mountain goats that we have become from navigating those slippery rocks with our family so many times. i kept thinking of things my dad would tell us while hiking about survival that i always laughed at, but it's funny how helpful they were. just simple things that i noticed other people not doing. okay, so colby and i were probably the only ones laying down to drink out of the creeks/springs we passed. clearly we were raised more to live off the land then buy camelbaks and everything else people think they need to survive. i don't mean to sound judgmental though, because if i run it again i might buy a camelbak, i got soo thirsty. also hungry. i focused on steak for a mile i bet.

i so wish there were videos of each of us on this trail run, along with captions of our thoughts. i like to keep myself entertained while running, which means not running the normal way all the time. if you've ever seen the episode of friends where phoebe runs through central park like a goon - that's me. not always, just when i need to mix it up. pretended i was a horse for awhile. prayed in tongues for awhile when i didn't think i was gonna make it up that damn forever hill - you seriously go uphill and then go uphill again, the only downhill is a brief portion after the pinnacle before you get to kelly's run then it's all uphill again.

i think i got a lot of good prayer coverage in. i was claiming the land and it felt good! it's amazing how much people chat on the trail, and three people i was with at one point were talking about the marathons they've done and since i didn't have anything to contribute to that i just said, "i really hope we see some deer!" "did you say you ran this last year?" "no, no i said i hope we see some deer!" "oh ..." she didn't know what to say but it didn't matter because i passed her. ;-)
there were water breaks at miles two and four, and again at the pinnacle, the seventh mile mark.

oh the sweat!

off again! "only three more miles!" they said. encouraging at first, except the reality was they were the rockiest and hardest to know if you were on the right trail. kelly's run is super confusing and i've been lost there while hiking so i was really nervous about staying on the right trail. someone ahead of me sprained their ankle and several people got way off trail and had to scale their way back through brush.

my amazing brother.

finally making my way to the finish, woop!

i got confused at the end, wasn't sure where exactly the finish line was haha.

colby and cindy, post-race. our sweet mom also came to cheer us on.

he will probably not appreciate me posting these pictures of him, but i think they're great! i mean what a renaissance man. he can strength train like a beast AND run a crazy ten mile trail run!? i also love that some lady told him "thanks for taking your shirt off, that really kept me going for awhile!" oh my brother.

ashley & joe's wedding

me with all of the "little people" - his niece & three nephews & the two kids she nannies.

the beautiful bride!

ashley with tim & kim, her sweet sweet parents!

maid of honor and bride, such a joy celebrating the day i've listened to her dream about even before she met her amazing groom!

the crazy maid of honor MIGHT have instigated this little push-up fiasco before the ceremony.

with ashley's lovely friend justine, in between posing for pictures.

i hit it off with taylor, the seven-year-old flower girl (my real age, at heart) and she put me up to this. ashley is her nanny and she is the sweetest thing ever! she made my day twice - first when she looked up at me during the ceremony and winked at me, and again at the reception when she started giving me a back rub out of the blue! so dear.

joe & ashley with all their little people - hopefully foreshadowing the number of cute kids this beautiful couple will have, tehe.

bridal party photo by five-year-old brandon, who took a liking to my camera. i had soo many hilarious pictures to look at later, i totally recommend letting kids use your camera.

brandon with ashley, so adorable.

ash with her man, his brothers, and her brother on the far right.

joe said that he was going to be a gentleman and wait to smash it, because he knew she would go for it. and she did. but then he got her, love it.

it was a wonderful wedding and i'm so excited to see where these two go in life - they are such a power couple, so in love with the Lord and each other and just pursuing His heart. they are such an encouragement to me! i told ash i hope i'm like her on my wedding day, meaning CALM. she was cool as a cucumber, not stressed about anything, and seemed to just savor and enjoy every moment.

it was so special to spend the weekend with her. ashley's amazing dad brought us starbucks while we got our hair done before the wedding and we chatted away - a pretty perfect morning. her stylist told her to keep her eyes on joe while she walked down the aisle and just take it in and remember that forever.

i l-o-v-e watching brides walk down the aisle, and seeing their groom's face - joe's was so sweet, gentle, loving. he and his brothers had tears in their eyes and then i did too. i'm so sentimental, but it's great, i wouldn't want it any other way!

please feel free to bawl your eyes out at my wedding - and then laugh til you cry again, dance your heart out and take too many pictures. cause it's gonna be a party ... that is, if i don't elope. that's the title of my wedding folder on pinterest - "if i don't elope." HA, but it is so chock full of ideas that it seems like a shame not to use them. i'll just keep everyone guessing until that day comes. ;-)

my minnesota besty

i should be packing for minnesota. i fly out tomorrow to spend the weekend celebrating the wedding of my dear friend ashley.

we met in 2008. i can't believe it was that long ago that we were both in maui doing the ywam school of biblical foundations & missions - one of the best seasons of my life, wowza! ash and i clicked and were pretty much inseparable during our time there. don't let "inseparable" fool you, i don't mean we were always together, cause part of what made our friendship great is that we're both independent girls with an introverted streak.

neither one of us had ever dated or kissed anyone at that point in life - a rarity for two twenty-year-olds. it surprised everyone else, but when we talked about it together we totally bonded over this fact, quickly realizing that we had each just made a new friend who 1) loved the Lord above all else and 2) had no desire to conform to society or live a "normal" life and 3) wanted the best, in our future husbands and in everything else in life.

when we talk we get fired up and gain momentum from each other. ashley's friendship has truly been a gift from God because even once we left maui and stayed in touch via phone, our conversations continued to spur me on in my relationship with God. to have a friend who takes her walk with the Lord seriously and whose passion only fuels me to go deeper and deeper is INCREDIBLE. if only we lived in the same neighborhood!

i love this girl's passion, her hearty amens and hallelujahs. i love the way we talk about the things of the Lord. i love it when she prays for me. i love her sass and her spunk and how much she has taught me about myself. those are the best of friends - the ones who teach you things you didn't even realize about yourself. i just find something special in that. ashley builds me up. i wish i had more friends like her!

one of the comical things she showed me is that i am intimidating. when she told me that she was intimidated by me at first but really really wanted to be friends with me, i couldn't believe it! how could i possible be intimidating to one of the most beautiful and confident girls i've ever met?! (i still don't get it.)

we had so many crazy awesome adventures together in maui (and in pa, nj & nyc when she came to visit me!) that i am having trouble narrowing down which stories to tell at her wedding. i am incredibly honored to be ashley's maid-of-honor. i was tearing up today thinking about her wedding and expect plenty more tears this weekend.

she waited and prayed for her man, believing God had the best and He did! i am so proud of her, so i can only imagine how her parents must feel. that's one reasons weddings give me such happy sappy tears - thinking about the families who watched these two people grow up and mature and prayed for their spouses and now they get to watch their lives come together forever. ohmygoodness, God you are so so good!

what would you say

"why do we need to believe in God when we have mozart?"

hmm. i feel like i grew up in a subculture where this statement wouldn't carry a whole lot of weight because belief in God is highly valued and appreciation of mozart doesn't rank quite as high. when my philosophy professor mentioned the quote i knew it would stick with me. i so look up to people who are passionate about something.

someone who finds beauty in mozart to sustain their soul enough to be satisfied without God would most definitely intrigue me. what would my response be if they asked me why they should believe in God when they could believe in great art, in the depth of beauty and talent in something like mozart's music?

you might be entertaining the notion that the person is asking a stupid question, but they aren't. even if i weren't from the school of "there are no stupid questions" i would stand firm in saying that question is not stupid. we crave attachment and if not found in religion, it can be found in just about anything from great art to politics to the NFL. while modern science continues to fragment our world, art reconnects us. so does religion - and we have seen a resurgence of fundamentalist religions since the 1970's.

what would you say to that question? perhaps you agree with it?

there are a bajillion cliches i could rattle off as a response. surely using made-up words like bajillion would add limitless credibility to whatever i said. HA. i am smart but i have a lot of trouble believing it. i am easily intimidated by intellectual people. there are a lot of logical responses i could give to a person questioning whether or not they should believe in God, but my lack of confidence in my ability to deliver those explanations often stops me from trying.

i don't want to stay this way, i want to be bold. i know that God gives us tools (like an education, information, sound mind, wisdom, etc) to use for a purpose, and i have a lot to offer and i let it go to waste a lot.

two weeks ago at church someone said that one of the biggest injustices we can commit is to know the TRUTH and not share it. gulp. guilty. two days later in my philosophy seminar my professor similarly declared that there is no point in seeing truth if you do not share the truth with others. God is the ultimate jokester with the best sense of humor ever (obviously, He's the originator) because of course He would speak powerfully to me through someone who denies His existence.

i am challenged to get over myself and my measly fears. because what seems like common sense to me is not to other people. the relationship i have with God that i take for granted, is not something that everyone else has.

so what would i say?

SO. MANY. THINGS. i tried writing it all out and realized i would have to hear where they are coming from first. no matter what their specifics were i have a feeling i would have to talk about growing up with so many questions and wrestling through my faith.

i would encourage them to be as skeptical as possible if they so desired, because if they honestly seek it they will eventually find Truth. and yes, there is only one Truth! not a different truth for everyone.

i think people fear skepticism because they aren't sure of what they believe. they don't encourage questions because they're afraid when someone heads down a road of skepticism they won't come back. the person who is afraid to go down that road with them is terrified of what they might find. what if there is no meaning? there is. because if there were no meaning we wouldn't have the capacity to question whether or not there was. what if their current religion or belief system turns out to be wrong? they'd rather stay on a superficial "safe" level. maybe that's why so many religious groups turn into cults, or foster closed off communities that do not encourage life outside of the group, or thoughts beyond "groupthink."

i can confidently encourage you to ask all your questions, do all your soul searching and studying and whatever else. i'm not afraid of what you're going to find, and if i know you're searching than i will be praying for you. and i will be praying that you find Truth sooner than later because it breaks my heart to think of it only being revealed to you after you die. the sooner the better - because it's not even just about eternal consequences - if you come to know Truth on earth you will live an abundant life and have a best friend like no other. God has been the best friend to me, i love Him so much, He's so good.

if a jaded tone is here, it's because i'm aiming a lot of my thoughts at philosophers with a certain hostility toward Christianity. i don't argue with them, i hate arguing. maybe i need to, all the while praying for open ears because they always seem so sealed off, but i know God can open ears and soften hearts.

i also have a pet peeve with arguing because there are a lot of annoying Christian arguments and/or Christians who argue annoyingly. maybe it's one of those things like singing, where it can sound terrible to the person next to you but it's still beautiful to God because it's praise or genuine or whatever. i should give them the benefit of the doubt and say their arguments are being presented out of love for the other person.

i don't remember Jesus arguing with people. i read about Him asking people lots of questions. of course He did. He wasn't one bit afraid of the answers. He knew that even if people wanted to pretend to themselves they couldn't lie to His Father. He knew that He was the way, the truth and the life. Jesus didn't get defensive, He just lived and loved and boldly declared truth.

tell me

tell me if this is creepy.

you're working out at the gym, a guy you don't know but have seen there before waves at you. then he comes over and says he hasn't seen you in awhile and wants to know how you are and what's new. you've never actually had a conversation with him. you give short answers hoping he lets you get back to working out. after what feels like an eternity of him talking (about who knows what because you've zoned out) he finally leaves.

on your first day of class for the new semester you arrive in the knick of time but of course everyone else arrived early so it looks like no seats are left as you scan the room.

but then you see that guy from the gym waving at you. and pointing to the only empty seat next to him. noooo. except yes, yes of course this is happening because it is your life and there is never a dull moment.

so you make it through class and then he starts offering you protein shakes. all you can think is, what is this, a new date rape drug? women have become too aware of date rape and now guys have moved onto gym rape instead? you tell him no thanks. repeatedly.

you see him again in another class when he walks in calling you chels. i mean, calling you whatever beloved nickname is generally reserved for people you actually know. when you see him in a THIRD class and he yells "chels!" the disbelief spills off your lips as you say in an irritated tone, "dude what is your major??" and he laughs and it turns out he has the same major AND minor as you.

and now every time you're at the gym - the school or local gym, because of course he goes to both - he finds you. but now he takes the protein shake offers to another level and tells you that he has a PILL that he wants you to try. what the?? you say NO.

it's only the second week of school and you're already sooo sick of him asking you to take things. you could have sworn the d.a.r.e. program was in sixth grade for a reason, because middle and high school were the prime time for peer pressure to do drugs. but as usual you are behind in the normal train of life and the time frame for when things normally happen to people. you never had a problem saying no and you still don't, but being thoroughly annoyed is another story.

one for the books

yesterday my time and conversation with my dad was one for the books. there have been plenty of those. if it seems like i write about my dad a lot, there are probably a lot of reasons, but one of them is that i just want to remember everything he says.

we talked about sex for awhile. i decided that everyone should experience a sex talk with my dad because oh my goodness, it will make you laugh. actually no way should everyone experience that, probably very few could handle it, but i'm glad i can talk about anything with my dad. i feel like most people my age (any age?) would never ever even consider talking about sex with their parents.

one of the internet-appropriate things (HA.) he said was that sex really isn't everything. someone once told him it is the icing on the cake. i said what did he mean by that and my dad said he never explained it. i told him i think it means you need a good cake, otherwise the icing won't be any good and eating it will only make you sick. that you could be out having sex with all sorts of people but it won't be good unless you're married and committed to that one person. and my dad said, "i think you hit the nail on the head chelsea."

food analogies work well for us. obviously if you love eating icing by itself this metaphor falls apart immediately. so don't think about it too much - this chat was more laughter than profundity. it might as well be noted that the "icing on the cake" comment was at the tail end of our conversation too - almost the icing on the cake of our conversation if you will. HA.

my dad's favorite movie of all time is "gone with the wind." one of my favorite quotes from that movie is when rhett tells scarlett, "you should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how."

apparently people said that pappy shank looked like clark gable. i can see it. i will try to find an old picture to post of him so you can too. clark gable also reminds me of george clooney and sometimes my dad resembles him. there are just a lot of handsome men in my family line, what can i say.

dad informed me that clark gable died when he was 59 - the same age that pappy shank was when he had his first heart attack. clark gable died in early november and so did pappy. they thought clark gable was recovering, he had even begun smoking in his hospital bed. unfortunately for pappy i don't think he was allowed to smoke in the hospital before he died. he did get his beloved pepsi though - the first thing he scribbled on a piece of paper to grandma after surgery. or maybe smokes was first, i forget.

i love grandma and grandpa shank so much. i love that unlike clark gable who had three wives and children to a random accumulation of women ... pappy was married to grandma for well over fifty years, and that even in his absence grandma has never stopped talking about and loving him.

their relationship never put me under the illusion that marriage was easy. not that i ever heard them fight or complain, but pappy just would have been a very difficult person to live with. but they really loved each other. watching them taught me that marriage is worth it, and that there is nothing more valuable than family and the love you pass on to the generations to follow when you choose to love your spouse.

ramey & harper

meet ramey jameson and harper jane, my (step) nephew and niece. when i babysat them this night and someone gushed about how cute they were, i didn't even bother saying they weren't my kids. love them.