Father's Day

My parents divorced when I was 4 years old. When my father left my mother, he also left his children. He chose not to talk to me for the last 2 years of his life. He died when I was in college. My mother has always been both parents for me. I always call her and wish her a happy father's day.

When Win and I had started having children I for the first time had a picture of what a two parent home looks like and what a father looks like. Win is hard on himself when it comes to his parenting but to me is the best. He truly lives out Deuteronomy 6 in front of his children. He is always training them in righteousness. He loves our children and our children love him. Back in March Win was gone for 2 weeks and both boys commented that they missed him a great deal and don't like for him to be gone. This is all so strange to me and yet so wonderful to watch. I find myself enving my children.

Since I never really lived with a man, except my brothers, I had no idea what it was like to live with a man in the house. I had bitterness toward my father for all of childhood (none now, dealt with it) I was scared of men and didn't really like to be around them and often wondered if other men really loved their families and their wives. After living with Win for 21 years, I can say that yes, men do love their families and wives.

So, thank you Win for being a wonderful husband and father. I am grateful that our children have the privilege and the calling to be your children.

Running -its all in the mind

Last week in my interval training I was suppose to end the week by running 2 1/4 mile straight without stopping. I came up short. I told myself it was OK but I didn't feel good about me giving up. Then on Saturday I was so busy I couldn't make it to the Y until after 3. I had to go to a different Y and it was hot and smelly and the machine was nothing to write home about. I only ran a mile then and then walk the rest of the way. Again, I talked myself into stopping.

So, on Monday, with Deana being out of town, I talked Win into going with me to the Y. He pushed me along and I ran the 2 1/4 mile. I was suppose to run 2 1/2. So today, he was with me but only for a little while. He had to go up to the North Alabama for a case. I began my run by telling myself that I can do the 2 1/4 mile. And if I really pushed myself I can do another .25 of a mile and I will have ran 2 1/2. A girl that we exercise with came in and I told her not to let me stop running.

I ran 2 1/2 mile.

Just as I was about to finish up my run/walk the girl who had helped me said she needed me to run her last .25 with her so she would not stop. Of course, I wanted to help her. But as we were finishing up and I started to stop (I actually did stop running and started walking) I told myself again I couldn't do another .25. And then I realized that YES I can do another .25. And that would make my run/walk a total of 5 miles. So I sped up the treadmill and off I ran. My friend ran it with me.

I ran a total of 3 miles this morning. That is a 5K. I still am in shock.

So much of this running and exercise is the things you tell yourself. You can talk yourself into anything. Into sinning, into overeating, into running, into quiting something that is hard.

It is always better to talk to yourself more than you listen to yourself. So talk yourself into doing what you should do and don't listen to yourself tell you that you can't do something.

Exciting Times at the Johnson House

On Saturday, our oldest son, William turned 16. He is also took the ACT for the first time on Saturday. He had a busy day. Win, I, Davis and Anna took him out to eat the night before at place called Dream Land Barbecue. William loves ribs and he had a huge half of a slab. On Saturday night we had dinner with Win's family. He had a cousin from Florida here and it was nice to see her.

So today after we got Davis off to RYM (Reformed Youth Movement) (Youth Camp) we headed to the Department of Motor Vehicles and he took his road test. He passed with flying colors. We then headed over to my brother's auto body shop where he had a Sonamo GMC truck waiting for William. Mind you the truck is the same age as William but my brother gave it a new paint job and it runs like a top. To say that William was grinning from ear to ear is an understatement. He and I went to the back, made an appointment with our mechanic to have the truck serviced and then went back to my brothers to give him the money for the truck. We have always saved our children's birthday and Christmas money for them in a bank account of their own and now for the first time we allowed William to make a withdrawal. Win and I also pitched in on the price and we paid for the registration and the tag and taxes and we will pay for the service. William will now take his brother and sister to school so it will be a new season for me.

Am I nervous? You bet. Have I had to deal with fear lately? More than I thought I would. A teenage girl was recently killed in a car accident 2 weeks after she got her car and licences. Am I walking in faith and praying all the time. Yes. One day a few weeks ago while running on the treadmill I had fear sweep over me and I almost had to stop because I was about to cry.

My sweet boy is gaining a lot of independence. I am good with it and yet I so want to go back to the day he was born and I was telling him how he needed to be patient with me because I didn't know anything about parenting. I am happy to report that he has kept his end of the bargain that he and I made that day. He is kind, patient and a true gentleman. Happy Birthday, sweet boy.