Mary.

i love the Christmas season.

i love the reason I celebrate it.

i love that i celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

i love that celebrating Christmas reminds me that Easter is why Jesus came to Earth.

I had a baby boy in August of 2007.  

my first child.

my first son.

i remember being in tears at Christmas that year.

reading and thinking about the very first Christmas eve.

thinking about Mary.

a young girl.

never even been with a man and now was to be carrying a baby.

i think about her feeling the baby growing.

the baby moving.

i think about her traveling, not by plane or car... but walking, to a distant town.

with many other people.

some she knew, some she did not.

feeling the weight of the baby.

heading to a crowded little town.

aches, pains, joy, fear.

she was going to have a baby!

i remember that thought passing through my mind quite often.  

sometimes it brought fear, sometimes excitement.

then... no bed to sleep on.

into a stable.

with the animals.

still probably better than some people got.

stinky animals.

i remember my sense of smell was do heightened.

was hers?  surrounded by the animals.

then it comes time to have the baby.

that young girl now delivering a baby.

i like to think that someone in the town was a midwife of some sort who was able to assist her.

it would have been quite scary for her.

the fear she would have had, going through it all.

and then, she got to hold her baby.

her son.

the memories of the Angel Gabriel's words probably flooded her as she admired every single inch of him.

"You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."   Luke 1:31-33

she snuggled him, fed him, kissed him.  

then wrapped him in a cloths and lay him in a manger.  

an animal's feeding trough.

she would provide for her son the best she could.  

and a manger was the best at that point.

my first Christmas holding my son i thought about Mary. 

an ordinary young girl.

but used by God to carry and raise His Son.  

she would love him dearly.

she would care for him.

what she truly expected he would be like and what he was like... 

i don't know how similar they were.

maybe this is why when i first heard "Mary Did You Know?" brought tears to my eyes.

Am i nuts?!?!

Way back...

August 2010 i wrote my first post on this blog.

it was about pink eye.  

yep, that's me, always full of exciting stories.

in that same month i wrote my second post.  

read it here: Running

for those who do not want to go read another post right now here's a little of what i said.

My husband and brother just ran their first Marathons in July.  the training was crazy! I was happy to be running 1 km and Dan was running 30km.  he is a runner - I am not.  But I'll tell you, I am at least becoming someone who does enjoy going for a run for the fitness/health of it.  and I miss it when I go too long between.  i have no plans to ever do a marathon but I do want to, next year, do the 10km Terry Fox Run.

that was August 2010.

it's now December 2014.  

and i will say it.

I am a runner.

that's right.

those who have followed this blog for any length of time have noticed it has become about my kids, 

my husband and me... 

and a whole lot of running.  

so i am now here to tell you something i have thought about and planned for about half a year now.  

i was out for a run, a longer run, probably 10-15K.

and i was thinking about running.  

i was training for the Band on the Run 10K.

as well as working on my endurance for Tough Mudder.

while i was running, thinking about running, i realized how much i was enjoying it.

i was already running greater distances than i ever thought my body could do.

i was actually thinking that maybe, just maybe, i could run the half marathon at Band on the Run in 2015.  

my mind continued from there.

i'm turning 40 in 2015.  

people do crazy things when they turn 40.  

some mid-life crisis thing.

maybe i should train for a marathon on my 40th..

no, that's crazy.

haha, yes, i thought that was crazy.

but i wasn't crazy.

i wanted a significant event on my birthday.

how about 40K on my 40th.  

not a road 40K.

but a 40K trail run with my husband.

that would be so much fun.

yes, i think i was delirious on my run, 

because i honestly thought that would be fun.

even when i got home i thought about it and liked the idea.

it took me a few weeks to tell my husband about my idea. 

if i told him i would have to commit to it.

i have since then told a few others about my plan.

some think i'm nuts.

others think it's a great idea.

others say "why don't you just run a marathon...it's 42K".

my answer to that.

"i'm not turning 42.  i'm turning 40.  i want to run 40K trail on my 40th."

so today began my training.

i ran 3.5K as soon as the kids got on the bus.

easy peasy lemon squeazy (as my girl now says).

i am signing up for the half marathon as soon as i can.

i may even sign up for the 14K trail run at The Limberlost Challenge, 

but we'll see if it fits in my training schedule.

it's going to hurt a lot at times.

i'm going to want to quit.

the month after i turn 40 and running my 40K i will be going to do my 3rd Tough Mudder.

am i nuts?

possibly.

am i loving the life and the abilities God has blessed me with?

yes.

am i hoping i can encourage others with my story of dislike to love of running?

yes. 

am i excited that my running is encouraging my kids to run?

yes.

my son wants to run the 5K Band on the Run race with his daddy. 

when i don't run i have less energy.

less endurance.

i eat less healthy things.

when i run i want to eat better...especially grapefruits.

i feel better in the day.

i fit clothes better, that feels good.

i can play with the kids or go hiking and not be as out of breath as fast.

so, call my running 40K on my 40th a mid-life crisis if you want.

i don't see it as such.

i'm not in a panic that i'm turning 40 and that my grey hairs are becoming quite obvious.

i'm excited that at 39 i can run and i can believe i will accomplish this goal.

follow me on my journey.