A Few Thoughts on Faith & Montana Spring

A typical Montana spring looks something like these two pictures, taken only days apart. The first one, the sun is shining, my crocuses are open and happy.

The second picture is what I woke up to only a few days later. It's almost April but we're still getting showers (not rain, but snow) and it still gets down to 20 some degrees at night. What a beautiful spring, eh? :-)

So I'm reading a book entitled, "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" by Joanna Weaver. I just started yesterday, but I really like it so far, it really speaks to my struggles of late. Its all based on the story of Mary & Martha, the sisters that had Jesus to their house and one (Martha) scrambled around doing all the preparations while the other (Mary) sat at Jesus' feet and listened to him teach. One part in the first chapter talks about putting the cart before the horse. The cart is "work" and the horse is "worship". She says that if the horse doesn't come first we end up pulling the cart ourselves and it makes us frustrated & weary and liable to break under the pressure because there is always something that needs to be done. I have totally felt that way lately, "weary and frustrated" so this book is like a breath of fresh air and I'm excited to gain more insight from it and hopefully to change so that I stop putting the cart first all the time.
On another note, I'm doing something that I said I wouldn't. I'm making a goal (again) to run the half-marathon this summer. I know, I know...I make this goal every year and never follow through. Well this year will be different. There are three or four of us tinkering with the idea and at least one other gal who is willing to do the long runs with me on Saturday mornings. I think this is finally my year to follow through and accomplish something I've been wanting to do for a long time. So, I'm off to do my long run. I had intended to go outside, but there is snow on the ground so I guess I'll be bonding with my treadmill & my mp3 player. :=) Happy trails!