My JourKNEE Back

In the beginning of the year, I set spiritual, physical and emotional goals. Since it is almost the middle of the year and I haven't given an update since March, I thought it would be a good time to check in. 1. Spiritual - Read through a book of the bible repeatedly each month I have completed Hebrews, Romans, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and will complete the book of John by the end of June. I feel like I have stuck with this goal pretty well. There have been a few days that I skipped reading but made up for it during the remainder of the week by reading extra chapters. I feel like I am getting a better understanding of the bible as a whole. This week I listened to "BibleThinker," a podcast hosted by Pastor Mike Winger. In three of the episodes I heard, he broke down the different parts of the bible. I can't say it was anything that I hadn't heard before, but it was explained in a way that made it make more sense to me. I would encourage you, even if you have been readi...

I read a post on Facebook that said, "Parenting hack: There are no hacks. Everything is hard. These kids don't listen. This is your life now. Godspeed." It made me laugh. All parents have joked, "these kids don't come with a handbook." It's true. We wing it as we go and pray that they turn out okay. I feel like the one thing I have done right in life was raise good kids.  I am so proud of my adult kids, seeing how they navigate day-to-day life while sticking to the biblical convictions. Since the time they started questioning God and what we, as their parents, believe in, I encouraged them to explore other religions and other beliefs. I challenged them to question, seek answers and believe for themselves, not just because they were taught certain things. I wanted their belief in God to be real to them, and I have seen them grow into their own ideas and knowledge of what scripture says with greater conviction than I had at their age. I can't take cred...

Having to do my runs solo this week, I have had to find motivation within myself. It has not been an easy running week. I see other runners appear to be running like they're floating on air as their legs effortlessly carry them along the miles. Meanwhile, I'm struggling to get in a good flow of motion, my feet hurt, my breathing is loud, and my mind tells me to just stop. I have heard from other runners that they struggle as well, but I don't believe them, like I'm the only challenged one. [Rolls eyes] A friend sent a reel this week about quitting. It claimed that when you quit something hard, dopamine is released into your brain and makes that "reward" something to be repeated so that quitting becomes a habit. We don't like hard things. Our body is prone to take the easy way out.  I went out for a run on Tuesday, before I received this particular reel, I struggled in the first mile but then seemed to settle in. It didn't feel easy, but my overall pace...