by admin | Oct 2, 2022 | Purpose
The race is not to the swift or the strong, or even the brave or the well-trained. The race is to those who keep going. Who take in the fuel that’s necessary, who keep their eyes on the prize, who keep going, slow down or rest when necessary. But who get back up and KEEP GOING.
I remember running the last leg of the Ironman in 2012 in Lake Placid. It was unusually hot. So hot, that I wanted to pick up the empty Lay’s potato chip bag that someone had left on the ground in transition.
I had just come off a grueling 89 degree 112 mile bike ride with several thousand feet of climbing that took me over eight hours. I thought I might just break down. Not because I wanted to, no, but because I could feel my body riding on the edge of a wave of depletion and exhaustion. And yet I had some choices to make, because another grueling leg laid ahead of me- the marathon. A really hot marathon.
Which is why I wanted to lick that bag of lays potato chips. My body needed salt and I knew it. I knew that I needed to find it some. I went out in hopes that chicken broth would soon be coming. (They start serving it later in the day, for this very reason.). I asked a
volunteer on my way out and they shouted after me, “mile 3!”
I told myself, “Three miles. You can do this. Be smart. Go easy.” It’s mostly downhill to get to that point near the horseshoe and airstrip in Placid. As I approached that area after almost three miles, I was still talking to myself. (You have to in times like that. And what you say is SO very important.)
Around that time, I saw a girl about my age being carried off the course in a full stretcher. Wrapped up in the kind of post marathon wraps they often hand out, with an oxygen bag over her face.
Now not to sound too dramatic, but this was not the first stretcher I had seen that day. The DNF (did not finish) rate, I’d find out later, was one of the highest ever on that course. It came as no surprise. It was HOT. And that course is Grueling on a good day.
Around mile 100 on the bike there had been a super chatty guy that kept rolling up next to me. Which is not unusual, as It was the rolling hill section near Wilmington, and the Ausable River . What was unusual was the amount of energetic talking that he was doing. I mean I might be chatty too, but not at this point of a race. Not when so much energy is required. Not when so much is at stake.
I remember wondering what was up with this guy. Unfortunately at the next med tent I saw him off to the side, receiving medical attention. Apparently, his extreme chattiness was part of some almost hallucinating effect. He was loosing it and couldn’t quite get his energy directed where it needed to go. He must have missed some window of rest or fuel, and now he was unfortunately paying the price. It’s a hard thing to see. I hope he got another shot on a different day. If he wanted to I’m sure he did.
So here I was, just about a half an hour into the marathon in almost 90 degree heart, after almost ten hours of work underneath me already, when I saw this girl on a stretcher. Who was arguable fitter, and clearly faster than me, being carried off the course. It was a reminder, and not a subtle one, to go carefully.
I told myself as much. Don’t let that be how you leave the course today.
Do not go too fast.
Do not forget to fuel properly.
Do not be afraid to slow down.
Yes, you’ve gotta give it everything you’ve got. But not so much so that to the point of dire exhaustion, you can’t finish. That happens sometimes.
But the point here is to finish something. It’s not guaranteed, but it sure is desired. And in every way that you can ensure it, you want to be sure to do your best part.
Yes you’d also like to get there as fast as you *can*. But all the theories about how FAST you can go are out the window when your rubber-soled foot hits the hot black pavement.
Even if it’s pavement that you’ve been dreaming of pounding. You must now not let it pound you.
I’m so happy to say that two loops of grueling hills, and five or so hours later, I was able to cross that finish line. It helps me with things I am working on now. I can remember, what it was like.
It was mile by mile, step by step to get there. Some were walking breaks, some crazy wild snacks, some chatting with friends as we walked in step for a while (but not so much that I lost focus) and a lots and lots of self talk (“come on coco. You can do this.”) and I got there.
I’m sure I prayed out there. But I know for sure that I talked to myself a lot too. We all do, all day long.
What we say to ourselves is so important. On a normal day, on a big day.
How we allow ourselves to remember things, it steers the ship. If we can remind and remember ourselves. what we’re capable of, it is invaluable.
Uncompromising, and powerful.
Knowing you’re on a path to something that you’re meant to do. Knowing that though it might be hard, you can and will have what it takes to get there.
You can rest from certain actions, back off the speed, or fuel differently when you need to. But also, keeping your eye on the prize, your ear tuned to the finish line, and keep going.
I remember at around mile 20 on the out and back loop, still a long way off, I could hear the voice of the announcer, Mike Reilly, at the finish line. He was energetic, excitedly calling each persons name. Even though I was exhausted, I knew I needed to get there, I knew that I could get there. Even though it was going to be almost all uphill, there was a prize waiting there. And it wasn’t some medal, snd it wasn’t a tshirt. And it wasn’t even hearing him say my name. It would be crossing that finish line myself, knowing that I had done it. At the moment, I knew that I had what it takes to get there.
I had made smart decisions, I had trained well (enough), I had not quit when it got hard. I had backed off the pace when I needed to. And I would get there. I would get there because I started, AND, because I kept going.
What are you working for today?
What finish line do you have in mind?
Keep going. You’ll get there.
And please remember to be kind to yourself all along the way. Demand something out of yourself, be tough and courageous, be strong, because it’ll be tough.
But also be kind. Take CARE, to take care of your whole mind, body and soul. So you CAN, get there.
by admin | Sep 5, 2022 | Purpose
It was summer in the morning
When fall slipped in for dinner.
And we changed from our swimsuits as
Summer slowly started slipping quietly
out the back door,
While football played.
Then the rain started and we
Weren’t quite sure
That we wanted it here.
No we were quite sure we didn’t.
No, not today
Though the ground’s desperate for it,
Our skin is desperate for the warmth of sun,
Our faces long, more for the glorious,
generous, summer’s breeze.
We know what’s coming.
But yet, not.
We can’t imagine.
We just want to stay and linger
here a while,
In the warmth of the sun, for
Before too long, it’s gone.
If not, at least
hidden, away,
Under a blanket of a different name
and season.
One that we won’t rush away.
But, so too,we don’t
wish away this one right here.
Summer, we know you’re fading,
But our hearts are warm still
To your touch.
Our love is waxing, never waning
from what you bring.
And we’re not ready
And you’re not really,
gone yet.
Though autumn knocks,
We wait a while to answer.
For now we will just
leave this door open, here
So you can slip in and out
As you please
We do, welcome your warmth
(But please, keep the lesser things,
like the not-quite-bees)
We will linger here
Just like you.
One glorious foot in the door of each season.
Not forever,
Not dreading, change,
As much as welcoming it, slowly.
One bare, tender, foot
At a time
Like a swimmer, immersed in water,
For one last dip,
ready to emerge,
To step out into the cool air next.
Like we’ve done so many time before.
But first.
We memorize
this,
gratefully.
by admin | Aug 31, 2022 | Faith, Purpose
‘It’s awful. It’s broken. It’s basically hopeless. Practically speaking, a complete mess. Can we ever find a solution? With the way everyone argues? Unlikely. Just hold on.’
This is how it goes, how we start to feel. The further we go the more we learn. The layers of brokenness, of systems that are failing, of lives that are hurting. We argue at which solution is best. If you don’t see it my way, surely you don’t care. Surely you don’t – see or care.
This is how it’s fashioned, a hamster wheel of blame, and we get nowhere. It’s fashioned that way completely on purpose. So we all stay stuck.
The problems, too big.
My thoughts, too troubled.
My actions, way too small.
But friend, you have a power to help change things. Because if you believe in Jesus, He has not left you alone or powerless. He has left you His Holy Spirit. He lives inside you. His power dwells inside you. You just need to trust Him and let it out.
Yes, He doesn’t need perfection. He just needs you, submitted to His solutions. To what He wants to do through you. His is in fact made perfect in weakness. If you’ll let Him.
My son had a precious toy yesterday that he was playing with. Pocket sized, it apparently holds some magical abilities.
Well he was lost for a time yesterday. “I’ll never find him!” He moaned without hope. “He’s lost forever.” We assured him he probably would find him, and we all hoped as we encouraged him, that it would be sooner rather than later!
Well later that night, as we snuggled in to sleep, I put my arm around him and pulled him close. My hand fell upon the pocket of his button down flannel pajama top. There was a lump there. I patted it. And in a second, I knew.
“Look what I found!” I beamed you everyone. “It was THERE ALL ALONG! Resting right over your heart!”
He broke into a slow and easy smile. Out came the dimple. Settled he was, in love. There. it. Was. What he was looking for.
Friend, it’s time for you to smile that kind of smile again, too.
My son’s toy is just that.
—A token, a treasure, as it were. Though it does not actually possess the abilities that it proposes, to see and help you, like much of childlike play, it points to what really does exists. The Divine.
There it is, with you. The Holy Spirit LIVES inside of you? Have you forgotten? We all do sometimes. All of us. Or else the world would look much different. Yet, it still can. We need our generation and the one next coming. To know, and to be reminded.
We are not left alone, hopeless, upon some wasteland. He can turn the barren land into a place of springs, the desolate into a fruitful garden. He can do it for you and for me, and for wherever we live. Even if it feels like a barren place, a Babylon or Babel. Where HE IS is transformed. And He lives inside of you, doesn’t He?
He had not left you alone, and He has not left you either, without a purpose. Knowing His power exists and letting it live through you are not the same. 💛 A limited, controlling, religious spirit (even if it has nothing to do with “religion”) will always tell you there is only one way to do it, too. To do anything. It will accuse. It will push you further along, on a hamster wheel of hopelessness. The Holy Spirit? He won’t. He always knows how to guide.
There are a hundred million ways to make a difference, and if the Holy Spirit is motivating it, you will make a difference.
There are talents that He has given you. Gifts that only YOU have. Differences that YOU ARE meant to make. The world may be big and you may be so very small. But that doesn’t mean anything. Not really, when you have the power of The Holy Spirit living side of you.
It’s time you let it out.
by admin | Aug 25, 2022 | Mom life, Purpose
I’m not sure I can properly put this into words but I’ll give it a try.
This week two of “my” “kids” fly the nest. Simultaneously as it works out. Brilliantly, in fact.
People have asked me over the years about my “career” choice. The way, when, why, how, where’s of it all. I’d never say much, but would beam at the thought of it all. The questions would often be followed by “what are you going to do NEXT?” Implying that surely this must be temporary. I would always laugh inside, quite sure I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Besides, tell me what isn’t temporary? There are only a few things and job isn’t one of them.
Some things transcend all of this. The truth is, I never “chose” a career. It chose me.
I chose a WHY.
The where, what, when, and how found me, has found me, over and over.
But most of all, the WHO found me. The kids and families I got to help and care for all these years. All whom I truly cared about, they found me. While the world might have thought my job unimpressive from the outside, or even rather ordinary, what I’ve known all along, is really ringing true. It’s anything but.✨☀️💛⭐️
What makes my path amazing is not the path itself or the particulars of it. But it’s the people that I’ve gotten to love and “serve”.
They are EXTRAORDINARY 💛
And as some of them fly the nest this week (the youngest ones at least), I know that I chose well. A passing comment, said as a compliment, really spoke more to how that person felt. Loved, cared for and seen. I never needed to be the best, I only wanted, needed to give my best. I chose not a career, but a life.
I wouldn’t trade one day- winter, spring, summer or fall- one jump in the lake, one game of whiffle ball, one book we read- for anything, and for all that it meant to be there. To help others grow, carefully, beautifully, to get to watch so very much of it.
My “why” has always been to help.
What’s yours?
The where, what, when, why, how and who of life circumstances will often change. But follow your heart. Listen to your deepest WHY. They will lead you where you’re meant to go. And your talents will make room for you.
And looking back, if you’re spending your time and talents caring for others. and really about them, you will see. ✨✨It truly is extraordinary.✨✨
The details will figure themselves out. It’s the hearts that matter most. All of them. Yours, theirs.
If you’re lucky enough, you’ll find people that support you in your endeavors. Either way, it’ll figure itself out, just keep going. When first dating my husband, he affirmed that taking care of kids is the most important job in the world. (I knew I had found a gem!)
It’s then, true now. The real truth is, taking care of people is, what’s most important. And there are a million ways to do that. Starting while young is just having the luxury of having a cleaner slate But all people need love. Investing love in others is among the best things that you’ll ever do.
While I watch some birds take off and fly today, I watch others beside me as we jump on a trampoline together. And just like that, the what keeps changing. But the why never does. IT’S LOVE.
So all the mommas (and Dads!) everywhere, keep going. Every act of love matters.
And babies, you’re extraordinary.
by admin | Aug 23, 2022 | Purpose
Every day something will go undone.
Maybe it’s your patience, your workout, your prayer time, the laundry or the healthy meal. Fresh air and sunshine, snuggles or paperwork?
Every day you have a chance to choose, at least one thing that goes undone in place of another. It can’t all be satisfied at once. It is the very nature of time and two hands. We must choose.
Even if there are things for which you might not have a real choice, but circumstances or the undeniable need of things or people, we can choose. Choose where our attention and time and affection even goes.
“Choose you” the world says.
“Choose me” says your life.
“Choose me” says your littles.
“Choose me” says your laundry.
“Choose me” says your marriage.
“Choose me” says Love itself.
Choose me, in prayer time, or laundry.
Choose to look at Me, to look to Me, to let Me help.
When your plate is so full, your schedule so busy, your arms so tired. When your mind needs a break, and you can’t choose anything but what direction your gaze falls, choose the One who chose you. Who knows. Who knows how you feel, who knows how you fail, and love, and try again.
Choose the One who knows all about choices.
The One who chooses to love and help you over and over again.
He knows how to make the wrong things right, how to make calm out of our storms, peace out of our troubled and scattered minds.
Choose to see Him and then you’ll see how He makes sense out of ever 🙏🏻other 🙌🏻thing. 💛
In a world of choosing what gets undone, let it be your tightly bound heart- that needs to see how you’re loved, regardless of what ever else goes “undone”.
Lay it down and let it rest at His feet a while, no matter the state of things around you. 💛
“Undone” can be a very good thing sometimes. It means something of greater value has happened inside of you. ☀️💛🌈
Hey, I'm Courtney, a pretty ordinary girl who thinks we've all been called to an extraordinary life and love story with God. I'm passionate about family, faith, motherhood, and the adventure of every day. I write lots of words, mostly because I can’t help it- and I think it's one of the things I was born to do. I hope that something I write encourages you, to walk in your own unique purpose and calling, set free to love and give it away, starting wherever you are today. That's what Courting the Extraordinary is all about. Finding the good all around you, and giving it away. Finding, too, the God of all goodness who wants to walk with you.
I love quiet mornings, coffee, prayer and “work” before sunrise. Quality time with my family is my jam. I can be found grinning ear to ear when we're out on an adventure. Whether that's in our own backyard or exploring someplace new all-together, I’ll for sure note something beautiful about nature aloud-and maybe repeatedly, ha!. Life is a beautiful, precious gift, and an adventurous path to travel! We might as well learn how to love. 