The cycles of life.
I am grateful to know that there are waves of strength, energy and power, and then waves of regrouping, learning, preparing.
Last week we participated in the Wasatch Back Ragnar. We invited a lot of people to participate but got a lot of "No. But thanks" answers. In the end, we had a great team, and had lots of fun! Most of our team gathered at our home in Sandy the night before. We did the Thursday-Friday Ragnar this year which meant we had a Saturday after to catch up on sleep, clean up a bit, enjoy a little hike and get back to St. George. Love the cool air, beautiful trees, rocks and water in our Wasatch Canyons!
The weekend before, B and I were asked to speak in church on Elder Cook's talk titled "Can Ye Feel So Now?" I found myself thinking about Alma's question often as I ran. "You wanted to do this, you asked for it, anticipated it, and yes, even paid to participate here!... Can ye feel so now?" haha.
In our team meeting the night before, we gathered around, and talked about being in the same cars with each other for that long time, as we each get more and more exhausted. We asked each to be patient and understanding of each other, to see the needs of others, and to be especially mindful of leaving a mess that others have to live in. I just mentioned that half eaten banana's were a personal problem left on the seat, and asked if everyone would please be aware of what they were doing. We agreed that we would communicate with each other kindly, and that we wanted the relationships at the end of the race to be strengthened and better as a result of this experience, and not severed because we had done this hard thing together! Despite efforts to have B and I together, we ended up split these pictures are of the cute kids I was with in Car #1....
We allowed our Jr. team to each run one or two legs - sharing a runner spot instead of running all three. They did great!
This is part of the group B was with in Car #2...
Cute B ran one of the Jr team spot, and then the last runner spot into the finish line. These other two cute girls are the Hobbs girls, their dad D ran, and Chan's friend C.F. was the 6th runner in this group.
Life is much like a race! Ironically our assigned talk references Eric Liddell for standing strong and not running on Sunday. We have recently been ridiculed for taking a stand on the BSA issue. Bishop Stevenson of the Presiding Bishopric spoke the morning of the BSA vote, and he also referenced Eric Liddel in his remarks, although we are fairly confident that there might be two others in our ward that read that talk, but certainly not more than that. It was a great talk about being firmly rooted in values - something we don't believe the BSA was. We think that our stance on this issue may be why we were asked to speak, although we don't see ourselves as being on any kind of a slippery slope! Rather we are firmly planted, and willing as Eric Liddel was to stand even if we stand alone.
Ragnar was a life lesson experience. Do we realize the responsibility we have to carry the torch, to carry on and keep running? Are we a dependable team member who will... accept the invite, actually show up, have a good attitude, and then actually do the run to the best of our ability? So many pieces there! We have to register for this race a year in advance to get in! We paid a sizable chunk to participate. We are committed. Then we invited these others to join, and some say they will be there, but then don't show. Others just turn down the opportunity. Then when it actually comes time to run that leg, some have a bad attitude. I saw that the sacrament weekly is like our aid station in life. We can choose to run through it and refuse the help, or we can partake of the living life and water! We can welcome our Savior into our lives or shut him out.
For my future memory, we will never again pay someone else's way. It just doesn't work. They can say they are committed, but if it is free - they don't care and they won't come through. Just require the money so they are committed. If something is free or easy, we don't want it. We will drop it and not care. Remember, Remember... it is not just in races. Others can pay too. They will appreciate it when they do. This is more a BSA issue happening recently than with the Ragnar, but applies to both situations. We are considering setting up another team for next year, we have had many, many ask about participating, but we have committed that if we do organize a team, it will have to be with their full participation - including committing with the registration fees before we register a team!
I am grateful for the fun time that we shared. In the end, the cute girl, B.T. asked if she could be adopted into our family. :) You bet girl! We will long remember sleeping up Echo Canyon under the red rock formations my Stephens ancestors shared with us. I will remember running part of the long 11.2 mile leg in the middle of the night around the reservoir! I will remember the smile on S's face as he came near the end of his run, and asked if we saw the "dead beaver on the side of the road?" Really! It kept him happy, and he kept running! I will remember sharing the jumper cables with the car full of ladies from all over who really needed them. I will remember the two mama horses and their colts greeting me, and crying about that tender mercy from my Heavenly Father who knew I was missing Liesl right then (brought tears to my eyes!) I will remember the moon light glistening off the lake in the darkness. I will remember sandwich wraps along the shore of Hyrum reservoir near Logan on day 1! It was just fun! All squished into some 26...? hours! We loved the time together! Thanks team!
I am grateful to know that there are waves of strength, energy and power, and then waves of regrouping, learning, preparing.
Last week we participated in the Wasatch Back Ragnar. We invited a lot of people to participate but got a lot of "No. But thanks" answers. In the end, we had a great team, and had lots of fun! Most of our team gathered at our home in Sandy the night before. We did the Thursday-Friday Ragnar this year which meant we had a Saturday after to catch up on sleep, clean up a bit, enjoy a little hike and get back to St. George. Love the cool air, beautiful trees, rocks and water in our Wasatch Canyons!The weekend before, B and I were asked to speak in church on Elder Cook's talk titled "Can Ye Feel So Now?" I found myself thinking about Alma's question often as I ran. "You wanted to do this, you asked for it, anticipated it, and yes, even paid to participate here!... Can ye feel so now?" haha.
In our team meeting the night before, we gathered around, and talked about being in the same cars with each other for that long time, as we each get more and more exhausted. We asked each to be patient and understanding of each other, to see the needs of others, and to be especially mindful of leaving a mess that others have to live in. I just mentioned that half eaten banana's were a personal problem left on the seat, and asked if everyone would please be aware of what they were doing. We agreed that we would communicate with each other kindly, and that we wanted the relationships at the end of the race to be strengthened and better as a result of this experience, and not severed because we had done this hard thing together! Despite efforts to have B and I together, we ended up split these pictures are of the cute kids I was with in Car #1....
This is part of the group B was with in Car #2...
Life is much like a race! Ironically our assigned talk references Eric Liddell for standing strong and not running on Sunday. We have recently been ridiculed for taking a stand on the BSA issue. Bishop Stevenson of the Presiding Bishopric spoke the morning of the BSA vote, and he also referenced Eric Liddel in his remarks, although we are fairly confident that there might be two others in our ward that read that talk, but certainly not more than that. It was a great talk about being firmly rooted in values - something we don't believe the BSA was. We think that our stance on this issue may be why we were asked to speak, although we don't see ourselves as being on any kind of a slippery slope! Rather we are firmly planted, and willing as Eric Liddel was to stand even if we stand alone.
Ragnar was a life lesson experience. Do we realize the responsibility we have to carry the torch, to carry on and keep running? Are we a dependable team member who will... accept the invite, actually show up, have a good attitude, and then actually do the run to the best of our ability? So many pieces there! We have to register for this race a year in advance to get in! We paid a sizable chunk to participate. We are committed. Then we invited these others to join, and some say they will be there, but then don't show. Others just turn down the opportunity. Then when it actually comes time to run that leg, some have a bad attitude. I saw that the sacrament weekly is like our aid station in life. We can choose to run through it and refuse the help, or we can partake of the living life and water! We can welcome our Savior into our lives or shut him out.
For my future memory, we will never again pay someone else's way. It just doesn't work. They can say they are committed, but if it is free - they don't care and they won't come through. Just require the money so they are committed. If something is free or easy, we don't want it. We will drop it and not care. Remember, Remember... it is not just in races. Others can pay too. They will appreciate it when they do. This is more a BSA issue happening recently than with the Ragnar, but applies to both situations. We are considering setting up another team for next year, we have had many, many ask about participating, but we have committed that if we do organize a team, it will have to be with their full participation - including committing with the registration fees before we register a team!
I am grateful for the fun time that we shared. In the end, the cute girl, B.T. asked if she could be adopted into our family. :) You bet girl! We will long remember sleeping up Echo Canyon under the red rock formations my Stephens ancestors shared with us. I will remember running part of the long 11.2 mile leg in the middle of the night around the reservoir! I will remember the smile on S's face as he came near the end of his run, and asked if we saw the "dead beaver on the side of the road?" Really! It kept him happy, and he kept running! I will remember sharing the jumper cables with the car full of ladies from all over who really needed them. I will remember the two mama horses and their colts greeting me, and crying about that tender mercy from my Heavenly Father who knew I was missing Liesl right then (brought tears to my eyes!) I will remember the moon light glistening off the lake in the darkness. I will remember sandwich wraps along the shore of Hyrum reservoir near Logan on day 1! It was just fun! All squished into some 26...? hours! We loved the time together! Thanks team!