She Runs By Faith

Top o' the week to ya! Today I'm joining up once again with  the Fit Dish  and  Faith & Fitness  crews. Over the weekend, I made a spontaneous decision to run a local half marathon. Many small-towns have 5k's and 10k's but it's not often they throw together their own half marathon. Instead of doing my 1:45 long run solo, it sounded much more appealing to actually run with other people! The weekly Faith & Fitness Bible verse is Proverbs 14:23. All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. PROVERBS 14:23 As I dug into the application in this verse, I found that the "profit" mentioned isn't exclusive to financial gain. According to the Merriam-Webster , profit is a valuable return; a gain . A gain is something that is wanted or valued that is gotten through some activity or process - a.k.a. work ! Applying this verse to Saturday's half marathon... The WORK: 8 weeks of training (for a different race b...

Good morning! Today I'm joining up with another  Five-Minute Friday link-up. What's a "free write"? No editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write! This week's word is: 00:00 START the timer! ______________________ Since becoming a stay-at-home mom, the concept of "alone time" has taken on a whole new meaning. Alone can be a word that translates to loneliness. Or it can be a word that means peace and rest. While I treasure the time I have with my sons and my husband, waking up for that special alone time in the morning is something sacred. Usually the word "rest" makes us think of sleep.  For me, I feel a rest in my soul by starting my morning in peace, quiet... alone. Alone time isn't something I am entitled to. It's not something I deserve and some days (or life seasons) it just doesn't happen! Starting my day in God's Word or going out for a peaceful mor...

Last week, I received some fun mail from Bulu Box ! As a Sweat Pink Ambassador with Fit Approach , I was sent my very own Bulu Box to review. I love getting "fun mail" (a.k.a. not bills). As soon as the box came in the door, my toddler was all over it, ready to dig in! Here is a little rundown on how a Bulu Box subscription works: " Bulu Box is the first health, nutrition and weight loss discovery box designed to help you feel your best. Each month, you’ll get a custom box filled with a new mix of 4 to 5 premium samples from top brands to try. Every sample is sufficient enough to decide if the product is right for you." (from the Bulu Box website) What's in My Bulu Box? One of the best features of the Bulu Box is every month you receive a different combination of products. It's always full of surprises! Here is a quick look at the products I received in my Bulu Box: A photo posted by Amy Will (@creativeaim87) on Aug 19, 2015 at 3:5...

Heyo! Here begins a new week and another meet up with  the Fit Dish link-up  and  the Faith & Fitness crew! This week, the [optional] Fit Dish topic is to share a "day in the life" photo collection. Not too long ago, I shared a day in my life as a new mom of two . A month has passed since then and our days are developing a little more routine, yet there are always surprises with a toddler and 3-month-old. Despite the daily spontaneity, there are constants to my day. A day in my life usually includes: Bible reading and prayer Morning coffee with half n' half Exercise (rest days are the exception) Baby W diaper changes Nurse Baby W throughout day Dishwashing - We finally got a dishwasher after 3 years of marriage!!! Laundry stuff Reading books to toddler and sing songs together Outdoor adventures Over the past week, some of our adventures have included going for a family run, eating my husband's famous sourdough waffles, baking a bunch of muffins, p...

Hello Friday! Time for a free write with the Five-Minute Friday link-up! What's a "free write"? No editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write! Our topic for this week is: 00:00 START the timer! ______________________ For quite some time, I asked God how I could find His will for my life. Looking back over my 20's, the way His will for my life looks has changed drastically from age 20 to 28. My 20's began with me having no relationship with the Lord. I was bitter, empty, and frustrated with life. There was nothing of this world I could find that would fill the void. Then I surrendered my life to God; one of His lost sheep was found . At 28, my life looks drastically different. God changed me from the inside out when I gave my life to Him in 2011. Now He is sanctifying me day by day, chipping away at my sinful, selfish heart and transforming me to be more like Christ. What does God's will ...

On Sunday morning, I woke up already exhausted and feeling defeated before my feet even hit the ground. My thoughts went a little something like this: "How can I run for 1:45 when I'm already worn out? Baby was up so much last night and my bed is nice and cozy... Can't I just skip this one?" I knew that if I slept through this workout, it would start a motivation mudslide. If I skipped one, it would be that much easier to skip the next one... and the next "Let's give it a try, one foot in front of the other. I will just run for 45 minutes. Then 45 more minutes. And then 15 minutes more." Out the door I went. Breaking the run up into 45 + 45 + 15 minutes sounds much less intimidating than 1 hour 45 minutes! Sounds weird but it works for me. Changing the way I thought about the run made all the difference and I ended up running 5 minutes extra so I could hit the 13.1 mark. I came back in the door sweaty yet totally re-energized. I felt victorious ...

It's time for another Friday free write with the Five-Minute Friday link-up! What's a "free write"? No editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write! Our topic for this week is: 00:00 START the timer! ______________________ Last night I finished reading "Tramp for the Lord" by Corrie Ten Boom. This book belonged to my Great Grandma though I'm not sure if she ever read it herself. I will have to ask the next time I stop by the nursing home. Wow. What I learned from Corrie Ten Boom's writing! This was one of my favorite quotes from the book: "The life of a Christian is an education for higher service. No athlete complains when the training is hard. He thinks of the game, or the race." Corrie Ten Boom The world is our classroom. We just need to be aware of what God is teaching us and be willing to learn each and every day! To grow to be more like Christ, we must have a humb...

August is National Breastfeeding Month so it is fitting to talk running and breastfeeding today. Plus it's something I have spent a lot of time doing over the last 2.5 months. Can running and breastfeeding work together? Sure they can! Though I wouldn't recommend trying to do them literally at the same time. While I was gearing up to train for a Fall marathon after having our first baby, I was told that  "running will make you lose your milk supply" . Baby E would only be 7 months old on race day so I pumped extra to make sure he had enough milk for at least his first year. Well... I didn't lose my milk after all (which I am very thankful for!) and was left with an epic collection of frozen milk. If anything, regular exercise caused my milk supply to increase . Continuing to run while caring for and nursing a baby does require a lot more motivation and energy but it's totally do-able. Despite the running and breastfeeding myths, running hasn't h...

First of all, happy Friday and happy birthday to my husband who is the "big" 2-7! Today I'm joining up with the Five-Minute Friday link-up for the first time and I'm so excited to be a part of this. For anyone new to this link-up (like me), here is how it works in a nutshell: To participate, you write for five minutes on the topic of the week and share it with the Five-Minute Friday crew on... Friday! Here comes my favorite part: "This is meant to be a free write , which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write. " Thank you, Kate , for hosting this link-up and allowing me to join in! "Here"  is the glider rocker in our bedroom. It's 4:30 a.m. and I'm up nursing baby boy. Baby is content, toddler is fast asleep and so is Daddy. The world is so still right now and here I sit awake, enjoying the peace. Sleep is precious but so are these moments. I treasure these c...

When I was a kid, I got my kicks from cutting apart my Great Grandma's old JC Penney catalogs to make clothes for my paper dolls. Nerdy? I prefer the word "meticulous" :) This week on Jessica and Jill 's link-up,  the Fit Dish , we're doing something that brought back those flat paper doll memories ... except we're talking workout clothes, sharing photos of our own wardrobe and I'm not a JC Penney's model from the 90's. This post contains affiliate links. The night before a morning run or race, I lay out my clothes to save a little time after my morning alarm goes off. Finding the right workout clothes is much harder in the morning (before drinking my coffee) and in the dark! That extra fumbling around increases my chances of waking up baby and/or toddler. This was my "flat self" all ready to go for Saturday's 90-minute long run: TANK: adidas Performance Women's Ultimate Tank Top SHORTS: Under Armour Running ...