Respiration

The other day i went to the gym (yeah, you can laugh if you want). Needless to say I got my butt kicked, but as i was running on my fourth lap (which is a personal victory) and I was getting the strand of death from my sternum through my neck from trying to breathe, and the blood was coursing through my veins, I got a feeling that is what it means to be a alive. To be avidly pursuing a purpose so much so you're running with everything you have towards it, against any obstacle, and with all the fervor you can muster. The wind is whistling past your ears and your eyes are watering from the speed at which you are running. The tears are moving towards your ears and you blink to clear your vision. Over the rocks and through the brooks you go avidly pursuing your life's purpose. You know that the greatest culmination of who you are as a human being will be accomplished if you can get to your destination. You wish for others to experience this love you feel, this drive that is pushing you forward, so you call to the people who are stagnant in the towns. You beckon them to join you, that what you are pursuing will fill them with the life you have. They might see you as insane, but you realize they are the ones who are ludicrous for not obviously chasing after this thing, this idea. Love ultimately drives you on. Your muscles are full of it, and nothing can stop you, because even if your shoes wear out and your feet bleed, you will get there. Life swells in your heart and expels itself throughout your body in your arteries and throughout tributaries into the deep valleys of what you keep quiet, but now the whole community of your body rises up to this occasion to accomplish what it was designed to do. All of your processes are devoted to keep you going as you journey through mountainscapes and on beaches next to vast oceans. The air swells in your lungs, brilliantly, as it was designed to do and you exhale Life back out into the vast nature of the earth and humanity.

To impart a thought, I don't think people give enough credit to the simple gift of breathing. Maybe it's just because most of my childhood, and okay most of my life was spent fighting asthma, but the simple blessing of breathing might be one of the greatest gifts. After all, breath is life, isn't it? Psalm 150:6 says: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord." Breath contributes to so many daily activities.. talking, singing in the shower... walking.. oh wait, like everything! In the bible it is clearly stated that breath is almost directly correlated with Life.

Since my last post i've just been enjoying the few weeks of school that we have left. Well, I guess I should start with how the rest of my Spring Break was...

Probably what I loved most about being in Spring Hill, Tennessee was being able to see what normal life was like for a family i love dearly, every day. It was probably the best place I could've gone for Spring Break, and I would not have traded it for anything. On the flight home, I finished Blue Like Jazz, and I found it both interesting, puzzling at times, but overall a poetically beautiful story. That occupied our entire trip home across the united states and we got to see the sunrise in our terminal at the airport. Our departure from the Volunteer state was a lot more quiet than our arrival as we knew we were coming back to work, but our angst over work changed to excitement as we landed. We actually got to stay an extra day because our departing flight was delayed so we would miss our connection. I would not have had it any other way.

Since Spring Break, the weeks have been flying by, and I have since registered for classes for next semester. God continuously supplied by giving me enough financial aid to attend my second year at the University of Idaho. I can only say how blessed I feel to be able to extend my education beyond high school and live in a wonderful environment such as Kappa Kappa Gamma. I know that sound scripted, but going out on my own and letting God mold me into the woman He wants me to be has been one of the continuously beautiful experiences of my life. I am in love with the Creator who knows every fiber of who I am as a human being, and He still loves me. Every insecurity is laid bare before Him, and He takes them and makes me new again. I am confident in who God is molding me to be, because I know to Him, I am enough. And the day I realized that I heard chains falling behind me, and I have not looked back to see where they lay.

To have some Soul Food, check out:
Psalm 71:14
Romans 6:6
Colossians 4:2,5

Thank you so much for reading, and if you have any questions or anything, feel free to leave a comment!
~Alyse