Running with someone faster than you...

Hey all. Well, I've been busy, but this has been in my head...... I've been trying to go running, cause I'm thinking about doing cross country this year. Exciting! When I go running, I take my dog Shelby with me. Shelby is a young, furry, fast, ball of energy. So whenever I'm thinking about slowing down, I see that little white puppy butt running in front of me and I speed up. This dog is crazy! Just when I think that she must be getting tired too, she'll see a bird or something and go sprint for a few minutes, then come back and go 'slow' with me. Honestly, I would be running so much slower if that dog wasn't in front of me!! I think we all need to run with someone faster than us, in life I mean. Of course, sometimes we have to be the fast one for someone else. But, even though Shelby is faster, I don't just blindly follow her. She often gets distracted by sticks, cat poop, cows, leaves.... etc. So, when she stops for a moment, I keep running. I can see the path, so I know I should keep following it, I just call her name as I go. Am I making sense? How I mean for this to apply is that sometimes people we look up to make mistakes. We have to watch the path ourselves because we have to keep running even if they don't. But, we don't abandon them, we just keep running as we call their name. So more practically- Hang out with Christians that are stronger than you. Be the strong one for some people. Read the Bible (Know the path) 'Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path' And of course, the ultimate spiritual runner- Jesus. When it seems like there isn't anyone sharing God's light, be the one. But you have to be keeping your eyes on Christ, and watching your path. When you aren't sure, read about Jesus and see what He did when He ran the path.

Time managment- and how to waste time....

Okay. Let's be up front. Most of us have days where we're really busy, and days where we accomplish nothing. Now- I love days where your schedule is open, and you can just be lazy. Everything in moderation right? But- If we feel guilty after wasting a whole day [unless you totally earned it!] then shouldn't we feel guilty about days where we don't have a relaxing moment all day??? I mean sure, we get a lot done. But if you fall into bed exhausted and unable to think, is that really any better? I know we have things we have to do. It's important to prioritize our tasks, manage our time, and get them done... Maybe we need to learn a balance. We shouldn't be running on empty! Maybe we should learn to take a few minutes [or hours!] where we just... chill. I have two dogs. And I love them, by the way. And I love watching them take a break. After working [okay, playing] really hard, they just lay down. They don't look hurt, sick, or over tired, they don't wait till they can hardly move. They play really hard, then take a nap. If I leave the door open, they'll go outside and just lay in the sunshine. It's one of the most relaxing things I've ever seen. I think we can learn from them! Today I got up early and went to a work out class. Then I went and did hard cleaning at the church. Then I helped get ready for a meeting. And by 8:00? I was TIRED. I was sitting at the playground [waiting for my ride home] and two of my friends were there. We sat on top of the playground [cause we're cool!] and just talked. We laughed pretty hard, talked to some local kids, and didn't accomplish anything. And you know what? It rocked. And sometimes we forget to take the time to do things like that! We GO,GO,GO all day long. At the end of the day? We got a lot done, maybe helped people, and feel good about that. But if you are exhausted, mentally or physically, take a break! Sing in the car. Read your Bible. Sit on your bed. Read a book. Sit in the sun and be quiet. Go for a lazy walk. Pray. Paint a picture. Eat a meal in a quiet room. Do something that doesn't require you to be thinking super hard. Let your mind wander! Take a few minutes where you aren't talking to people, or doing something that 'has to be done'. Just let your whole self rest. Side benefit- taking a few minutes to be quiet and think is supposed to help you sleep better at night! After all, if you've let your mind wander during the day, you don't have to do it at night! So the over all lesson? You deserve a daily break. Don't run yourself so hard for weeks that you get totally run down and have to sleep for a week. Just take a few minutes everyday to unwind! 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul' Psalm 23:1-2 P.S. Thanks to Taylor for those pictures! Also, those pictures of my dogs are like two years old, when Shelby was still a puppy! But, that's Samantha and Shelby taking some down time!

Broken cameras, and accepting blame...

Sooo. My camera is now broken. I'm not sure what happened, I think it might have a virus. But since it wasn't broken by something I did or because of lack of care, the company is fixing it! Yay! The bad thing is since my camera was broken, I was using my mom's.... I took it on the go carts... Long story short, I'm buying my mom a new camera.... MY BAD! That one was my fault. I have a bad track record with electronics. My first digital camera got stolen about three months after I bought it. After two years without one, I finally saved the money and bought a new one. Now after about three weeks, it's not working. And the day after I discovered that my camera broke itself, I broke my mom's camera. How do these things happen? On the bright side, I found my cell phone last night, LOL. So what's the deep thought for today? Accept blame where blame is due. My camera was broken through no fault of mine. And my mom's camera? I'm not really sure how it got broken, all I know is that when I got on the go carts it was fine, when I got off it was broken. So when I told my mom, I also told her that I was buying her a new one. Last week I got into a fight with a friend of mine, let me tell you, it was not fun. I very rarely fight with my friends. This was tough. But almost immediately realized that it was largely my fault, so I apologized. This friend doesn't want to talk to me right now, which is understandable. Sometimes we break things that can't be replaced with money like cameras can. Sometimes we have to take responsibility, try and fix things, and accept that it might be to late. So when dealing with people, treat them as best you can. Put other people above yourself. And when you mess up? Humbly apologize, and don't try to force them to smile. Give them time. -Rachel P.S. My brother offered to let me borrow his camera before I broke my mom's. I'm not sure that offer is still good. Even if it is, I might not take him up on it, I can't afford another new camera!!!

Capture the Flag, Ropes Course, I do this stuff every day! ;)

Great weekend! 

SHOUT OUT::: Hi to my newly stateside best friend! Hope you're having a great time! Love you muchly, and I wish I could've done some vlogs while you were still here!!!!

Thanks to: 

My youth group (The Refuge) for a great time at Capture the Flag, and to Sherell & her family for the ropes course trip!  =]

Sherell and Alex S. For taking videos with my camera!

Sherell for helping edit!

Music: 'Supersonic'- Family Force 5

             'Clap Your Hands'- Audio Adrenaline

Love it? Like it? Hate it? Share your fantastic thoughts with me! 

-Rachel  sweetasugar892@gmail.com

About Me, why I'm starting this, and an awesome Thursday vblog!

Hi. My name is Rachel Redmond. Okay, most people reading this already know that. If you're reading this, you probably saw the link on my facebook. But- you have no idea why on earth I'm starting a vlog. [vlog= Video Blog! See, already learning!] 

Sidenote:: That originally said 'vblog'. But Andrew set me straight!

Well- I don't really know! I think it'll be a learning experience for me. I think that it'll be fun. I think that between me and my friends we can come up with deep thoughts for every post.

About me: I'm an unabashed Christian. Now, according to my friends in art history class, unabashed means it's completely obvious, undebatable. So, when I say I'm an 'unabashed' Christian I mean that it's totally obvious by the way I live my life, the friends I have, and the things I say. I hope that's true and I strive for that every day. Also: After years of homeschooling and one semester of part time public school, I'll be going to high school full time this year- my senior year! Anyway, I'm a little crazy, but I love my life!

 So- here we go. My first vlog....

Okay. So there it is.

Like it? Love it? Email me, share your wonderful thoughts =]

Sweetasugar892@gmail.com