I always go to the hat section of Target and check out what they have. On this trip I decided to try on a few that they had. All three of the hats I tried on, I loved. I couldn’t pass them up. I guess being on clearance also helped in that decision as well!

Here are pictures of all three hats and then me with two of the hats on. Yes, they make me think of Downton Abbey.

All three hats together.

The purple hat.

The brown hat.

I’ve had a couple of guys ask me to marry them and I’ve turned them down. Yes, you read that correctly. Not because they are awful guys (none of them were awful), they weren’t the right guys for me. I can say that more confidently now than ever before.  At those times I was young and didn’t know what I wanted in a relationship. Yes, I have desired to be married for a long time but I suck at the dating thing. Really, I do! I’m okay with that. It’s one reason why I took myself out of the dating world for a while. (A long while but that’s a whole other can of worms. )

I have always been a pretty confident person and generally know what I want out of life. I have sought after many things but the one thing I consistently seek after is a deeper relationship with the Lord. So with that, my standards for the guy I hope to marry one day are pretty high! But this is not a post about my standards and what I am looking for.

This is a post about how I’ve had to walk through my own story of living a life of purity in hopes of finding my “Mr. Right”. Ladies, it’s not easy to remain pure especially as you get older. In fact it gets harder. You start to question your standards and whether or not you should lower them for the sake of settling. Trust me, I battle those questions every day.

Questions like: Would dating this guy who doesn’t love the Lord be okay? Would I be okay settling for some one who says they are a Christian but their life doesn’t back up their declaration? Should I try to make a relationship work just for the sake of making it work? What are people thinking about me when it comes to not being in a relationship at the moment? Have I seriously failed in this area of my life that there is no reason to keep my standards?

You see, even with confidence the questions still come and the answers are always the same. Don’t give up. Stick with your standards. Love who you are as a person. Live life to the fullest and enjoy the blessings that the Lord has placed in your life.

No, I am not where I thought I would be at this point in my life but I am definitely okay with where I am at. I have a full and wonderful life that I want to make the best of!

My Aunt Julie left a comment that I think sums me up: “….miss picky…”.  That is me and I’m glad!

Jeremiah 29:11-13  ”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” NIV 

I have always had issues with can openers. They really don’t like me. REALLY! Just ask my mom. It has become a family joke. If you want a can opened, do not ask me. I will struggle for longer than it takes for you to get the can open.

I’m. Serious.

My mom suggested an automatic can opener the other day at the store for me to buy. My roommate has one that we have been using but it usually takes me 20 minutes to get the can opened. So, I bought the can opener feeling a bit proud that nothing can go wrong with this. It looks simple and it practically opens the can for you!

Boy was I wrong! 100 percent wrong!

Last night in the middle of making the wonderful Sherried Tomato Soup from the Pioneer Woman, I tried to open up the can of tomatoes that it calls for and not only did the new can opener not work for me, I hurt my shoulder using my roommates can opener! AH!

Who does that? Who hurts themselves trying to open up a can? ME, that’s who!

Yes, that really happened and I am can opener inept!

I generally think that I need to do somethings different and hope for the best.

But with the New Year approaching there are things I want to do differently and hope that I will be able to accomplish them.

One thing I learned this year is that so many people are longing for encouragement especially when it comes to being healthy. Most of the people I have interacted with don’t need me (or anyone else for that matter) complaining that they aren’t reaching a goal or they are failing at getting to their goal of being healthy. They want some one to encourage them and keep them accountable.

I want to be more encouraging to others around me this year!!!

Do you have any New Years resolutions? 

Do you write yours down? 

I do have another one and that is to write more on my blog! I got slack this past year!

Jody started running last year. I had the opportunity to get to know her through the 5k training program through Run For Your Life in Charlotte. She had only planned on continuing with the 5k program until one day we started talking about half marathons I want to do. She told me there was a Princess half marathon at Disney World and of course we both wanted to do that race! What girl doesn’t? I told Jody about the half marathon training program that I would be coaching through (USA Fit) and we started talking with others about joining the group. We both encouraged several others to join in this adventure! We can be pretty convincing!

About half way through our training Jody started feeling some intense pain in her left leg. After going to several doctors visits and trying to run through the pain, she found out it was a stress fracture on the inside of her leg about two inches above her ankle! OUCH! No runner whether a novice or veteran wants to have a stress fracture.  I remember one Saturday that I ran with Jody and her group for our long run. This was before she knew she had a stress fracture. After two miles I noticed that Jody was no longer in sight. This bothered me greatly. After waiting for five minutes and then running back on the trail to see if I could find her, our group pushed through the long run. I didn’t know this until the end but she had sent me a text that she couldn’t finish and went back to her vehicle. I was sad. I knew this was serious. She WANTED to run! I wanted her to run. I so enjoy running with her. But for some reason she now had a stress fracture to deal with.

At the end of the run that day, I looked at Jody and with tears in her eyes she knew that this season was over for her. I wanted to cry with her.  She was grieving. I was grieving. This was a huge loss. Lots of time had been put into training. Shoes and clothing had been bought. Everything seemed to be wasted. (In hindsight this was not wasted at all.)

Before the stress fracture Jody had talked to me and a few other runners about running a half marathon in Myrtle Beach, SC. I wanted to run it because of the medal. There was also the fact it was a pretty flat course. It had been decided we would all run it. This was one race that Jody had planned for. She couldn’t run it but the rest of us could. So we did!

My favorite part of the race was Jody. You see, even though she couldn’t run the race she decided to come down and cheer on our group! This was not easy for her at all! To be honest it wasn’t easy for me knowing I was going to run this race and she wasn’t. She. was. there. She cheered on each runner from our group at two different spots on the course.

At the end of the race, Jody was there screaming and cheering us on! I was so excited to see her at the end. For me that was a picture of grace that day. With very mixed emotions on a day she should be running with our group, Jody was encouraging each of our runners through to the end. I learned a lot being on the side lines of this journey Jody has been on. Without realizing it she showed me grace throughout this journey. She graciously came out to a race when she could have easily said “Becky, I just can’t come cheer you guys on, it’s too hard.” I would have completely understood her coming to me and saying those words. She didn’t and for that I’m thankful!

The picture below is of me and Jody after the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon. The headband I am wearing is one that she made! I wore it in honor of her that day!

Do you have friends that teach you grace in unexpected ways?

Even though this book is written to married women, I fully believe every woman needs to read this book! I am a single woman and Amy’s way of conveying her story and how she dealt with an emotional affair has me longing to be more guarded in the relationships I have with the men in my life. I want to honor the Lord in everything I do and this is definitely one area I think most women can find themselves (and men as well) trapped in.

I love how Amy shows through scripture the redemption of her story and the saving grace we have through Jesus! No matter where you are in life this you will benefit from this book. I believe with my whole heart that we serve a God who is about second, third and fourth chances to redeem what we can so easily mess up ourselves. Read this book. Take it to heart and share it with others. If you are going through an emotional affair, you are not alone and Amy does a great job in letting you know that she will help you through your journey as well.

You can buy the book by clicking on the picture above. If you have a Kindle, the ebook is on Amazon’s website!

Over the years she has shown me how to love well, live graciously and dare to dream big.

She imparted a passion for travel in me at a young age. Because of that, I have always wanted to travel the world!

She is a prayer warrior. Daily she takes time to have her devotions and prays for her family and friends.

She truly cares about others. Her compassion flows into every part of her life.

She taught me to give, even if that means I go without.

I learned from her that true beauty begins on the inside.

She is a living example of how to be a Godly woman.

I am so thankful for my mom, who turns 60 years old today!

She has put up with a lot of my junk over the years and I am so thankful that she loves me enough to just shake her head and say “that’s just Becky, being Becky. She’ll snap out of it tomorrow.”

Mom, I love you and I am so excited to be celebrating a milestone birthday with you!

For those wondering…I am allowed to tell my mom’s age!

If you are on Twitter go and wish her a Happy Birthday @sbbernier is her name there!

What a privilege to go and listen to women whom I have respected for a long time. When I found out that I was going and that I might get to hear Shelia Walsh speak, memories of my childhood flooded back. I would sit with my parents and watch the 700 Club while she co-hosted it.  She is the only person I remember watching on that program. I also got to hear Nicole Johnson, Luci Swindoll and Lisa Harper. Last but not least I got to hear my favorite fiction author Karen Kingsbury! I started reading her books almost 10 years ago! It was so wonderful to hear her in person. I loved listening to each one of the speakers. Luci Swindoll sounds so much like her brother Chuck Swindoll that if I closed my eyes, I couldn’t tell the difference! I love listening to Chuck Swindoll on the radio so it was a treat to hear Ms Luci!

I laughed and cried through most of the day.

Then Mary Mary got on stage, seriously they are great! If you don’t know who they are, go here and listen to their stuff! I have loved their song “Shackles” for quite a while!

Not only did I get to hear these wonderful speakers and singers all day, I had the privilege of meeting some new friends! They are Sarah Martin, Lisa Whittle, and Tiffany Thurston. I have been following Sarah and Lisa on Twitter for a while now. I read both of their blogs and love the ministry they are a part of for young women. If you are looking for encouragement and women who have “been there, done that” go check out their blogs! Here is Sarah’s blog and here is Lisa’s blog.

Here is a picture of me and Sarah:

A side note: Sarah and I share a love of politics! We have had some good text conversations during the debates recently!

Tiffany was not the last person I met yesterday but meeting her made a huge impact on me. I should be honest here and let you all know that I had no idea who she was when I started talking with her about Hawaii!  (She is Natalie Grant’s back up singer and apparently has a wonderful voice! Sorry Tiffany, I still haven’t heard your music but I am changing that today! ) Nicole, another young lady I met on Saturday started talking to Tiffany about her recent trip to Hawaii. I heard “Hawaii” and of course I wanted to jump into that conversation! We discovered that we have a mutual friend! (We actually have several friends in common!) I was able to talk about “plate lunches”, Manoa Valley, the beach and all the other local things that I do miss on occasion. I love how God chose yesterday for us to meet! We are 6,000 miles from the place that connected us!

Here is a picture of me and Tiffany:

I had a great time at the Women of Faith conference!

PS. I finally bought Tiffany’s worship CD and it’s great! I think everyone should go get it on iTunes!

But things are different for me. I have changed.

This time last year I was not a half marathoner like I am this year. (Next year a marathoner! Yes, I have lofty goals with running.)

I’m a half marathon running coach! (Something I truly enjoy!)

I’ve run three half marathons and several 5ks in the last year. (I have improved my time on each race! )

I was just beginning the process of staying debt free! (I became debt free three months before my 33rd birthday. I’m still there and plan to be like this the rest of my life!)

I was still living at home. (Technically, I am still there but will be moving out soon!)

I was not eating as healthy as I should have been. I don’t eat as much chocolate as I used to. (Some days this makes me sad. )

I’m trusting more that the Lord is guiding me in the right direction.

I’m being challenged and stretched in ways I hadn’t been before.

I’m learning to live in the moment of today. (This is hard for the “planner side of me”.)

I’ve met lots of new friends over the last year!

I read the Bible in 90 days! (My first time doing this and it was quite the challenge. I loved it!)

I’ve learned I need to take time for me to just be. I haven’t been very good at this ever in my life. I’m still not good at it.

Yes, I am 34 today and I don’t feel different yet, I have changed.

PS.  I’ve met a lot of people over the last year that seem to think I am no older than 24! That is something I hope never changes!

Being that there is a 6 hour time difference from the East Coast to Hawaii, I didn’t know what happened until I got up several hours after the terrorist attacks. I remember walking from my room to the kitchen looking up to see in big bold letters “THE WORLD TRADE CENTER TOWERS HAVE BEEN HIT” on a white board just outside the kitchen door. It was a place to put announcements up for the day. I remember thinking what in the world is going on. I wanted to watch the news all day and mostly I wanted to be with my family back in North Carolina. I really don’t remember what I did the rest of the day after learning about the attacks. I’m sure I talked with the other staff members and we gathered around a TV at some point to watch the news, prayed. Life didn’t slow down much for me and others after the attack.  We had phone calls to make to the students who were supposed to arrive for the DTS a week later. I was preparing myself for students saying they would not be flying any time soon, that I would understand. But that didn’t happen. Every single student said they were coming as on time as possible. They were determined to be at the school. For that, I was grateful. It seemed to bring some sense of “normalcy” to a situation that was anything but normal.

As I reflect on that time, I feel some what disconnected from the heart ache and pain that was brought on by this devastating attack. I recently told my mom that I will want to be glued to the TV on Sunday to watch as much footage of all that happened so that I can at least get a small glimpse of what took place. Being away from home at a time like that is not easy to begin with but the detachment I have felt for over ten years is also hard for me to grasp.

I don’t know if it is my way of dealing with emotions I have yet to give a voice to…

If you are reading this and you were in Hawaii with me, do you remember what we did? For some reason I only remember the first part of the day. Everything else is blank.

Where were you on September 11, 2001?