An Epiphany

This is Justin (I have to say that because normally Sally writes on here).

So, I used to have this blog - thedoulosproject.org - where I would post all kinds of thoughts about all kinds of things (typically spiritual things). I did a good job of actually posting pretty regularly...at least once every other day or so, probably for almost a year. Then it kinda faded away and I got out of the habit.

Well, I don't necessarily have any intentions of getting back in the habit, but there was something I thought about earlier today that I wanted to post here, not just to tell everyone who visits this site, but to remind myself. So, here goes...

I'm not really sure how I thought about this (what train of thought led me to it, that is), so there's not really any sort of introduction to this. What I thought about was this: the less you tangibly experience God in your daily life, the more you will be distanced from Him. I don't necessarily have any sort of scripture from which that though was derived, but I still do think that it is Biblical in a sense. If you are not partaking in the work of God regularly, then you will find yourself further and further from Him.

Let me define two phrases I have already used to avoid confusion. First, by "work of God", I mean doing the actual Biblical things that he has told us to do. Serve others, be kind towards other, share the good news about Jesus, love your enemies. Now, there are a lot of things that many of us might consider to be the work of God, but it isn't really. For instance, I play guitar at my church in the worship band. Yes, that is spiritual and yes, it is a good thing. But I don't really believe it is the work of God that He has explicitly called us to do. By that I do not mean that He did not call me to do it, but if you read the Bible you will find a bunch of verses about the previous things I mentioned and little to none about standing up in front of a few people once a week strumming an instrument. I don't say that to belittle that task of leading worship. I love it and totally enjoy it. I just think that there are many other things that he has explicitly called us to in Scripture that probably have a much bigger impact on his kingdom.

Definition two: when I say "distancing yourself from God", I obviously don't mean literally distancing yourself. Not even really spiritually distancing yourself. It's more of a figurative distance. And what I mean is that your relationship with Him will not be fresh, active, vibrant, and full of life. It will feel as though God is more of a thought, an idea, or something abstract because, in actuality, that is what He is in your mind when He is not active in your life.

I say all of this mostly because I am speaking to myself. I find myself in danger of letting God become more of an idea or theory than a person. It may even be a powerful, glorious, beautiful idea, but it's still an idea. And that is useless. We (I) must actively seek to join in the work that He is doing all around us by speaking of Him and doing what He has told us to do.

I could probably write a whole lot more on this right now, but it's late (yes, 10:15 is late for me these days) and I'm pretty tired. Maybe there will be a part two one day.

Oh, and forgive any grammatical errors. I usually make them, and I don't really feel like proofreading this now.

Our Trip to Atlanta

For some time now we have wanted to get out of town and spend some time relaxing and enjoying each others company. So a few weeks ago Justin said he wanted to go to Atlanta for the weekend. I was all in - not only for all the wonderful shopping that i was looking forward to, but also for all the friends that we would get to see. Justin started looking at our calendars and saw that the weekend of Valentine's would work. We decided to take off the following Monday and possibly Tuesday.

Justin made all the reservations for where we would stay on Sunday night and where we would eat. On the Thursday before we were to leave the weather forecasted snow for Friday. We both hoped that it would snow so we could have a five day weekend. We found out late Thursday night that our offices would be closed. We were both very excited not only for the snow but for the long weekend we would have.

While in Atlanta we shopped (Justin was a great sport while I shopped), saw friends, went to the Georgia Aquarium (Justin had never been), ate lots of good food, and got a lot of much needed rest. It was a great Valentines weekend!!

I posted a few pictures we took at the aquarium along with the view from our hotel.

GA Trip

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I know that everyone is freaking out about the snow because I am one of them. Yes, we all know that other parts of the country has this kind of weather all the time. However, in Mississippi this is something that only happens once every six or more years. So just look outside and enjoy the fact that you are able to experience this kind of beauty in Mississippi.

Last night before I went to bed I saw the snow starting to accumulate on our deck outside. I really didn't think much about it because I just thought that it would stop something during the night and we would just have really wet streets and maybe a little dusting on the ground.

Was I wrong!!! I woke up at 6:30 becuase Jack was ready to get up so we put him in another room so we could get more sleep since the office was closed at MC. I looked outside and saw that it was more than just a dusting but it was still dark and I really couldn't see much. I went back to sleep for about two more hours. We laid in bed for a little while longer and shortly thereafter realized that the power had gone out. We got up and that is when I saw the beautiful snow covering my backyard. You would have thought I was a kid!! It was so breathtaking. I have seen snow before in Colorado, New York, and Russia but this was in my own backyard. I was speechless!!Everything was covered!!

You really can't read it but at 8:45 we had 3 inches

After playing in the snow for a little bit we went our to our friends' house. They are RD's at MC so we were able to see MC covered in snow. After one failed attempt at making a snowman we went inside to warm up and have coffee. Once we had defrosted we went back outside and walked around the campus. Students were all over the place making snowmen and trying sled down the hills. Everyone was out playing and taking pictures.

Everything looked beautiful covered in snow!

Even Jack enjoyed playing in the snow.

10K Race

This past weekend I did something that I have not done since high school - I ran more than 6 miles. That last time I did this I was a senior in high school and that was 8 years ago, and I only did that once a year. While in high school I did run cross country. However, the races were only 2 miles sometimes 2.2 miles. So during training we would run about 2 to 3 miles each day.

During the last 8 years since high school I have not had a consistent workout plan. I would get on kicks and work out for a few weeks but stop for some reason or another. I say all of that to say that I am not someone who has been running 5 miles a few times a week for the past 8 years. As 2009 ended I thought about the resolutions I wanted to make (read the previous post for details about my 2010 resolutions). Working out was at the top.

I have two great running partners. One of the girls I run with (Cam) had been trying to get me to run a half marathon. I kept putting it off and telling her I was not ready. In January she told me about a 10K. I told her that I needed more than a month but she would not listen so I started training. So on February 6 I ran in the Bob Colman 10K Winter Run. The race took place on the Natchez Trace, it was a straight course with no hills.

I finished the race with a time of 1 hour and 5 minutes. I was trying to have a time of 1 hour and 2 mins. but that didn't happen. It's ok because I now have something to work on for the next time I run a 10K. I am very proud of myself to sticking with it and running the race. The same friend just asked me to run and half marathon in the summer. I am still not sure if I am going to do it or not but I am still going to keep running.

This is before the race when I got my packet.

At the finish line!!!

This is my friend Cam. She is the one who made me run the race.
She did a great job.


These are more friends who finished the race!

Resolutions 2010

Sorry that it has almost been a month since my last post. I am going to do better!

This year I (Sally) made 4 New Year Resolutions. I wanted to wait until January was over before I posted anything about my resolutions. I had to make sure I could make it through the first month without breaking any. My resolutions are not all that difficult but they do require some changes in my daily life. Ok, so here are my 4 resolutions:
1. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
2. Cook at least 3 meals a week.
3. Workout at least 3 times a week.
4. Read one book a month.

I know as you read them you may be thinking those are things I do every week. Well good for you!!
Let me just explain why I chose my 4 resolutions.
Resolution #1: For the most part I only drink water, however there would be days when I would not really drink much of anything. I would drink a little milk in the morning, some coffee, and about half a glass of water for both lunch and dinner. I wanted to start drinking the 8 glasses of water that my body needed. So that is my reasoning behind resolution #1.

Resolution #2: I really do enjoy cooking but some nights after work I would be want to go out to eat and not worry about cooking or cleaning. But eating out for dinner would always cause us to eat out for lunch the following day (because we would not have any leftovers). Over the holiday I went through our bank statements and added up how much money we spent on eating out. I was shocked at how much money we spent each month eating out. At first I wanted to make the resolution about how many times we would go out to eat each week but if we said we would only eat out 3 times a week we would eat out all 3 times. So I told Justin that I was going to start cooking more so we would not go out to eat as much. Each week I have cooked at least 3 meals and most weeks I cook more. We are both eating better and saving money!!

Resolution #3: Like almost every body I wanted to make a resolution to lose some weight. Again I wanted to say that I would lose X number of pounds each month, but I knew if I didn't lose that weight I would give up. So I thought more about it and decided to work out at least 3 times a week. I have been running with a few friends and on February 6 I will be running at 10K. I am already seeing the results!!

Resolution #4: I really enjoy reading however there are times in my life when I am just too busy or lazy to pick up a book and read. Last year a made the same resolution. I read about 15 books throughout the year. However there would be months when I could read two books or more then months when I won't pick up a book. This year I wanted to make sure that I started a new book at the beginning of each month and finished it by the end. I am sure I will read more than 12 books this year but I just wanted to set a goal to finish a book each month.

So now you know why I chose each resolution. I am hoping that next year some, if not all, of these are resolutions become normal in my life and I will have to pick new resolutions.

I am very happy to report that during the month of January I was able to complete all of my resolutions and I am still going strong!!!!!