Roomie Praise Report

Hey Party Peoples!! So God's pretty amazing in how He works stuff out. It all started in Octoberish when I was in the market for a new roomie. I was ubber excited for the new person God had in store for me, so I did a craigslist ad while in Florida on vacation. I just wanted to get the ball rolling because I'm the planner type. I received a lot of responses and had many appointments set up upon my return back to Kansas. Due to the huge response, I was able to be very selective in who I wanted. I finally picked this guy who seemed perfect. He was youngish, chill like me, and appeared to be a good guy. In my mind, I was like, "That was easy ::hit 'Easy' button::" Having that little detail worked out, I was able to concentrate on my training and life in general with no worry or care. Hooray!
Training was going fabulously, and I was all smiles. I felt like that baby in "Baby's Day Out", for nothing could go wrong in my world (this reference was taken from Tina Fey's utterly awesome book, "Bossy Pants"). December came around, and I left for Florida to begin my glorious Christmas vacay. Nice weather, latinos, and family--what could be better?? A couple days into my vacation, I received an email from my future roomie explaining that something suddenly came up, and he could not live with me in two weeks in January. The funny thing about this was that I don't think I was alarmed at all. It was one of those moments where something goes so wrong that you know God's will must be afoot. I literally thought to myself, "Ok God, I guess you tryna show out here. Let's go!" Leading up to this point, I was having major trust issues with God. I liked to describe it that way. After having a not so stellar track season, I was a little skeptical of God's plan for my life. I knew He was sovereign and good, but I could not quiet my heart's doubtful rumblings. Nevertheless, I was praying for opportunities to build my trust (scary prayer). Anyway, back to the email: So when I read it, I immediately told myself, "Bettie. God's got you. Don't worry. God will work this all out whatever that may be." I vowed that day that no matter how things appeared, I was going to commit to trusting that God would work this situation out. From the get-go, I told myself that God was an 11:59 kind of guy, meaning He won't come early, but He'll always be on time.
With the my new deal/sit, I posted another ad on craigslist. Again, I received a lot of responses, however, people didn't take too well to the fact that I wouldn't be back in town for another week and a half and at that time there would only be 3 days before the lease started. I would have great convo, and then that person would peter out, over and over again. All the while though, God was faithful in giving me peace with the whole situation. At one point, I was talking to my loverly step-mom and said that I felt like I should be freaking out, but I wasn't and that that was weird. Yeah, that was def God giving me peace and not myself at that point.
So about 3 days before my Kansas return, I was in correspondence with some dude who was mad cool. Things appeared like they would work out, and I was like, "Yay!" in my mind. All the while, with every person I came in contact with, I would just pray that God kept His hand on the situation and above all else, His will be done even if that meant not finding a roomie for another month or so. So I thought this guy was the one, and I was doing happy dances all over the place. Only small problem was that he couldn't come see the place until the weekend ie the day before the new lease started. Bummer, but it was what it was. On Dec 28, I headed back to good ol' Kansas. During my layover in Dallas, I got an email from a new dude about the room. I was excited about the other dude, but I called the new guy and set up a showing for the following morning. New guy came over the next morning and was like, "This is perfect. I'll move in on Sunday." I said, "Cool", and that I would send him landlord info. As soon as he walked out the front door, I did about a 50sec celebratory dance in my hallway. When I tell, you I lost it, I straight up did. I was doing the dougie, running man, cabbage patch. Shoooooooot!! But here's the motha motha catch that makes this amazing! Dude is in military and has a wife and kids in Texas. He works 24hr shifts for a week straight (24hr on, 24hr off, and so on), and then goes home to Texas for 2ish weeks!! Whaaaaaat!!!!! How much more perfect can this be! AND!!! he owns like nothing, He's using my air mattress because I felt bad that he would be on the floor. I've seen him one day since he moved in on Jan 1.
LITERALLY God showed out! I can't imagine a better situation in this Olympic year. I just couldn't believe how well everything worked out. Moral of the story: God is sick amazing. Needless to say, I'm trusting God more and more each day and am just so happy about how things are right now in my life. Yay God, yay His grace, yay Him in my life:D

Hope Series: Fight of My Life

My dear sister, Patty aka Patrice, gave me a "Hope" journal for my birthday. Two great things about this gift: I love to journal, and I've been struggling with keeping the faith lately. I decided to write ever so freely in this journal. If it has spiritual undertones, it does, and if it doesn't, then it won't. As I see fit, I will include some entries that I feel might touch others. I thought this one might. Here goes:

Hope gives me air to breathe. Life's events can punch you like a boxer until you fall on the ground. Blow by blow, to the ribcage, to the arms, the stomach. You can only block for so long. Just as you gasp for a small breathe of air, a glance of hope, that's when life takes its final hit, and you are sent sprawling to the mat. In and out of consciousness you struggle with your reality. You don't know what's up and what's down, your left from your right. Just as you are about to throw in the towel and succumb to your opposing boxer, you feel a little spark of energy from within. A glimmer of hope awakens your senses. You realize that it's not time to give up. It's not time to admit defeat. You are not powerless yet--You still have hope. As the referee is doing the count, you slowly rise to your feet. With your spirits, your arms start to raise. And as you get into position, the bell rings.

Yeah, that's how I feel right now. I rose from being down. I know I have rounds to go. I know the fight isn't over, But I'm ready. I'm resting and preparing, so that when the bell rings, I will be ready to fight. No more playing defense. I'm taking on the world and all that this life has to offer. I'm so used to being defeated. I'm so used to being down. But I don't like it. I don't want to be down for the count anymore. I want to stand. My resilience amazes me. I took a helluva lot of punches. Some will leave permanent bruises. So what. The thing that matters most is that I got up. I am up. And I'm ready for another round. Yeah, life's gonna hit hard, sometimes harder than in the previous rounds but I'm ready for it. I'm ready to fight.

The Mirror

This is a poem I wrote today when thinking about the impact or lack thereof that I am making (inspired by "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller):

I am so selfish. It makes me sick.
I claim to follow Jesus, yet i can't find the proof.
I say, "He is my God", but I don't even trust Him with my sleep.
And what's so important about my sleep anyway?
Every night I close my eyes, so i can rejuvenate, restore, and renew.
For what, though?
I feel my life has no passion--or no significant passion for that matter.
Every morning I pray to make a difference in the world.
But how can I see others if I spend all day in the mirror.
I get sad about my life, yet I don't make changes.
I'm starting to think I don't really care about the world or what Jesus preached.
I say, "He is my foundation", yet I don't think Jesus supported overspending and gluttony.
I sigh as I look at all that I haven't done.
But I'm not sad for long because something always catches my eye in the mirror.

FoCo!

I had the incredible honor of spending the past week in Fort Collins, Colorado with one of my besties (yeah, i used that word), Katers Dannecker. From the moment I got there to the minute I left, I loved every second of it. It was exactly what I needed at this point in my life, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Physically, it was freaking glorious! Everyday was, I'd say, about high 70's, low 80's and little humidity. This coming from Kansas where, by noon, it is 95 degrees and crazy humidity. My lungs could breathe, and it wasn't a struggle to warm up. Coach and his wonderful self had tailored my workouts for my little vacation, and everything went smoothly. Yay change of weather!
Mentally, it was just really good to get out of Kansas for awhile. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my training in Kansas, however, I have much disdain for living there. Since the first day of practice, my training, on a scale from 1-10, has been a 15, so I absolutely love that part. It's the city and my perception (which is accurate a lot of the time) of the people that nags my soul. I have been meeting and spending some quality time with some nice people lately, so that has significantly helped me keep my sanity. Nevertheless, it was really good to have a change of environment and give myself a break from Kansas. Outside of the lack of diversity, Fort Collins reminds me of Ann Arbor, so I simply loved being there. Katers took me all over and showed me all the little hotspots and good food spots unique to FoCo. It was so cool! It was also a really good change of pace to see more eclectic people--I love different cultures!!
Emotionally, it was sooooooo good to see a wonderful friend from back home. Although Katers and I keep quite in touch, it's not the same as being face to face. We had a lot of good hugs and bosom holding! it was really good:) It's also nice to get out of the structured training environment I'm in. I was able to simply relax, take deep breaths, and have some good quality fun. My good friend and spiritual mentor, Dee, also came in halfway through my visit, and words cannot express how great it was to see her too. oh man, simply glorious:)
Spiritually, I am still in awe of God's grace and how His timing is crazy perfect and He will give you rest when you need it most. So, Katers was in week 8, the final week, of Colorado Project. If my info serves me right, this is an AIA (Athletes In Action) leadership camp that helps develop and equip young men and women to be effective spiritual leaders on the college campuses. And since I was with Katers, I was able to do a lot of the Project stuff too--so great! I'm going to blog about it later, but my spiritual well-being prior to this vacation was in the rebuilding stages in the sense that I was really re-figuring out what it meant for me to completely live for God and be obedient to His Word (again, details later). Being at CP (Colorado Project) was seriously God-sent because it was so great to be surrounded by people truly living for God with their entire lives, seeking Him in everything. At Michigan, I was constantly surrounded by these types of people, so it was so much more natural to do it myself. I've learned that this does not come quite as easily when you're somewhat on your own with your faith. Alas, God is great, and being around all those cool, Jesus loving, people was all too good for my hungry soul.
I also had the privilege of spending some time with one of the staff families. OMG. Seeing them and how glorifying their family was to God just reiterated how important it is for me to be patient for the strong Christian man God has for me. I need not settle and be sorry. One example was of their cute 5yr old son, Jack. Jack, Finn (his little brother), and I were playing in the father's study, and Jack asked, "Can you sleepover tonight?". I then responded that I could not because I had a very early morning where I was flying back to my home. He said, "ok", and that was the end of it. Later at dinner, his father asked who wanted to say the prayer, and Jack excitedly volunteered. While being impressed by just how natural his praying skills were, there was one such prayer that almost brought tears to my eyes. Little 5yr old Jack said, "...and thank you for letting me meet Bettie, and I pray that she has a safe flight back home tomorrow, and she has to get up really early, so I pray that You help her rest well tonight..." I was awestruck, like seriously. THAT is what I want for my family, and I need to have a strong Christian man who will be that necessary spiritual leader. Needless to say, this was the perfect ending to my trip.
All in all, I was refreshed on all levels, and am back on track with being on fire for Jesus. Yay friends, yay experiences, yay God!

Freakin New York!!

So, I went to New York last weekend for the Adidas Grand Prix, and it was utter sweetness. As for as the meet went, I wasn't too happy with my performance, but it is what it is. I did the 3-Event challenge which had shot put, long jump, and hurdles. In addition to myself, the field included Kasey Hill, Hyleas Fountain, and Jessica Ennis. My marks were 12.35, 6.28,13.84. The shot was so off that we don't even talk about that. We now know what was up and will not repeat that again. While long jump and hurdles were not too too off my pb's, much better would have been appreciated, but again, it is what it is.
Now on to the good stuff!! I was reunited with some former teammates, Gina Gull! aka G-Baby aka Geena Gall and Tiffany Ofifi aka Triflin Tiff aka Tiffany Ofili. SOOO. MUUUUCH. FUUUUUN. I love these girls, and we hadn't seen each other since we went our separate ways back in September. Much needed reunion. Kasey and I hung with these chicas most of the weekend, and it was great.
The highlight of my weekend was Saturday night by far! I don't think i've laughed as much as I did that night in a looooooong time. J Neezy aka Lil Jenni aka Jenni Neville, the infamous Skylar Andrews, Tiff's cuz, Obi, and Skylar's friend, Sheldon, also joined in the fun. J Neezy is doing an internship in NY and Skylar is working in the city. From utter hotel silliness/craziness to a 2am Coldstone Creamery run in TImes Square to 4am girls talk, this night was great. It was extremely much needed seeing as I live in Kansas where there is not much to do nor any black people (no exaggeration). ::sigh:: so yeah, great weekend:)

Gotzis Heptathlon

This is a bit late, but I went to Gotzis, Austria back in late May for the 2010 Hypo-Meeting. This was by far the best competition I had been in. I think the main thing was that the contested events were strictly multi events, the decathlon and heptathlon, so I could really see the appreciation of the fans for what I do. Since almost all of my multi's have been in the US, I was used to getting up at the crack of dawn and having a scattering of parents and lost fans watching my events. This was far from that case. The fans truly loved you. They understood the hard work that goes into the multi events and loved cheering you on every step of the way.
I arrived in Gotzis on Monday, May 24, and went straight to the track to get my practice done before I ate. When I walked into the stadium, I was quite taken aback by the modest appearance of what was home to the biggest multi meet in the world. While the surface was good, overall, it looked similar to many high school tracks i've run on. Noting this, I was even more excited to compete here because I knew that the meet days were going to looking completely different. Also, with only one grandstand, it made the track extremely intimate. It almost as if the fans were right there competing with you--very cool.
After a short practice, I returned back to my "hotel" to get settled. While the oversee athletes stayed in a hotel a couple of miles away, the US and Canadian athletes had the wonderful pleasure of staying at a quiet bed and breakfast type place hidden away in a nearby neighborhood. Staying at the bed and breakfast made such a difference in my experience. The owners knew everyone in our group by name and jumped at the chance to make our stay pleasurable. The food was AMAZING. I want to say that everything had about a pound of butter in it, and I probably gained a good (mostly bad) 5 pounds which I tried to lose soon after I returned to the states. My roomie in Gotzis was Canadian heptathlete, Jessica Zelinka--real cool girl. So yeah, as the week progressed, the other athletes and myself basically practiced, played some intense games of Phase Ten (if you don't know, now you know!), chilled, and prepared ourselves for the sweetness which was the Gotzis Hypo-Meeting.
As far as sight-seeing goes, I was able to go to a town center type place on my rest day, Thursday. It was pretty cool just walking around as seeing the culture of another country. However, I didn't like how I had to pay 50 cents (euro) to use the bathroom--still a cool experience:)

Finally, the day of the meet came, and I was very excited. My body had been feeling good the entire week, practices had been good, and mentally, I was ALL good. My coach was unable to be with me due to his collegiate coaching responsibilities, but we had gone over all my cues beforehand, and Hyleas Fountain's coach, Lynn Smith was more than willing to assist me. I will not go into super detail about the competition because frankly, I don't feel like it. However, my marks were: 14.00,1.82,13.62,25.07;6.29,37.62, 2:21.17. First day weather was good with sun and high 60's. Second day weather was very rainy with mid 50's. Despite the second day weather, I was having the time of my life because I was at freaking Goetzis. Overall, I ended up with a PB of 6000 which was my first time over 6000, so i was pleased. I also received the 2010 Rookie Award for the heptathlon, so that was pretty cool too. The comp was rather sloppy, but I've learned to take PB's whenever you get them. With these international competitions, in addition to trying to do well, I am just trying to get the experiences under my belt, so I can become more and more comfortable, and in the end, compete better. I am getting a better grip on my bearings with each competition, so that is good. So yeah, this meet was incredible, and i CANNOT wait to have many more extraordinary experiences there:)

Gossip

i will preface this message with the fact that i am in no way perfect, and i do fall victim to gossip at times.

so, this topic is very dear to me because it can do so much harm to other individuals as well as ourselves. why do people gossip and say mean things about others? "because it needs to be said?" but why does it? the age old advice that our parents told us still holds as much weight, if not more, today than it did back when: if you can't say anything nice about somebody, then don't say anything at all.
i feel like we, as a people, need to come together and build one another up instead of breaking each other down. we are all so quick to worry about others and how they aren't living up to life's expectations. who cares?? like seriously! i was in a grocery store a few years back when i overheard a father disciplining one child after that child was saying not nice things to his sibling. the father said "are you building up your brother?" the child's reply was "no". the father responded by encouraging the child to only say things that would build up and exhort his brother. so simple, yet so true.
life is hard, and each of us have our own problems to worry about, so why worry about other people and their problems? and what position are gossipers in that they get to be the judge and critique other people? are these people so insecure that they must put others down in order to lift themselves up? well, i'll tell you right now that it's doesn't work that way. no one wins in gossip.
i invite my readers to try to do one week where they only let encouraging words utter from their lips. if you are compelled to say anything that could be construed as not nice, ask yourself "am i building up the person or putting them down?" and "what position am i in that gives me the right to bring them down?" this is just a thought, but i feel it will help us become better people.

so yeah...gossip is not cute!