Conditioning

Within a week I was able to hang with all my siblings from Reed in the Phoenix area to Natalie in Logan and all the others in between.

I haven't seen Reed in forever and haven't been to their "new" house they moved into 5 years ago. So when Nate qualified to race in Phoenix at the Nike Regional invitational, I was so there even if it meant an 11 hour drive each way in one weekend. Kiersten and Jason quickly jumped on board. Tyler slowly came around to the idea and we made it a fun family vacation (Ash and Alex no longer had a choice).

Nate and his running buddies decided they really wanted to qualify as a team to go to the Nike National race in Oregon. That meant winning at this regional race.

They came close taking 8th place out of about 30 teams. However, the most exciting part was when our number one runner took 2nd overall. The excitement was palpable as history was in the making. He was headed to Oregon (and took 9th overall there).

Photo courtesy of Stansbury Stallions XC Facebook page

On my 11-hour journey home, I was reflecting on the success of this team. I'm impressed with the coaches who devote a considerable amount of time to running with and training these kids. They run year round in rain, snow, sunshine, heat, cold, early mornings, late nights. They were prepared and ready. Their bodies were conditioned with intense training: the hills, the repeats, the sprints, the workouts. Their minds were conditioned with inspiring, motivational coaches who believed in them and helped them to believe in themselves.

The idea of such conditioning is that they will be prepared for whatever comes their way. It would make them stronger and faster. With such conditioning Nate shaved minutes off his race time from the time he was a freshman to his senior year. On the contrast, I am a fair weather runner. I run when I want to run, in weather I prefer, and I run as slow or as fast as I care too. I am in no way conditioned to race at the level of these boys.

Conditioning on a spiritual level is very much the same. There comes a point in our life where we need to figure out for ourselves what we believe and who we will place that belief in. Are we going to condition ourselves to be our own savior, a human with such limiting power and knowledge to control really anything? Or are we going to condition ourselves to rely on a higher power other than ourselves, someone who is omniscient and omnipotent? As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my parents began that conditioning process of building my faith when I was very young by teaching me about Jesus Christ through the scriptures, family home evening, church attendance, their examples. It's up to me now to continue that conditioning process to ensure my spiritual muscles are toned and ready. I have had some hard trials. The first big one was a daughter born with cancer. Throughout the many doctor visits and tests, I just felt peace and calmness. When everything else was out of my control, that's when all my years of spiritual conditioning kicked in. I had prepared for this moment. My faith in God definitely gave me the assurance that everything would be okay. And it is. Our cancer survivor is the one in the middle.

In any sport, a coach will tell you that you will have greater success if you can get the athlete to buy into their regime, their coaching philosophies. Same with the Savior. He can better prepare us for life's critical moments if we are willing to put in the work. He will help us succeed and be ready to perform in those big moments. The Savior is the ultimate coach and guide. When he asks me to show up, I will do so . . . consistently and diligently every day in order to condition myself to be ready and prepared for whatever lies around the corner.

* * * * * * *

These are the days of . . . 
*LOTS of snow. The storm that lingered for days over Thanksgiving, dropped a total of 19 inches on our doorstep. Had we been in school, it would have most likely been a snow day.

Snow day last January for comparison.

Erik likes to compare all the snow he's getting too.


*Ash got to have a sleepover with her friend Anna and help make mounds and pounds of chocolates. Since sleepovers are nonexistent at our house, this one exception was the highlight of her life.

Running with a blessing in his back pocket

Nate is focused and knows what he wants. This year he knew he really wanted to run on the varsity cross country team which is only comprised of the top seven runners on the team. He ran all summer and has also been getting up early in the mornings to get a run in before school.

Region was on Friday and on Tuesday he started to come down with a cold, his second this season. The first cold he had did not allow him to run at full capacity and wasn't kind to his time and left his placement on the team in jeopardy. When he told me he wasn't feeling well, I thought why of all weeks. This week was crucial and would kind of determine whether he went on to state with the team. There were also 4 or 5 runners who were all vying for the coveted 5, 6, and 7 spots on the team, and each was only within seconds of each other.

Wednesday morning I asked him if he would like a priesthood blessing which he said yes to. Our wonderful friend, neighbor, former bishop came over later that night and gave him one. By Friday Nate was feeling much better but still a little congested.

I was nervous for him.

I wanted him to run well.

He wanted to run well.

It's hard to run well when you can't breathe.

He gave it his all and came in 6th place overall and 5th on his team.

Now there are some who would call this story a bunch of baloney and just coincidence. They would say Nate was on his way to getting better already.

But that isn't true.

Yesterday he was more congested than Friday and could hardly talk. Same with today.

God doesn't work in coincidences. God is in the very detail of our lives. He wants us to succeed. He cares deeply about what matters to us. He knew this race meant a lot to Nathan and he knew Nate had put in the effort and time to get to where he needed to be. He had done his part.

When all seems out of our control, turn to the One who is in control, who holds the power to overcome sicknesses and infirmities.

This week was a testimony to me of the power of the priesthood. How blessed we are that God would allow his sons and daughters to tap into his power to bless the lives of others when needed.

Cross Country

Last spring several girls in our ward tried very hard to convince Kiersten to join the cross country team.

So she did.

And she said it was one of the best decisions she ever made.

She consistently went to practices all summer long and Nate often tagged along with her.

The cross country program at Stansbury High School has quite a name for itself, and I think it all comes down to the coaching. There are over 100 kids on the team, no one is turned away, and the coaches are all well loved.

Last week was state competition and the end of cross country season. Kiersten's a little bummed about having to return to real live, as in taking back her piano students that I have been teaching.

She improved a lot from the time she first started running. There was a time I could beat her, but not anymore. At the race in Saratoga Springs she woke up that morning and told herself she was going to PR in that race. And she did.

She is a girl who sets her mind to something and accomplishes it.