"Out Of The Darkness Community Walk..."

Walking in Faith...


My second walk/run for the season...This walk to fight suicide is very dear to my heart. 
Today I've heard testimonies from people who've lost a spouse, a sibling, a parent, a friend, a relative and someone who's right now suffering from this mental illness. I've read too many people mostly celebrities who committed suicide and I guess I was prematurely presumptuous to think that they welcomed that disease to themselves by the way they live their life as rich & famous!

But Today I realized after hearing the voices that echoed deep-dismal sadness and in a way still in pain for their lost loved ones, that depression ultimately leads to having suicidal thoughts does not discriminate. Anyone is susceptible these days or can be a candidate if we lose the truth that mental illness is a great magnitude of our spirituality. And that we are never alone if we open our hearts to Jesus.

All these charity and fund-raised walks are all so humbling, commemorating and in a way a closure to all of us who've seen the darkness of this illness. We're more driven now to talk about it because of the staggering number surrounding it, thus, the stigma that attached to suicide is no longer hidden. We could all be the voice of Hope to those who are suffering now.

However, there is one thing that need not be overlooked or denied: We refused to cling that our help must come first from the Lord. Everything else is inferior outside the realm of God. The only suicidal prevention that I know for sure is having a personal relationship and accepting Jesus as our personal savior and Lord.

When will we ever learn that we are powerless without the help of God? When do we stop bullying ourselves that we can overcome such darkness in our life with our own strength and power?

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"Getting Creative..."

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"FALL Into the Landscape of the Season..."

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Today Is All Good...

 Fall weather is here...Feeling the zeal of the glorious day stirring in my heart, I took Tootsie for a walk at the park. So happy that she didn't indicate for a rest so we walked and jogged alternately. There's nothing more alluring and intimate to me than breathing fresh chilly air into my lungs. 

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 After lunch, it just dawned on me that Pet Medical Center where Cocoa & Tootsie get to have their check- ups are having their 15th- year anniversary celebration from 10am-2pm. I only had half hour to take Cocoa there and we made it. We ended up getting a lot of freebies and also they served us brisket and hot dogs--for free! I was glad to have followed my instinct to still go even for half hour. When we got there, there were only a few dogs left checking out the venue. They also took a snapshot of me & Cocoa. That was really nice of them to celebrate all of the dogs & cats that's been coming to that Pet Center.

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 It wouldn't be  a good ride back home if I didn't walk Cocoa to her favorite Carl Levin Park. And it turned out I still had more than enough energy to enjoy the pond. Sitting there lulls me into smiling serenity & contentment...Oh, how I love to enjoy the simple things that draw me nigh closer to His presence!
It feels really good to have walked both of my dogs "fair & square," on the same day.
Thank you, Lord, for a marvelous day!

"My First 5K-Run/Walk With My Buddies"

Ms. Kayla, a real chum; a great game changer, educator...

It just turned Fall last Wednesday... my heart is hefty, full of anticipation with great expectation for Saturday's 5K run/walk for the entire school district.

This is it--the day to prove and compete with myself whether I'll stumble or see victory within reach. When I got my number and the electronic monitor tied on my shoe, nostalgic memories of running competitions during my high school and freshman and sophomore years flood my mind.
 For me, today is not about racing. It's more like a wholesome, family activity; with friends and colleagues just making connections by sharing a barrel of passion for this sport.
I thank God for serendipity...I encountered some former colleagues and yeah thank the Lord  for iPhone easy-grip snapshots. Still not suave navigating it but as long as I get the purity of their smiles, I'm happy. The proof is undeniable! Thank you guys for your radiant smiles and good energy.
So, you may be wondering how I did my 5K run--It might be under or about 40 mins.I could be wrong. When the DJ announced my name as I crossed the finished line, that moment was a signature of fulfillment. I knew then, that this is the beginning of many more 5k-10k's journey to be in...Thank you esp. to Ms. Lopez for partnering up with me. By the way, your sprints have challenged me to traverse the path at full speed better than I thought!

Philippians 1:6 KJV
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

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Ms. Ivy, it was really good to see you ...

Ms. Lopez, thank you for your gentle and beautiful soul--running side by side with me!

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"Psalms 46:1..."

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever- present help in trouble."

A child-like faith is what we need. Love this image...

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"Optimizing Most Favorable Fall Bucket List..."

Balancing that kind of grit that the "fifty- somethings" wants to keep it going  is tough. Aging with chronic backaches, joint pains, and your faculties in its steady decline may propel one and many to clinical depression... If there's one thing I could do over is go back to my younger self and hijacked all the high ideals, perturbed, wrong notions brought by reading fairy tales, intoxicating romance novels, movies,alluring music which are all defined by my quintessential era restrained!
In my ladies' university dorm, you see a poster of Eric Clapton with his guitar near my bed. Oh, that was ever the best generation, I believe...yet I'm here declaring a "do over" when it obviously became a big part of me. Maybe what I really need is just focus on what's really going on and what's in store for "grabs." That's more like it...
So here I am feeling recluse for a while now. However, the prelude to Fall season makes all these nemeses of thoughts fall backward!
I have already been doing the majority of this bucket list but not heartily as I could have had. I have yet to learn how to maximize/optimize what befalls me not just watching those fall leaves on trees and on the ground but actually adorn them, feel them for their transient arrivals like the gusty wind that just wraps your shoulders and legs.

It must have been that "fifty something grit" that's been there that propelled me to take a walk with my dog this morning. My back aches and my joints still bother me but I "gotta' beat that pain and just walk not jog or run. I have to relearn that my mind may want to do more but my physical body is not as young as my heart. That really sucks to the bone, you know... Finally, knowing that what Jesus had finished at the Calvary Cross for me and you, His blood covers and heals every infirmity, disease, and sickness a Christ believer may have.

God Bless Everyone!