"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!

You, Guys have all inspired me!Add caption

"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!

"Thy Will Be Done..."

"Jesus, The One True God..."

"Cocoa, My Beloved Dog..."

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Cocoa's getting a nail clipped by two lovely, sweet ladies.

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Then, these two ladies had surprised me with 2 snapshots of Cocoa. I couldn't be more grateful especially Today that Cocoa is 11 years old in human years. I don't really want to number her age in dog years for that would make her close to 80. And that would make me feel very sad that she may not live forever...

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"In Christ, There Are No Goodbyes..."

    I get a teary eye listening to this song. I think of my dad, my younger brother Romeo, my college best friend Susan and my dearest friend Lani whose lives got cut short before my eyes. Each of them impacted my life in a way that strengthens me  to continue to keep my eyes on Jesus' because I long to be with them eternally in the presence of God where there are no more goodbyes.

"I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have just to see you again..." I wished that I could have told them how much I loved them, then and now. My loving memories of them stay forever in my heart!

Oh, what a great promise that is... 1Thessalonians4:13-1 8KJV


 Thank You, Lord Jesus, for you are our God of refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalms 46:1 KJV