Another chapter closed.....

Yesterday I put the paperwork in the mail that ended another chapter in my life. I sent off the paperwork showing that I completed all of my client contact hours and supervision hours in order to receive my full license as a counselor. For those of you who do not know...this means I completed 150 hours of supervision and 1500 client contact hours over a two year period.

It may sound like a checklist kind of thing. But for those who have done it or are doing it...it's such a beast! It blows my mind if I think about the amount of money or time that the supervision cost. I remember at one point, I looked at Paul and explained that in order for me to finish on time I would not only have to buckle down and do more hours timewise, but we would have to pay out the dinero as well. It meant it would affect our budget until I was done.

I cannot tell you how many times I calculated and recalculated my hours. I am not obsessive compuslive about many things, but I may have been about this. This is a journey that technically started my first day of grad school in August 2004. And now it will be officially closed when I get that full license in the mail in or after December.

I am glad to be done, but if I am honest, there is a part of me that will miss the process. I enjoy learning. I enjoy the fellowship of being with others who are doing the same thing as me. I enjoy getting ideas from others. I enjoy simply venting and knowing that I am not alone in the process. I did enjoy supervision and what it was.

I remember people telling me not to rush through it and to make sure I took advantage of the process. It is not a race, but is about growth. I agree. There is a part of me that will miss that aspect. But there is also a part of me that cannot explain how excited I am to be done....D-O-N-E!

My hope is that I will continue to be open to learning and take what I could from the process and continue to apply it to the kids I work with on a daily basis. Thanks for listening as this message is being brought to you by a soon to be fully licensed counselor in the state of South Carolina.

ReverendFun.Com

I got these in an email...they brought a little bright spot to the day. Enjoy!
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5k Madness

This weekend marked my 3rd 5k race in three weekends. Not quite sure how I went from never running and hating it to doing 3 5K races in 3 weekends. And the even funnier thing is when I came home today, I looked at Paul and said, "What do I do? I don't have another one until Thanksgiving day."

I have heard running is addictive...but I never thought it would be taking me over. And well it has not completely. I am sure I won't fight a break too hard. But I will keep running in between now and Thanksgiving so I can hold my own with Paul and his brother Travis. (And by hold my own, I mean finish way behind them, but at least finish).

The previous are pictures from the 5k in Charlotte and from the one today with the kids from CYDC. The run today was not as much about time or even finishing but seeing the kids complete something. I first blogged about Running Free in July. Since then the idea came to fruition, money was raised, kids got shoes, and we started running. It was a great experience today to see those who had been committed since the beginning to follow through today.


They may not get it, but something as seemingly simple as following through with a commitment is a huge life lesson that I pray will serve them well in the rest of their lives. It is so easy today to say you will do something, but the follow through does not always seem to follow. While I was glad to see most of them run today, I was more excited about the follow through. If they get nothing else out of Running Free, my hope is that they get that. A commitment is a deal and a deal is a deal.

Ready ready ready to run......

By no means am I a naturally gifted runner. In fact it pains me to do it at all. Yet I have begun this process. I initially began because we were starting a running club at work. When "Running Free" began I knew I wanted to be part of it. Yet I also knew it would be a challenge. I have always had friends who have run. Then I had other friends who then began running. So looks like I gave into peer pressure huh?

But can there be such a thing as positive peer pressure? I think so:)

On Sunday I ran my first 5k. Now I have done 5k's and even 10k's. But that was walking. Running 3.125 miles is a different ballgame entirely.

I signed myself and Paul up for the 5k Pajama Run. I wanted to do this because I had decided to to a 5k with Joce and some friends from college in Charlotte in the coming weekend. And on Nov. 8 is my 5k with the kids from work. The pressure was on..I had to see if I could do this!

So Paul and I did it. I finished and only walked once. My time was 34 minutes...which is the best I have done so far. (Again I am not a runner at heart, speed is not my goal...consistency is.)

And I was so proud of my husband..he got 2nd place in his age division. He finished in 28 minutes. But get this, if I was younger my time would have won me an award. Isn't that weird? The older people ran faster..what in the world?

So here are some pictures from our effort. Next weekend....5k in Charlotte...hoping to improve my time. Maybe I should start keeping a running log like Linds!

What faith

Perception is Reality

I will be using some of these images to discuss with my kids the concept of perception. I have always been fascinated with how our brains see things. I think it is amazing that we see one thing, but then in stepping back we can see something different. The key is do we take time to step back?
And also does what you see first indicate your mindsight? I think it can. It can give an indication of our paradigm and how we see the world. What do you see in these pictures?
I will post later about what my kids saw and discussed in group in terms of their perceptions and biases. But for now...take a look yourself.

Mercy Ministries home in Charlotte!

This is definitely on my prayer radar!

Mercy Ministries

Please read and pray with me as it is an amazing place. And selfishly I would love to be part of it. Regardless of me, God has big plans for this place. I know it.

What can you do to help?