Breathe!

Sean's "wrasslin'" coach told the team that when they get fatigued, they should stand up tall, put their hands on their hips and breathe. The natural tendency is to bend over at the waist (we've all seen basketball players do that toward the end of a grueling game!) but the coach says if you are bent over, staring at your feet, you can't get as much good air into your lungs.
So if, as we journey toward Bethlehem, you get tired and weary - stand up! Put your hands on your hips, tilt your head up to heaven and breathe deeply. There. Breathe. It's a prayer.

How are you doing?

Are you out there?
Are you walking every day?
Or praying?
Or something?



I've been walking every morning. Sometimes I just go over and walk in the church, upstairs and down, for half an hour. But walking outside is much nicer, to me, on the mornings it doesn't rain. I'm going 2 miles a day most days. Somedays more. I want some company.



So I'm unveiling the beautiful olive wood ornament, made in the Holy Land, that is the "premium" for walking to Bethlehem.

What do you think? Let me hear from you!

Sunday

No walk. Church and more church. But no walk. What about you?

Saturday

Did you walk today? I didn't have much time, but I fooled myself into almost 25 minutes, just by walking out the door and keeping going. I told myself I was just going over to church to check on things, walked around there for 5 minutes and decided it was silly to walk inside on a perfectly fine day. So I marched out and around Philo. It wasn't far, but . . . lots better than the "nothing" I thought I was going to do. Just goes to show that - I think what it goes to show is that I'm easily fooled. But I'm counting it as a mile (and a half).

Walking to Bethlehem

Don't you just HATE it when people rush the Christmas season?
Kohl's has already had a holiday themed sale, and it's "beginning to look alot like Christmas" in several retail establishments. No singing, please!
Well, I don't want to rush things, but . . . I have this great idea that's sort of Christmas-y and I just can't wait to get started:
It's called "Walking to Bethlehem" and it's a group walking/fitness program. The challenge is to "walk" from Nazareth to Bethlehem, like Mary and Joseph did. Everybody keeps track of their own miles, (or their other fitness activity minutes) and we chart 'em and encourage each other.
The reason I'm so anxious to start is because it is 70 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Advent might not give me enough time to make it. And I want to get a jump on Mary and Joseph so I can be there when they arrive!
So are you with me? Jim Evans suggested that if enough people were interested, we could not only have Mary and Joseph (and the donkey! don't forget the donkey!) miles, but also have shepherd miles, wise men miles, innkeeper miles, etc.
Here's what we'll do: I'll post a little milepost thought or devotion or picture every day.
And everyday you log your progress in the comments section.
As we get farther down the road, we'll have reports in the bulletin, etc. I can't wait. See you on the road.-C

A Single Step

Welcome to "Walking to Bethlehem"!

We're going to walk 70 miles between now and Christmas Eve. (Or, if walking isn't a good idea for you, then feel free to substitute 15 minutes of another fitness or devotional activity for each mile.)

Here's how the program will work:

This will be more fun if we know that we have company! So please sign in by posting a comment. You can use your real name or one that you make up. I won't be using your info for the church mailing list, or selling it to anybody. So sign in and let's encourage each other!

Keep track of your milage/minutes on the site. Every time you walk, just sign in and say "I went 2 miles today. My total is . . . 8." Easy as pie!

Read about the journey. I'll try to get you something new to read everyday, either about Mary and Joseph's trip, or what the route is like today, or something "fitness" related. Maybe, when we get closer to Christmas, we can remind each other to stay sane in the midst of commercial driven holiday frenzy.

Encourage one another. If you have a nice experience to share, or you want to cheer on your fellow walkers, please put that in your comment, too.

Thank you for participating in "Walking to Bethlehem!"