Freedom from the normal...

I feel like God has been challenging me to do hard things. It's a long, deep story as to why but a lot of good won't get done if I'm not willing to do things that stretch me. It's been mostly little things but hard things nonetheless. I've become convinced of the value of stepping out of my comfort zone and not being bound by what I would usually do or what is easiest. There's much more to it but for the purposes of this story, suffice it to say, exercising outside in the rain counts as "doing hard things" in my world. But, I was up for the challenge so when Hurricane Gustav's remnants blew in on Saturday morning, I was still determined to go on my 2 mile walk/run. And, Chris was out so Ella got to join me :-) She was kept mostly dry by the stroller, a blanket, and her rain boots while I got gloriously soaked and enjoyed every minute of it. When we were almost home I decided that another somewhat "hard thing" for me is letting Ella get really messy. So, this was a perfect chance to buck my norms for the second time in one morning. I also don't want to raise a kid who is too scared of a mess or of being wild so though it took some persuading (she was not very interested in getting wet) I got Ella to abandon the stroller and go jump in some puddles with me. In the end we both had a great time and I felt God's pleasure in those raindrops as I experienced the freedom that comes with not doing what I would usually do.


pre walk, all suited up, one of us was not very excited

still not thrilled about getting wet :-(

starting to get into it a little...

"Oooo Mommy I found a deep puddle!"

WAY into it now!

A fun, wet morning for all :-)