Dedication

Running Reflection!! ok, so this is a few days old, but it's still a reflection. i just haven't had time or been in the mood to write lately. anyway...

so last friday, christmas eve, dad woke me up at 8:30. i was all cozy and snuggled up in my bed, when i heard the dreaded words "dani- i'm going running- are you coming?" i mumbled something unintelligable and he said "well you don't have to go, but i'm leaving in 15 min." i grumble but say "no, i'm getting up." the way i see it, my body doesn't know that it's subzero outside and it will still stick the holiday food right to my hips/stomach/butt/anywhere else that's conveinent. so i rolled out of my warm, comfortable bed and started putting on layers. i was tired, cold and not in the greatest of moods... but i am a running addict, as is my dad and if he was going running, i was not about to be left behind.

we drove to goll's woods where we figured that the trails would protect us from some of the wind. i was finally getting comfortable and warm in the car and ready to doze back off to sleep when we arrived... i stumbled out of the car, kicking myself for getting up. and then we started running, and boy was it cold. my feet were froze, i couldn't feel my finger tips and my face was numb, making talking difficult. it was definitely a day that getting my bootie going was hard, but after i was done i was glad i did it.

fortunetly the cold did not kill all of my brain cells and as i was running and complaining in my head about how stupid i was to be out running when i could have been in bed, i realized it was all about dedication, and then i paralled that spiritually... what if i was as dedicated spiritually as what i am to running?

there are some days spiritually that i feel dead...and doing devos and having quiet times is a chore. i just don't want to do it. and even on those day that i feel that way and push through and do them, it still is sometimes painful. God will reveal things to me that i don't want to hear or that are hard to deal with. and at that point, it's difficult and i wonder what i'm doing having quiet times when it just ends up being painful... but in the end, just like my run, it will be worth it and i will be so glad that i was dedicated even in the difficult times. and you know what? just like every run isn't hard and a chore, my christian walk isn't always either.

there are some days that i get outside and could run forever. everything feels good, the weather is beautiful and i feel like i can take on the world. spiritually it is like that too. there are times when i am on fire for God and desire to spend time with Him and to grow and learn....

The key for me is to learn to be DEDICATED to God, even more so than what i am to running, no matter what i feel or what my circumstances are. there will be storms, there will be cold, bitter days, but there will also be calm, sunny days that i'll be able to look back and see how much the hard days helped me to grow and mature....

O Come Let Us Adore Him!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!
I pray that this day brings cheer and warmth to you and your families. I hope that this next year is a blessed one for you.

I love the song O Come Let Us Adore Him! it is so simple, yet has such a great message. in all things, we should adore our King, bowing down before him, giving him our hurts and our triumphs. He is Christ the King and yet He came down in the form of a helpless baby, unduring life's hardships for us. i know that none of this is new information, but in reflection of Christmas i want my life to be one that adores HIM in all things. He truly is worth ALL of our honor and praise.

Christmas with the Rupps

so last night my family and i went to go see Christmas with the Cranks. it was a good movie, not as funny as i was expecting, but it had a good message. and yes, a couple of tears did fall during the course of the ending, but i hid them well, knowing that i would never live it down if my family found out. :) afterwards we went to eat at lonestar which was yummy. eating with my family is always an experience b/c we share all of our food. almost before it gets placed in front of us, we start giving different parts of our entree to each other to try. i decided that it is a new criteria for my next significant other - he must be ok with the idea of sharing food... on the way home we got to hear about the kid in mom's class that was standing on top of the toilet b/c he didn't want anyone to know he was in there and wanted his privacy and also about the mysterious boy that pees in the corner of the bathroom- i might become a teacher just for the good stories... once we got home and i wrapped gifts and then we all curled up to watch The Alamo, in which alisha was so confused she just decided to go to bed and i, true to habit, fell asleep. so i really don't know what happened, just that i am supposed to remember the alamo.

so i woke up this morning, Christmas morning, to find my whole family awake and waiting on me. i told them they should have woke me up, but they were jus too nice for that. my bro had just left anyway to take some roses to Kim, his kind of girlfriend- i guess they're taking a break right now. at least that's what i interpreted the grunts to mean when i asked about it. i thought that it was sweet. i mean what girl wouldn't like roses delivered to them on christmas day? when he got back we opened stockings and that was a good time. i love stockings, and mine had a few suprises in it, so that was fun. i don't remember all that happened, but there was a lot of laughter and silliness- pry things that you just had to be there and have a Rupp sense of humor :) i love my family! anyway we were getting ready to move to the room with the christmas tree in it to open gifts when my bro informed us that we had to wait b/c he had to go "wrap" his presents. wrapping consisted of throwing gifts in a bag and adding some wadded tissue paper.

after some confusion, we finally got all the gifts distibuted to the right ppl. mom numbers us kid's gifts b/c for some reason she thinks that if she puts our names on them we'll try to figure out what they are. personally i like not knowing, but i guess she doesn't trust us. the 2 looked like an N and with my dad's name being Neil he had a lot of gifts and alisha didn't have any... finally mom came in and organized the situation. we started with the oldest, her and worked our way down. there was more silliness and jokes as we opened and oohed and ahhed at our gifts. jeremy loved the fleece blanket that alisha and i made for him. mom liked the whole "relaxation" theme of all her gifts. alisha was suprised by her earrings and my favorite gift was probably my nike wind jacket, along with underarmour head band. i look pretty good if i do say so myself. i might have to be more careful running around marion! the "house" also got gifts (aka family gifts). we got an expresso maker, which turns out not to be what we expected so that will be returned, but the other gift is a classic- forest gump VHS... my brother can do an amazing forest gump impression, so it was about time we got the movie. really, it is so funny when he does it, especially the shrimp part... anyway, this being my last christmas as a teenager, it was a great one. i don't know why, but this year just being with family and laughing together felt so good and i was so blessed by that. we get along so well! God is sooooooo good! and my brother just cracks me up! he's 16 and i've really gotten to appreciate his sense of humor. my whole family is a bit strange, but I love them for that! and of course that makes it easier for me to fit in ;)

i promise i'm about done rambling....but dad and i always run on christmas day after we open gifts. we've run through huge snow drifts and yucky conditions, but i don't think we've ever ran when it was this cold, but none the less it's tradition and we had to go. so we bundled up and headed out into the subzero weather. dad tried to push me in a snow drift, but i prevailed and hit him with a snow ball. i do have to admit, even with the new windbreaker and underarmour, it was quite cold. but memories were made and that's what counts. i will always run with my dad on christmas day- it's just a given... we only went four miles and when we came back i took a warm shower and put on my comfy fleece pants and sweatshirt. mom made pancakes and we just got done eating a late lunch and alisha and i did the dishes, not w/o a little water fight though. now i sit here, tummy full, heart warm and eyes drooping. the rest of the day will be filled with watching movies, playing games and reading... Merry CHRISTmas!

dani's holiday ponderings

at work today i was bored and when i get bored i tend to ponder. i had just told someone Merry Christmas when it dawned on me: why do we say merry christmas? i mean for thanksgiving we say- happy thanksgiving and for easter was say- happy easter and for birthdays we say- happy birthday, but for christmas we say- merry christmas. i never realized that before. and to say- happy christmas sounds dumb and to say- merry easter sounds silly too... but why? this really has be baffaled. who came up with Merry Christmas and why do we say it that way? if anyone can shine some light on this subject, let me know b/c i might loose sleep over this deep thought...

also at work we've beein listening to christmas music. don't get me wrong- i love christams music, but after a 6 hour shift i've heard as many renditions of Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells as i can handle. but as i was listening today i realized that almost all secular christmas music is romantic. i mean really! sleigh rides and walking in a winter wonderland. chestnuts roasting on an open fire and kissing under the misltoe (which also has be baffeld- who ever thought of kissing under a weed like plant?...) it's all so cozy and sweet. i mean "all i want for christmas is you." awww.... but that only works if you have a special someone. i mean i guess you can say that to your friends, but you might get some weird looks.... and all the christmas lights and snuggling by the fire with hot chocolate and marshmellows... sure i snuggle too- with my goofy slippers and blankets, but really, is that the same at all?! umm not so much.
i know, i know. christmas is not all about the feeling and twitterpation. that's why i am so thankful for religious christmas music b/c it makes me remember the true meaning of christmas... that even though i don't have someone to hold me tight or to kiss me under the misltoe or to walk hand in hand with through christmas lights....ok enough!!.... but that's fine b/c it's all about Jesus and his birth and family and friends. it's just that this time of year makes me feel kind of single and not so satisfied...but like i said, this is where God wants me right now and if that's his plan then i can take comfort in that. my head knows that, but my heart, like a lot of times, takes a little bit more time.

so that's it for today's holiday ponderings. feel free to comment and leave me some insight :) and i guess i'll say it even though i'm not sure why we do: Merry Christmas!!!

the life and times of a subway sandwich artist

i am a sandwich artist at archbold subway. i am working over break and started back last tuesday. not a whole lot has changed, but we did get new toaster that is kind of fun, besides the fact that i have yet to discover how to get the subs off of the pan without burning myself. we also got rid of all our atkins diet stuff which i think is hilarious. i knew that the carb craze wouldn't last long. other than that it's the same ole same ole. i still manage to overachieve as i make subs and also tend to wear them. shout has become my new best friend. working with me is always an adventure- literally.
i have discovered that if you chop of veggies in the correct order- tomotoes, onions, and then green peppers, the trash can can look quite festive. i have yet to come up with a solution to the subway stench though. it seems to penetrate everything. the scent lingers long after my 3-6 hour shift and only showering can completley get rid of it. even then, if i do onions, my hands will smell for a few days- and yes i wash them often and practive daily bathing. if anyone has any ideas of how to get rid of the subway aroma or the onion fragrence, please let me know. also today i think i made the most disgusting sub ever! the guy asked for a chicken pizziola- which in and of itself is a good sandwich, but he wanted it made with the teryaki chicken! so he had a sandwich of cheese, pepperoni, pizza sauce and teryaki chicken! i was about ready to gag. i think that might top the veggie sub i once made that consisted of cheese, extra extra onions and extra extra black pepper, but i'm not sure. both are pretty disgusting!
i also thought that all of you reading this might be interested in how many questions i have to ask just to make a sandwich. here is an example:

hello- what can i get for you?
footlong or six inch?
on what kind of bread?
would you like cheese on that?
american, pepper jack or provolone?
would you like that warmed or toasted?
what kind of veggies?
any dressing?
does that look good?
would you like a chips, cookies or drink?
any coupons?
do you collect sub club cards?
have a nice day and a merry christmas!

and all of that- just for one sandwich!!! such is the life of a sandwich artist...

Holiday Happenings

yesterday we celebrated christmas with my mom's side of the family. the "party" was held at my grandparent's house and we had a blast. i have 3 girl cousins that are one year yonger than me and two of them were there and we had a great time getting caught up and telling college stories. they are like sisters to me! christmas dinner was amazing with waaaaaayyyyy too much food! yummy! us "kids" excused ourselves and went into the living room to relax until it was time to open gifts. i just love my family! we all get along so well, so the time we waited to open presents seemed to fly by as laughter and stories were shared all around.
finally it was gift time. my uncle shareds some christmas reflections and played part of the Messiah on CD, which i have never seen, but the music was enjoyable. then us cousins exchanged gifts. i recieved the Bethany Dillian CD and a oh so soft and cozy pair of socks from my arizona dwelling cousin ariel. from grandma and grandpa i got a pair of dress pants and dress shirt along with a check- good stuff! i had to tease grandpa and ask him if he picked out the outfit. he assured me that he hadn't. :) the adults had a white elephant gift exchange with the theme of a mug with a pair of socks and that got kind of fiesty! of course we had the usual wrapping paper fight to end the festivities.
the rest of the day was spent relaxing and eating more food. definitely need to bundle up and go running the rest of this week! ariel, rachel and i , all spanish minors, had a good time attempting to watch part of the Lion King in spanish, a gift that rachel received. i found that the nala/simba duet "can you feel the love tonight" has the same romantic effect in spanish as it does in english. :) the highlight of the day was probably when 9 of us played spoons, including my grandma and grandpa who had never played before. grandma was so thrilled to finally learn how to play! "who would have thought that at age 73 i would be sitting here playing spoons! i am so glad that you taught me!" etc. she got all flustered the faster we went and it was hilarious. grandpa was more calm and just kind of sat there watching all of us crazy cooks, but i could tell he was having a good time too.
grandma kept accusing my brother of cheating and picking up more than one card at a time. he insisted that he wasn't and the funny thing is that we caught grandma at the end of one round with 6 cards in her hand!! she also thought that us 3 girl cousins were cheating, which we were, but we hid it from here pretty well. we also rediscovered the trick of putting spoons on your nose so we experimented with that for awhile, trying to get the spoon from our noses into our mouths- try it sometime. flicking spoons is also a fun thing to do and we had spoon fights for awhile. needless to say we all got kind of rowdy, but i think i laughed off at least a few calories from the holidy food.
God has blessed me with an amazing family that loves God and each other. sure we have our differences,etc. but the fact that most of the family was there (minus my cousin in PA and aunt/uncle's family in VA) for over 8 hours and we all had so much fun speaks for itself. i have such an amazing christian heritage that i all too often take for granted. having christmas with my family is big enough gift for me!

supermarket sweep

so last night the first adventure was running with my dad. i was ready to settle in for the evening when mom wondered if dad and i wanted to go get groceries. why not? getting groceries with dad is always an experience so i jumped along. this is kind of how the hour of shopping progressed:
- i grab a cart and we start in the produce section, picking up apples, oranges and bananas. dad went down to get something else while i inspected the lettuce. i was trying to remember what mom had taught me about the criteria for a good head of lettuce, but was coming up with nothing as dad returned. "just grab one" he informed me. "ok" so i picked up the closest head that looked decent and we made our way down the next aisle.
we found some of the various items we needed but i was confused as dad added a red pepper and mushrooms to the cart. "does mom mean an actual red pepper, or crushed red pepper? real mushrooms or canned?" "that's a good question" he responds..."i think i'll give her a call." so dad goes and calls mom and i try to make sense of the rest of the list. "crackers- 3 for $5- where the heck are they?" there are tons of crackers everywhere, but could i find the ones on the list? no! so i skipped that and continued on my way, keeping a look out for dad, thinking that he should be done calling soon.
i end up going around the whole grocery store looking for him before i spot him down an aise carrying choc chips, 2 bags of sugar and a bag of flour b/c i conviently had the cart. i yell after him and he looks relieved to drop his load in the cart. the guy runs marathons but yet can't carry a few grocieries around?! anyway he informs me that we do indeed need canned mushrooms and canned peppers- the ones that are mainly used for decoration. "good work dad"
we move on to frosting- mom wants vanilla with chocolate chips... cream cheese, sour cream, chocolate, coconut...the frosting aisle goes on and on. we search and search and finally find it. cross it off the list. dairy and freezer products where fairly easy to pick up. nothing too complex. we finally go to check out with a heaping cart full of groceries- some items from the list, others added that i thought looked good. we haul the groceries to the car and i breath a sigh of relief as i chuckle at our adventure in Chief Supermarket.
little did i know that the adventure was not over. once back at home we were unloading the groceries and i was putting the canned pop away. as my luck has it, one can falls to the ground and proceeds to explode open, covering the floor and me with vernerz, (which i despise). i was laughing histarically and mom was annoyed that i had gotten the floor all sticky and gross. i assured her that i would take care of it. i got sudsey water and scrubbed the floor just like Cinderella as my ever sensitive brother remarked "yup, dani's home!"

wandering in the dark

so i got home yesterday. christmas vacation has officially begun!! i celebrated by going running with my dad.... at night! i had never ran in the dark before and it was the most amazing thing ever! it obviously was dark and that in itself made the whole thing an adventure. the sky was clear and full of sparkling starts. so beautiful... and people say there is no God! the air was brisk and we could see our breath in the night air. the cold air must have numbed my legs because i felt like i could run forever. my dad and i had a good heart to heart talk for the whole 6 miles. people say i'm crazy for running, especially when it's cold, especially especially at night, but for me it doesn't get much better than this!

final...who needs 'em?

"Today we salute you, stressed out college student, during exam week. As you sit in your lonely cubical in the library, doped up on Starbucks and Aderol, you think to yourself, "Am I ever going to need to know this stuff in life?" The distractions are tempting, and you have suddenly diagnosed yourself with ADD, along with advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage. I'm sure by now you know exactly what everyone is doing because you have checked your buddy list 800 times. Christmas break is just days away, and your Prozac prescription will be in tomorrow. So crack open an ice cold (your choice of beverage) after that last exam because for most of us, Christmas will be spent in rehab."

The Christmas Shoes- Newsong
It was almost Christmas time, there I stood in another line

Tryin' to buy that last gift or two, not really in the Christmas mood

Standing right in front of me was a little boy waiting anxiously

Pacing 'round like little boys do

And in his hands he held a pair of shoes

His clothes were worn and old, he was dirty from head to toe

And when it came his time to pay

I couldn't believe what I heard him say

Chorus:

Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please

It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size

Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time

You see she's been sick for quite a while

And I know these shoes would make her smile

And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight

He counted pennies for what seemed like years

Then the cashier said, "Son, there's not enough here"

He searched his pockets frantically

Then he turned and he looked at me

He said Mama made Christmas good at our house

Though most years she just did without

Tell me Sir, what am I going to do,

Somehow I've got to buy her these Christmas shoes

So I laid the money down, I just had to help him out

I'll never forget the look on his face when he said

Mama's gonna look so great

Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please

It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size

Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time

You see she's been sick for quite a while

And I know these shoes would make her smile

And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight

Bridge:

I knew I'd caught a glimpse of heaven's love

As he thanked me and ran out

knew that God had sent that little boy

To remind me just what Christmas is all about

I love this song. it really puts things in perspective for me. i can just picture that little boy, his pleading eyes and huge heart. i hope that when i have the opportunity to help someone like the man did in this song, that my eyes and heart will be open and that i will follow God's leading. you just never know how God might use you. it might seem like something so small and insignificant, but for the person you serve, it means the world.

trust

"trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." such a simple verse with such a hard challenge. a lot happened this weekend, good and bad. right now i don't have the energy or spirit to go into any of it, but i hold this verse as my promise. through the good and bad, laughter and tears, sunny and rainy, easy and challenging, i know that if i can just trust, everything will work out for His glory and that's what matters in the end. my head knows that, but my heart might take awhile to completely understand...

Alvin, Simon or Theodore??

i had an encounter on my run today. i was running on the greenway, minding my own business, when i heard a noise. it was a peculiar sound. i wasn't sure what it was, so i stopped and looked around. and what did i see but a cute little chipmunk, perched on a tree limb, knawing on an acorn. i don't know if i've ever seen that before. his little teeth were going at it. i couldn't help but think of Iceage. lol. and then as i stood there pondering which of the chipmunks, Alvin, Simon or Theodore, he looked like, he spotted me, grabbed his acron possesively, and scampered off. isn't God's creation facinating?

"Why are you running away?"

i was out running the other day and once again i related it to my life. i think that sometimes i run away from God. i'm not sure what i'm running from or maybe towards. what do i hope to gain from running away from my creator? i fill my time with meaningless tasks and projects. if i just stay busy.... am i afraid of what He wants me to do? do i not want to have to confront issues in my life that need change? and that brings up another point, i also run away from confrontation. i hide things inside, pushing down my emotions in hope that they will just disappear. the ironic thing is that it just gets worse...
when i go for a run, the faster i go, the more it hurts. my legs hurt, my legs burn and i gasp for breath. the same is true in this situation. the faster and more that i run away from things, and God, the more it hurts me...and not only me, but those around me. i don't know if this is making any sense, but to my running mind it does.
what if i ran TO God as fast as i sometimes run away? what if instead of avoiding situations, i embraced them as a time to learn and grow? sometimes i don't even know what i'm running from. and there are times i'm not even running intentionally. a couple of days will go by and i'll remember that i hadn't spent any quality time with God.... and in a sense that's running away, or atl east not moving towards him.
the amazing thing is that no matter how many times i run, no matter how far or how fast, my Daddy is always waiting there with arms opened, waiting for me to turn around, and come running back into his arms.... the question is, why don't i stay there? why am i running away?

Brown Paper Bag Days...

A lot of "bloggable" stuff occured today, but it's almost 1 and i need to get my beauty sleep- literally. Girls- i bet you that you know what i mean. .. today was just one of those day...more specifically it was a Brown Paper Bag day. I just wanted to get a big brown paper bag, cut two eye holes and a mouth hole and wear it all day. yes, even around campus. i am not writing this to get pity, or to call attention to myself. it's just how i felt today and i bet that many of you can relate to it.

i know that i am a treasured child of God, and that He made me in His image, but some days when my face is breaking out, my hair resembles horns coming out of my head, the bags under my eyes could hold a weeks worth of groceries, and i feel like a bloated hippo, it's hard to remember those promises. thus the need for the brown paper bag...

This is my friend Becca and I getting in the Christmas spirit. :) Good time! 

Santa For the Day

This morning I got up at the amazing hour of 9:00am, which is amazing for a college student on a Saturday morning. But it was sooooooooooooo worth it! I am involoved with a ministry in Marion called Realife. Realife is a program for kids k-5 in Marion to attend on Tuesday nights where there is singing, a snack, a game and a lesson. Anyway, this morning all of us Realifers met to deliver gifts to the kids. So once the all the gifts were found (long story...), sorted and packed up we headed out. I just jumped on a random van route, but I know that God has his hand in it. The first house we stopped at had a bunch of kids- cousins, siblings etc. They were really appreciative. What looked like a middle school aged girl was lying on the floor and her mom came over, sat the baby down and was like- "your daughter needs changed." That broke my heart. This child was raising a child. Wow. It reminded me of how sheltered I am...

The second house we stopped at though was where I knew that God put me on this route for a reason- it was the house of two of the girls in my small group- Autumn and Alexis!! It was so great to see them tear into their presents and be so excited. They were trying on clothes and talking a mile a minute. I was so blessed by that. I love those girls! Autumn is in remission from luekemia and has an appt on monday at the hospital. She told me that she was going to wear one of her new shirts when she went. I hope that it will comfort her... If you think about it, send up a prayer

All the other stops were great too. Mom's were so grateful and the kids were thrilled to have gifts and to see us. I wish we could have spent more time in the individual homes. I think that many of those families need so much encouragement and those kids need so much love. I was so blessed to be a part of making their Christmas a little brighter. Isn't funny how the point of the gift drive was to bless them, but I think I was blessed as much, if not more than, them. I had so many emotions. While I couldn't stop smiling and felt so fulfilled, my heart hurt for so many of those families. I guess the saying is true that you can laugh and cry at the same time!

It also made me think about how much God has blessed me with and how much I have to be thankful for. I know that it's a cliche, but in all reality I have such a hard time remembering the reason for the season. It's a time to celebrate God sending his son, and to GIVE to each other. In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season I want don't forget to take some time to reflect, give thanks, and look for opportunities to bless others, and in that I know that I will be blessed as well.

Here Goes Nothing...

Alrighty. I was bored working at the library today and while going to www.bored.com was appealing, I'm kind of burned out from that, so I decided to create a blog. I guess it's the cool thing to do, and I definitely want to be cool :) So this is my first post, and hopefully there will be many more to come. I can't promise that they'll be deep, complex thoughts, because I only average about of those once a week, but I'll do my best to update my blog frequently.

Anyway, some of you out there might be wondering why I titled my blog site Running Reflections, and if you weren't curious I guess you can skip the next couple lines because I'm going to explain it anyway. I am an avid runner- crazy, yes I know. But that is my time for me to think, ponder and talk to God (don't worry - I don't close my eyes to pray- I have a hard enough time staying on my own two feet with my eyes open). Sometimes during these runs God will reveal something new to me or I'll start to understand a situation or see it in a new way. I call these my Running Reflections. Now while not all of my posts will be inspired by my runs, I have a feeling that many of them will be.

So, here goes nothing...