First race of the summer!



The triumphant 10K runner!


Over Father's Day weekend, Andrew and I ran the Annapolis Striders' annual Father's Day 10K, which is part of their Champ Series. This was my third time running the race, but it was Andrew's first time. In fact, it was his first 10K ever!

I encouraged Andrew to sign up for this race after he stunned me by signing up for the Annapolis 10-miler in August. We had a conversation on April 30th that went like this:

Alicia: Remind me to sign up for the A10 tomorrow morning, okay? It sells out fast.
Andrew: I think I might sign up too.
Alicia: WHAT?!
Andrew: I have a wedding to look good for.

Given that Andrew had never run more than a 5K, I was both surprised and impressed by his decision. I was also a little worried. I've never managed to actually run the A10 (thank you, appendicitis and Hurricane Irene), but I know it by reputation. I also have plenty of experience with the terrain and weather that give it that reputation. It is a hilly, hot race with a pretty strict 12 minute/mile cutoff. A very ambitious race for a running beginner.

As soon as Andrew signed up for the race, I went into bossy coach mode. "You need to run 10K's," I said. "Soon. At least two before the A10, and the hillier and hotter the better." The Father's Day 10K doesn't deliver on the hills, but in my experience, it delivers on the heat. For the past two years, this race has served as my annual initiation into summer running.

I wish I could say we trained adequately for this race, but- as I've mentioned ad nauseum in my last few posts- we've been pretty busy. Ever since TriRock in late May, I've shifted my focus from training to wedding planning, and Andrew has followed my lead. When we lined up for the race on June 17th, I was all too aware of our training lapse and I had two big worries: (1) that Andrew would have an awful time and hate me for dragging him into running, and (2) that, for the first time, I would finish a Champ Series race slower than the previous year. Actually, the second fear was pretty much a certainty, so I developed sub-fears that I would finish way behind my previous time and that I would realize my time was bad during the race, lose heart, and give up.

I am happy to report that things went better than expected. Mother Nature gave us a gift of unseasonably cool temperatures on race day, which significantly reduced our misery. Andrew did not finish as strongly as he would have liked, but he finished and I was super proud of him! The fact that Andrew was running his first 10K gave me the heart to do the best I could, even though I knew I wouldn't achieve the time I wanted. Last year, I ran the race in 1:01:37. This year, it took me 1:03:28. So, a bit of a drop, but not as bad as I had feared. Even better, I felt pretty good for most of the race. This gives me hope for the remainder of my summer training and my fall races.

Next up: Andrew and I will both run the Arbutus 4th of July 10K for the first time. This race promises to be the ideal A10 training race: HOT and relentlessly hilly. I'm prepared for it to be a bit of a reality check, but we all need those sometimes, right? A tough race may be just what we need to put down the save-the-dates for awhile and pick up our running shoes again!

Welcome back.

Hello, readers! I am currently one day short of going a whole month without blogging. Sigh. I really hate saying that, as this blog is really important and meaningful to me. My only defense: I've been busy. So, in this post, I'll offer a quick recap of my activities over the past month. Then, in my next post, I'll tell you about my most recent race: the 2012 Father's Day 10K, which happened yesterday.

At the time of my last post, I had just finished TriRock Annapolis. The weekend after that, Andrew and I had engagement photos taken.  For the location, we chose the site of our second date: DC's Chinatown. We picked this spot for the scenery and the fact that this date was pivotal in our relationship. We hit it off on our first date, but #2 was the date that really sealed the deal. A few highlights:

At Graffiato restaurant, which is awesome and was wonderful about letting us shoot there!

Arm-wresting: how active couples resolve conflicts... or maybe just something we do.

A re-creation of our first kiss, in the spot where it happened. I LOVE this picture!

The next weekend, (aka: Memorial Day weekend), Andrew and I took a much-needed weekend away. First, we went to Frederick, MD, where we toured a brewery and ate at one of my favorite restaurants in the world, Volt. (You can read about my first trip to Volt here.) This was my second time at Volt and it was every bit as spectacular as the first!

Andrew prepares to have his taste buds dazzled.

After a lovely day and night in Frederick, we headed down to Norfolk, VA to spend the rest of the weekend with my soon-to-be in-laws. I am very lucky to be marrying into an amazing family and I love spending time with them. A big highlight of this trip was meeting Andrew's 90+ year-old grandmother and hearing stories about how she TOOK HIM TO ALASKA BY HERSELF when he was 12. What a remarkable woman! She reminded me so much of my own awesome grandmothers.

Another highlight was the opportunity to help Andrew's younger brother Marquis pull off a big surprise for his parents. Andrew's parents met Marquis through a church mission and took him into their home nine years ago. Over the past few weeks, he's graduated from high school and been accepted to Randolph Macon college. On the occasion of his high school graduation, Marquis decided that he wanted to throw a thank-you party for Andrew's parents. (Smart kid!) So, Andrew and I helped keep his parents busy at the Norfolk botanical gardens while Marquis prepared the party.

With my future in-laws (minus Marquis).

The proud parents and son at Marquis' party.

After Memorial Day weekend, Andrew and I were home for a few days before heading up to Hunt Valley, MD for the wedding of our great friends Nancy and Jessie (who, coincidentally, got engaged the night of my last trip to Volt!). I DJ'd the wedding, did a reading, and gave a toast. Andrew joined forces with my friend Michelle (the only non-liberal arts people at the wedding) and figured out how to hang lanterns for the reception. We both enjoyed witnessing the union of two people who are absolutely perfect for each other. They are role models for us!

Nancy and Jessie, post-ceremony, leading their guests in some traditional Jewish wedding dances. Those dances turned out to be quite a cardio workout! 

Just three days later, Andrew and I celebrated my 33rd birthday and another wedding! This time, it was my cousin Charles marrying his long-time girlfriend Ashley.

Looks like a happy couple to me! 

Charles brings two kids into this marriage, and Ashley brings three. So, now they are a family of seven! That's pretty daunting, but they seem to be taking it in stride and enjoying it. I'm impressed!

Ashley with her maid-of-honor and all five kids- supermom! 

A mere two days after that wedding, I packed up my camping stuff for my 3rd annual weekend volunteering at Camp Forget-Me-Not/Camp Erin DC, a grief and loss camp for kids ages 6-16. My previous experiences at camp have been so amazing that I've blogged about them several times before. You can read about my 2010 camp experience here and here, and about my 2011 experience here. Or, if you want a really great idea of why this camp is so special, you can watch this video:

Needless to say, my 2012 experience was just as rewarding and unforgettable as my previous experiences. If this video moves you, I strongly encourage you to visit the website of The Wendt Center for Loss and Healing in DC and learn how you can get involved as a donor, a volunteer, or a referral source for campers!

I got home from grief camp on Sunday night (which was a little complicated, as my car died over the weekend!). Monday morning, I jumped into an intensive workshop which is part of my training as a Brief Strategic Family Therapist. My three clinical colleagues and I spent 3 days with our BSFT supervisor (who came all the way from Kansas) intensively studying our cases and doing live supervisions. What's a live supervision, you ask? That's when a family (who has agreed in advance to participate) comes in for a session with their regular therapist and that session is observed live (via closed-circuit TV) by the therapist's colleagues and supervisor. Periodically during the session, the supervisor calls the therapist to offer advice and guidance on how to make the session more productive and valuable.

I felt really fortunate to have this opportunity- its something that used to be common, but is now very rare. But, of course, it was intimidating! Thankfully, I can report that it went very well and I learned so much from it. At the same time, it was exhausting! After camp and the 3 days of training, I was as tired as I have ever been in my life. I've been resting as much as possible ever since and I'm just starting to feel semi-normal again.

So, there you have it. A fun and meaningful but VERY busy month! I am looking forward to a little lull in July before my race season really cranks up August-October. Then, there's that whole "wedding" thing, which will take place on New Year's Eve. I imagine that might occupy my time a little bit.

Stay tuned for the story of the Father's Day 10K, coming soon!

Tri Rock Annapolis!

I survived! Despite the fact that I did a lot more worrying than training, I finished TriRock Annapolis and I even had fun. Here's a quick recap.

The Night Before

Flexing with my race numbers. 

The night before the race, I spent a little bit of time packing my gear, and a lot of time worrying. I had been out early (aka: at race time) every morning that week, and it was pretty chilly. The idea of jumping in a cold river in my only-tested-once wetsuit was both unappealing and terrifying. I actually woke up a couple times during the night and thought "Maybe I just won't do this."

Race Morning


When the alarm went off, I didn't let myself think about whether or not to go through with the race. I just got up and started getting dressed. My lovely fiance/equipment manager Andrew lives less than half a mile from the race start, so we just pushed my bike and carried my bags. We arrived at the transition area to find a line about half a block long. The transition entrance was narrow and it took a long time to get everyone in.

Transition on a lovely morning. 

Almost immediately, I started running into people I know. The nice thing about doing races in Annapolis is that I see people from the gym, the Striders, and my tri-training group. It felt like the whole neighborhood had just decided to do a tri that morning. Seeing so many friends made me feel more excited.

After about 20 minutes, I got to my transition spot and realized that I lucked out again. I had a spot on the end of a row (the inside end, but still the end) right up against a little building. Bingo: extra space AND a landmark! The race started at 7am, but my swim wave wasn't scheduled until 8:15, so I had a lot of time to chat with the other people in my row. It turned out that my whole section/swim wave was made up of 30-35 year-old women, and none of us felt particularly confident in the water. Many of the ladies were first-timers. One was 7 months pregnant! By the time our swim wave was called, we were all best friends.

The Swim

Go Team Pink! 

My swim wave was second-to-last: #12 out of 13. I wasn't thrilled with the long wait, but I was very happy to be in a group with other slow-ish swimmers and not too many other people in the water. I was worried enough about swimming in a cold river without also worrying about people swimming over me. At about 8:10am, my group walked down to the floating pier, where we faced the worst part of the whole race: jumping in.

Talking myself into taking the plunge.

I did it! 

The initial shock of the water was about as bad as I expected. Fortunately, I got used to it pretty quickly and didn't have to wait too long to start swimming. The water was cold and choppy- unlike any of my previous open-water swims. I tried putting my head under a couple times and found it too hard. So, I wound up alternating between a totally inefficient head-up freestyle and my trusty backstroke. This combo kept me moving, but it made the swim way more exhausting than it should have been. By the time I reached the ladder to exit the water, my whole body was like Jello.

Not an easy climb. 

T1 and the Bike


Once I finally got up the ladder, I started stripping off my wetsuit and heading for the bike. I realized too late that my wetsuit is too big. This didn't help me in the water, but it made transition a breeze! While other people around me were struggling to get out of their wetsuits, I had mine off in about 10 seconds. I grabbed my bike gear and headed for the mount line.

Feeling good... for the moment. 

All was going well for a couple minutes. I even managed to jog a little with the bike. Andrew met me at the mounting spot and snapped a picture as I got on. Thus, he captured the lovely moment when both my calves simultaneously cramped up.

AGONY!

The pain was fairly astonishing. I generally refrain from swearing in public, but I shouted a couple choice words as I waited for the pain to pass. Poor Andrew looked terrified. Fortunately, after a few seconds it died away and I was able to head out.

On my way! 

My number 1 fear going into this event was drowning in the swim. #2 was that I wouldn't be able to handle the hilly 12-mile bike ride. I find biking pretty challenging and I also find that training on a spin bike does not prepare me at all for riding on the road. And where did I do all of my training for this race? You guessed it- on a spin bike. Yet, for reasons I can't explain, the bike actually went fairly well. I never felt like I couldn't handle it and I wound up improving just a little over my speed from IronGirl.

Coming around the final turn. 

T2 and the Run


T2 was rough. Because TriRock was a short race and the swim waves were so staggered, some of the first racers had finished by the time I entered the water. By the time I finished the bike, far more people were finished than still on the course. For reasons beyond my comprehension, the organizers re-opened transition fairly early. This meant that I had to do my bike-to-run transition while others were hanging out post-race and packing to go home. I tried to run my bike in, but got held up repeatedly by people standing in the middle of transition, leaning on their bikes and having conversations. This was VERY frustrating and resulted in a way slower transition time.

Heading out on the run was also a challenge. No matter how many bike-to-run workouts I do, I never seem quite prepared for how tired I am going into the run portion of a tri. Fortunately, it was late enough by that point that tourists and finished racers had lined the streets, cheering on the runners. I wanted to walk out of transition, but I just couldn't do it with all those people cheering. I picked it up and kept running, even though the first half-mile was a cruel uphill.

By the first water stop, I had found my rhythm, but I still let myself take a brief walk break. I did the same when I came through the water stop again (it was an out-and-back course). After the second water stop, I got to the best part of the race. We repeated the first part of the course- Main Street- only this time, we were headed straight downhill to the finish. I spotted an older runner walking and said "This is downhill- let's run!" He smiled and picked it up.

As I approached the finish, I spotted Andrew with the camera and managed a smile and a mini-sprint.

Trying to look strong for the camera. 

Seconds later, I crossed the line and got my (very nice) medal. I felt awesome.

Another very heavy Rock 'n' Roll medal. 

I finished just in time to catch part of the awards ceremony, in which my Wonder Women trainer Michelle came in second, my boot camp teacher Kate won her age group, and my boot camp buddy Nate won his age group! I turned to Andrew and said "We may not be the best, but we get to train with the best!"

Kate and Nate show off their trophies/beer mugs. 

Andrew and I spent a bit more time swapping race stories with friends, and then we headed back to his place. On our way home, we saw a ton of racers riding their bikes home (including Kate and her husband and our friends Jen and Tracey) as well as the usual Saturday runners. Andrew commented "This is a really fit town," and I felt a lot of hometown pride.

Once I got home, I had no time to rest, as I had a family event to attend at a swanky hotel in DC. When I took my post-race shower, I learned that the race numbers had been designed to stay on- a good 5 minutes of scrubbing didn't make a dent. So, off I went to one of the fanciest hotels in DC sporting my classiest look:

The number was on my other arm and thigh too, making for head-to-toe class. 

All in all, a great race and a great day! My results were as follows:

Swim (500M): 17:09 (my weakest part of the day)

T1: 4:38

Bike (12mi): 57:22 (not great, but faster than IronGirl!)

T2: 3:20 (stupid open transition area!)

Run: 31:44 (my strongest part of the day)

Overall: 1:54:15

Considering I barely trained and was expecting to finish in 2:15, I was very happy with this outcome. Now, its time to get ready for IronGirl!

Tri again (and again, and again).

I have a wetsuit! 

As my regular readers know, I completed my first triathlon (IronGirl Columbia) last August. It was tough, but I had a great time and I finished thinking "I need to do more of these!" I wasn't able to fit any tri's into my fall racing schedule last year, but I had every intention of doing at least two or three this summer.

Then, life happened. I changed jobs, got into a relationship, and started planning a wedding. This left little time to think about racing. What little time I spent planning my summer/fall 2012 race schedule consisted of just signing up for all the races that I do every year. I signed up for IronGirl again, but I didn't find any other tri's to suit my schedule. I knew about a few other local races, but they all felt too soon and/or too long.

One of the races that fell into the "too soon" category was TriRock Annapolis, which takes place this Saturday. The distance is short: 500M swim, 12mi bike, 3.1mi run. Compared to IronGirl- 998M swim, 17.5mi bike, 3.3mi run- that's nothing. Still, when registration opened early this year, I didn't feel ready. I'd done some spinning, but I hadn't ridden my bike outside since IronGirl in August. I joined a pool in February, but I didn't actually start swimming again until mid-March. Plus, the weather would be still be cool enough to require a wetsuit for the swim. I didn't have one and, even if I got one, I didn't know if I would get a chance to practice in it before the race.

Then, a few things happened to change my feelings about TriRock. First, I started swimming again and it did not go badly. In fact, for reasons beyond my comprehension, I actually feel stronger in the pool compared to last year. Second, the weather warmed up early in the year. Last year's TriRock happened on a rainy day with temps in the 50's. That seems unlikely this year. Finally, I joined the Wonder Women tri-traning group again for both their late winter and early spring training sessions. The combination of these things started to make TriRock feel possible. Then, on the day before I left for my London vacation, I got a coupon in my email for $10 off TriRock registration. The combo of pre-vacation excitement and a discount pushed me over the edge. I signed up for the race and ordered a wetsuit from Amazon.

Now, a little under a month later, I am facing my first tri of the season! I would love to say that I have trained intensely over the last several weeks, but the only thing I have done intensely this past month is wedding plan. Fortunately, our lovely Wonder Women coaches came through for me big-time this past weekend. Realizing that I and several of the other WW were feeling less-than-prepared for TriRock, they set up a practice tri for us this past Sunday. We did a 10-minute open-water swim, which gave all of us the opportunity to test our new wetsuits. Then, we followed that with a 20-minute bike ride and 10-minute run. In between, we simulated race transitions as best we could.

The practice tri was rough, but I survived it. Swimming in the wetsuit was actually easier than I anticipated (though swimming in cold water was harder!). The bike ride reminded me that spinning is nothing like riding a bike outdoors, but it also reminded me that I can tough it out on the bike when I have to. The run reminded me that running after a tough bike ride is miserable, but I can tough that out too. I still rock at transitions. All in all, I don't expect to put in a stellar performance on Saturday, but I also don't expect to pass out or die. At this point, I'll take it!

In the midst of all this, I also added another tri to my 2012 schedule. After IronGirl Columbia sold out in a frenzied 3 hours this year, the organizers decided to add another MD race. This one- IronGirl Rocky Gap- will happen in Western Maryland this coming September. I thought that taking a weekend in the mountains a few months before my wedding sounded like a great idea, so I signed up the day it opened. Then, just last week, I got an unexpected and pleasant surprise. The IronGirl race directors emailed myself and the rest of the ladies who were in the first 500 registrants for RockyGap and told us that we will get an opportunity to register in advance for IronGirl Columbia in 2013.

So, now I have 3 tri's on the agenda for 2012 and at least one for 2013!

Seeing is not always believing.

I have some news on the athletic front (have I mentioned I'm doing a tri in less than 2 weeks?), but before I get into that, here is a very belated post on a recent family event: my niece's baptism.

Olivia didn't like this part much, but her sister found it hilarious!

My niece Olivia was baptized on Sunday, 4/22/12, and I had the great honor of preaching at the service. As an added bonus, the baptism took place on my first Sunday back at church following my engagement and my fiance was scheduled to read the Scripture that day. All of this added up to an overwhelming church and family love-fest. Andrew and I are very lucky.

Here's my sermon from that day:

Luke 24: 36b-48

36While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence. 44Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things.”

Seeing is Not Always Believing:
Luke 24: 36b-48

Today is a very special day for my family. Today, we celebrate the baptism of my 3-month old niece, Olivia. Between my two siblings, I have 5 nieces and nephews. Olivia is the youngest, and the oldest is 23, which means I’ve been an aunt since I was 9. From the day my oldest nephew was born, my nieces and nephews have been the most important people in my life. A few weeks ago, I got interviewed by a psychologist as part of my ordination process. One of the questions she asked was “If you had 3 wishes, what would they be?” Can you guess my first wish? It wasn’t for world peace or to win the lottery. It was for all of my nieces and nephews to have happy, healthy lives. In fact, if I could have that wish, I’d be willing to skip the other two!

On January 19th, my sister-in-law Stephanie went to the hospital to deliver Olivia. I went to work and waited all morning for the phone to ring. Finally, just after lunch, my Mom called and said that Olivia had arrived. A few hours later, I got a message from my brother with Olivia’s first pictures. The phone call made me excited, and the pictures made me weepy. But nothing compared to the next day, when I met her in person.

On January 20th, I went to the hospital as early as I could. I found Steph’s room, went inside, and there she was: my new niece, asleep in her mother’s arms. I was supposed to work that day, but I couldn’t pull myself away. I spent almost all day with Olivia: holding her, watching her, and taking pictures. I got to be there when Olivia’s big sister, 4 year-old Greta, met her for the first time. One of my favorite pictures from that day is this one, where Greta gets her first chance to hold Olivia:

I also love this one, where my brother is showing Greta Olivia’s tiny fingers and toes:

I thought about this picture when I read this morning’s Gospel text. Judging from this story, fingers and toes are important to Jesus too. After the resurrection, the disciples are gathered together, talking about the rumor that Jesus rose from the dead. They’ve heard the news, but they don’t quite believe it. And can you blame them? If I were there, I think I’d be skeptical too.

Then, Jesus actually appears right in the room with them. Now, they can see him, but they still don’t quite believe. Maybe this appearance is a hallucination. They’ve just been through 3 awful days. They’re tired and upset, and they want Jesus to come back. Maybe they’re just seeing what they want to see. Or maybe this Jesus is a ghost. That’s a scary idea. Remember what Pastor Dave said in his Easter sermon? He’s back? Think about Peter, who promised to stay with Jesus to the end and then denied him three times. Peter has a lot to fear from Jesus’s ghost, and I bet some of the other disciples are worried too.

Finally, Jesus invites the disciples to actually touch him. He says “Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see.” He lets the disciples touch him and feel that he’s real. He even eats with them, just to prove once and for all that he isn’t a ghost. Once the disciples touch Jesus and experience his real, physical presence, they finally believe. They know that Jesus really was dead and he really is alive again. Hearing the news about Jesus is good, and seeing it is even better, but the disciples have to touch it before they truly believe.

I’m reminded of the disciples’ experience when I think about my niece, Greta. For 9 months, Greta heard that she was going to have a little sister. Everyone in the family talked about it, she read books about it, and she watched her parents put together a room for the baby. On the night her sister was born, Greta saw pictures of her. But the fact of her little sister’s birth didn’t become real until Greta came to the hospital and touched those little hands and feet for herself. I’ll never forget the sight of Greta standing over Olivia’s hospital crib, staring at her in awe.

I asked her “Who is that?” and she beamed with pride: “That’s my little sister, Olivia Josephine Brooks!”

Watching Greta meet Olivia reminded me of another family memory. My oldest nephew, Jordan, was 5 years old when his little sister, Summer, was born. Like Greta, Jordan spent 9 months hearing that he was going to be a big brother and he was excited. On the day my sister went to the hospital to deliver Summer, Jordan stayed at our grandmother’s house. As soon as Summer was born, my brother-in-law called and gave Jordan the news. When he got off the phone, Grandma said “You have a little sister! And tomorrow, you’ll go to the hospital and meet her!” I’m sure Grandma expected this to make Jordan happy. Instead, he started crying: “Tomorrow? But I want to meet my little sister now!”

For both Greta and Jordan, hearing about their little sisters was good, and seeing them was even better, but nothing compared to actually touching them and being with them. For 9 months, they both knew their roles in the family were going to change. They had ideas about what it would mean to have a little sister. But it wasn’t until they actually met their little sisters that they really understood. The day he met Summer, Jordan really became a big brother. The day she met Olivia, Greta became a big sister.

When I think about today’s Gospel text in light of my niece and nephew, I realize there’s something even deeper than belief happening in this story. When the disciples touch Jesus, they truly believe that he rose from the dead. But the story doesn’t end there. Something else happens too. Jesus talks to them. He says “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” He reminds them of things he told them before, but this time they hear differently. Being in the presence of the risen Jesus opens the disciples’ minds. Before they just heard Jesus’s words; now they understand. They understand what Jesus’s life and death mean and how they relate to the Scriptures. They also understand that they have a job to do. Jesus tells them that “repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations.” These men have been following Jesus all this time, but only in this moment do they truly become disciples. My niece and nephew had to be in the presence of their little sisters to understand what it means to be an older sibling. The disciples had to be in the presence of the risen Jesus to understand what it means to be a disciple. Just hearing and seeing weren’t enough.

A little over 4 years ago, I had the privilege of preaching on the day Greta was baptized. The lectionary text for that day felt perfect for a sermon about baptism, and I couldn’t believe my luck. When I learned I would be preaching the day of Olivia’s baptism, I was sure my luck would run out. I Googled the lectionary readings and barely had the heart to look at them. When I finally saw this text, I couldn’t believe it. The lectionary came through for me again! What could be better for a sermon about baptism than a story about how we need to touch things in order to believe?

Really, I think that the need to touch is the reason we have sacraments. I think it’s the reason we come here every week. We can hear the word of God anytime we want by reading the Bible. We can see our beliefs in action by watching religious TV shows or movies, or by visiting Christian web sites. But nothing compares to actually coming to this place, holding the hymnals, hugging our friends and neighbors, and tasting the bread and wine.

Sacraments, such as baptism, take us beyond hearing and seeing and actually let us touch and experience our beliefs. As United Methodists, we believe that God longs to be in relationship with each and every human person. We also believe that God takes initiative to reach out to us- we call that “prevenient grace.” Prevenient grace is one of the reasons we baptize babies. Long before a baby is old enough to know who God is, we believe that God is reaching out to that baby, claiming him or her as a child of God forever. The sacrament of baptism doesn’t cause God to reach out to us; it recognizes and responds to the fact that God has already reached out.

Of course, if God has already claimed every human person as his own, you might wonder why we even need baptism. What are we really doing when we baptize someone? Our church doctrine says that we’re responding to God’s gift of grace- and I agree with that- but I think there’s something else happening too. I think we baptize because we need to touch God’s grace in order to believe.

We can read in the Scriptures that Olivia has already been claimed as a beloved child of God. But its so much more real when we place our hands on her head and Pastor Dave says “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” As members of this church family, we can express our congratulations to parents on the birth of a baby, or send cards, or like their pictures on Facebook. But that doesn’t compare to being here together, speaking the vows of baptism, pledging our support to that child and that family.

Baptism helps us move beyond seeing and hearing to touching, so that we can truly believe. I might wish that all of my nieces and nephews will have happy and healthy lives. I might wish that they’ll never get sick, or have their hearts broken, or experience loss. But I’ve been at this aunt thing for 23 years now, and I know that wishing can only do so much. My nieces and nephews will be sick sometimes. They will have their hearts broken. They will face losses. I can’t control what will happen to Olivia in her life, but I can remember what I experience(d) today. By participating in Olivia’s baptism, I can truly believe that she will always be a child of God, loved unconditionally. I can know that she has a church community to support her, whatever happens. I can accept that she and I are bound together forever by our shared experience of baptism.

But, of course, it doesn’t end there. Belief wasn’t the end of the story for the disciples, and its not the end of the story of baptism. When they touched the risen Christ, the disciples had their hearts and minds opened. They understood for the first time what it means to follow Jesus, and they understood that they had jobs to do. They were called to go out into the world and give other people the same experience. They knew they needed to help people touch the risen Christ for themselves.

We are called to do the same. Every time we participate in a baptism, we are called to remember our own baptisms. We’re called to remember how God actually reached out and touched us through the hands of our pastors, parents, family, and friends. We’re called to really experience that grace again. And then we’re called to reach out and touch others. That might mean something as dramatic as traveling to serve people in need on a VIM trip. Or it might mean something as simple as visiting someone who’s sick or hasn’t been here in awhile. Whenever we move beyond hearing and seeing to actually touching, we get closer to really believing.

In fact, we can start right now. Stand and greet each other with signs of peace.

Amen.

Hills, friends, and finishing strong: the 2012 Arbutus 5K

I just returned from a morning run with my husband-to-be. Now, I'm spending my remaining pre-work hours on my favorite post-vacation hobby: Catching Up On Life. My "catching up on life" to-do list includes blogging about several recent events. First up: my most recent race!

The Arbutus running crew!

 On Saturday, Andrew and I ran the 3rd annual Arbutus 5K Spring Fling, organized by my original running buddy, Val. The first running of this race, back in 2010, was the subject of my first-ever blog post about a race. Since then, both the race and Val's crew of running buddies has grown (see above). In 2010, just Val and I ran this race together. This year, we had a whole pack!

What has not changed about this race is the challenging course. Even though it is "just a 5K," the combo of hills and sun had me thinking "when will this be over?" by about the 1.5-mile mark. Last year, I got a jolt of inspiration around mile 2 when I caught up with a usually-faster running buddy. This year, I was on my own and I had a tough time staying motivated. I actually walked for a few seconds on an uphill- something I haven't done in a 5K in years. I finished in 29:06, which was nowhere near a PR, but still under 30 minutes. Lately, my 5K mantra is "Just finish under 30."

Andrew did much better. Having heard my war stories about the sun and the hills, he was anxious about this race. Still, he finished nearly 2 minutes faster than his first 5K! He also made his first finish line sprint. While we were in London, we went for a run in beautiful Hyde Park. During that run, I gave a mini-lecture about finishing strong: "When you can see the finish line, go all out." I'm pretty sure he was exhausted by the time we finished that run, but he surprised me by sprinting as soon as he could see the park gates. Then, he did it again in the race! It was awesome to see him zipping across the finish line.

In Hyde Park, London. 

I can't wait to see who joins our pack for next year's race!

The marriage plot.

I'm home! I am also now free to share one of the worst-kept secrets of 2012: I'm engaged!

Moments after the official engagement; months after the unofficial one. 

I met my fiancee, Andrew, just about 8 months ago after a brief exchange of dating site emails. By our second date, I had decided that he would be a good person for someone to marry. By about 2 months in, I had decided that he would be a good person for me to marry. Around that time, I told some of my friends "Whether he knows it yet or not, I'm going to marry this guy." At about 3 months, we had a conversation and I learned that he was thinking the same things about me. By New Year's Eve, we were making plans: engagement sometime in 2012, wedding sometime in 2013.

Then, in late January, our plans got accelerated. Andrew had to move and his original plan was to find a place in DC. He would live there for a year, and then move in with me in Annapolis after our marriage. Andrew spent a few weeks touring DC apartments that were almost comically bad (ex: washer/dryer in the bedroom!). One night, he came to visit me in Annapolis and shared his tales of apartment woe. Then, over dinner at a local pizza joint, he raised an idea: instead of moving to DC, he would move to Annapolis. I considered his idea and raised another: if he moved to Annapolis, we could move up our schedule and get married by the end of the year. We both calmly agreed that these were good plans.

For the next few weeks, I waited for one of us to freak out and change our minds. I even had a few mini-freakouts myself when I started paging through wedding magazines at the store. Every time we talked about it, though, we grew more and more certain that our plan was a good one. Pretty soon, we started leaking the idea to close friends and select family members. We expected somebody to say "but you two barely know each other!" Instead, we got the opposite. Everyone seemed to say some variation of "Its obvious you two should get married, so why wait?"

Then came a watershed moment. One night, I spent some time online looking at wedding dresses, trying to get myself used to the idea of a wedding and to convince myself I could find a nice dress without spending a million dollars. One of the first sites I visited was Bhldn, which is Anthropologie's wedding line. (I love Anthropologie more than anyone should love a store.) Lo and behold, the very dress I was imagining for myself appeared on the screen. And it was well within my financial means. I called Andrew and said "This is crazy- we're not even engaged and I think I found my wedding dress. Should I buy it?" I expected him to tell me to slow down. Instead, he said "You should. This is going to happen." I still waited nearly a week, but finally I took the plunge.

Once I ordered the dress, the floodgates opened. Andrew and I got more involved in planning and we told more and more people. By the time he moved to Annapolis, both of our families and many of our friends were in on our plans. Several had seen my dress and heard our potential date. Pretty soon, our forthcoming engagement was the worst-kept secret in the DC metro area.

All this time, we knew we were going to London in April. We had scheduled the trip back in December, when Andrew's brother mentioned that he had to go there for work. It would be my first trip abroad and our first vacation together- the perfect time for a proposal! So, the next step was choosing  a ring. Fortunately, my grandmother had already chosen one for me:

This ring belonged to my paternal grandmother, Cleo, who died in 2001. The upper stone, a green diamond, comes from a necklace given to her by her second husband. Sometime in the late 70's or early 80's, after her husband died, my grandmother was working in her yard wearing that necklace. All of a sudden, the stone fell out and landed in a thick patch of ivy. Grandma Cleo spent hours on her hands and knees searching, and eventually she found it! After that, she didn't want to put the stone back in the necklace for fear it would fall out again. She gave it to my mother, along with her engagement ring, and asked Mom to get a ring made. This was the result. As soon as it was made, Grandma told my mom that she wanted me to have it one day. I've always loved it, and couldn't imagine a more perfect engagement ring. So, a few weeks before our trip, Andrew snuck over to my parents' house to ask for the ring and their blessing. They were happy to give him both!

In the weeks leading up to the trip, I had a lot of fun trying to guess Andrew's big proposal plan. The only thing I was pretty certain about was the timing. We were getting to London on Thursday; his brother would arrive Friday. I assumed he would plan the proposal for the time we were alone, and probably do it pretty early in that time so that we could both relax and enjoy our time together.

Sure enough, as soon as we had settled into our hotel on Thursday and taken a much-needed nap, Andrew put on some of his nicer clothes and said we were going for a walk. First, he took me to the chapel and home of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church. This wasn't the proposal site, but I was still excited:

We kept walking and I learned that our ultimate destination was St. Paul's cathedral, designed by Christopher Wren. Wren also "designed" (long story) a building at Andrew's college, W&M. That little detail told me St. Paul's would be the place.

My first glimpse of St. Paul's in the distance. 

When we arrived at St. Paul's, we wandered around for awhile, and then Andrew steered us up toward the dome. As soon as we reached the stairs, I knew this would be the spot, and I got a little nervous. Along with the nerves, I was still a little nauseous from jet lag and it was HOT inside the cathedral. We started climbing the 300+ tightly spiraling stairs and things got unpleasant pretty fast. By the time we reached the first gallery in the dome, I had to stop and sit down. We were both nauseous and dizzy. I assumed that Andrew planned to propose at the top of the done (another 200 or so steps up), so I did my best to rally. After about 10 minutes in the first gallery, I told him I thought I could keep going up.

As we got up to head for the stairs, Andrew pointed to a sign that said "The Whispering Gallery," and said "I wonder why they call it that?" He stopped a tour guide and asked. She explained that the dome is a perfect circle and, if you whisper into one part of the wall, you can hear it anywhere else in the dome. Andrew said he wanted to try it and sent me about 30 ft away. We both put our faces up against the wall and Andrew whispered "Can you hear me?" Sure enough, I could hear him as clearly as if he were whispering right in my ear. When I said "Yes, I can hear you," he responded "Alicia Brooks, will you marry me?" 

At the whispering wall. 

I was so surprised! I ran over and grabbed the ring from him, put it on, and said "Does this mean we don't have to climb any more stairs?" 

After that, we weren't sure what to do with ourselves. We went outside and took pictures (including the first one in this post), went to the St. Paul's gift shop and dropped a small fortune on souvenirs, and then went and toasted ourselves in a little cafe/bar: 

We had a lovely time, but it still didn't feel quite right. We were both missing our friends and family. So, despite the fact that it was past dinnertime and we were both starving, we went back to our hotel and got online. We made Skype calls to our families and did the thing which really makes an engagement official in these modern times: announced it on Facebook.

Within minutes, both our accounts had BLOWN UP. Literally, we had so many notifications that our computers kept freezing! The outpouring of love from every little corner of our lives was overwhelming. So were the requests for the full story of the engagement. And now, internet friends, you have it. Thank you so much for being such an important part of my life. I can't wait to share our wedding plans with you and all of our future adventures!