Psalm 40: THE LORD BE MAGNIFIED

40 days ago I began a journey through the book of Psalms. One a day till I got through the whole book. I wanted to start here- the praises and songs of joy, the calls to the Lord in trouble.

Today was Psalm 40. I highlighted a lot and will be holding it in my heart today.

verse 1-4:
I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard me cry... He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.

verse 13: Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; Make haste, O Lord, to help me.

verse 16: Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, THE LORD BE MAGNIFIED

My Battle Cry

Casting Crowns: Until The Whole World Hears

Lord I want to feel your heart and see the world through your eyes
I want to be your hands and feet
I want to live a life that leads

Ready yourselves
ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
Ready yourselves
Ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise
Until the whole world hears

Lord we are calling out
Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we're crying out as the day draws near
we'll sing until the whole world hears

Lord let your sleeping giant arise
Catch the demons by surprise
Holy nation sanctified
Let this be our battle cry

We'll sing until the whole world hears
we'll sing until the whole world hears
Want to be your hands and feet
Want to be a life that leads
To see you set the captive free
Until the whole world hears
and I pray that they will see more of you and less of me
Lord I want my life to be the song You sing
Until the whole world hears Lord

What have I learned

Psalm 38:
9) Lord, all my desire is before You...
15) For I hope in You, O Lord; You will answer, O Lord my God.

I am in Tempe, Arizona. Race day is Nov 22- Ironman Arizona. I cannot begin to explain the overwhelming peace and joy that is overflowing from my heart as I await my battle day.

This year has been absolutely the best year I could have ever asked for. Not because I crushed every race with victory or conquered HUGE feats in the sport. 2009 has been the year of BELIEVE AND BE BOLD. In him the victory has been greatly found.

From my dear friend's coma in Jan 2009, to my Papa's Cancer in August- I found an intensified faith, a stronger hope in My Lord, My God. I know it is in him that I rejoice and find comfort. It is in him I find my identity as a child of God. I am a triathlete, a massage therapist, a wife, a sibling, a daughter, a friend...BUT these are just my present day life labels.

This year, I have found that my complete trust has to be in the Lord. There must be no waiver, that I have what my faith expects (Matthew 9:29). God is before all things and in Him ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER (Colossians 1:17).

2009 has been about learning that I CANNOT hold it all together- it isn't my job. I am to find comfort under the wings of my Lord as he will then give me strength. Strength to be able to handle the day, the conflict, to move mountains if I just ASK and BELIEVE.

PRAISE PRECEDES VICTORY. No matter sadness, darkness, joy, happiness, peace- I MUST PRAISE. I must sing on the highest mountain that others may hear. Singing praises to my King. I must walk as a living sacrifice and example to others in my life. No matter the circumstances he is our Deliverer. We must be BOLD with the strength in our soul that he PROVIDED, to take that first step up the mountain. The view from the top is magnificent and glorious... but we must take that first step.

I now use all my energy TO BELIEVE AND BE BOLD (Psalm 138:3). My family has the Lord's favor upon them. And for that, I will work endlessly to glorify my Lord, till my last breath. Whether Sunday is my day to shine or not- in the battle I will glorify the one that makes me whole.

Psalm 138:8 - The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of your hands.

Praising as you wake

Recently, I have found myself waking up in song. It may sound CRAZY but all I know is that the last two days and a few days last week, I awake to my brain singing songs of praise. It is brillant and special- so I go with it. As I am brushing my teeth, pouring my morning coffee, as I drive to morning swim practice I keep turning the song on repeat.

This morning was the song SALVATION IS HERE by Hillsong United

God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
I don't care what the world throws at me now
It's gonna be alright

Hear the sound of the generations
Making loud our freedom song
All in all that the world would know Your name
It's gonna be alright'

Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here.


Did you hear that? HIS WORD NEVER FAILS. HE MADE A WAY FOR YOU and ITS GONNA BE ALRIGHT. HE IS ABOVE ALL OUR HOPES AND ALL OUR FEARS.

Oh Father, may I sing this song on the highest mountain that all may hear your freedom song, that the world may know Your name.

This weekend

The new wetsuit- it has bouyancy panels in the forearms that I love. Hook em Horn colors!

Quarry Lake open water swim solo. Foggy, Rainy- PERFECT in the new suit.

It's 7:40am and FOGGY DRIZZLE HUMIDITY. Long run with my super run partner.

Post Long run mess pile- My Avia Lites make my feet happy. Ready for the Marathon.

Richie Cunningham, Fraser our scottish lad, and Zane- the super husband. Oh, we miss Fraser. I woke up Sunday missing my coffee buddy. Had the Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla roast in his honor before my long run. He is an awesome dude and I look forward to when he comes back in the spring.

MOST IMPORTANT: This is Melissa. She is my run partner and just a great friend. She and I click. She ran for Boston College and I am glad she and Richie moved to Austin.

OPPS- didn't take photos of my Long Brick Saturday- well, loops on South Mopac at race pace, run off the bike with Melissa. The usual- but a trip to Lift for smoothies after = girl talk time. LOVE IT.

MY SIBLINGS ARE PURE MACHINES

November 2008- A year ago. A lot happens in a year.

My brother is one hard core dude. Check out his blog at http://www.billsridetowork.blogspot.com/. He rides to work EVERY DAY rain, snow, frozen ice- he is MICHIGAN TOUGH. What I love is that he creates these amazing bikes from yard sales, spices 'em up, and winterizes them so that the staff of the Apple store can commute with him.

On the way home the other day he hit 45 mph!

It was then I had to make the call to my brother to remind him of our blessed genetics as both the Baker and Olsen Family are hard working MACHINES! My brother has ALWAYS had the ability to be the amazing athlete in the family. He was killer at backstroke and always went for it.

Somehow I became the one that kept competiting- he and my sister went on to other adventures.

BUT GUESS WHAT EVERYONE! MY BROTHER IS COMING BACK TO THE DARK SIDE! HE IS DOING A CYCLECROSS RACE ON SUNDAY NOV 15th. I can't be more excited for him. His twitters are full of 6:15 am sunrise rides/runs/obstacle jumps sometimes even PRE COFFEE (okay- that is hard core to the bone...I don't do that!)

I will be screaming from Austin and once up in the snowy north for the holidays- we will be adventuring out onto the dirt because this LUNA CHIX is going to add DIRT riding (MT BIKE) to her list of abilities. NO FEAR- BE BOLD! And start it out with the family. The thing is that my Granny got a mountain bike last weekend, so now I REALLY have to be ready- NO ONE is allowed to be dropped by their Granny. I get my quads from her!

Also, I cannot forget my sister. SUPER MOMMY! She is already lifting and doing weights after 4 weeks of mommy-hood. Her ability to seek balance and guidance from Zane coaching her speaks volume to her maturity and desire to move forward with run racing. I will be the FIRST ONE to volunteer to sit on the sidelines of the race to hold Dwinny while she puts herself out there. I AM SO PROUD OF HER.

One side story- At USAT Junior/U-23 Nationals in Maine a few years back, she surprised SO many by putting to girls who were expected to win/podium. Anne went to that place of push where you pass out at the finish in your own vomit. HARD CORE.

YES- as you can see, though I am so proud of my siblings and what they are capable of, I can also gain so much support and strength from them. We have been given some awesome gifts from God. What excites me is that we are all using them to glorify Him!

Halloween 2009

London as SANTA for Halloween. He sang UP ON THE HOUSETOP and was quick to tell Nana when she got the words wrong. I think the beard may be a bit big.

Norah was London's elf and Ceridwen Mae was a Kitty. Obviously both were happy to sleep through it.

HELLO Miss KITTY! She looks like she is really into being a kitty....maybe not....

HOLD IT TOGETHER

Colossians 1:17
HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER.

I found this verse last week during my morning study time. WOW! If you read prior to this verse it talks about "FOR BY HIM ALL THINGS WERE CREATED, both in HEAVEN AND EARTH, visible and invisible- all things have been created through HIM and for HIM!

As the week went on, anytime I felt the overwhelming pressure of schedule, worry, demands - I just repeated OUT LOUD " He is before all things, and in Him all things HOLD TOGETHER".

I don't have to WORRY about FINDING a way to hold my day to day together, to FIGURE out solutions to problems, and it isn't for me to take charge. He is my Rock, my Deliverer and HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS- before triathlon, before work, before all things we value on Earth. If we put our Father where he belongs we will find that IN HIM ALL THINGS WILL HOLD TOGETHER.

As the week progressed, I found the ultimate peace no matter what was thrown at me. I kept myself reminded of the fact that IN HIM all things hold together- it isn't TERRA HOLDS IT ALL TOGETHER. Alleviating that pressure and that demand = conquering training sessions to the point that I thought my watch/SRM etc was broken.

I really did find this week that HE IS ENOUGH FOR ME. In him, I have all I need and desire. He is my breath of life and my supplier. He is MORE THAN ENOUGH and he SATISFIES ME.

With Ironman Arizona 20 days away, I would typically say- WHOA- the countdown, the training, the precise peaking - I would be fighting to hold it all together and put things in motion/organize/control. THIS TIME AROUND- I am leaving it to God. The only thing on my shoulders is to glorify him and to share his love and name with the assembly, praising his name (Psalm 22:22).

He prepares us for battle. We have to just show up and have FAITH. And that is just what I plan to do.

The Little Rock Star

London, our sweet nephew, is SOOO excited for Halloween. Rumor has it, he is going to be SANTA and he can recite the Night Before Christmas. Now that is something I want on video. He is such a happy boy, it makes me sad that we live so far from family. You can see in the video he is putting on a concert for his sister Norah. He is a good big brother!

Longhorn 70.3

4 weeks out today from Ironman Arizona and I am ready! Longhorn 70.3 was this past Sunday and is a race where I could sleep in my own bed, ride the course prior to the race, and have my husband there (though he ended up working sag and only got a yell out a van window around mile 25 on the bike). The race would be a great evaluation as to where I am in my training leading into Arizona.

Race morning was smooth- solid night of sleep, coffee and toast, and at transition very timely as always. Wetsuit swim, 2 transitions, and cooler temperatures- a few minor changes from last year's sticky, warm day. The pro field was big and this made it even more exciting. Fun to race the best at home!

SWIM: Got in a warm up and realized the tinted goggles weren't so brillant as some sneaky cloud cover was making it a bit harder to see. Most of us had them as we were swimming into the sun. They got us in the water and they started counting down from 10 and a bunch of the pro men started swimming around #6 so of course you just go if the group goes. Swim went okay, slowest time in awhile and in a wetsuit. NOTE TO SELF- TRAIN IN YOUR WETSUIT. Not everyone is faster in the wetsuit, especially if you don't swim in it except at races. The challenge of living in a HOT climate in the summer.

BIKE: Jumped onto my Orbea Ordu aka BIG RED, with a few women slightly ahead and decided that I must stick with them. My first half of the race was faster than my second because I spent a bit of my quads out there. But it helped the confidence as the bike is becoming stronger like it used to be. The specific work we are doing on the computrainer with power is translating over nicely. Nutrition practice for Ironman bike = perfect. Recorded it in journal, ready for Ironman day.

RUN: Got off bike and just started running. Found with each loop I was feeling more zippy and had a bit more turnover. It was great to be able to press and find that groove, with my fastest half run split of the bike this year. Ran out of real estate with a few girls only 40 secs+ ahead, but ran into 10th place by the finish line. Crossed the line wishing it was a marathon, knowing that Nov 22 will be my chance for 26.2.

Overall it was a solid day and I had a blast. Our homestay Fraser Cartmell, from Scotland, had a solid SWIM-BIKE combo, but had a bit of trouble on the run. He fought through the run and finished 11th. A bit of Mexican food for dinner and we are ready for a new training week. Fraser has 3 weeks till Clearwater and will be enjoying Austin training till then, while 4 weeks for me till Ironman go-time!