Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 2:10 AM
 Yes, even we
clergy can have crises of faith. There
are times, perhaps more than I would like to admit, that I doubt that there is
an eternal loving Creator who has my best interest in mind. I learned a long time ago in my faith journey
that contrary to what I was taught as a young girl, God did not control my life
nor did parent Creator micro manage it. Nor
did God desire to do either. I found
just the opposite! The beautiful rhythm
of relationship between Creator and creation and freedom to walk in that unique
creation is the freedom with which we are given. |
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Posted on Monday, August 25, 2014 3:54 PM
I was up at
Look Rock Tower last week seeking renewal and refreshment after a very long but
productive week. I was waiting for the
sun to burn off the haze of an early morning fog that had laced the mountain
range.
I noticed a
wind had whipped up that swayed the trees and the already dense fog turned ominously
darker and the temperatures dropped as will happen right before a storm. My heart skipped a beat as I knew that I was
at the “top of the world” looking 360 degrees from North Carolina to Maryville
around to Knoxville over to Townsend and back to North Carolina. |
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Heidi Parunak: Posted on Saturday, January 11, 2014 9:53 PM
I got so tickled this morning when I was mall walking for our Saturday morning trainings with the Knoxville Track Club for the CHKM 2014. It was raining cats and dogs and at the last minute I decided I would go to the gym instead. It had been a bitterly cold week and I was wanting a bit of a break from the elements. I got a call from one of the coaches and she said the gals were going to mall walk. So, I decided to join them.
Now, I had been having a lot of trouble walking the past month or so. |
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Heidi Parunak: Posted on Sunday, September 29, 2013 7:33 PM
So, here we are one year almost to the month when I was accepted for the Covenant Health Marathon Biggest Winner 2013 team. I am still overwhelmed and privileged to have been part of such a great group of folks, coaches and manager.
As I write this post, I ponder where I was last year, where I am this year AND where I was four years ago in October 2009 weighing over 400 pounds. The best way to put this past year into perspective especially the past few months is to make a list of the high lights. |
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Posted on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 1:31 PM
It has been a year since the
advertisement to apply for Biggest Winner 2013 came to my attention. Long story
short, I dared to apply. They dared to
accept my application. Oy gevalt! What were any of us thinking? I have struggled with a lot of regrets since
the 2013 CHKM that I did not work the Biggest Winner Challenge like I had wanted,
intended, or expected too. One of the
goals stated in my Biggest Winner 2013 Challenge application was that I wanted to
run. |
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Heidi Parunak: Posted on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 4:37 AM
July 16, 2013
I awoke early, too early, I thought. 3:39 AM to be exact. My head and shoulders wracked with pain from a neck injury I incurred this past January. Not being one for conventional chemical intervention, i.e. an aspirin or other pain relievers of the kind, I knew that if I could lay on the grass, the pain would be absorbed into the earth. Did you know that the earth has a beat, like a heart beat?
As I lay on the cool grass just before the dew, I heard an old hoot owl. |
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Posted on Friday, June 28, 2013 7:22 PM
Hiking, gym, cooking, gardening, writing, dogs, new floors, more hiking, more gym, gaining momentum and energy, strength and endurance. It has been three months since the CHM 2013 and I feel as if I am just now getting used to not seeing the BWCT 2013 team, manager, and coaches. For weeks after the team disbanded I felt disconnected. I felt like something big just happened in my life and I let it slip through my fingers.
I found myself regretting a lot about those five months. |
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Heidi: Posted on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 12:54 PM
In one scene of the cult classic Harold and Maude, older seasoned Maude played by Ruth Gordon advises the young Harold that (my paraphrase) "you gotta go with gusto in this life". In my minds eye I can still see the wizen character with a twinkle in her eye and fist clenched in determination trying to encourage this young man to take this old world by the tail and give it all you've got.
This brings me to my bucket box. A few years ago the movie The Bucket List became popular. |
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Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2013 8:21 AM
 Change is not easy. Nor does change have to be a burden. It can be as difficult or as easy as I perceive it. I was taking a CrossFit class yesterday and the instructor whom I had known for a few years noticed how much I had changed. She remembered me three years ago when I was 400 pounds plus and she has watched my journey.
She asked if it had been hard. I only smiled as I know that the hardest thing when I decided to change was changing my mindset. I had to care about myself enough to want to change. |
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Posted on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 2:05 PM
My debut on Missy Kane's Fit and Fun Show aired this morning. As I watched I was reminded of my first day that I was to meet the team of Biggest Winner 2013. We had to fast for a base line blood test. I had a restless night and woke up around 3AM with a splitting headache and equally upset tummy. I was scared, excited and not really sure what I had gotten myself into. The only thing I knew to do was draw a tub of the hottest water I could stand and try to relax. |
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