I did NOT sign up for THIS!!

 "I did NOT sign up for this"

I have heard these words a lot lately.  My husband is on the board of Paideia.  We are going through a very difficult time right now.  Meetings after meetings after meetings that are HOURS long and seem to only last in an impasse.  He and the other board members are exhausted and utterly spent.  They serve and give and stay up really really late listening, discussing, praying, etc.  But there comes a point and I know my Tim is at that point and he is saying on the regular, "I didn't sign up for this!"

As I have been walking through this with him, I am reflecting on what I thought I 'signed up for' when I became a Christian.  I said, YES, to serving Jesus.  I said and sang, "I have decided to follow Jesus" 

Following Jesus.  

Yes, I am a Jesus follower.  

Or am I...

just a Jesus admirer?

You see I am discovering there is a big difference between a Jesus admirer and  Jesus follower.  A Jesus Admirer stands back a ways and admires Jesus and His teachings and how He served and even how He sacrificially died.  

Aaaand that. is. it.

A Jesus follower actually follows Him.  In other words, a follower imitates the Master's every move, action, and intentions.  A follower has the same mindset as the Master.  So do you know what it means to actually follow Jesus?

Before I go any further, I once asked my youngest child, "Why did Jesus come to earth in the first place?"

He confidently said, "To die for my sins and the sins of the world"

That was spoken by a ten year old in the place of his ten-year-old-walk with Jesus.  I love that he knows this, but what he said isn't the whole of why Jesus came.  

Here's what Jesus Himself said,

"For I have come down from heaven, not do do my own will but the will of him who sent me." John 6:38

Jesus was a sent one.  He was himself a follower.  Yes, it is "the Will of the Father that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day" v 40 so my little boy was right that the will of the Father included "Jesus' dying for sins", But the whole truth is that Jesus came to do the will of the Father.  So after a while as Jesus was walking around the earth and healing the sick, but getting bombarded with crowds and Pharisees etc did He ever say, "I did NOT sign up for this!"

I wonder.

Paul the apostle writes in Philippians 2

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."  

Being a Jesus follower means having the same obedient and serving mind as Jesus.  Being an imitator of Jesus means imitating him by setting aside my own agenda, emptying myself and serving others to the point where it really, really hurts.  

Being a Jesus admirer means getting all dressed up to look nice to go to a big building on a Sunday morning and hearing a sermon about Jesus and admiring how great he is.  

But to give and serve like Him?  To deny my self like Him? To imitate Him and to follow Him truly?

Did I sign up for this?

Yes.  Yes I did.  

Is it worth it? Because this following Jesus is hard.  It stings and it hurts and we are exhausted.  And there is another meeting and there is another angry parent email to read and there are more meetings and there are more sleep deprived nights and there is more.....

I guess I could renounce my choice to follow Jesus.  I could deny that I know Him.  It's been done before.  

Oh Jesus, help me.  I ask You as a desperate human.  Will you help me follow YOU? No matter what.  I just have to believe that I will join with You as a fellow heir in the grace of life that I will see Your glory in the land of the living.  If I don't follow You, then where else will I go?  What is better than following Jesus? What has greater reward than following Christ? 

Phil2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  

"For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will Raise him up on the last day"

Sigh, Okay Lord.  I signed up to follow You and follow You I will.  Even when it is dark and annoying and long and cumbersome and ultimately fatal.  The death of my flesh.  

I believe in You.  I believe that as I look to You, I will be raised up with You on the last day.

Is there anything better.

Spartan Ultra 2019. Crushing it ~ or Crushing me

As I write this post I am in dry clothes that are so super soft and I have fuzzy socks on.  I am sitting AND sitting in a cozy chair at that.  Even though it is 32 degrees outside I am inside a warm house with central heat.

This was NOT the case at this very time two days ago.  Two days ago - Saturday, Nov. 23, I was outside with about one thousand other Spartan Ultra racers trying our hand at completing a 30 mile  grueling test of physical and mental strength.

Little backstory... back in 2017 my precious friend, Lisa, did a Spartan race and after she told me about it I remember thinking that was great for her, but I am not that type.  I am a Ballet dancer by birth - Zumba lover - Holy Yoga and Pilates studio gal and I really didn't want to get muddy.  Okay so I let go of any aversion to mud and I did my first Spartan with her in March of that year.  I was HOOKED!  It was the 5k distance and about 20ish obstacles and I had so much fun and it was so short that I got the bug and I couldn't wait to do another one.  So in August of 2017 Lisa  and I competed in the West Virginia Spartan and we completed our Trifecta!  In other words, we completed the three distances of the Spartan.  The Sprint (5k), the Super (10k) and the Beast (half marathon).  Each distance has a bunch of obstacles and albeit it hard, we had a GREAT time and I am really really glad we did all three races in one weekend.  So fast forward to a year ago when I met Mr. David Leach who came to teach at Paideia Academy and we co-coached the cross country team at Paideia.  He knew I had done some Spartans and asked me to consider doing the Ultra with him.  I guess he couldn't find anyone crazy enough to do this distance with him.  Well, in typical Tara style I said "SURE!" with resounding enthusiasm.  That was at the Paideia Christmas party last year. When I was warm and cozy and so sure of myself and my physical capacities....

That was all crushed two days ago.

So there I was Saturday morning 6:30AM as I stood with 1,000 other crazy Ultra competitors thinking "this is crazy, but it's going to be fun and I can do it".  The announcer yells  "WHO AM I?" to which we respond

I AM SPARTAN!!!!!

That part always makes me tear up and get a lump in my throat because I don't feel like a Spartan.  I am a mom.  I am a wife.  I am just Tara... but today I am a Spartan as well and that is pretty cool.

So off we went.  Up hills and down hills, through mud and woods, on and off obstacles, up ropes and down ropes, up and over walls, across monkey bars - (small caveat...I did not go all the way across the monkey bars, but David did ~twice!) and burpees.  Around 11:45am we were coming to the end of the first lap and there it was... the dunk wall.  We fully submerge ourselves in cold muddy water only to crawl up a slippery bank to the transistion area.  That was when the shaking and quivering started and we continued to shiver for the next 6 hours.  

Stopped for a short lunch break in-between laps and as I was opening or trying to open my bars I could barely grasp the packing because I was shivering so bad.  I seriously thought I was dangerously close to getting hypothermic when I looked around at all of the other Ultra racers and noted that EVERYONE was shaking.  Even the big tough guys who looked like seasoned Marines had hands that were quivering like a frightened, cold chihuahua in a veterinarian clinic.  So I didn't feel so bad about being freezing cold because misery loves company.  We didn't want to linger too long so we packed up our stuff and took off for lap 2. In the rain.

As we went up the hill for the second time we were trudging through thick, thick mud and that's when David said ... "This is going to take a while"  My heart just sank.  We had completed the first lap in about 5 hours and I thought it would be possible to do the same the second time around.  However, i was very wrong and I was so discouraged.  How could I make it even one hour in this freezing rain and I was shivering so violently that it was hard to put one foot in front of the other let alone complete obstacles that required a lot of upper body strength.

But then I was reminded of a man we met in the first lap who had already completed two Ultras earlier this year and he told us that if he can do it - anyone can do it.  I was reminded of something David said during our first lap and that had to do with being grateful that we have the physical faculties to do this.  There are some folks who are wheelchair bound or who have other limitations that would LOVE to do a Spartan, but physically can't.  I was reminded of Colossians 3:17 that was printed on the back of another competitor's shirt.  "and whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."  I remembered a Keith Norman sermon I heard years ago titled "The Courage to do the New".  I kept repeating the phrase 'embrace the suck' as I sloshed through the thickest cake batter like mud in the history of thick mud.

And then before I knew it we were at mile 20.  Okay, we made it to Mile 20.  I can make it to Mile 21 and that's what I had to tell myself over and over again.  Oh by the way, my knee was KILLING me it hurt so bad.  It was like all the fluid around my joint and the cartilage covering the bones of my right knee just disappeared and my bones were just pounding on each other.  I just kept putting one muddy foot in front of the other and before I knew it I saw the sign Mile 25.  5 more miles to go and it was getting dark.  Well in these conditions - steady rain, temperature dropping, darkness, shivering beyond control, sopping wet clothes, unbearable right knee pain, and mud - 5 miles would take a solid two hours.

It was at this moment that David asked me how I was doing and this was my breaking point.  Earlier in the day when he asked me if I was okay I would cheerfully respond with "yes".  Heck, ask me that question at any point in my life and I will genuinely and cheerfully reply with a heartfelt "I'm good!" I have an incredibly high pain tolerance.  I gave birth to 4 very large babies WITHOUT any anesthesia.  I broke my arm due to a mountain bike crash and then continued to ride the darn bike even with a broken arm.  I have fallen off a two story roof only to have my fall broken by a grill and even though I cracked some ribs, I still managed to jump up and cheerfully exclaim that I was fine and dandy! (Long story...I'll tell you later).

But not this time.

This moment I was done.

I wanted to cry and I wanted to be warm and dry and free of pain.  That's all I could think about.  We were still five *&#@! miles from a building let alone the finish line.

So to answer David's question, "how was I doing?" Well, I told him that I wanted to cry and that I was in pain and this was really hard.  For me to admit all of that and be real opened me up to the truth that I am weak. I don't got this.  I think I freaked him out because he said to not cry - men don't deal well with blubbering women.  So then I shut up and looked up.  And ahead of me I saw the long trail up to the finish area.  It was dotted with Spartans all slowly walking through the mud up to the end.  I was not alone.  I will never be alone.  It was then that I realized that there were a lot of other people out there who were experiencing the exact same things that I was feeling.  Pain. Cold.  Uncontrolable shivering.  It's like life.  I admit I want to be so independent and not rely on others for help.  Sure, I know that I won't do the job perfectly, but I will not be a burden to others.  But here, I was physically and mentally spent and I had to rely on others if I was going to get through this.  I leaned on Brother David's shoulder at a few points when my knee could not support me.  I followed in the footsteps of the other Spartans who had trudged this path just moments before me.  And somehow or another I made it to the top.  We climbed the cargo net up and over and then finally to the last obstacle of a Spartan race - the fire jump.  In every other Spartan I have jumped with great joy and enthusiasm over the fire logs.  The professional photographers have captured these jumps on film.

Not at this moment.  I grabbed David's hand and barely could lift my legs just to step over it.  And I was done.  I crossed the finish.  I thought I would cry or collapse into a volunteer's arms, but I didn't.  I was hypnotically walking and the one consuming thought was..

Dry Clothes.

But first David and I had to wait in a 30 minute line just to get our medals.  I have never known extreme cold and violent shaking until now.  At this point we have been shivering for 6 hours and to wait in a line - in the rain for a dumb medal was beyond me and I almost lost it completely.  However, the guy in line behind us had the mouth of a sailor and he was letting everyone know exactly how he felt.  So I didn't have to lose it - he helped me out by taking the words right out of my mouth.

Needless to say, I got the medal.  I got into the female changing tent and I got dry clothes on.  It was the closest place to heaven I have ever been.  I went from the dark, rainy, cold outside to the inside of the tent where it was really warm (thanks to that AWESOME stand up heater thingy like the ones on restaurant patios), really bright and naked bodies everywhere.  Incidentally, I have JUST finished reading The Great Divorce by CS Lewis and the celestial Spirits that come greet the main character are naked, but not in an obscene way.  In a very pure and bright way is how these beings are described.  So having that on my brain, I walk into this tent and I literally said out loud,

THANK YOU, JESUS!

So here I am.  A few days post race and I have been mentally processing all of this without ceasing.  I need other people.  I repent of my pride that I have vainly held on to.  It has done nothing for me.  Lord, use this very difficult experience to be with others and help them 'embrace the suck' and have the courage to do the new.  We must have courage to walk with,  jog with,  slosh, trudge, move forward with, but we have to be willing to help and be helped.

With.

Emmanuel, God WITH us.  I know a little more about what that means now.

Thanks for reading this, and remember God is truly with you, Amen.

Another fitness challenge...but with s-x

WHAT THE?!?! What was that title?!?!

Hear me out for a few moments...

Have you heard of someone who was in this scenario?  Boy meets girl.  They are attracted to each other and that attraction is so strong that they continute the relationship and eventually get married.  First few years of marriage the Boy works really hard and isn't around as much as girl would like.  Girl is lonely and desires the company of her husband.  Girl gets pregnant and has first baby then a few years later has baby #2.  The little years of the children are sweet, but exhausting.  Girl is home a lot and makes sure the children are fed and house is relatively decent and clean.  Now it is many years later and Baby#2 is starting kindergarten.  Girl wants to get back into shape.  Girl wants to read intellectually stimulating books other than Curious George and discuss them with girlfriends at Book Club.  Girl wants to go out with girlfriends to nice restaurants for Ladies' Night Out.  Girl wants to join friends for a weekend getaway.  Now that Boy has worked so hard all these years, he has more time to devote to family and money isn't so tight anymore so Girl can do some or all of these things.  Girl goes out more than one night a week.  Boy watches kids and feeds himself and kids.  Kids.  Kids go to baseball.  Kids go to dance.  Kids have soccer practice.  Kids have birthday parties.  Pretty soon Boy is being told to pick up kids at some practice or game and then feed himself and kids because Girl has book club.  Then Girl comes home late to find Boy sleeping.  The next day Boy is hoping for a home-cooked meal with his wife and children, but is so disappointed when he is reminded by Girl that it is Friday and she will be leaving that afternoon for Girl's weekend.  He must pick up kids from school.

A few years later...

Boy and Girl split up.  Divorce.  The children are devastated.

What happened?

I have asked myself this question so many times when I hear of a couple getting divorced.  I did not make up above scenario, by the way.  I can think of at least four couples that share a similar story to this.

Now, I do not know the point of view from the Boy's side, but I can relate the woman's side of things and here are some questions I have...
1) What attracted you to Boy in the first place?
2) Why did you want to have kids?
3) What made you 'tick' before you met Boy?  In other words, what were your interests, passions, hobbies before you got married?


I believe it is important to exercise, read, do the hobbies and things that you are really passionate about. It will make you a better mom and wife.  But when these things come IN FRONT of your marriage, then there is a problem.  In the above scenario, Girl wasn't doing a whole lot to feed the part of her that loved to read, scrapbook, exercise because she was feeding her children and her husband.  Then lo and behold, when she gets back into feeding those passions she is SO deprived that she gorges.  She LOVES that she has gotten back into her interests and she is now so full that there isn't much room for her husband.  The husband has needs, interests and passions, too, but now he is the one at home with the kids while the wife is away.  The roles have reversed.

 I remember when my kids were ages 6, 4, 2, and 3 months I didn't have much energy for anything outside of caring for these four littles and my house.  But I do remember thinking about what I am passionate about and making a way to do that, but in a way that wouldn't take away time in the evenings from my husband.  I love to exercise and teach Holy Yoga.  I taught and still teach Holy Yoga one morning a week at our church.  I also went to the YMCA and put the kids in the kiddie care area while I worked out.  While at the Y, I would occaisionally meet a mom who would put her child in kiddie care and that child would scream bloddy murder and never stop until the childcare worker went to fetch the mom and the mom returned to her gasping-for-air-inbetween-crying-child.  Once I heard a mom say, "and this is why I never work out!" Then she proceded to say in an exhasperated sigh, "maybe I will come back tonight or tomorrow night and my husband can take care of the baby".

And thus it begins.

I hope that couple does not have a story like the one I wrote about earlier.

So here is my challenge... it is for 7 consecutive days.  One week.  I challenge you, Girls, to stay home every night and cook a good, hot supper each of those nights and have s-x with your husband every day.  EVERY DAY!

If a man were reading this, he would have a big ol'grin on his face!  What was your reaction?  Did you go "UGH."  Did you grin?  Did you roll your eyes?

Why?

Please do not get me wrong in that I am encouraging women to NOT pay attention to thier interests, hobbies, etc.  Those gifts that God has given you are a blessing and will bless others and build up the community.  But think and consider seriously, are they building up your marriage?  What I am asking in this challenge is to take just one week off of the chaos and get back to the fundamental base of your family.

Your marriage.

So I am going to look at a week in the next month and commit that week to restoring the health and vitality to my relationship with Tim and my children. I will pick up the kids from school at 3:15, then come home and we as a family will NOT get back in the car until 7:30am the next morning.  For SEVEN DAYS.  So that means we will not go to practice, dance, games, meetings, etc.  I will be around to hang out with my kids, I will be available to cook a good hot meal for the family and I will still have some energy left over at the end of the day for a 'romantic interlude'.  Wink, wink.

May I be so bold as to challenge you to at least do the home-cookin' and love makin' with your husband everyday for seven consecutive days.

Why would you NOT do this?  What is holding you back?  Why are you allowing it to hold you back?

Pray and ask God for help to do this.  I know He will provide meal ideas, energy and the way for this.
 
After all, a happy healty marriage is totally His idea.

Words that I don't ever want to say again

...I can't handle it...
...you need to...
...you are just like...
...hurry...


These are phrases I would like to completely eliminate from my vocabulary.  In my humble opinion, they don't really serve others or encourage others at all.  The middle two phrases especially are somewhat belittling and self-elivating.  As if I really know what someone else NEEDS to do.  I feel like I am elevating myself to be a god in the other's life.

The third phrase isn't quite right to say because each and every human being is different.  Sure we can be labeled as an extrovert or introvert, 'free spirit' or perfectionist, but to say that we are 'just like someone else' isn't entirely true.

We are just like sheep.

Seriously, we are just like sheep that have gone astray looking for greener grass.  We are just like sheep who are totally clueless to the reality that there indeed is a REAL shepherd watching over us, actively protecting us,  and always leading us to the BEST pasturers for a thriving life.  There is a God.  I believe with all my heart that there is ONE GOD, Father of ALL and HE IS REAL.  

This invisible supernatural all powerful GOD is good.  He not only made me and you, but HE loves me and you.

So what does this have to do with the aforementioned phrases at the beginning of this post? Well, to me, everything.  If HE indeed is Real and the Lord, the giver of life, then the life that I now live in the flesh is a life I can handle.  Everything that is in my life now - relationships with my kids, husband, sister, brother, parents, friends - is handle'able'.

...you need to... Well, that phrase may cross my mind, but I'm going to refrain from saying it, because the truth is that I really only hear what the Good Shephard is telling me to do.  I will trust in the fact that if He speaks to me and let's me know what I ought to do, then He will most certainly speak to you and I pray for you to have the courage to go forth with what you know to do.

...hurry...Boy, do I not like that word.  HURRY UP!!!! It's like someone yelling at me and telling me to be someone I'm not.  I feel like it's others imposing their opinions of how things should go, their personal time schedule upon me.

That is what I used to think.  But my thoughts have changed.  I put myself in the shoes of the one who was saying "hurry up" and I began to see a different perspective. The other person felt un- loved and unimportant.  That other person went so far as to say he felt invisible and sad.  Wow.   I desire to have healthy relationships and so I choose to respect the other person and be courteous.  I will be on time, because it is respectful and courteous and ultimately leads to a more healthy relationship with that friend.  I don't want to yell "HURRY UP!" at my kids and get everyone all stressed out.  I want to teach them about respect and courteousness and that these two qualities are important for maintaining healthy relationships.  I want to make every effort to show you that you are loved, you are important to me and that you are a real treasure in my life and not invisible.  That sometimes will mean waking up 10 minutes earlier or it may mean moving at a pace that may not at my preferred pace, but guess what -

You are worth it.

A God Who Glistens.

This is a glimpse of the world that I woke up to this morning.  It was sleeting all day yesterday and then the temperature has stayed below 20 degrees so that means lots of ice.  Each and every branch is encased in ice.  It makes the branches heavy and weighed down, so much so that branches break and trees break and cause damage to lots of man-made things like power lines.  

Yes, the ice that has surrounded almost everything can be a nuisance.  But look how the sun is just peaking over the house in the background.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but the ice laden trees in the background are glistening.  A rare treat for these eyes.  Soon the sun will be at a point in the sky that will make the branches in the foreground glisten like huge polished diamonds.  

Ice.  It's water that has been frozen.  Sometimes I feel stiff and unable to move.  I know I have been created to sway in the wind, and bend in all different directions, but when I am encased in ice, I barely breathe for fear of breaking.  

But then the sun comes out.

The SON.  

The sun shines on this ice encased me and causes me to glisten.  There is a beauty in this frozen state that I would not have experienced if it were always warm and cozy in my world.  

I went for a walk out in this glistening frozen wonderland because I know it won't last long.  The sun, as it has the power to make this icy world sparkle, it also has the power to melt away the ice, so I wanted to take lots of pictures, both in my mind and with my camera.  

The SON has the power to make me glisten under the weight of frozen water and in due time, has the power to melt away all the cold hard ice so that I can know true freedom.  

The LORD, maker of heaven and earth, is the God who Glistens.

No matter how tired, if there is love...

Wow, it had been nearly a year since I last posted something.  So much life here on lavendar lane has been, well, lavendary.

Sigh.  Today is Paul's birthday.  He is now 5.  My precious little Paul.  He's my best little Paul, I say to him every night.  He replies, "you are my best mommy"

So today I had a party for him.  A lego party.  It was lots of fun.  21 kids were there and 5 other moms. Nutty, but fun.

I am just so tired I can hardly stand it.  Have you ever been so tired that you want to cry? Late night last night, really early to rise today and I've been running at a steady 90 mph all day long.  I'm just so tired. I fully realize that I did this of my own accord, but still...   I purposefully put supper on the table earlier than usual tonight so the kids would be in bed earlier.  I read a book for each child, said prayers, hugs kisses, goodnight, I love you - the whole bit.  And wouldncha know it all four are still wide awake and oh I just heard Benjamin roaming around the house calling for me.  It is 9:45 at night.  I am sitting outside on the front porch listening to the most wonderful summer night sounds and watching the soft golden twinkles of the fireflies.  Yes, in theory this sounds serene, but right this minute I am hearing my precious little curly topped 2 year old calling, "Mommy? Mommy!! Are you?!?!" I'm not gonna lie, I feel like taking this here laptop and throwing it down on the patio, storming inside and picking up this offspring of mine and literally throwing him in the bed!

Deep breath.

I listen.  No sounds of Ben Ben.  Maybe he went back to bed.  Maybe he is in my bathroom putting his chubby little fingers in my overpriced night renewing serum. (Which he has done before many times) Maybe he is in the playroom quietly playing with his older brothers lego structures that took Eric a fortnight to build.  (Again, he's been there done that) Wherever he is, it doesn't matter because I should respond to him in the same way.  With kindess, gentleness, goodness, patience and joyfully.

Easier said than done.  Heck, reading what the fruits of the spirit are is just that - letting my eyes see the words and then my brain comprehends the meaning of these words that are put together in their specific order.  But living them?  Oh, Jesus help me.  Do I even have the Spirit in me???, because there is NO sign of joy, peace, patience (for shizzle none of that!), kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness.

But there is love.  Love.  That is the first in the list of the fruit of the spirit.  Love.

I look into the faces of these offspring and I breathe and count.  Self-control this is, because there is a fleeting thought that runs through my mind as I want to take these offspring of mine and drop-kick them.

After that couting time and a big deep breath, these little faces before me are gifts.  They are precious gifts with souls that can never die.  Not just offspring that I must teach to obey, but gifts to enjoy.  Why did God make me?  I think it was because He wanted to and He enjoys us.

So yes, I do have the Holy Spririt in me because there is love.  I look into the eyes of these precious little children and I am so in love with them.  This encourages me because if there is love, then there are those other things, too.

Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Another big deep breath.  Happy birthday to Paul, I really do LOVE you.

I found Minja right in front of the playset

Eric holding Minja

Minja came to live with us 8 days ago.  We were all in the backyard playing when I looked down and there in the middle of the grass was a little baby box turtle.  I immediately called the kids over to me and we all took turns holding this wonderful little creature.  My resourceful little Amy found a box to put the turtle in while Eric and Paul looked around for decor and food sources to place in the box.  After the turtle was in its new home for a few hours we finally came up with a name.  Well, Paul came up with it.  

MINJA

After the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  But Paul doesn't say 'ninja', he says 'minja'.  Why just the other day he said that he wanted to be a 'minja' for Halloween.  So that's how Minja got its name.  Eric and Amy call it 'Ninja' because I guess they don't see Paul's sayings in the same way I do.  

We fed Minja grass and tomatoes, but I never saw it eat.  After being with us for 8 days we decided it was time to let it go.  But before we did, Amy took some nail polish and wrote her initials on its shell.  So if you ever see a standard box turtle with ACM painted in metallic turquoise on its shell, then by all means get out your iphone and take a picture, give it some love and call us.  

We love you, MINJA.  You will always have a home here...

Official release into our side hydrangea bed

ACM in metallic turquoise nail polish.  We love you, Minja!