Like and Love, Ramblings of a Theologian in Progress

It's the end of February! Which means another installation of #364daysofhealthier update. If I could describe February in one word, it would be: travels. We've been all over the place, which might have detracted from my general mental health to be honest. Our small explorer has now made it to 3 different countries and Austin, an oasis in Texas that could, by all definitions, be its own country. He's taken 4 flights, various trains, a bus or two, multiple taxis/Ubers (yay easily installed car seats). Where my sleep has suffered, he has slept for almost all and at least part of every flight. Fingers crossed he's as good on the way home. So what have I been up to this month? Well, I've branched out a bit from just focusing on physical health. Or I've tried to, some endeavors have been better than others. Highlights/lowlight - - Physical The Good Cycling! - I have surprised myself that subjecting myself to someone calling out random gears at me for 50 mi...

It's almost February! Which means its time for the first installment of "What Crazy Things did Claire Try This Month?" My goal for this year was start the practice of a healthier lifestyle - mind, body, soul, and spirit. January was definitely heavy on the body aspect, simply because almost everyone seems to get into the "let's get in shape" spirit in January and I found a bunch of discounts and friend groups to go along with me on some of these endeavors. February should be a bit more balanced. AWESOME THINGS Houston Half-Marathon : above anything else I did this month for health, running the Houston Half is at the top of the list. I ran 10 of the 13.1 miles, so I hope to significantly improve my time next year by running the full race. If you ever get the chance, go out to the race track with signs or water bottles (or both) and cheer the runners on, I was surprised at how much of a difference it made. I'm already signed up for next year, and I...

For those of you who don't follow me on Instagram (@cehblanton if you want to), I've embarked on a resolution of #364daysofhealthier. As the hashtag suggests, this year I'm trying to focus on getting myself into a healthy state of being - mind, body, soul, and spirit. Last year was definitely the YEAR OF BABY. It was a hard year y'all. The pregnancy wasn't terribly hard, but the delivery was. Jack had to be delivered by emergency c-section and for someone who is a planner, the sudden decision that he had to be delivered NOW really set up those first few days and weeks and months to be really hard on me. On this side of things, I am going to be brave and confess that I had Post Part Anxiety/Depression and thankfully with a team of doctors, family, friends, and time, I'm in a much much much better place now than I was even 3 months ago. But one of the things I learned from that was that I do need to steal some time away from being mom-phdstudent-wife-cook-cleane...

We are the typical American family when it comes to food habits. In that, we eat a rotation of approximately the same 5 meals: - Chicken Tacos - BBQ Chicken - Sauteed Salmon - Spaghetti - "Meatloaf" Pies Every once in a blue moon, I'll add something "fun" to the mix: - Stir Fry - Pretzel Chicken - More different fish - Roast Chicken Fun meals ceased to exist once baby boy showed up, but now that he's able to sit in a high chair AND has a bit of a schedule during the day, cooking is incrementally becoming an easier task. Last night I found a slow cooker magazine (yay Better Homes and Gardens!) and realized that I'm bored with the same 5-6 meals. Trying to find new permutations of said meals is also a task I don't completely enjoy. Only Tuesdays should signal a specific food (e.g. Taco Tuesdays). So here goes a novel experiment - I'm going to try and cook something "new" once a week. Full disclosure - I'm a big fan of...

My dear Jack, Today was an exciting day in your life and one I'm sure you will not remember since you are only almost 5 months old. Today your father and I brought you in front of South Main Baptist Church and you were officially welcomed into that family. And then we had cake afterwards (sorry that you didn't get any, you are a baby). Bonhoeffer (who you will be familiar with soon enough) wrote a beautiful letter to his nephew on the occasion of his baptism. I hope that when that day comes, I'll be able to pen something even half as eloquent and thoughtful as Bonhoeffer, but I'm afraid you'll have to suffice with your mom's slightly clumsy and inelegant reflections. This will include today and those subsequent watermarks on your life. There are two things I know you will not remember, but I hope that you'll learn in time from today.  The first is how much your South Main family already loves you. We knew that your biological family would love you,...

As we were on a particularly long road trip this July, Jack (the husband, the baby was sleeping) and I discussed what potential employment avenues I might pursue after I complete my PhD. Two things emerged from those conversations: 1- I have an incredibly supportive husband. 2- Despite feeling a call to the ministry of theological education (which I still feel called to), there is a growing concern within me that the path to get a job doing that in a Baptist context is getting murky. So when the social media explosion (or implosion) over the invitation of Russell Moore to be part of a preaching symposium at Truett, co-sponsored by the ISR erupted yesterday, that twinge of uncertainty reemerged. Given that this is much too long for a facebook post, but feeling that I want to contribute to the conversation, this blog post will need to suffice in lieu of a preferred face to face conversation. Let me begin by asserting that my heart is rooted deeply in the Baptist tradition. I love ...