May 2013
3 posts
7 tags
6 tags
It's Official, I'm a Triathlete!
I completed my first triathlon yesterday with the prodding and support of my dearest friend, Aimee! She is the most supportive person I know! Even after an injury, she came with a headstrong, Big Heart attitude and we swam in the coldest lake I’ve ever swam in, side-by-side…well, only the first few strokes…she was soon out in front of me!
After the first transition, we parted...
5 tags
April 2013
3 posts
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,...
Run Strong for Gabe 5K is less than 24 hours away!
I was blessed to see a very sick boy today. He was not aware that I was there. But every cell in my body screamed -“strength” to him as I watched him sleep. His name means “strength” and so that is what I am asking God to help my friends and I be for him and his family.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such...
Real Beauty Sketches - Dove →
You are more beautiful than you think! Click here and watch our social experiment that proves. Real Beauty Sketches.
I REALLY like this and think every woman should take the few minutes to watch. It is COMPELLING!
7 tags
Reason #294 - How to Glorify God While Training...
This is not really a How To…but more of a How Not To do what I have been doing for the past 6 months! ~Enjoy!
As a newly regenerated athlete, I have had about 1 year of “training” under my belt. In the spring of 2012, we began our first Couch to 5K training program at the Milt with about 35 students, and an overall race attendance of 200.
I ran a 5K in June while training...
February 2013
5 posts
Reason #295 - Only One Thing Matters
Journalling for a year about turning 40 certainly has its ups and downs.
On the upside, this journey has given me a lot to reflect on. I have not recently read through all of the posts, but if my memory serves me correctly, I believe some common themes that have emerged are: Love of God, Love for His People, Blessings from Children, Realizing the Small Things, Dedication & Discipline, and...
Reason #296 - Lenten Moments
The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial.
This year, during the Lenten season, I am struggling with what to give up as my self-denial. I already think that I overindulge quite a bit through electronics and over eating- over sleeping- really over- anything.
But tonight, as the Lenten Season began, I was...
Reason #297 - A Child's Conscience
If you’ve ever been a parent, then you are all too familiar with second-guessing the kind of job you are doing with raising your children. I have, perhaps, a particularly sensitive nature to this because I grew up mostly without my parents…with my mother passing away when I was only 7 and my father being in prison during my formative to teen years.
I think that God knows whenever I...
January 2013
3 posts
There's nothing that people can do to me that will...
I Over Did it Yesterday!
…so today I can barely move.
Well, that’s not entirely true. I had every intention of getting up to swim, but when I woke up this morning my calves hurt so badly that I couldn’t justify doing ANYTHING that meant moving.
It all started yesterday when I decided to do my lower body weight-lifitng session. Doing squats and deadlifts are not my favorite, so typically I get into a...
Reason #298 - Incognito
I have been incognito for a few weeks, but I’m not really sure why. I have had some inspiring moments in which I desired to post. But it seemed that as soon as they entered my mind, they were gone again.
Usually when I can not seem to keep track of my thoughts, it is because I have a lot on my mind—and in fact, I do. It also could be an indicator that I am closer to 40 years-old...
December 2012
2 posts
My desire is to go Higher with the Lord…to...
Reason #299 - Take Me Higher
Every once in awhile I post a song that leads me into the Presence of the Lord. To be honest, I was pretty surprised that this one struck my heart the way it did. It is called “Higher” by Creed. I have heard the song a lot, but God’s Spirit has a way of grabbing me just at the right time…especially when I need it the most.
The lyrics are below, and I will post the song...
November 2012
1 post
Reason #300 - The Way I See It...
I know that I have not posted in awhile. Quite frankly it is because I have been caught up in the political climate of our country. With the election recently behind us and our fellow citizens in the North East suffering under Hurricane Sandy’s destruction, I have just been simply taking it all in.
Likewise, recently, the Arab world has been exploding and I have been watching those...
October 2012
1 post
Reason #301 - The 'Good Guys' Always Win!
My 7 year-old son is in the super-hero phase of boyhood. He believes he can fly, has superpowers and is invincible! He knows all about the good guys and the bad guys. He wears capes, carries a sword and shield and is often “shooting someone” with his finger or flipping over couches and ducking behind cushions.
A few years ago, when he played with his toys he would usually tell me...
September 2012
6 posts
9 tags
Reason #302 - There's a First Time for Everything!
This weekend was filled with firsts!
1) On Friday, my 11 year-old daughter went to Maine with a friend and her family. She will be gone for 10 days. This is the first time she will be away on vacation with a friend without her family. I miss her, but she is having a blast, so I can’t be too sad.
2 )On Saturday, our student home organized its first ever Community Service Bike Ride for...
6 tags
Reason #303 - The Wonderful World of Grandparents!
My in-laws just left after a week-long visit with us here in Hershey, PA. We were sad to see them go because they liven up the place around here. Did I say liven up!? Yes, they are 69 & 71 years-old, but they bring with them a sense of adventure, and a lot of silly jokes!
Grandparents are amazing people. They have raised their own children, but as each of their grand-children come along,...
Reason #304 - A Glimpse of Heaven?
In our most recent reading of the Bible as a family, we have been reading through 2 Corinthians 5 when Paul was talking about our earthly bodies vs. our heavenly ones. As we talked, I noticed that Korri and AJ were eager to speak about their imaginations of what Heaven is like.
I have to confess, that my imagination meter runs on empty most of the time. In fact, I am so much of a realist...
7 tags
Reason #305 - I Never Got the Chance!
My kids are both on the Hershey Soccer Rec League. I could have them on the travel team, which has a bit more competition, but the schedule is much more hectic, and my children are NOT diehard soccer players. They just like being on a team and meeting a new coach each year.
Their games fill up our fall evenings, and give us a reason to be outdoors the last few months before Daylight Savings...
Listen
Reason #306 - A Beautiful Letdown
I love Switchfoot’s song Beautiful Letdown because it is one of the rare songs that is a snapshot of my heart.
The more I walk this world, in Christ’s care and with his Word coursing through my veins and in my heart, the more out of place I feel I am here. However, it is a strangely freeing feeling. I don’t want to be a part of this world AND Christ’s. In fact, I...
August 2012
8 posts
Reason# 307 - Negativism is Poison!
A negative thinker makes everything worse, heavier, and harder. A positive thinker makes everything better, lighter, and easier. I’m avoiding negative people today. It saps my strength and ages me! ~Deanna
Reblog if you are on Daily Mile! →
Reason #308 - An Amazing Thing Called "Grace"
Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.
—Leonard Cohen
I am discovering a new word in my walk with Christ. It is something that I have heard of many, many times, but for some reason, God is choosing to reveal it to me more and more, the longer I serve Him.
GRACE
What is this mysterious word, that...
9 tags
Reason #309 - A "New Normal"
I spent the last two weeks beginning a new school year with my children (I homeschool my 6th grade daughter and 2nd grade son), and opening our student home (my husband and I houseparent 12 high school boys at the Milton Hershey School).
So, it has been quite busy. But what I had not figured into the new school year schedule is my newly found love of running that I discovered last spring. I...
9 tags
Reason #310 - Happy Birthday, Faithful and Pure...
I love my little girl! She has a fiery spirit for her Lord Jesus and a deep, deep soul for the hurting and alone. She has shown me how to love those who are the hardest to love. And she does it with such ease and grace…
She is Korri Faith Kay, a Faithful and Pure Maiden for Him!
Happy 11th Birthday, Baby Girl!
I am so proud to be your Mother!
~Deanna
8 tags
Reason #311 - Missing My Hubby...
…No, he hasn’t gone anywhere, and neither have I, really…but…it’s just that our crazy kind of life + work + homeschooling + everything is starting to get in the way again.
AND it has come a lot sooner this year than most years in the past. Typically it takes until October or so for me to feel the busy-ness of life, but here it is mid-August and it is upon us once...
Reason #312 - You Just Never Know When...
The title of this post is a dare for you to fill in the blank, with whatever comes to mind. I have had some recent blank fillers over the past few weeks. Some are encouraging and some are disheartening, but through it all there is one theme that emerges:
God is in Control of it All!
The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes...
4 tags
July 2012
12 posts
9 tags
Reason #313 - Never Say, NEVER! - I am a...
Yes, this is me! I can hardly believe it, myself..I am running a half marathon! My first (maybe my last?!?), but no matter what the future holds, I did it!
I am officially a MARATHONER - even though it’s a half (13.1 miles) and not a full one. If it has the word marathon in it, then that makes me a marathoner!
I know some of you avid runners may not be too impressed—and if...
Reason #314 - The Wonderful World of LITTLE Boys!
I have decided to take notice of the littlest man in my life this week because I am beginning to see how much of a special little guy he is! I am growing to enjoy his energy, sweet spirit and love for God. His speech is not the best (in that he still struggles with how to say his “r’s” and “w’s” well—I have made a mental note to get him a speech...
5 tags
Reason #315 - We Do Not Lose Heart!
The longer I live, the more I am convinced that a person’s faith journey, is where the true change of a person takes place.
If a person believe’s that God can change them, it will indeed happen. But if a person “loses heart” in his God, then he is destined to a life of misery and despair.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick - Proverbs 13:12 reads, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
...
1 tag
In Honor of Those Who No Longer Know Who They...
11 tags
Reason #316 - For Those Who No Longer Know Who...
I was on a date night with my Man, when a song came on that shook me to the core. My eyes immediately filled up with tears. I quickly choked them down, gobbled up the rest of my quesadilla and then sat in silence—listening intently to the words of the song “Philadelphia” by Bruce Springsteen.
I am not sure if there is a double meaning to the song, but the one that struck me, I...
6 tags
Reason #317 - I'll Always Love Vacation Bible...
With my daughter gone, things are fairly quiet around the house. Not that she’s loud or anything, but between the bantering and bickering with her brother and her active imagination, (she’s constantly telling me stories)…it is an energetic existence! But today, I could hear a pin drop in the house. (it may also have to do with our student home guys being gone as well!)
...
Reason #318 - Farewell to Our Little/Big Camper!
Our firstborn daughter, Korri Faith, is away for a week at camp. She has been waiting for this ever since last year, when she did an overnight weekend at Camp Yolijwa. She has always been an adventurer who is easy to engage and a lot of fun. We thought that she would be fine when we dropped her off this afternoon…
Well, she wasn’t. In fact, she cried on her bed when we walked out...
Reason #319 - Who Will Cry for the Little Boy?
Who Will Cry for the Little Boy? By Antwone Fisher
Who will cry for the little boy? Lost and all alone. Who will cry for the little boy? Abandoned without his own?
Who will cry for the little boy? He cried himself to sleep. Who will cry for the little boy? He never had for keeps.
Who will cry for the little boy? He walked the burning sand Who will cry for the little boy? The boy...
Reason #320 - My Independence Pt. 3
I recently read a quote about perfection that went something like this:
“We will never reach perfection, but if we strive for it, we WILL achieve excellence.”
I like this because it simultaneously reminds us that we are not perfect, but we had better not settle for less.
As an overachiever, the striving for perfection has never been a struggle for me. An overachiever...
Reason #321 - My Independence - Pt. 2
I have become an avid runner. I honestly did not think that I would run ever again as much as I did in high school when I was on the cross-country team. I always told my husband that ”I have enough miles on my legs, thank you very much!” But here I am catching the running bug again.
So what does this all have to do with my “independence”? Well, Saturday morning (which...
Reason #322 - My Independence! - Pt. 1
A student told me this morning that I am a very independent person. I believe he meant it in the best of ways, because he said that almost every time he asks if I need help, I tell him “no”. He said that he should start asking me if I “want help, because you don’t seem to need anything, Mrs. Slamans.”
I told him that I was proud of my independence. Perhaps it makes...
Reason #323 - Needing Inspiration...
If you have been following these posts, you know that it’s been awhile since I have written anything substantial. I have learned to expect these dry times as an author, but even with the expectation, it is still a difficult place to be.
So bear with me, (as I know you will :-), while I work to conjure up something meaningful for the summer.
I know that one of the reasons I have lost...
June 2012
19 posts
howtorunfree asked: Hey! I think you'd like my running blog, give it a look. Run Free.
1 tag
Reason #332 - Proud Moments
Working as a houseparent for almost 13 years is quite an accomplishment. Of all the things that I am most proud of, despite having published a book, and raising (present tense) two happy children, I think working this long at Milton Hershey School is at the top of my list.
But it will never take the #1 slot.
That slot is reserved for my marriage. The reason that I am proud of my marriage is...
1 tag
4 tags
Reason #329 - Heaviness of Heart, Crisis of Faith
There have been moments in my walk with Christ, where I have become disheartened by my Faith. This season in my life is one of those moments that I can feel creeping in. I was in touch with a dearly loved one this past week, and the encounter is still settling on me like a heavy blanket. It is a sadness that I feel because of all that I witnessed, yet at the same time, seeing this person was...
2 tags
Reason #327 - Dedicated to My Husband, the...
I decided to use an excerpt from my book for today’s post in honor of Father’s Day. So, if you have never read my book, Faith’s Pursuit, here is a passage from Chapter 10, that I hope inspires you, whether you grew up with a good Father or not.
If our marriage brought to the surface my incompetence as Andy’s soul mate, having children magnified it as a mother 100 times more! In...
