A Time of Thanks

I spent my Thanksgiving with family.  It was an amazing time of fellowship with aunts, uncles, and cousins. We talked; we ate; we talked and ate some more.  That's how my vacations go these days. 

I did get a bit carried away with my eating,  but I am back on track now.  I had shakes for breakfast each day.  I shared my shakes the last day with family.  Herbalife makes my life so much easier when I actually do the program faithfully.  I let my exercise slide too over the holiday, but I have renewed my commitment to see this through to my -100 pound party.

Sunday

I had 2 shakes today, a chicken flatbread wrap/sandwich and a cup of red pepper and gouda soup, and an apple with peanut butter.  I did not pack snacks with me today, so that threw me off a bit.

Monday (Today)

I was slow going out of bed, but I have now accomplished my daily quiet time with God (personal development), a 10 minute Samantha Clayton workout, and I am about to make my Reeses shake for breakfast.

I also finished a book yesterday.  It was a girly fiction book, but it was still a book.  Why is fiction so much easier to read than non-fiction?  Anyways, I am halfway through Grace for the Good Girl.  It captures my life to a T.  God has shown me so much, and I look forward to the lessons I still need to learn.  That's it for now.

For the Glory of God,

Fighting Well

I had the privilege to watch an amazing movie entitled War Room this weekend.  This movie had me in tears of conviction within the few opening minutes.  I learned that many people today know how to fight but not well, not with strategy.  As a Christian, I need to find my own personal "war room" (a quiet place to pray), a place to engage in the spiritual battle against Satan and his workers of darkness.  I have to allow God to fight for me.  I must surrender control and pray allowing God to do His work in and through me.  I pray that I apply this message to my life. I also pray that many others that see this movie will be spurred to action.  I pray that a mighty army of prayer warriors will arise and stand up for Christ and share Him with others.  I have been convicted to put aside distractions as well.  I have disconnected from social media at the moment, and I plan to distance myself from spending time in front of the TV and computer.  I still plan on going after my goals of good health, reading more, learning Spanish, and writing.  I may resort to recording my journey in my journal rather than my blog.  I will touch base when I can, but as of right now I am taking a break from media and the distractions they tend to bring.  Please pray that I become the prayer warrior God wants me to be.  I highly encourage you to go watch War Room.  It will change your life if you let it.

For the Glory of God,

Weeding out Distractions

Today went pretty well in regards to my health goals.  I got up (after hitting the snooze twice...oops) and did a few Revelation Wellness videos,   I had my cinnamon roll shake with a dash of Mexican vanilla as I hurried out the door for work.
-100lb party
Logged my food, check; water, at least 50 ounces (when you count pineapple coconut water); and exercise, check.  I stress ate a fair share of animal crackers.  I had planned to have a shake for dinner but came home to a healthy dinner of chicken, broccoli and rice.  I had to control my portions or I would have overdone it.
Reading
I completed disc 2 of Laboring in the Harvest.  Audio books are definitely the way to go especially in the car.  I spend a significant amount of time in my car, so I will listen to my Bible app and now books.  This book has been very convicting as to what a true laborer for God's kingdom really is and what they do.
Spanish and Writing
I made no time for practicing my Spanish or writing.

Distractions are what zaps me of precious time.  I tried to tell myself that watching a movie and preparing for work at the same time would be efficient.  That's a lie.  I got only a portion of what I wanted to accomplish completed.  I catch myself spending a few minutes which end up turning into hours mindlessly scrolling through social media or getting TV hypnotized rather than carving out even just 10 to 15 minutes to read, write or practice Spanish.  It is time for me to schedule these activities and take advantage of the windows of time that seem to disappear without a second glance to reach my goals.

This week I was given a one and a half hour lunch break.  That gives me more than enough time to eat.  I need to use this time wisely rather than let it slip by.  I have more than enough things such as reading or exercise that I can accomplish during this time. I can also prep for work at work rather than take it home with me.

It is time to weed out the distractions, get close to God, and allow Him to work in and through me to accomplish my goals.

For the Glory of God,

The Snooze

The Snooze button is one of my all time foes.  I set it several minutes ahead in order to actually accomplish things like exercise and my supposed to be daily quiet time.  About 9 times out of 10, I eat up those precious minutes with one more push of the button.  The time I allowed for exercise slips away as I grab just a few more minutes of sleep.

Today, I pushed it once instead of multiple times.  I also barked a not so happy explanation to my daddy as to why I was up so "early" (5:20am to be exact) because I indeed did not want to get up.  I did complete about 15 minutes of cardio. Yay!  That is progress.
-100 pounds party
Exercise, check.  Food logged, check, Water, Check
I logged my calories and went over about 200 due in part to that darn bread on my Subway sandwich. I made my water quota as I chugged the last bit of my 2nd liter of water on my commute home after playing volleyball at church.
Reading
I listened in the car to an amazing book entitled Laboring in the Harvest.  I have completed disc 1 of 3.  This book is powerful and cuts to the quick and quickly.  As for reading my hard copies, I did not successfully read 1 or 2 chapters.
Spanish
I did bring my computer to work with my Rosetta Stone on it and accessed it but did not complete any lessons.  I plan to find a comfy spot where I can do the speaking parts without looking crazy.
Writing
No attempt on that front today.
I look forward to what tomorrow brings.  It is time to establish good routines that will stick with me throughout my life.  When I reach a goal.  I can't resort back to my previous patterns or all of my hard work will be wiped away.

For the Glory of God,

Dreams turned Accomplishments (Documenting the Journey)

I KNOW many different things.  I have great ideas about how things should go in life (read my other posts).  The downside to all of this wonderful knowledge is that it has STAYED knowledge.  I have not successfully applied it to my life.  Check out this post Consistent Consistency.  I have thoroughly outlined my dreams and the steps to follow to turn them into accomplishments.  Have I done them?  That would be a big fat NO!  I have not applied action to my dreams.  In April of this year, I was evidently painfully aware of my lack of action that I had to blog about it in Actions Speak Louder than Words.

I did finally begin to act in May.  I decided to get to my -100 pound party.  I was 15 pounds away.  I  I worked hard for two months and was three pounds away from my goal, when I hit a major obstacle.  I went on a trip and most of the hard work that I had accomplished vanished in one week, seven days, a fraction of what it took to get to my goal.  I was devastated and I haven't quite recovered.

Long story short, it is time for me to actually act upon the knowledge that is within me and that has been so eloquently expressed in this blog.

I have been thinking, and I have decided to log my progress.  I want to turn my dreams into goals and my goals into accomplishments.  

My current goals and my daily action steps are as follows:

1.  -100 pound party-deadline September 30th (15 pounds to go)

           -Track my food on Sparkpeople.com

           -Drink 64+ ounces of water

           -Exercise 10+ minutes daily

2. Read 1 book per week

           -Read 1-2 chapters

3. Practice Rosetta Stone Spanish for 1 to 2 hours per week

           -Practice for 15-20 minutes

4. Write my personal history for 30 minutes to 1 hour per week

           -Write for 10-15 minutes

I plan to post my progress, positive or negative, each day as I transform my dreams into accomplishments.

Today was not the best day toward my -100 party.  I hit the snooze twice and had no desire to exercise, so I took a shower instead and readied myself for work.  I did pick up my Herbalife order today at lunch and grabbed a shake and tea, so that was good.  After work, I ate an a apple and protein bar on the way home.  Dinner did me in.  I don't even want to talk about it.  As I ate a not so very healthy dinner, I decided to keep munching.  I definitely hit, grand-slammed, my calories for today.  I knew this, and therefore; I did not even log it in Spark.  I drank a measely 32 ounces of water from Sonic with Sunshine Berry (strawberries and lemons with peach flavoring).  Tomorrow I will definitely kick it in to high gear.  

As for reading, I have discovered audio CDs and am in love.  I listened to an entire book that would have taken me a week or month or even year to read in 3.5 hours in the car on my commute to and from work or whenever I happened to be in the car.  So technically, I have "read" a book this week.  I have started 2 books that are supposed to be finished by now.  I haven't read today, but I plan to after I publish this post.

I haven't practiced Spanish for several weeks, I will do so beginning tomorrow. The same goes for writing my personal history.

This is my time to act, and I plan to document my progress for grins and giggles and maybe just maybe to encourage someone else to go and make their own dreams come true.  

For God's Glory,

What's Your "Why"?

I typically don't run across major revelations while watching TV, but this week during the day one workout on the Biggest Loser something clicked.  The trainers were kicking the contestants butts in the gym working them into fits of pain beyond anything they have ever felt.  As Jillian shouted her orders at them, she stated, "Find your 'why' and the 'how' will come."

This struck me like a ton of bricks.  What is my "why" for what I do?  I have had many "whys" during my life.  Why do I eat? Why do I or don't I exercise?  Why do I spend or save money?  My answer to that ominous "why" has had various responses such as my health, to look good, to buy nice things, to go on trips to far off places, and to give to others in need.  These are all good reasons, but there is one that takes ALL of their places.

The only "why" that matters is giving God the glory and thanking Him for the amazing grace He gave us through His Son.  Everything I do is by His grace and plan.  Every breath I take is a God-given gift of grace.  So when the mundane, routine things in life start to drag me down, I can look to my "why" and know that what I do is for his glory.

With God and His glory as my focus the "how" comes nearly naturally.  It won't be easy, but it draws everything into perspective.  It's not about me.  It was never about me, but training my body and soul otherwise is a difficult thing.  

That is when I must engage the Holy Spirit.  When those habits or sins that seek to entangle me and the temptation comes, I must remember my "why" and resist and stay true to the "how" in order to live within God's will for my life.  I must be actively engaged with the Spirit and trusting Him to guide me as to what God's will is for me.

What is your "why"?  What get's you moving?  I hope it is God and His glory, because nothing else will satisfy.

Decisions 2013

I remembered making a list of decisions for 2012 last year at church and discovered my list recently.  My top 5 goals for last year were as follows:

1. Speak in love/Keep God first

2. Teach my students good character by example and skills secondarily

3. Intentionally exercise and eat right

4. Ride a gondola in Venice, Italy

5. Run a 10K or 5K.

We we encouraged to reexamine our list and filter it through John 5:30-"I can of mine own self do nothing: as  I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of my Father which hath sent me."  My list remained relatively the same, and God showed His will.

I made great progress in my goals for 2012.  I fell in love with God's Word. God showed me some areas to work on in regards to my conversation.  I loved my kiddos and prayed for new harvests of kiddos.  God has given me an abundance.  I began within the last few months to purposefully eat healthy and exercise.  I did run a 5K, I got doused in colored corn starched and had a blast doing so.  That was the largest race with several thousand participants that I had ever run, but it was totally worth it.  I did ride a gondola in Venice, Italy and I believe God orchestrated the whole thing.  I  met two Canadian young men and my one regret was that I didn't share Jesus Christ with them face to face.  However, through the wonderful world of  technology, I did have a chance to share Christ with one of them at great length while he was still on his trip in Europe.  Therefore, I saw my desire to ride a gondola as a seed planting opportunity for God.

Now as I get settled into 2013, and see that God can bring me overseas to plant seeds for him, why can't I do the same in my own neighborhood?  There are opportunities surrounding us everyday.  We just have to GO.  God will give us the words, if we give Him ourselves with a willingness to serve Him.  My decisions for 2013 are similar to before, but they can be summarized in the word, GO.  God commands us to GO and make disciples.  I must GO and be a light to my kiddos, I must GO and speak the love of God to others, I must GO exercise.  It is just that simple.