45-10-10

The Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga routine is NOT for the fain of heart.  I always dread that particular workout with Bob, as I know it'll hurt during, after and for days to come.  :)  Hurt is good though, right?  At least that's what everyone says.  This is the second time we've done this workout this week.  Mr. Bendy is amazing at it!  Oh, to be able to move and stretch and hold posses like he does!  Someday!  I'm learning, albeit begrudgingly, that I often have to do the modified version.  As long as I'm still pushing myself, I'm getting the same results.

There was a time (about 3-4 years ago) when I was working out consistently at the Y.  Every Tuesday night they offered a class called Body Flow.  It's a triad workout: Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates which built flexibility and strength.  When I first started, I was clumsy, unbalanced and struggled with many of the holds (like now), but I eventually got it.  My body started to change, adapt and soon I was rotating through the posses without any problems.  I need to remember that.  I always want to hit the ground running at peak level, but forget I have to work up to that.

This week hasn't been easy, but I've been shocked and slightly amazed that I've actually been able to wake up early all week.  After the workout is finished and Mr. Bendy goes off to work, I'm left here to write for about an hour or so.  I love the quiet of the morning to think and pray and write.  It gets my creative juices flowing.  Even if I'm only writing about my workout, everything else will come.  Being the Active Ingredient last year was a lot of fun, but my passion for writing and taking pictures got put on the back burner.  Which is fine, but I've missed that aspect of what makes me me.  I'm excited to see what opportunities God brings in this new year as I learn what it means to Create Something Beautiful. 

Oh, which reminds me, I've been wanting to share with you something I read recently while waiting for Jason at his work.  It was actually in a fire sprinkler magazine, but the source is irrelevant.  The facts are pretty amazing and might change you or someone you know.  It's the 45-10-10 Principle:

45 - $0.45 is the current cost for a stamp
10 - 10 Minutes of time
10 - 10 Days of commitment

The articles theory is that you never know how one hand written note might change someones world.  In this day and age of modern conveniences such as email, we've lost the personal connection with others.  We shoot of constant texts and emails to one another, who ever takes the time to actually WRITE out a letter or note to someone they love?  I want to challenge you to make this commitment for 10 days, for 10 minutes for the cost of $0.45 to connect with a friend you've been meaning to say hello to.  I'll do it as well.  I have two pen pals whom I know would love to hear from me. If you do take on this challenge, I'd love to hear about it.  Feel free to leave me a comment about your experience.

Best Laid Plans

This morning didn't exactly go as planned. Though, to my credit, I went to bed at 9:38p and woke up at 4:58a!! But that's where my accomplishments stop. After getting dressed, I climbed back in bed and snuggled under the still warm covers. I was/am so sleepy and worn out. Although I got nearly 8 hours of sleep, I feel like a couple more wouldn't be a bad thing. Which is why I'm writing this post in my bed, under the covers, on my iPhone, so that when I'm done, maybe I can catch a quick nap.  

Although I'm semi disappointed in myself, I'm proud that I woke up at 5a every morning this week!! That in and of itself is a huge accomplishment. I'm very very out of shape so maybe my body needed a day off? So tomorrow's workout will be hard and great?! That's the plan anyway. 

Live Generously

5:45AM fairly sweaty and FUN workout completed!  Do y'all remember that craze from a few years ago Dance, Dance Revolution?  Well, my sister and I saved up some money and bought the Christian version: Dance Praise some years ago.  We did it some but she lives an hour away, so it wasn't used enough.  Then my friend JW who lives near me, used to come over and dance with me but life got busy so it was put back on shelf for years.  Now enter Jason.  I've been telling him about Dance Praise for years (as of Monday the 19th), but we just never got around to it.  So last night when I'm preparing for this mornings workout, I remember DP and pull it off the shelf!  It's a surprisingly good workout.  I mean, the bottoms of my feet hurt, my muscles were burning, we were sweating and our heart rate was up for at least 30 minutes.  Yay us! 

"October Baby" with CPH last night was really good.  You should run to your local theater when it comes out.  Be prepared, you will cry, but what an amazing story of adoption/abortion/forgiveness/letting go.  I doubt there was a dry eye in the theater.  It was created completely in AL by the Erwin brothers.  One of the central themes in the movie was forgiving someone of doing something that just seems unforgivable.  (I don't want to give anything away by telling you what was going on.  You'll have to find out for yourself.)

On the way home, I was listening to WDJC and the DJ did a quick preaching on Matthew 5:35-48.  I was only half listening until Jesus poked me, "Hey, are you listening?"  Me, "Kinda, why?"  Jesus, "Please pay attention, there's a key truth I want you to learn."

V42-44: "No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.  You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer..."

Oooh, ouch, did you catch that?  "...love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst."  I don't know about you, but this is VERY hard.  It's our human instinct to protect ourselves, which usually means acting in a way that's not only contrary to our normal every day behavior but not very Christ-like.  This is not how I react.  I often allow people and situations to dictate how I feel and slump into a bad mood.  How amazing would it be to say that when faced with trying people, I'm at my best.  Whew.  What a goal to strive for. 

The chapter goes on to say: "....for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best - the sun to warm and the rain to nourish - to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that.  If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. "In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you." (Matthew 5: 44b-48)

What would happen if Christians all started living generously?  What if we lived out our God-created identity?  What if we responded to trials the way Jesus did?  It's corny to say, but seriously, What Would Jesus Do?   


I'm Proud of Myself Because... Even though I got to bed late, I still woke up at 5am.
Today's Accomplishment: no Subway cookies and extra lettuce and spinach on sandwich (this hasn't happened yet, but it will later. I know I've said this every day, but trust me, it's an accomplishment.)
Tomorrow's Goals: Complete The Biggest Loser workout with few complaints

Warrior Yoga

I went to bed at 9:30 last night.  Yes, 9:30PM!  Asleep by 9:45!!  Sheer craziness, I tell you!  It literally hurt to have my eyes open one more second.  I had weird dreams again and woke up at one point, hoping it wasn't 5AM yet.  I didn't want to look at the clock, but did and found it was only midnight.  Yes!  Five more hours of sleep!

I actually woke up late... 5:01.  I gotta do better and get up around 4:55.  Oy.  I need to be dressed and ready to go when Jason gets here.  If he has to get up early to come to me, then I too need to get up early.  But it's only the second day, I'm sure I'll do better as time goes on. 

Since I didn't get vertical until 5:15, I decided we needed to make the most of our time we had left and do Bob Harper's "Yoga for the Warrior: 15 Min Abs".  Knowing Bob as I do, from watching years of his training on The Biggest Loser, I knew this would be very hard! 

I was NOT disappointed!  It was hard, very hard.  From the very moment the stretches started, we knew we were in the world of hurt for the next 15 minutes.  But it's only 15 minutes, right?  Who can't do 15 minutes?  Whew!  Trust me, those 15 minutes seemed like twice that amount.  But we both did a great job!!  Today, we both were grunting and pleading for him to make the pain stop!  haha 

I must admit, I said "can't" a lot more today, but unlike yesterday, I continued to do the work!!  That, my friends, is a huge improvement over yesterday!  I did have to modify some of the exercises because of my sciatic nerve issues, but I was able to do most of it!  My pretzel of a boyfriend did an amazing job!  I'm so proud of him!!

OK, enough for today.  I need to go get a shower and head to the polls to VOTE today before work.  Later today, I get to hang out with one of my favorite people in the world and see "October Baby".  By the time I get home tonight, it'll be straight to bed for me!  Have a good day everyone.



I'm Proud of Myself Today Because... Even though I said "can't", I pushed through the pain and kept going!
Today's Accomplishment: no Subway cookies and extra lettuce and spinach on sandwich (this hasn't happened yet, but it will later.)
Tomorrow's Goals: drink more water; get up on time

Day One

I've been on a weight loss journey pretty much since the day I was born.  Of course, as a baby a little pudge is cute.  Any other age, not so much.  I've struggled with being self conscious and how I view myself for as long as I can remember.  I've been teased and made fun of which makes me wonder how I would be different if there weren't mean kids out there.  But that's neither here nor there. 

I tend to take on and tackle new projects as if I'm in it for the long haul, but weeks, sometimes days into it I find that it's too hard or quit all together.  I'm not proud of this, but I wanted to share a little back story.

Fast forward to present day.  I am not happy with what I see in the mirror.  Even though my precious boyfriend loves me for who I am, not what I look like or what he wants me to look like.  In fact, as long as I'm happy, he doesn't care what I look like.  But until I'm happy and will be OK with the girl I see in the mirror, I'll never truly be happy. 

There's a skinny girl deep down inside me.  I know because I'm always shocked to see what I really look like in pictures.  Crazily enough, I see myself different, though I'm still sad.  So, OK, what's a girl gotta do to change this?  Apparently something drastic.

Anyone who knows and loves me knows that I l-o-v-e sleep and love to sleep in, so in the past when friends would suggest I wake up early to get a work out in, never really crossed my mind...... until yesterday.  Jason and I were having lunch at Moe's (Welcome to Moe's!!) when we were talking about working out and such.  He offhandedly suggested we could get in a good workout before work, but.... it would have to be at 5AM!!  (Nearly TWO hours earlier than I'm used to waking up.)  Oy!

We used to work out together after work, but one thing led to another and the next thing you know, we're excusing our way out of working out.  Honestly, a gym is so boring and monotonous and for a recovering A.D.D. girl, I needed more.  I need more. 

My girlfriend in ATL has been working out with this new program called Turbo Fire.  She's had AMAZING results over the past eight weeks which leads me to believe there's hope for me!  I've already been thinking about buying something like ZUMBA; which looks amazingly fun.  My theory is, if you're having fun while working out, you don't realize it's hard work, because you're having so much fun. 

After talking it over some of the different options with Jason and after I got over the shock of potentially waking up before 5am to work out, I started to seriously consider this plan.  He said, "If you commit to waking up early every morning for a week or two, then we'll both know you're serious about making a change.  Besides, half the challenge for the first week is simply waking up!" (My paraphrasing) 

He just looked at me over lunch and said, "Who is this girl to even consider this?"  I'm willing to give it a try... plus, I get to see my love every morning and work out with him as well.  Seems like a fair trade off.  Fast forward to this morning at 4:57AM when I get a text from Jason, "Are you up yet?"  Did he seriously think I'd be awake before 5am?  :)  To my credit, I rolled out of bed, got dressed and then snuggled back under my still warm covers waiting for him to officially arrive. 

We got started about 5:15 and worked out with Bob Harper from the Biggest Loser.  Yoga at 5 in the morning is both perfect and extremely hard.  We sweated, grunted, complained (me), stretched, did a few push ups and many different yoga posses that has me sore tonight.  I even lost my balance...twice...and fell over, but I got back up and continued.  I was so proud of myself!  I AM so proud of myself.

I feel like this time it's different.  I feel like the change will stick this time.  I'm ready to do this for me, for my health, for my future.  Last year, God taught me all about being the Active Ingredient (which is why you didn't hear from me much), but this year's theme is: Create Something Beautiful.  I do believe I'm the something that's going to be even more beautiful than I already am.  My hope is to daily blog and write more about my journey.

I'm Proud of Myself Today Because... I actually got up at 5AM and worked out!
Today's Accomplishment: no Subway cookies and extra lettuce and spinach on sandwich
Tomorrow's Goals: drink more water; leave "can't" out of the workout

Now, I would love to write more, but alas 5AM come VERY early.  My goal is to be asleep before 10pm.  I don't think that will be very difficult.  I'm v-e-r-y sleepy and about to pass out.

Happy Trails, my friends.

Wear Love

Colossians 3:12-14 MSG

"So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it."

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Col3.12.MSG

FaLaLa

Love this new commercial from Target:

http://youtu.be/ygjvcv7cWsI 

It makes me crack up every time!  Merry CHRISTmas everyone! Enjoy the season, but remember why we celebrate.

Good 'Ole Abe

The Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
November 19, 1863

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.


Too bad President's don't give speeches like this anymore.  If they did, I would think more people would tune in to hear that State of the Union address.  Just sayin'.

Day 1 1/2

Bright and early: Day Two. That's what happens when one goes to bed at 930. Oh, but I so needed the rest. Ten glorious hours. I'm staying with a precious couple from Refuge. I felt bad last night as I don't think I was very friendly with anyone. I was on the verge of tears from pure exhaustion. I think everyone understood though.

Today is our only day to sleep in and I woke up at the crack of dawn. Ironic if you ask me. But I'm enjoying just lazying around (as my nephew would say) for a bit. In all our crazy travel time yesterday, Sybil was able to procure a spot to do the children's backyard Bible club! PTL! Answer to prayer! Melita and Janelle were a HUGE help to Sybil as well! They helped to a lot of the leg work as well, so we expecting a big crowd of kids. Hoping 4 adults will be enough to spread around. Praying the parents of the kids come as well, so they hear the good news as well.

Despite exhaustion, yesterday really was an amazing day! My JP rode in a plane for the first time and loved it! I often looked over at him and his mouth was wide open while he starred out the window.

We had many methods of transportation to get us to Suquamish: car. Feet. Airport tram. Plane. Feet. Link. Feet. Ferry.Shuttle. Car again. Whew.

Upon immediate arrival, we were wished away to the Love's house for a cookout. The whole gang was there. My host family as well as Holly and her husband Don. Precious, precious people. We had a sweet time of dinner and prayer. I must admit, I think I nodded off at some point. Soo sleepy!! I'm thankful for these dear families who have literally been prayed for and over the last 14 years! They are a direct answer to our prayers!!! I can't wait to see what God has up His sleeve!!

Thanks to everyone for your prayers! We have felt them already. I look forward to sharing more good stories in the days to come!

Happy trails!

Seattle or Bust!

I'm literally so excited, I can hardly stand it.  In fact, when I'm excited about something, I usually don't get much sleep the nights leading up to the big event.  So, now I'm not only about to burst but also about to pass out.  I know, it's an oxymoron... or maybe a juxtaposition.  Whatever.  Today's the day!

For a series of nine years (one week each summer), God allowed me the amazing opportunity of going on a mission trip to Seattle, WA to minister to the precious Suquamish Native Americans.  I fell in love with these kind, gentle and laid-back people.  It seemed as though my friends would always have a place in my summer.  But abruptly, God closed the door.  I was deeply saddened and only hoped He would one again allow me to return... in His timing, of course.  (Though, we all know His timing and our timing aren't on the same schedule.) 

Pretty much from the day I met Jason, I've been talking about my experiences in Seattle.  I've shared stories of meeting kids when they were two years old and had the pleasure of watching them grow into teenagers.  I told him how amazingly gorgeous it is there; Heaven on earth.  How we can be sitting on the pier and see a bald eagle fly over.  I've shared many, many stories with my JP.  It was always my hope and dream that we could one day go together.  However, never in my dreams, did I know that God already had this trip planned!!  I think He enjoys surprising His children! 

Here it is, mere minutes before we leave for Atlanta, to spend the night with a friend.  Our plane leaves at 10:30 Wednesday morning.  Please be praying for my JP.  He's never flown before.  I love flying though, so I've told him all fun things.

My plan is to blog a little each night before I go to sleep.  We'll see how exhausted I am.  But I would like to keep you all updated with the amazing things I'm expecting God to do!

Normally, we do a full week of VBS, but things are going to be different this time around.  I don't exactly know what to expect, but that's just fine with me.  I just can't wait to be back again.  I always feel the closest to God out West.  I'm eager to see what He's going to teach and reveal to me.  I'm eager to see how He's going to work within my relationship with Jason.  I'm eager to see all my friends again!!

If you'd like to pray for us while we are are gone, here are our requests:
1)  NO RAIN - we need good weather, as we'll be outside all day, every day.
2)  Divine appointments with people.  We ask that Jesus remove the blinders from their eyes and open up their hearts to receive His good news.
3)  The opportunity to have lunch with the Elders of the Tribe.  Sybil has a unique presentation of the Gospel which would have a huge impact on them.
4)  The ability to reconnect with old friends.  Let nothing be awkward.  I can't wait to hug some sweet girls.  I tear up now just thinking about it.
5)  Finally, the safety and health of our team.

Thank you so much!!  Happy trails!