You were made for so much more!!!!

Here's a picture of me with my son in Honduras.  It's funny when I'm there, I totally eat what I want and I usually come back and have either lost weight or haven't gained.  I think it's because we are focused on God and others!!

 

 

 

 

Food tastes good!!! We all have an appetite, I get it!!  Food is fuel for our body and we need it to make all our body functions work.  All of this is true!!! 

 

 But, why have so many of us feasted continually to prepare for the famine???? If you look around, you see the evidence everywhere! First of all, we don’t have famines in America in our life time!!

 

 

 

Do you ever turn to food when your upset and you need comfort???

 

 

 

Do you ever go out to special meal to celebrate or reward yourself for a job well done!!

 

 

 

 

 Do you turn to food when you’re happy, sad, stressed or sad??  Don’t feel bad, we all have, but is that what food is made for????  I don’t think so!  God didn’t make us that way!!!  I contend that we should turn to God instead of self-medicating with food.

 

 

 

 

One time I was so hungry, I gave my sister my inheritance for a pot of stew she was cooking.  HEY WAIT!!  I don’t have a sister!!  You’re right, but does this story sound familiar??? Esau gave up his birthright to Jacob for a pot of stew.  It’s obvious in this story that food can be a powerful temptation like other “Big Sins”. 

 

 

 

 

I contend that as many people are destroying their health and body with the addition of food, as people are with drugs and alcohol!! (This is me speaking, not the author of Made to Crave .)

 

 

 

 

We often have scripts running in our head…..whether it’s negative self-talk, rationalizations or excuses….

“You can’t do this!”

“I’ll start tomorrow.”

“Just one won’t matter.”

 

“You’re such a loser!  How many times have you tried this and failed??”

 

 

Lysa, the author said for years she identified herself not by her relationship with God, but by the circumstances in her life. (Child from a broken home, rejected by her father, abused by a grandfather figure, etc.)

 

She realized that she needed to embrace her true identity instead of listening to those negative scripts and labels in her head. (Forgiven, set-free, accepted, holy child, made-new, loved, confident, victorious child of God.)

 

 

If you are following along in the book with me, you may realize that I’m jumping all around. I’m writing as things inspire me.  Here’s a summary of what Lysa recommends so far:

1. Have a plan.

2. Pray, pray, pray (daily, when you crave, when you need strength, when you would normally turn to food turn to Him.)

3.  Have an accountability partner.

 

 

4.  This is big: RECOGNIZE THAT YOU WERE MADE FOR MORE THAN THIS!!!! Embrace your true identity as a child of God with a Glorious Father, who has ALL POWER!!

5.  Find a deeper reason for this journey. (Not to just wear a size (fill in the blank), but to get to know Him better!

 

 

 

 

 

 

God made us for so much more!!!!

 

ARe you the MAn (or WoMan) with a plan???

Have you ever driven by a beautiful flower garden and thought,  “Oh, I really need a garden like that!” It’s a great thought until you see the person working in their garden every day, planting, watering, weeding, watering, and dead-heading, all while sweating in the summer sun.  That garden took a lot of planning and constant work.

 

 

I know some people (I won’t name any names) who say, “I really need to lose some weight!”  I always tell that person, it takes more than wishing!!!  It takes a plan! Not many things happen by accident.  I don't know about you, but, I have never lost weight accidentally!

 

 

Anything important that we do takes careful thought and planning!  That includes claiming a healthy body and lifestyle. 

Fashion advice: Huge pants make you look huger!!!

 

What is your goal?  Do you want to lose weight, be stronger, have more stamina, run a 5K?  Whatever your goal is, you need a plan.

 

 

The author of Made to Crave adopted a healthy diet with a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and fresh fruits and vegetables.  I follow the Weight Watchers meal plan.  Both of our plans emphasize the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables. 

 

 

 

I don’t think anyone has gained tons of weight eating fruits and vegetables.  I don’t mean fruit salad with sugar and whipped cream, or green beans cooked down to black strings with salt and pork (Again…I’m not mentioning any names!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

After a while, I promise you won’t crave the bad stuff.  Lynn, the author, says the healthier foods you eat, the more you crave them.  I also allow myself one day to eat “bad”.  I don’t count that as cheating because I don’t use all of my flex and exercise points in WW.  I can tell you more about that if you want.  That works for me, you just need to find the plan that works for you!!!!

 

 

 

 

You’re worth it!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Lessons from that Rich Guy.....Money????

 

 

Okay, first of all, my blogs with the word money in the title are the most popular!  I wonder why?? That’s not why I put money in my title though……..

 

We’ve all heard the story about the rich young ruler in the Bible.  The rich young ruler wanted to find out what he needed to do to follow Jesus.  Jesus tells him to sell everything and give to the poor.

 

 

  The story may seem harsh, but the ruler loved his money enough that he chose it over a life with Jesus.  You may say, “I’m not rich, so I don’t have anything to worry about!”  But, what are you choosing over God?  What are you filling your mind, or your mouth with???? 

 

The author of Made to Crave believes that God made us to crave a relationship with him, but Satan tempts us with “things” that we try to “fill up” with that interfere with that relationship with God.

 

 

Most of us fill our lives with things that don’t bring us closer to God.  Things that don’t build up or strengthen us spiritually, physically or mentally, but weakens us instead.  Satan knows our weaknesses and will use it against us!!!!

 

 

 

 It’s tough, I know, we all have our struggles.  Whether it’s, choosing that plate of fresh fruit and salad instead of the burger and fries, lacing up the sneakers and going for a walk, instead of putting your feet up and watching some reality TV (ouch).  We all have to decide each day…… I will choose to be the best I can be….spiritually, physically, and mentally.

 

 

Yes, it’s hard, where can we get our strength?  You know the answer….We must SATURATE ourselves with the TRUTH!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you crave???

Here I am with a Zumba instuctor who is a master at Samba! I met her at a special Zumba Halloween event.

 

 

If you know me, then you know that I like to read.  I’ve just started reading a book that my mom gave me for my birthday.  She had been studying it in a Ladies’ Bible class, and she had been telling me a lot about it.

 

Also, if you know me at all, you know I’m at the age and stage in my life where I have to work hard to keep extra weight off.  I’m a “Lifetime” member of Weight Watchers and I’m currently trying to get back to my goal weight.  I think this book may help me!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst is a spiritually-based wellness book that promises to:

*”Break the cycle of “I’ll start again on Monday,” and feel good about yourself today.”

*”Stop agonizing over numbers on the scale and make peace with your body.”

*”Replace rationalizations that lead to failure, with wisdom that leads to victory.”

*”Reach your healthy goals and grow closer to God through the process.”

 

 

 I would love to invite you all in to study this book with me, but since we are all short of time; I’m going to invite you into my blog instead.  Maybe you will even want to read the book on your own.

 

I just finished the introduction and it was packed full of great words of wisdom!  I’m just going to pull a few things out of it.

Most of us feel spiritually malnourished!  We feel overweight physically, but underweight spiritually! 

 

Most of us aren’t missing the “how to”, we are really missing the “want to”, which is the motivation to make the changes and “deciding that the results are worth the sacrifice.”

 

Lysa also said that getting healthy isn’t just about losing weight.  “It’s about recalibrating our souls so that we want to change_spiritually, physically and mentally.

 

 

I don’t know about you, but I think this book is just what the doctor ordered!!  I plan on taking my time and trying to do a good job summarizing the chapters for you!!  I would love to hear what you think!!!

 

 

Arches National Park

Don't let anyone tell you that it doesn't rain in the desert.  Apparently, October has 1 inch of rain in Utah (the most of the whole year).  Our plan was to drive the 2+ hours to Moab, Utah.  The day started with a misty rain and it rained on and off for the whole trip to Moab.

Just imagine a hip, cool, Zen Gatlinburg.  That is kind of what Moab, Utah seemed like.  We looked around in the shops and I was looking for a rain poncho in particular.  It actually started pouring down while we were looking around. I actually found a rain coat that was a bargain for less than $30!!! You can see the jacket in my pictures.

Lots of hippie, granola types in Moab, I love it!!!
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
We ate a delicious lunch/brunch at a place called The Jailhouse Cafe.  There was some history behind the name, but I didn't quite get it (to read about it in the menu).  Let me Google it right now and find out!!  Isn't technology amazing!!!!
http://utahstories.com/moab_jailhouse_cafe.htm

The place only served breakfast and was a bit pricey for breakfast, but we joked that it was the first decent meal that we had all week!!   Price was a sweet town, but the restaurants were kind of mediocre.  As we sat and ate, we waited for the rain  to pass.

Armed with my new raincoat, we headed for  Arches National Park.  We were going regardless of the rain.     http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm   Check out the pictures!!!   We took a short walk to the "North and South Windows"  and then we headed for the Delicate Arch.
 

The Gossips

 

The colors were muted because of the rain.

 

Heading up to the "Windows"

 

We started on the trail as a large angry cloud came over.  As we headed up the trail it didn't look good.  I also had read the pamphlet and this was supposed to be a short trail to a viewpoint  of the "Delicate Arches".  This didn't look like a short trail!!!! 
 

Wolf Ranch at the head of the Delicate Arch trail

 

 We had trekked up a steep hill when we heard thunder and then decided it was time to head back to the car.  It was just in time because it started pouring as we hoofed it back to the car.

Nick is a little worried about that cloud.

This looks a little scary!!!

In the car, I looked at the map and realized that we had headed up a 3 mile round trip strenuous hike to the Delicate Arch, that had not been the plan.  The other trail was blocked, probably because of the heavy rain and maybe some of the paths were flooded.  Oh well, we decided it was time to head back to Salt Lake City about 4 hours away.
 

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at this HUGE sporting good store called Scheels.  It had a Ferris wheel and a large aquarium!

 

We were spending the night there(Salt Lake) so we could be close to the airport. We had an early flight Saturday morning.



We got back home around 3:00 pm and it was good to be home. We were most glad to see our only daughter, our dog, Cocoa!!! Well, Fall Break is almost over!!! It's back to the real world on Monday!!!

It's good to be back in Tennessee!

Lots of leaves have change(d) their colors since we've been gone!

 

Home!!



 

She was glad to be home too!!!