I think I Can...

My friend and work out buddy and I have been faithful to our P90 for a couple of weeks now.

Though there are days that I wish she had something else to do so I could rest that night.

She is so much better about keeping us accountable that I am. If she wasn't coming over to do the workout I would probably stop.

But alas, God always knows what we need when we need it.

He knows that I have been struggling with wanting to work out. I have good days and bad days.

When she arrived last night, she gave me this from Lysa Turkeurst, "Made To Crave".

"I fully realize that my body as a temple, may not be God's most grand dwelling. However, I want to lift up to the Lord my willingness to dedicate my exercise as a gift to Him and myself. This one act "un-divides" my heart and reminds me of the deeper purpose for moving my body."

God knew I needed to read this.

To hear this deep with my heart.

Every work out is a gift that I am giving to God and myself.

My temple is not grand right now, for sure.

But it can be if I will continue to eat right and stand on my desire to work out each day.

Praying my heart will no longer be divided!

Psalm 86:11-12 (New King James Version)

Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.

I think I can, I think I can....

Saying goodbye to my sidekick!

Last week I received some really sad news. My sidekick, Becky, was resigning her position as my assistant and treasure for the SC WM's department.

She has been doing this job for many years and though I knew the day was coming, I had hoped it would be latter than sooner.

Mostly out of selfishness on my part. I love this sweet lady. She keeps me under control and within my boundaries. When it comes to women's ministry, I can dream and dream big.

She doesn't stop me from dreaming, she encourages it but remind's me of the cost to get my dreams out there. I need this sometimes and she always knows when.

She stretches me and strengthens me and is the voice of reason I sometimes need to hear.

I was apointed the District WM Director for SoCarolina just over a year ago. I am not the traditional leader by any means.

I am somewhat tech savvy and love to use social media to get our message out. This was brand new territory for the district womens department.

She recognized this right off and welcomed me in my new office with open arms!

She once told me she learned real quick that she had to hold on to my shirt or she might loose me. We both have laughed at this a few times.

She is a pure joy and one of the sweetest gifts God has given me in my life and ministry.
I can't imagine running the womens department without her.

I love you, Becky!!

I Think I Can.....

The work out Amanda and I is the P90. I bought it a few months ago and tried it but

I liked the workout but I didn't see results as fast as I should have... so I gave up.

This time around is a lot different.

My mind is set on the things of God and His will for me.

No longer on allowing my emotions to control my eating or happiness.

My identity in this area has been in food.

I now choose to find my identity in Christ...

Yay! I am on my way.

Amanda and are keeping each other accountable to our work out time.

My knee is doing ok. Instead of putting pressure on my knees doing the push-ups I use Bill's weight bench and bar. Yep, that bar weighs 45 pounds and I'm doing good to lift it without extra weight on it.

Bill also has be doing leg lifts with the weights to strengthen my the inside and out side of my knee. It seems to be working though I'm no where near wanting to do another jumping jack!

Thank you so much to those of you who have let me know your praying for me. I really appreciate it! :)

Change is on the horizon....

I think I can, I can I can....

I think I Can...

During our work out last night t I popped my knee cap out of place three times. Yes, I said 3! I felt each one and my friend Amanda heard them!

I lost my balance and fell to the floor in agony and tears telling God.. NO!

I knew my knee would be the end of my workouts for a while.

Thankfully I had two Navy Corpsman in the house. Bill and Amanda and they both knew just what to do and went right into action.

The pain was more than I could take but I knew I had no choice. I gave it to God and tried my best to collect my self.

I am not a pretty crier.. I have seen myself in the mirror. Not a sight I want any one else to see.

I was in pain and I felt defeated once again in my work outs. We iced my knee and Amanda went home.

I checked me email before going to bed and this is what I found.

Amanda wrote:

I came home and was thinking about you....I hope that this helps:

"For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness - James 1:3"

This is just a test of our faith, sweet sister....God is always faithful to us, and He wants us to continue in faith with what was started even through injury and adversity. We will succeed and rebuild His temple!

I was in tears as I read her email. Steadfastness..... Just what I needed to hear. My faith was being tested and I had to STAND!

But not just this. God is faithful to us and I can continue in faith and know that God is going to take care of my knee.

The work out was off for last night but today is a new day. I will work out tonight. Even if I only have one leg to use.

We Are rebuilding our temples and this temple will not stop now.

There is a way, I just have to find it.

I think I can, I think I can......

I think I Can.....

My friend I talked about in my last post and I decided to by the book "Made To Crave" by Lysa Terkuerst.

In the first chapter, Lysa says this: "you crave what you eat"!

Wow, talk about eye opening.

No wonder I have such a hard time saying no to fried foods.

If I eat them, I will crave them! Well duh!!!

In all honesty, food makes me happy.

I knew this wasn't the way God designed me to be, the day I realized thinking about what we where going to have for dinner made me happy.

I wanted to think of God and find that same happiness and I wasn't. I had a real issue and it was time to set things right..

That was a sad day for me.. I don't want to put food before God nor allow the food to take the place He so rightly deserves.

What a journey we have before us.

I have to begin to say no to fried food and say yes to healthier food. I can eat grilled chicken and catfish...

I think I can, I think I can......

I think I Can......

Can I please be as skinny as the girl to the right?

Every time I see her I think about this question.

Is this to much to ask? I think not, and yet I struggle in this everyday.

A good friend of mine sent a few of us an email detailing her struggle with food and her weight.

It was a very raw and open letter. She was eating sweets on her way to and from work and hiding this from her husband. WOW... none of us knew this!

I was convicted and encouraged by her strength and bravery to share so openly about her struggles to say no to certain foods.

Food is a an addiction for so many. Even me.

Mine; fried food and sweet tea.

I just haven't been brave enough to tell anyone other than God.

Growing up a southern girl, fried food is a staple of many meals and one I truly love, but for the wrong reasons.

My friend gave me the courage to say it out loud.

I was sure Bill knew it but had given me time to realize it for my self.

He has dropped hints and encouraged me in this area, but I chose to deny it to him and my self, even though I knew he was right.

For me, telling others is the first, biggest step I think I can take.

I want to loose the weight but I can't just change what I eat, I have to change the way I think about food.

She was brave enough to obey Gods voice and share her broken journey with us. It became clear that God had more in mind than just her own confessions. He used her as a catalyst for rest of us to look deep within our selves and admit we had a problem as well.

An amazing thing happened once her email went out. Almost everyone on her list revealed they too where having issues with carving food and these issues were hidden from the ones they love.

Through her confession and ours God bonded us together.

So..... we are now all on this journey together.

What does this journey look like?

We have renewed our walks with God.

Created a covenant with Him and each other to hold us accountable as we begin to heal our broken paths to food!

I think I can, I think I can....