Monday, July 26, 2010

whatever is true, whatever is noble

"6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praise worthy - think about such things."

Philippians 4: 6-8

We have all read this passage before. I will admit though that I never really looked at verse 8 with an open mind and heart. I have now and I am amazed. I absolutely love that verse. The words are perfect. Perfect. I wish it were easier to follow what it says but it isn't. I have to keep repeating true, noble, right, and pure in my head over and over again when I get upset or down.

But when you do that, a peace really does come over you. You start to loosen up and be happy. I know that most everyone has had this experience a long time ago, the experience of this verse and actually putting it into practice. I was talking to my beautiful mother the other day about this verse. I kept saying how wonderful it is and that I am trying to live it out in my daily life. She, of course, is already familiar with Philippians 4: 6-8 (and many more verses) and listened to me go on and on about it with a smile on her face. I told her that in life people are going to find verses and then forget about them and then come across them again someday. When you come back to it, it will take on a whole new meaning. It is the Living Word and is timeless and permanent and truthful. It can apply to all walks of life no matter what you are going through. One year it may mean something special to you and then the next it means something even more special to you.

I am just in love with how God is never changing in this always changing world. He is alwasy there with open arms no matter how many times I fall. He is always loving and caring and He wants what is best for me. He gave me a manual to help me through this thing we call life...even though life isn't what I am living for. It is for Him and being united with Him one day. Spreading His love because when you love someone or something you want to share it with the world. That's why we have such big, dramatic weddings. We want to share our love for someone with everyone we know. We want to shout it to the world that we are in love with someone and want to spend the rest of our lives with that someone. We should all feel that way with God...wanting to show the world our love for Him and shout it out loud.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Get Moving

So here is a progress report for my "getting back to my normal weight and health only now I have babies" endeavor.

Last week (maybe I should do a weekly report...) on Wednesday I woke up at 5 am and went for an hour walk. I then did another walk that evening for 45 minutes because I knew that I wasn't going to walk on Thursday due to having way too much fun with Julian on his birthday. So as you just read, Thursday was no exercise but tons of food that wasn't good for me. I went to the gym on Friday and did 45 minutes of cardio which was a little over 3 miles. It felt so good but because my body isn't used to that my hip muscle started hurting Saturday evening. I was very busy on Saturday so I didn't have a chance to workout nor did I want to because my muscle hurting.

Today is Sunday and I don't see myself doing anything. Oh wait...I went swimming with the boys. That counts. I didn't swim as much as just chill with my boys but it's better than nothing.

I will try hard this week to keep up the good work. Now I really, really need to work on my food intake. Better food and less of it.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

It's About Dang Time

Maybe if I write it down to go into the world of cyberspace/computer waves/land of who knows/world of "does anyone really read this" I might stick to the plan. The plan of actually exercising and trying to be accountable of what goes into my mouth. Aiden is 14 months old and Tristan is almost 3. He is technically 34 months but who in the heck says their child is 34 months old? Use years people. When your child is over the age of two it's time to start using years to tell people how old they are. My point being this...it is past the time for me to have shed ALL baby weight gained. I lost Aiden's within a month and half but I only gained 22 lbs with him. I gained a whopping 48 lbs with Tristan. That weight I have not lost I am sad to admit. But oh well, crying about it isn't going to do anything.

I was doing great with the weight loss but then stress struck. Family stress. Major family stress. My diet was out the window, along with my sanity. But now I have chosen to step away from the drama (which thankfully that drama worked itself out) and focus on me and my boys (meaning all my boys..Julian, Tristan, and Aiden). Step one: lose the weight finally. It is beyond time to lose all that friggin weight. Step two: have fun with life. Step three: Stop worrying about everything. Step four: I haven't looked that far down the list because I am still working on step one. Come back again when I got that all straightened out.

So I was thinking that maybe if I wrote some of my progress down where I know the possibility of someone else seeing what I do, or don't do, is far greater than writing it down where only I see it, I might get serious. Real serious.

Let's see.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Julian's Love Day

So yesterday was Julian's birthday. His 30th birthday! You know, the big one? I took off work so we could spend the day together. He obviously did too. The boys were at my Mom's as if it were a normal Thursday so she wouldn't freak out.

I am so happy we did that. We weren't going to take any time off to celebrate this special occasion of getting old but I convinced my adorable Hubby to spend as many hours with me as possible. I call it our Love Day.

We went to the movies and saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice. It was WAY better than what I had expected. WAY. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and shared a plate. Awwwww. Normally we don't do that for two reasons: 1) I want my own dang food and I want all of it. 2) He wants his dang food and he wants all of it. There you go. That's why. But yesterday we shared and it was cute. We weren't that hungry from eating massive amounts of popcorn at the movies and it helped save a buck. Win-Win. We then spent an hour browsing around the Apple store. If you know my husband then you know that this is the best gift I could give him minus buying everything in the Apple store. To be able to touch and play with anything he wanted in that store WITHOUT two kids crying and begging to leave is a miracle. We enjoyed that miracle. We really did. And he probably was even more happy that I was showing an interest in all those expensive gadgets. I just don't have the unconditional love for electronics like my Honey does. I think that makes him sad but let's not dwell on that. We then went to look at garden stuff, again if you know my hubs then you know this makes him happy. The time came for us to pick up our little mini-us's and enjoy an evening at home. Yes I just made up a word. I can do that. I'm cool like that.

And the best part is ................. I made the birthday boy THE BEST DINNER EVER!!!! He is a steak man. I am not a steak woman. Do you see the issue? Yes. Good. I made him French Onion Sliced Steak with Gruyere Sauce. and fresh green beans on the side. They were good but who doesn't know how to cook green beans? That's easy. The steak is the show stopper. Plus, Honey LOVES LOVES LOVES LOVES cheese. I made a Gruyere Sauce. I did. Holy Moly. It was easy shmeesy and deelish to boot. Perfecto!! He never puts anything on a steak. It takes away from the steak he says. Rubbish in my opinion but it's his food. I made the Gruyere sauce for the topping of the steak. And he liked it. That is the first time he has ever liked and wanted a topping for steak. I am going to take that as a compliment to the sauce and not an insult to the steak. The steak was fantastic. First time I have ever even attempted making a steak. That's a man's job. Not mine. But it was his birthday and a special one at that so I had to make him something extra special.

It was a perfect, and I mean perfect, Love Day.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Give it to Him

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11-13 NIV

I am doing a study right now on my own. I bought "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow. I was at Barnes and Noble the other night, alone, and was able to wander around not worrying about crying babies. I saw this book on the shelf and it was as if it said "Pssst, hey you! Check me out." I started reading some of it there and was impressed by how quickly I reacted to it. I loved the way it was written. I say that only having read the first chapter, but still. Something told me to buy it (that little voice in my head that I don't always listen too I think is who told me to do it) so I did.

I thought maybe I would post the passage each week that I am memorizing for you guys to see also. I can't hurt right? So here it is. Philippians 4:11-13. I have read this verse MANY times but now I am reading it through different eyes. I took the time to memorize it. I said it out loud numerous times yesterday (that was my first day doing my study) to my sons, to the dogs, to myself, and to my husband. It was fun seeing Tristan listen to me and then try to say it back.

I am excited to do this study. I do have an anxious heart. As Mommies and wives, I think we all do. It takes effort to release things to God. It doesn't feel natural at first to do that, at least not for me. Especially not 100% giving it away. I would give my problems to God maybe 50% but not really 100%. I know that sounds bad but it is the truth. This is just one of my struggles. I am working on giving it all, ALL, to Him and getting to know my God better.