Made to Crave Online Bible Study!

I just signed up for an online Bible Study through Proverbs 31, and I am so excited about it!  I have always felt that I had a food addiction, or at least an extreme affinity for food...and I have had the the book, Made to Crave on my Kindle for a long time, and even borrowed the paperback before that from a friend...but honestly...I don't think I wanted to face what God wanted me to learn from it, so I have put off reading it.  So...I am going to try and start reading it...and hopefully turn my heart in the direction that God has for me...to crave Him...instead of the things of this earth. 

There is even an opportunity for a weekly blog hop, so I am going to try and link up to that each week!  We'll see how I do!

The first topic was to tell about your favorite scripture...and I have so many, but I wanted to share again about the scripture that my blog is based upon.  When I started this blog in 2005, and had only one sweet child, I never dreamed that God would eventually bless us with two more children...just no idea!  We had tried and tried to have more babies, and miscarried a baby in October 2004.  By 2006, I had given up on having more, and had that long conversation with God about acceptance...and contentment.  In 2008 I delivered our sweet boy, Asher, and then in 2011 our little Claire was born...God did immeasurably more than I could have asked for or imagined...and I am so thankful...that is why Ephesians 3:20-21 is such a special passage to me!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen!"  Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV

A new year~2013!

I always look forward to this time of year, for renewal, a sense of order, and because things seem a little simpler and clearer in January.  This new year is different though, because it *really* is a new beginning for us.  Because of our move in December, we are still getting settled.  It's hard to believe we have already lived here for a whole month.  We spent our first night in this home on December 5th (with no furniture!) and now it's already January 9th.  We are still trying to get used to the changes.  There are so many things that I miss from Independence, especially our church family and our friends.  We have started going to a church here that we are enjoying, but sometimes on Sunday mornings my heart aches to hear Miss Erin's beautiful voice leading worship and Pastor Darren's words of wisdom and encouragement from Indy Nazarene.  I know this is silly, but I miss the muffins from our local coffee shop, Ane Mae's, and I desperately miss "coffee days" on Thursdays with my close girlfriends.  I know that God has a plan for this move here, though, and I know that it's a good plan, it's the ONLY plan that I want for our lives...so here we are...and it will be ok.

Speaking of plans...and changes...I have decided to JUMP back on my health wagon.  I have to confess that since my surgery in August I have gained all of my weight back plus 6 additional pounds.  I would love to blame it on the surgery, or the stress of the move, or the holidays, but honestly, it's because I have been eating a lot of bad food and not exercising.  I am one of those people who just has to be really intentional about things or I really slip.  It seems like as a Christian wife and mother of three, there are just SO many things to concentrate on that I feel like sometimes I need to let things go in order to be successful in other areas.  I know that if I am intentional about my health, however, that I will have more energy and JOY to put toward everything else.  I need to just really focus on this truth:  I feel better, am more joyful, and am a better wife and mother when I am healthy (exercising every day and not using my body as a garbage can).  I just need to get back to putting that 45 minutes aside for my exercise every day, and being intentional about the foods that I put into my body and into the bodies of the four people who I love more than anything else in this world.  I need to pray about it, I need to think about it, and ALLOW the Holy Spirit change me from the inside out.

It's September!

This morning I am thankful for September, and the rest of the "ber" months, as my sister says!  There are just a million things I look forward to this time of year, pumpkins, candles, bonfires, football, falling leaves, apple cider...I could go on and on!  I just love it!  Autumn fills me with a new energy for homemaking, nesting, and mama-ing!  I think it's the promise of cooler temperatures, snuggly kids, and family time together that just brings so much JOY!

I have been meaning to update on my health, but every time I sit down to write about it I become discouraged, and discouragement is one of the enemy's greatest weapons, so I have been avoiding it.  I had a small "bump" in the road with my health and weightloss.  I had been noticing a lump on my belly, just to the lower right side of my belly button.  It seemed to be getting larger, so I talked to my doctor about it.  She ordered an x-ray, but didn't see anything abnormal in them.  Two months later I visited her again, after losing my first 20 pounds, and she said it was more noticable, and seemed larger to her.  She ordered a CT scan, and the results revealed a "small" hernia that was about 3 cm, that had already allowed a large amount of tissue to escape.  She referred me to a surgeon, and on August 6th I had outpatient surgery to correct it.  When I woke up from surgery I was shocked at the size of incision to correct my "small" hernia.  She said it was much larger than she initially thought, and the hernia opened up through my rectus abdominus muscle, and she had never seen anything like it before.  I think I slept for two whole days after surgery, and had a lot of pain.  I have been slowly getting back to normal, and the swelling from the surgery is just now down.  I am ready to get started again on my healthy living plan, but I feel like I have lost so much ground. I am determined, however, not to give up!  I need to go grocery shopping for some healthy foods again, and just get myself up in the mornings to begin walking again...I CAN still do this!  I just wanted to share this here, because I want to always remember the journey, even the "bumps" along the road!

Week 2--I'm comin' for YOU!

Today is the first day of Week 2 of my journey!  I am so excited!  I can't believe I've made it this far!  Last night I went grocery shopping and SURVIVED! Ha!  I was so nervous about how seeing all of the foods I used to eat would affect me, but I made it!  I bought a lot of things for healthy meals and snacks for everyone.  I am still just so motivated and feel amazing about this!  So...my official numbers...are you ready for this?  I am not ready to share my starting weight, because well, it's just terrible...but one week ago I weighed in 11.8 pounds heavier than this morning! WOOHOO!  I am just tickled pink! I know that I won't lose as much this week as the first week, but I am going to just keep walking, eating, and praying!  Week 2...you're goin' down!

-11.8

P.S.  I have been trying to "jog" about 50 yards at a time during my walk...probably walking 100-150 yards, jogging 50, walking, jogging, etc.  I am almost DYING after those little bursts of jogging...but like Jillian says, "Unless You Puke, Faint or Die, Keep Going!"