Losing Weight

I have a doctor's appointment coming up in April. I hate the part when you have to get weighed, but I know it has to be done, so I would like to lose a few pounds by then if I can discipline myself. I've tried to change my eating habits but I haven't done very well with that, so I decided instead to start exercising more. Really, all I'm doing is trying to walk 10,000 steps a day. I'm using a pedometer, and on a normal day without adding extra steps, I usually walk about 5,000 - 6,000 steps. So far, I haven't made it up to 10,000 steps, but yesterday I walked 9700. I really believe if I can start walking 10,000 steps a day, I should lose a few pounds without changing my eating. I guess this will be an experiment to see if it works. Of course, the only way I'll know if I lost weight is by the way my clothes fit because I am not ready to face the reality of my weight yet. It's hard to face the truth right now because for many years my weight stayed between 110 and 115 without even trying. I was able to eat whatever I wanted. But then middle age set in and everything changed. If this doesn't work I guess I'll have to go to Weight Watchers. I know that works -- my friend has just lost over 60 pounds during the past year and she looks great!

So, here I am trying to lose weight my own way -- not wanting to make the effort to go to a place that I know works and will give me the support I need to lose the few pounds I need to lose. Aren't we like that in our Christian walk sometimes? We try to take matters into our own hands and fix problems ourselves without praying or looking into the Bible to find the message God might have for us. We want a quick fix, or results that we can see immediately. But like the slow, steady weight loss that happens with Weight Watchers, sometimes we can't immediately see how God is working in a situation to meet our needs in his perfect way. He needs to be our starting point, not a last resort!

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

You Just Know...

I've been reading the book of Romans in the Bible lately. The whole Bible is wonderful to me, but right now this particular book is so incredibly amazing, overwhelming and humbling. I use to kind of skip over Romans because I thought it was so hard to understand. I'll admit even now, it is deep, but it is absolutely full of necessary teachings for Christians. I don't understand everything that is in there, but the more I read it the more the understanding comes to me. And that's the Holy Spirit -- He reveals the meaning of his Word to us, maybe not all at once but gradually sometimes. Romans is not a book that you can just casually skim over quickly. For me, I have to read slowly and stop and absorb almost every verse. I don't mind taking my time with it. It is changing my life and growing me spiritually in a way that can only happen by reading the Word.

There are so many things I want to write about from Romans, but this post would get too long if I mentioned everything I've learned. One verse that stuck out to me in Romans 8 a week or two ago is verse 16: The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. For some reason, I thought this verse was so amazing because to me it says that the Holy Spirit confirms with my spirit that I am his child. I have such a hard time putting into words what I'm thinking right now about this, but it's like when my daughter asked me how I knew for sure that her dad was "the one" I was supposed to marry. I told you her when the right one comes along, you just know. I don't know what is is but you just know deep inside. That is how it is when the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God's children -- you just know. You know that you've believed that Jesus died on a cross for the sins you've committed and then he confirms it in your spirit so that you don't have to wonder if your belief is real or not.

What an awesome God of love we serve. He has given us the Bible which is his holy Word, and he's given us his Spirit to witness with our spirit.

T.G.I.F.!!!

I'm having one of those "mommy" days. Most of the time I am completely fine with my empty nest, but once in a while I start thinking about those days when my kids were little and how cute they were. When Aaron was really young, I guess he caught the excitement of "Friday" from us because when he would get up on Friday mornings, he would say, "It's Friiiiidaaaaayyy!" and he had his own hand motions to go with it complete with little boy sound effects. It's just one of those things you never forget about your kids.

One of those special memories we have of Leah is when she was about 3 years old, we went on a little trip to Desoto State Park in northeast Alabama. It's always been one of our favorite places to go. On the over three hour trip back home she was so tired out that she fell asleep in her car seat. We tried to stop somewhere to see some waterfalls but she just couldn't wake up. So we just had to forget about that and continue our ride home, and we never heard a peep out of her the whole trip back. So, right when got into our city I told Eddie to stop at McDonalds to get something for supper. We thought she was still sleeping because she hadn't made a sound for three hours, but the minute we pulled into McDonalds we heard this sleepy little voice in the back seat say, "I want a happy meal." It was so cute and so funny that we still think about it this many years later.

And since I'm having this mommy day, I'll leave a link to one of my favorite posts about my kids called Doors.

When You Walk Through the Fire

Today I want to post these verses of encouragement for my friend, Cliff of Seek Him First and Wixy's Gone Bananas. Lately it seems like he's been going through the fire with one thing after another. And this week, his brother has passed away. I just want him to know that I'm thinking about him and his family during this difficult time.

But now, this is what the Lord says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze..." Isaiah 43:1-2

Never Changing

I don't know, sometimes I wonder if something is wrong with me. I never change anything. In my house, my furniture stays in the same spot because I never move it around. Well, actually I did move things around a little in the living room on New Years. But in the den, everything always stays the same; in my bedroom, everything stays the same. I am so embarrassed to say this, but it's the truth.....all the blinds on my windows were already there when we moved into the house in 1994. And worse than that, even the curtains in the living room have not been changed as long as we've lived there. I lived in the last house for 13 years and the drapes that were hanging in the living room when I moved in were still hanging there when I moved out. Look at my blog -- it always has that green at the top and a white background. Other people change the look of their blog, but I just leave mine the same, always. I wonder sometimes, is this normal? Is something wrong with me?

Celebration in Heaven

I was going to use this for my favorites this Friday, but I can't wait until then. This is such exciting news for one of my blogging friends that I want to share it with everyone. Sandi's dad has been very sick and in the hospital. They weren't sure if he was going to make it through. She's mentioned before that she wanted her dad to give his life to the Lord and wanted her pastor to visit him. Today the angels are rejoicing in heaven along with Sandi! Last night her dad gave his life to Christ. Please take a minute to read Sandi's short post from last night, A Day to Rejoice Part 2, and rejoice with her!

In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:10

Are You Sincere?

Before I started this blog, I wrote a few blogs on my Myspace page. Even though I didn't have any readers, I knew that my daughter would read it there, so most of my blogs back then were things I wanted to say to her. Today I am posting one I did there in January 2007.

Are You Sincere?
I say that I am a Christian and I really am, but I hope that I never do anything in my life that causes other people to question whether that is true or not. Anyone can say "I'm a Christian," but the Bible says that we are known by the fruit in our lives. It really bothers me when someone says they are a Christian, but then I don't see anything in their life that has anything to do with Christianity. I hope that the way I live my life is proof to other people that I am a true believer. While I know that doing "good works" and being a good person is not what saves me, I do believe that a saved, born again believer in Jesus Christ will strive to be a good person simply because of their love for the Lord. I want my life to always bring honor and glory to God. If I'm using foul language, hating other people, gossiping, having a horrible attitude, etc., that would not bring honor and glory to the Lord, and it would make other people wonder if I really am a Christian.

So.....if you say that you belong to Christ, please live the way you would if he was by your side every minute of the day.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21