It's not absurd

I am reading the book from Max Lucado called God Came Near. It is a wonderful book and I have decided to blog about some of the writings in the book. Today's chapter was called Absudity in The Flesh. It talks about a man who had never heard the story of Jesus and wondered wasn't it all absurd? It sounds too bizarre to be real. This made Max Lucado uncomfortable as he was in the lecture hall with this fellow. He had never questioned God until that point just always believed the Sunday School stories and all of his classes in religion. Until this fellow showed up and started questioning it.

I have to admit I myself went through a questioning period. As a student at UNC-Asheville, a liberal arts college, I was exposed to many different world views. I was faced with ideas about other religions and as I listened to how "silly" they sounded and wondered how anyone could believe them, I realized my own religion sounded strange. A virgin birth - yeah right. Angels appearing to Mary, Joseph, shepherds - a bit odd. Three wise men traveling many miles to worship an infant not a king. Jesus being led to the cross but no one stopping it. He could have stopped his death. There was no reason an innocent man had to die - but there was. He died for you and me.

I am not trying to make anyone uncomfortable, just share my own story. That questioning was an uncomfortable time in my life - the only time I ever felt estranged from God (but I really wasn't). It was hard to believe all those stories I had heard since a toddler however, without that questioning I would not have become more passionate about my own faith. The stories do sound strange. If we were told today that a virgin gave birth it would be pretty hard to believe. It is completely understandable why our religion is so hard to swallow. We just have to believe it on faith - and realize he did it all for us. He chose to do it just the way he did. We must choose to believe it for ourselves.

Running on Empty

How many of us allow our cars to run on empty? I never used to let my car get below a quarter of a tank but with today's gas prices I often find myself cruising on E to find the best price. The other day I was running late to work and to drop my son off at his preschool. Driving down the road you guessed it, the gas light came on. I was already late and didn't need this now. As I stood there pumping gas, realizing how late I really was I had no one to blame but myself. I should have taken closer notice of the gas gauge.

How many times do I let my life run on E? There are days I skip my devotion, I half heartedly say my prayers and wonder why I am having such a bad day. Well, if I paid closer attention to my personal gas gauge I would realize I need the Lord every minute of every day and I would never allow myself to run on E. I have made a vow - I am going to try and fill up my car from now on when it is on a quarter of a tank and never let my spiritual tank run low.

I pray each of you will also fill your spiritual tank daily. God Bless.

What a glorious day - some answered prayers

Most of you do not know my family history. I have three sisters that have passed away. There was a huge age difference - me being at least 14 years younger than my sisters. One of my sisters was a drug addict for many years. She was saved before her drug days, but later chose a different path. Shortly before her death she came back to God. Praise God!

She had two sons in their early twenties when she died that were also following down the drug path. They both went to prision for a while. When they got out they did rehab and got saved. Praise God again!

I had the opportunity to see both of my nephews yesterday. What a wonderful experience to see two totally different young men. They both have jobs that they are working hard at and one has even started a 401K plan. He is definitely starting to see the future and not live for the immediate gratification. What a blessing to see answered prayers from my mom, my myself and other family members and friends. God gives us much reason to rejoice. They have turned their lives around, completely moved away from the ones that were causing bad influences over their lives and are trying to seek God. I just can't praise God enough for this transformation.

Oh my aching head ...not so much anymore

Before starting the nutrition class I had suffered for years from headaches - so severe I once went the ER with a migraine and before that had CT scans to make sure there were no tumors or sinus blockages. Nothing significant was found.

During the nutrition class you were asked to do a 40 day challenge of better eating. I personally tailored mine a little and completely went off caffeine for 40 days. It was hard - I am not going to lie. There were times when I was dining out, especially, that I thought about tackling someone for a soda. I never realized how much I used the caffeine to deal with stress in my life. I really noticed it when my little boy was stressing me out and I just wanted a sip of Mountain Dew.

For 40 days I only drank water and occasionally milk. Strange thing though - those headaches completely disappeared. I had been taking 4 over the counter sinus pills a day plus about 4-6 ibuprofen every day and now I rarely take a single ibuprofen and no sinus medicine. It was the best thing I have ever done.

During that time I realized I needed to turn my focus on God. If I really wanted to tackle someone for a soda I would quote a Bible verse or if I was at home I would read a passage in the Bible and pray. It really helped me get through those withdrawal days. I am so glad I took that challenge and succeeded. I told myself that Jesus did not climb down off of the cross and as much as I wanted to give in I would not. I rarely ever crave soda anymore but occasionally have one and they just taste terrible now. I have lost most desire for them and really don't want to start back up on the headaches again.

I was also able (with the cardiologist advice) to come off of my blood pressure meds and potassium supplement because I have started eating much healthier. I challenge you to try and change something in your health and see what results.

First Blog

Hello everyone,
This is my first blog ever. I am very excited about sharing some of my life with you all. Several of my friends have encouraged me to blog since I talk so much anyway. Some of my interests are health, nutrition, parenting, Christian topics and friendships.

Since March of this year I have been striving towards a healthier me. I have achieved many of these goals. I walked two charity walks, have lost 14 pounds since March, taken a Christian nutrition class and a weight loss class. I am currently working on starting my own nutrition/weight loss or weight management group.

I feel that many people need to be taught to eat healthier and am by no means an expert. I have learned a lot in the last months though and work daily with friends to encourage them and be encouraged. Many people I know either struggle with weight loss or weight management. There are not many inexpensive options for groups out there. Groups like Weight Watchers cost too much for stay at home moms or part time working moms. There need to be cheaper solutions and I am on a mission to create just that.

With God's help and His help alone I have changed my eating habits (for the most part) and started exercising a lot more! I exercise almost everyday (occasionally I get lazy and skip a day).

I am creating this blog to just share in general with others some weight loss tips/goals, etc. that I have learned and some parenting tips, techniques and practices, if I find any that work for my own son (LOL)

That is all for now. I am going to get more experience and ideas on how to continue this blogging journey. Look out world - here I come.