A lot has been going on recently in my personal life and to be honest it has been very trying. The only place I know to turn to is up above to my Lord and Savior. I feel unworthy of His love and comfort knowing that I placed Him on the backburner over the last couple of years. I need to lean on God not only in the difficult times, but also in the glorious times. However, I have learned over the past week, thanks to wonderful friends, that God loves us no matter what and that He calls on us to reach out to Him especially in times of trouble. None of us are worthy of His love, but he freely rains love down on us because we were made in His image. We are broken souls searching for a place in this corrupt world, yet God knows our true hearts. We don't have to remain broken if we place our trust and faith in Christ. Regardless of how I feel the only thing I can do is to continue pressing on--persevere! I opened a book that I have shelved for too long. It is "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. I happened to open the book and came across this devotional.
Perseverance means more than endurance--more than simply holding on until the end. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, "I can't take any more." Yet God pays no attention; he goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God's hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15).
Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the supreme effort of your life--throwing yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God
God ventured His all in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our all with total abandoned confidence in Him. There are areas in our lives where that faith has not worked in us as yet--places still untouched by the life of God. There were none of those places in Jesus Christ's life, and there are to be none in ours. Jesus prayed, "This is eternal life, that they may know You..." (John 17:3). The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. if we will take this view, life will become one great romance--a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Fight for Love
Would you fight for love in the face of adversity? Is knowing what true love is worth the risk of falling flat on your face? Is the pain that will come going to make you stronger or crush your will to seek true love?
Being a fighter doesn't mean being the strongest. Being a fighter doesn't mean being without fear. In fact fear is highly prevalent in a fight...especially one that means so much. Courage is all we need to give it our all and let the chips fall where they may!
I have fought a few battles in my day. I've been bloodied and bruised and my heart has been crushed. I am weary and not sure I can go on like this, but I know I survived and became even stronger as a man and steadfast in my belief in true love.
Believe me when I say the fight is worth it. You may get knocked down many times just as I have, but you must keep getting up and moving forward no matter how battered, bruised, and defeated you become.
True love is worth it.
Being a fighter doesn't mean being the strongest. Being a fighter doesn't mean being without fear. In fact fear is highly prevalent in a fight...especially one that means so much. Courage is all we need to give it our all and let the chips fall where they may!
I have fought a few battles in my day. I've been bloodied and bruised and my heart has been crushed. I am weary and not sure I can go on like this, but I know I survived and became even stronger as a man and steadfast in my belief in true love.
Believe me when I say the fight is worth it. You may get knocked down many times just as I have, but you must keep getting up and moving forward no matter how battered, bruised, and defeated you become.
True love is worth it.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Cleaning Up
So today Tammy and I spent much of the afternoon in Nashville doing some shopping in the Green Hills area. Tammy got to experience the wonderful Trader Joe's for the first time. We had a great time looking and shopping for healthy, organic food selections. I hope that Murfreesboro gets a Trader Joe's one day. The selections are great and the prices are more affordable than one might think. Much better than the prices of our next stop...Whole Foods Market.
This is the first time we've been to the one in Green Hills. It is very swanky with all that crunchy, granola feel you typically get at a Whole Foods. Despite the prices and the swankiness we journeyed through the store and found some really good options for the Eat Clean direction I am taking my everyday diet. The best buy and something I have really wanted to try for a long time was Bison meat.
After a long day of shopping we came home and grilled up the Bison steak along with some veggies. The meal was excellent. Bison is the same texture as beef just with a richer flavor and much leaner and cleaner as Bison is grass-fed and most commercial beef is not. Even though I've only recently taken on the Eat Clean philosophy, I find myself feeling much better and not nearly as hungry during the day. I continue to make the small steps, but as long as the foods I get to eat are like the Bison I had tonight then I believe the Eat Clean way of life will the easiest change I've ever made.
This is the first time we've been to the one in Green Hills. It is very swanky with all that crunchy, granola feel you typically get at a Whole Foods. Despite the prices and the swankiness we journeyed through the store and found some really good options for the Eat Clean direction I am taking my everyday diet. The best buy and something I have really wanted to try for a long time was Bison meat.After a long day of shopping we came home and grilled up the Bison steak along with some veggies. The meal was excellent. Bison is the same texture as beef just with a richer flavor and much leaner and cleaner as Bison is grass-fed and most commercial beef is not. Even though I've only recently taken on the Eat Clean philosophy, I find myself feeling much better and not nearly as hungry during the day. I continue to make the small steps, but as long as the foods I get to eat are like the Bison I had tonight then I believe the Eat Clean way of life will the easiest change I've ever made.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A Rewarding Journey
As mentioned in the previous post, I am developing a rewards system as I lose weight. I got this tremendous idea from a friend named Heather. Tammy had read a blog posting Heather wrote detailing a system of fun rewards for every 10 pounds lost to keep her motivated. When Tammy asked me to read the blog I instantly knew that was for me. I mean come on! Who doesn't like getting gifts for doing a good job?
So my brain went to stormin' to figure out what gifts would I like for each ten pounds lost. After a while I still had nothing. I found that major milestones were easy to develop gifts. Obviously the ultimate goal is a trip to an island. The halfway point will be a weekend getaway. So as it stands I have two trips as rewards and not much else. This is definitely a work in progress and I am happy to take any ideas from anyone who may read this.
Below is a breakdown of the rewards for pounds lost:
5-Book
10-
20-
30-
40-Weekend getaway
50-
60-
70-
80-Hawaii or some other tropically island!!
Thinking of gifts I would want is not easy!!
So my brain went to stormin' to figure out what gifts would I like for each ten pounds lost. After a while I still had nothing. I found that major milestones were easy to develop gifts. Obviously the ultimate goal is a trip to an island. The halfway point will be a weekend getaway. So as it stands I have two trips as rewards and not much else. This is definitely a work in progress and I am happy to take any ideas from anyone who may read this.
Below is a breakdown of the rewards for pounds lost:
5-Book
10-
20-
30-
40-Weekend getaway
50-
60-
70-
80-Hawaii or some other tropically island!!
Thinking of gifts I would want is not easy!!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Some Changes
Change is hardly ever easy, but often times it is absolutely necessary. That is where I find myself, particularly my health...or the lack of it. I am drastically overweight, constantly getting headaches, out of breath just going upstairs, and staring a family history of Diabetes in the eye. So it is here on this blog that I will chronicle the changes I will be making to not only create accountability, but hopefully set an example for someone else going through a similar situation.
I've actually made one change already and it was to this blog. The name of the blog has changed (former name was "A Little About a Lot"). The blog was started two years ago as a way to just have fun and hone some writing skills that have served me well in my Masters degree program at University of Tennessee. But as you may see from the last posting date I have not been on here in quite a while thanks to school, laziness, and forgetfulness...the last two reasons I look to change in my life as well.
The new name is inspirational in nature for me. I am in the process of developing a reward system as I lose weight with the ultimate reward being a vacation for Tammy and me to Hawaii or some other island vacation. I have a tall order as that means I have to reach 80 pounds lost, but I know I can do it!
I started at the New Year eating better and less, but I had a difficult time developing a plan of action. After losing five pounds I got my first reward...a book on eating clean. I've had to be honest with myself and accept that my eating habits are killing me. This is the key change for me. I have friends who are eating clean and the results are amazing. Add some exercise in there and there is no reason I cannot reach my ultimate goal of losing 80 pounds.
The steps along my path have begun! Here's to change!!
I've actually made one change already and it was to this blog. The name of the blog has changed (former name was "A Little About a Lot"). The blog was started two years ago as a way to just have fun and hone some writing skills that have served me well in my Masters degree program at University of Tennessee. But as you may see from the last posting date I have not been on here in quite a while thanks to school, laziness, and forgetfulness...the last two reasons I look to change in my life as well.
The new name is inspirational in nature for me. I am in the process of developing a reward system as I lose weight with the ultimate reward being a vacation for Tammy and me to Hawaii or some other island vacation. I have a tall order as that means I have to reach 80 pounds lost, but I know I can do it!
I started at the New Year eating better and less, but I had a difficult time developing a plan of action. After losing five pounds I got my first reward...a book on eating clean. I've had to be honest with myself and accept that my eating habits are killing me. This is the key change for me. I have friends who are eating clean and the results are amazing. Add some exercise in there and there is no reason I cannot reach my ultimate goal of losing 80 pounds.
The steps along my path have begun! Here's to change!!
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