It’s hard to walk when you know how to run…

I recently began thinking about this concept of the Christian walk when I popped my knee cap… again.

When I was still heavy it happened regularly (like every 3 months for a year). I actually was diagnosed with having an underdeveloped muscle in my knee when I was 16.  When this happens I have to be really really careful and wear a brace, etc. Well in the process of losing weight I came to actually enjoy jogging on my treadmill. Shocking for a girl who had bad knees and a history of asthma. But I worked my way up till I could jog. Tonight I walked on my treadmill. It seemed to take forever. It seemed more natural to keep increasing the speed, but it wouldn’t have been healthy. I have to retrain the muscles of my knee to walk before I can jog again. As I was walking it came to me how often we refer to the life of a Christian as a “Christian walk.”

We often hold up those who “walk with God” as being saints and patriarchs… men and women to be used as life models. Enoch walked so close to God that he was taken to heaven without seeing death. We are considered blessed when we walk “not in the counsel of the ungodly”(Ps 1:1). We are commanded to walk by faith. We will “hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” (Isaiah 30:21) So what is it about this lifestyle that deems it a walk?

A walk is deliberate. If you have ever watched children and teachers in the hallway of a school, the teacher is not admonishing the children to run but to walk. To slow down seems to be something that is against human nature (to a point). For some of us it seems that the busier we are the more people seem to think we can do. But the more we cram into our day the more we are likely to “run” around.  To walk with God requires a deliberate action on our part to slow down our pace.

If you have ever tried to carry on a conversation with someone while jogging? It gets more difficult the longer you keep the pace or the faster the pace gets. When we are running around in our  daily life it can be hard to truly have a conversation with Our Father. That He would want that conversation with us should be enough to stop us in our tracks let alone slow us to a walk. As we take the time to have a deliberate relationship with Him, He is able to point out His effects on our lives (a beautiful sunrise on a morning you had to get up early, a mysterious gift on a day when you need to feel the love of a friend, someone stopping you to give a compliment on something that you thought no one would notice). He is able to do so much more for us when take the time to cultivate that loving Father/ Child relationship that He is offering us.

Instead of resenting the seeming endless slow pace, let’s rejoice in possibility of time spent with the God, who created the universe, who waits patiently for us to spend one-on-one time with Him.

My new car!!! Ok so it’s not a car it’s an SUV….

I know it’s an SUV… But after driving a car for almost ten years it is hard to break the habit…

This is still at the dealership just before I drove away with Yeoman. I know I named it a guy name (for those of you who know Frank, you understand why…….) I was going to have my students vote for the name for my car, but I realized that I hadn’t chosen any names that had to do with being a forester. So being a literature teacher I named my car after the forester in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. 

I have been accused of being a tree hugger while in this car. When it has a bike on the back it does lend itself to that look :-) Just wait till I have the kayak on the top and the bike on the back I’ll look like a green freak for sure.

 

 

Can you tell I love the sun roof???

He was waiting

Just recently I heard a song that hinted at the idea that Jesus stopped at the well to wait for the adulterous woman to come along. I was a little skeptical, so I grabbed my Bible and checked, what I found made me think.

The Bible does not specifically state that Jesus was waiting for the woman to come by the well. However, keep in mind the fact that Jesus knows each and every one of us inside and out, then look at the Scriptures.

¹ Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John ² (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), ³ He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. ⁴ But He needed to go through Samaria.
⁵ So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
⁷ A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

Is it beyond the realm of possibility to say that He was waiting for her. Women of the time did not wait till noon to draw water. It was simply too hot for that kind of work at that time of the day. But due to the fact that she was a shunned woman, she went when the rest of the women would have already finished with their water drawing. They didn’t want to associate with her, so it was uncomfortable to work at the well when they were there.

The Bible depicts Jesus as being weary and tired. He stayed at the well as the disciples went into the town to get supplies. But why would He stay at the well during a time of day when the women would not be able to draw water for him. The wells were not equipped with buckets to draw water with, so Jesus was thirsty sitting at a well with no means of drawing water.

Is it too far fetched to believe that the Creator of mankind knew that she would come to the well at that time of day, and not only waited for her to come, but sent His disciples on ahead so that He would be able to talk to her without their prejudices? I don’t think so. Because I serve a God who knows my schedule, loves me, and will wait to intercept me at times when He needs to show me my need for His blessings. When I stop the craziness of my day to  seek Him and spend time in His peaceful presence, He is there waiting with open arms to receive me and give me my portion of living water that is so necessary. A God who is so willing to spend time with me is surely a God who was willing to stop along a dusty road waiting for a woman that society shunned and was an enemy of His people. Even she was shocked that anyone would talk to her let alone someone that was a racial rival.

I at times have a crazy schedule and when I have friends who know my schedule and remember when I am available it amazes me (I don’t always remember:-). But to know that I have a God who not only is aware that I exists, but would take time to know my schedule and sends blessings just when I need them throughout the day, now that is truly amazing. May we never lose sight of the God, who purposely waits for us to come to His well. May we also seek the living water from the source that never runs dry.

God's view

One thing that people have said to me is that they want to know my secret... How did you do it... Some time in the near and distant future I might have time to blog about that(lol). But I thought about the real secret to my success.

My secret is this awhile ago I asked God to show me, the real "me." The "me" that He sees, knows and loves. Let me back up and say that if you really don't know me well, you don't realize that I can have some major self confidence issues. The more I prayed to see myself as God saw me the more I realized that I was capable of so much more than I realized. I started to realize that while I had been doubting my abilities... I didn't even bother to try. And by try, I mean really put effort into it... So I started to push myself. I got involved in a competition, because I realized that I could use my competitive streak that is a mile wide, to my advantage. I started to jog, slowly at first then more and more. I started to count calories and didn't think I could live on so few. But I did it. The more I accomplished the more confidence I had. Confidence not just in the very visible results, but confidence in the accomplishments that I was making. I still remember the day that I ran my first round of 2.5 miles in a half hour. I was so excited. Not only was I a former chubby chick, but I was a former asthma kid. I barely completed the president's test every year in school because I took so long to do a mile. And now I was jogging 2.5 in 30 minutes.

I still am working on some of my self confidence issues. But I now see a young lady with a load of determination, a young lady that looks up more when she walks, a young lady with some talent that God can use for His glory. While I can fit into sizes that I didn't think I would ever see again, and the number on the scale isn't as scary, the most important thing is to really see myself as God sees me. Once some of that excess baggage is out of the way, He is able to do so much more for me than I ever dreamed possible.

I did it!

Ok so I'm so lame at blogging but I wanted to let those of you who do check my blog that I finally made it to my goal!!! I lost 50 pounds officially!!!

It's not the greatest picture but the most recent :-)

Just a tip…

First I want to say thank you to all of those who have been so encouraging during my life changing process. Some of you have asked what my secret is to weight loss. First, it is more than just weight loss. It is living a healthier lifestyle. So I thought I would blog some tips from time to time. (My disclaimer is that while these things have worked for me they might not work for you. That is one thing that I have learned is that I have to do what works for me and not everything that the fitness gurus suggest will work, so pick and choose carefully. If after a week or more it doesn’t work then try something else.)

So here is my first tip: Portion control

Whether you are calorie counting (my personal favorite, which I will discuss in a later blog entry), POINTS counting, or just watching the food go into your mouth, watching your portions is a smart healthy choice that may help your weight loss and overall health.

Did you realize that when you grab that can of pop, bag of chips or tub of ice cream that is not a “serving?”

This was one thing that was one thing that was hard to wrap my mind around. Most liquids (pop, water, milk, juice, etc.) are given as a 8 ounce serving. As a chocolate milk-aholic this was devastating especially since tall glasses that I like to drink out of were no where near 8 measly ounces. I actually found some glasses at MARC’S that were 8 ounces when clear full. These are my morning milk glasses.

 

 

Without using portion sized containers or my food scale I would eat the whole tub of ice cream without realizing exactly how much I had really eaten. There is nothing wrong with being slightly obsessive about your eating habits. If you aren’t obsessive for yourself, no one else will be obsessive for you. (And if some one started being obsessive for you, you would probably resent it…) Making sure that you are eating only 1 ounce of chips instead of the whole bag, 1/2 cup of ice cream instead of the whole tub, or 8 ounces of chocolate milk instead of the whole carton is a huge first step for most people to take. Getting a food scale also is a big help for knowing exact amounts.

Taking small steps at a time is one of the keys to success. You can’t expect to drop 100 pounds in a week by this method, but it is one eye opening step in the process of dropping that 100 pounds in the next year or two.

Happy New Year

Wow! 2010 is here and so many opportunities for the new year! Looking back at the last year some interesting things have happened, and with a new year spread out in front of us there is so much room for new interesting things to happen. So what are we going to do about it? Well, I looked back at the post I did for the last New Year... and I made some crazy and fun resolutions. But some of my goals were small monthly ones that would help lead to a healthier, skinnier me... Well it did help some...

I'm happy to say that I have lost twenty plus pounds since this picture was taken... And feel pretty good. I know it sounds like I'm bragging but it has taken a lot of hard work... Somedays it doesn't feel like I've lost any weight and somedays it feels like I am skinny. LOL Going home to family that hasn't seen me in months showed me that all the hard work was worth it... I must say that the compliments were very encouraging. I already have another goal in mind for a year from when that picture was taken (my birthday). And I'll be sure to post when the time comes

:-)

I wish you all the most blessed New Year!!