Weigh in and Measurement time..

Last Thursday was weigh in day...During the day I measured and lost 1 inch total.. I was disappointed. I had actually gained 3.5 inches in my calve. I was discouraged mentally, and not sure what to expect on the scales. I weighed that evening and lost 14 pounds! Wow, God is faithful. I have lost 79 pounds total so far. I am so excited that this is actually happening to me.

I don't know if I will be able to make it to my big goal..that is 100 pounds by the family reunion. That is a month and a half away.. I am in need of some new clothes, but I was really wanting to wait until I reached the 100 pound mark. We will see what happens!

Homework from First Place June 2009

Thursday, June 25, 2009
I am not sure where to begin. I have many ideas and thoughts that I have been praying about. When writing these, I find that I ask myself how deep are you really willing to go? Will you share all or hold back what hurts too much? Well we will see what ends up on this piece of paper.

The first thing for me to address is that I did pretty well this last book. I did most of the study, came to most of the meetings, and ate well. A few things that I would like to improve on is snacking in the evening, snacking during events (camping, retreats, movies, parks, etc), memorizing scripture. I did not do that this entire book :0(.

The next thing for me to address is working out. Working out is so important to me. It is good for my body as well as my mind. The first couple of weeks in June I did not go to the gym. I really could not afford it so I was going to cancel my membership and exercise at home. Nath and I rode our bikes, but the work out was not the same. A couple of weeks ago someone paid for Nathalie and my membership and told us that it was from the Lord. I believe this to be true. The Lord knows that we need this membership. He also knows that we need to be good stewards of our money. By doing so he blessed us. I am so grateful that the Lord looks out for me. Getting back into the swing of going to the gym has been hard. I was thinking about it today and realized why. When we first started going to the gym it was our desire. Then we took a “vacation” from it and upon returning it became “work”. I am praying that the Lord will help me with my mind set and change it back to a desire. I will persevere for I know that is what the Lord wants from me.

I have personally found that scripture memorization has been a huge uplift for me. It helps me to keep my mind centered on the Lord. There are times that I repeat memorized scripture to myself to help me thru situations that I would have previously made poor decisions regarding food. One scripture that continues to speak to me is 1Cor 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will provide a way out so that you can endure it. I used this scripture last week when I was in my mind convincing myself that it would be okay for me to have a marshmallow. NO TEMPTATION has taken over me!

The Lord speaks to me in so many ways.. One of the way is through music. Recently I was listening to David Cook sing “The Time of My Life”, the words to the song just penetrated my soul…

I’ve been waiting for my dreams to turn into something
I could believe in
And looking for that
Magic rainbow
On the horizon
I couldn’t see it

Until I let go
Gave into love and watched all the bitterness burn
Now I’m coming alive
Body and soul
And feelin’ my world start to turn

And I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time

This Song inspires me in so many ways. It was not long ago that I was not willing to cry out to the Lord for anything because of my own guilt, disobedience, and lack of perseverance. I remember going to the Lord on my knees and saying… Help me. I have lost sight of you and lost sight of your presence, I am hardly hanging on and I feel myself slipping. This journey felt helpless.

Now I can relate to this song.. I am tasting every moment, coming alive, living out loud, watching the bitterness burn, feeling my life start to turn. I am praising the Lord for what he has done for me.

He is changing me. What I have learned:
• I am as close or as intimate with the Lord as I want to be
• He is always there
• Being obedient has brought me closer in relationship with the Lord
I am thankful for our group. You encourage me and help me to stay in line. I am excitied to see what the Lord is going to do with our group!

One of the ways the Lord blessed me last week..

A couple of weeks ago I was sharing with a Kristy from First Place. She asked me when Nathalie and I go to the gym. I told her that we had been working out in the mornings, however I was canceling my membership. I told her that was one bill that I could cut. I was exercising by riding my bike and that we were trying to figure out what else we were going to do for exercise.

Last week she pulled Nathalie and I aside and told us that she had something for us from the Lord. She was quite nervous as she began to share her heart and what the Lord had laid on it. She handed both Nathalie and I an envelope. We opened it to find gift certificates for the gym.

Wow! Our God is so good. He proved to me that when I am obedient to him, he will provide. Maybe not in the ways that we would expect, but in even bigger, better ways. I went to pay for the gym and she had given us enough for 6 months!

Dear God,

Thank you so much for your faithfulness. I love that you show up in unexpected forms and that you speak to me through other people. Your love for me is beyond description. Thank you for the membership to the gym. It really does help me to have a place to go and work out and get away from the business of life.

Please encourage Nathalie and I to continue on this weight loss journey. Bless us with the energy to work out and the desire to work out. Please heal our physical problems and help us to grow strong physically as well as spiritually. Your love for me surprises me every day.

Amen

Thank you Jesus

Summer is here and most of the kids are out of school. I am so excited to be able to spend some time at home or on the go with the kids. I enjoy the summers because we get to do all sorts of fun things. The challenges of summer for me is healthy eating. You would think with all the fresh fruits and vegetables it would be easier... Not for me.. This means lots of BB Q's with potato salads, pasta salads, desserts, chips, marsh mellows, etc. For this summer I am choosing to give my food choices to the Lord. I am not going to conform to the ways of the world, but follow what the Lord has for me... My challenge to myself...DO NOT EAT ANY MARSH MELLOWS! This may seem like a small challenge, for me it is big. A couple of years ago I was eating healthy, losing weight, and the first unhealthy thing I ate that sent me into a viscous cycle was a marsh mellow. Now, I know that one marshmallow is not what did it, but it is a symbol for me. A symbol of temptation and knowing "that no temptation has seized me except what is common to man"..I will not give into that temptation. I will hang on to the Lords promises for me and my life.

Dear Lord,
Thank you for your promises in your word. Thank you that they bring life to me every day. I am so encouraged by the words you speak to me through prayer and through the bible. You are my strength. When I think of you I think of a rock. I picture a boulder strong and tall. Jesus you are my rock, you pick me up when I am down, you carry me through the tough times and your spirit refreshes me daily. Your love for me is amazing. Thank you. Amen

Bike rides

Over the last couple of weeks I have really gotten the chance to ride my bike in the evenings. It has been quite nice. Just when it starts to cool down, Nathalie, sometimes Mickey, Anthony, or Richard and I get on our bikes and go for a ride. What a nice way to end the day. We started out with a mile and that was quite the ride. We are at a 3.3 mile ride now without stopping for any breaks. This feels wonderful. I am just so amazed that we are able to do this!

Lord,

I thank you for the stregnth and endurance to be able to ride our bikes. I ask that you would continue to give us the will power. Lord, I also ask that you would heal our bodies from the inside out. The aches and pains that we have sometimes stop us from being active, Lord please fix these aches and pains and help us to become strong physically as well as spiritually. I know you hear our prayers. I send all the praise and glory to you.

In Jesus Name I pray, Amen

Salavary testing

The last time I went to see Sandy she ordered some salavary testing. Here are some of the results and insight from Sandy:

Hi, I've scanned and attached part of one page of your results...it shows a graph with 2 parallel dotted lines . Normal is between those lines. Your readings are the square's and the solid line connecting the lines. As you can see the first 3 readings are low, the 4th is in the normal range.


I'm researching the correct treatment for the results of the adrenal stress test & will give you an idea of what it will be in a few days. I picked the results up at the office this afternoon, basically there is a normal range for cortisol, with the highest levels in the morning and lowest at night. The only normal reading you had was in the last part of the day, the 1st, 2nd & 3rd readings were low....the first thing is to support your tired adrenal glands.

I'm excited for you because helping restore your health in this specific area will have a major on everything else in your system, weight, fertility, energy, outlook, fatigue. If you think you've been feeling soooo much better the past 6 months or so, you will feel like wonder woman when your adrenals are working.

I just love seeing Sandy! She has such a wealth of knowledge and is encouraging to me! I look forward to seeing the changes in me once we take care of the above!

First Place assignment 5-7-09

5-7-09
Once again I was not able to get my First Place “homework” done every day this week so I am summing the daily questions up into weekly questions.
My emotions this week have once again had its ups and downs. I am somewhat like an emotional roller coaster! My emotions did not affect my food choices. I was able to eat healthy and make good food choices. For this I send thanks to the Lord. I am so grateful that he is leading me on this new life style.

I did not open the bible every day. I have spent time with the Lord everyday meditating on his words and his promises. Joshua 1:8 Keep this book of the Law always on your lips, Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. This is so true! I it has really helped me the last couple of days to stay centered on the Lord and just feel his presence that I so badly need!

A book in the Bible that has impacted me this week is the story of Job. I have been having a rough time at church. Every time I go, the Lord tries to begin the healing that I so desperately need. I stop the Lord from doing the work in me that I have asked him to do! I ask the Lord to use me…to do whatever it takes. Yet the moment something happens I don’t allow him to do it. I have been so entrapped by the feelings of disappointment and questions of the Lords faithfulness that I did not want to reach out for help. I felt guilt and shame for not trusting the Lord and questioning him.

This week at church we discussed Joshua and whether or not we can trust the Lord and if the Lord is faithful. What I know: I trust the Lord and I know that he is faithful. I don’t understand my circumstances and I don’t understand why he has allowed these things in my life to happen. I met with a friend and shared with her (sobbing) these intimate thoughts in my head. I was embarrassed, but I remembered the Lords word about bringing things to light. I continued to unload all these feelings and thoughts that were strangling me with guilt.

She tells me the story of Job. She says his family was killed and he was in horrific pain. He cried out to the Lord, I know your words, but I don’t feel them in here and points to his heart. He did not turn away from the Lord, he grasped on to him. . Wow! It’s okay for me to feel this way? Most people would not like to be compared to Job with all of his suffering, but this was a relief for me. Here I thought my relationship with the Lord wasn’t strong enough, yet now I know it is. I am going through something and its okay to cling to the Lord, even if all it is, is one hand clinging onto his shirt. At least I am clinging to the one thing that will save me.

The other thing that the Lord spoke to me this week is that he wants to go deeper with me. For our relationship to have more depth, I will go through trials. The Lord will use these trials to strengthen me, strengthen our relationship. I have to allow him access to those intimate areas that I have closed off. It is not okay for me to just stuff everything down and not go through them. That will make me bitter and lonely. If I allow the Lord to help me sort through my suffering he will be glorified and the healing will begin in me.

All of this is connected to my weight loss journey. If I don’t have my emotions in check, I will turn to food for help instead of the Lord. I spent a lot of time in prayer this week. I would rate this week pretty good. The Lord is beginning to work in me in a new way and I love it. He is using my weaknesses to become strengths and I am learning how to work through things. I need to start writing down my food again. I had gotten out of the habit and I need to return to it.

The one thing that I would like to share this week is that it is important that we all have someone to share our personal struggles with, the ones that stay in our minds and haunt us. We need to have the accountability. This is not to make light of going to the Lord, for that is most important. I say this to encourage fellowship with one another. The Lord has given us each other so that we can build each other up and together build up his kingdom. He does not want us bound by our thoughts he wants us to meditate on his words.