It Really is Simple

The first reading at Mass this Sunday was from Deuteronomy 30:9-14 (NABRE):

Then the Lord, your God, will generously increase your undertakings, the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil; for the Lord, your God, will again take delight in your prosperity, just as he took delight in your ancestors’, because you will obey the voice of the Lord, your God, keeping the commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when you return to the Lord, your God, with your whole heart and your whole being. For this command which I am giving you today is not too wondrous or remote for you. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who will go up to the heavens to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may do it?” Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may do it?” No, it is something very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.

As I listened to this reading I just kept thinking how simple all of this is. Not that it is easy, but it is simple! God so clearly lays out his plan for us and our salvation. He tells us to do what he says and we will prosper, and if that wasn’t enough, he sent Jesus to be our living example of what we are suppose to do!

I love how God’s Word is living and breathing and can penetrate your heart and mind to exactly what God wants you to hear at a particular moment. Yes, he was speaking to me about my salvation and following Him and listening to and obeying His commands, but he was also talking to me about other areas of my life. He spoke so clearly to me about my fitness and nutrition and my business as well. 

Getting results in a fitness and nutrition is simple, not easy, but simple! If you eat what you are suppose to, eliminate the foods you shouldn’t eat, get in some exercise, you will see results. 

The same idea and concept goes for my business. So many people have gone before me and laid out their plan to success. I know what works and what needs to be done. It isn’t complicated, yet I find it so difficult!

Anything worthwhile in this life takes effort, dedication and consistency. It’s not enough to follow God’s commands occasionally, they must be done consistently. He must be sought after, prayed to and obeyed every day!

When it comes to being healthy, it isn’t enough to just eat good and exercise a few days a week, you must do so every day. You must be consistent to see any results or changes. 

If you are in sales, you can’t just call a bunch of prospects every one in a while and follow up when you feel like it if you expect to convert those prospects to customers and then keep them as customers. 

The same concept holds true in so many areas of our life! Maybe for you it is in your marriage or other relationships. We know we must listen, communicate well, be present and show love, yet if we don’t do these things consistently, relationships suffer. 

We must stop making the simple things in this life so complicated. We must stop letting fear and insecurities stand in the way of doing what we know we should do and what God calls us to do! 

Look one more time at verse 11: 

For this command which I am giving you today is not too wondrous or remote for you.

God is not being so lofty and beyond our understanding. He is not making himself or his Word out of reach and difficult for us to understand. He is laying it out and making things simple for us! It’s time to start listening, obeying and doing what God commands and apply those commands to all areas of our life.

Satan Has Nothing On Me

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour. ~ 1 Peter 5:8 NABRE

I have seen and read this verse hundreds of times, but I have never seen it so evident than in some of the groups I run. I work with women (and some men) on their fitness and nutrition journey. I have Facebook groups where I, along with a friend, provide education, support, motivation and accountability. 

Satan is real and satan is a big fat jerk! He preys on our vulnerabilities, our fears and our insecurities. He makes us doubt ourselves and see things that aren't there. He has us focus on our areas of weakness, or an area we are not pleased with and totally discount everything else we have going for us. He twists words and thoughts into knots that end up in our stomaches making us uneasy and sometimes unable to move forward! 

We need to rise up and "Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil." ~ Ephesians 6:11 NABRE

We need to stop focusing on the lies and start focusing on God's truth. We need to stop seeing things the way the world does and start seeing them through God's eyes! He made us in His image. He made us for a purpose, and He made us perfect! God does not make mistakes! What you see as a flaw is there for a specific reason and purpose. Maybe it is there to help you learn something, maybe it is there to help you focus on God, maybe it is there to distinguish you in some way among peers, maybe it is there so you can help others overcome a struggle they are having! 

I tore my ACL and meniscus playing basketball in college. I thought my world had come to an end. I didn't understand why God would allow something like that to happen to me when things with my career were finally starting to come together. 

I totally and completely let Satan in for a while and play on my emotions. I became angry and bitter. I started drinking heavily and lashing out at friends. I wanted to be positive, but I just couldn't. I don't remember how or why I snapped out of it (maybe it was the police taking away a falsified ID at a bar while I was on crutches), but I finally did.

That injury that I hated so much has been one of my greatest blessings! That injury allowed me to learn to rely on other strengths and skills I didn't know I had. That injury allowed me to push my body in new ways that I didn't know I could. That injury helped me inspire and lead others who were going through similar struggles. That injury covered an additional year on my scholarship and placed me in exactly the right place at the right time for a graduate assistant position that paid for the remainder of my graduate school!

That injury from so many years ago is still blessing me! I had worked out on and off since college, but finally, 2 years ago I went to a doctor because I knew my knee was not right at all. I went because I wanted to start running and working out again and knew it was time to get it taken care of. Well, that injury morphed into more craziness. My ACL is loose, I have a cyst, 3 bone spurs and some crazy arthritis. Unless I want a knee replacement while I am far too young for one, it was highly recommended I not be running and jumping and doing things with impact.

That darn injury! 

Well, that darn injury may have saved my life! I have had to find new ways to take care of my body in order to get it in shape. I have had to force myself to learn better nurition in order to shed pounds. I have had to learn to stretch and strengthen it without impact. Thanks to that injury I am the healthiest I have ever been in my life, and without that injury, I would NEVER have gotten to this point!

I could not have done any of this or figured out any of it on my own. I did not do any of this on my own strength, but on God's. He knew exactly what He was doing when I suffered that injury. He stood right there by my side whether I knew he was there or not. He held me up and gave me strength when I had none of my own. He was there at the bar that night making sure I went home and got off with a warning and only had my ID confiscated. He knew that I just needed a scare and nothing far worse! 

There are days I hate looking in the mirror because of that knee. I see the scar, but I see the swelling and the quad that isn't the same size as the other because of my surgery. I hate the way it looks in bathing suits and skirts and dresses. Satan sometimes wants to creep into my mind and lie to me about it. It's at those times I must remember that "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” ~ 2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV

When I feel Satan creeping in and preying on my insecurities, I must remember that I am a child of God. He created me, perceived imperfections and all! Satan has no control over me and I can push him out whenever I want to! I don't have to do it alone, I have God on my side. Satan may fight dirty, but I have the advantage!

My Perfect Morning

When I am at my best and in balance spiritually, physically, nutritionally and emotionally, there is one, major common denominator....God and spending time with Him!

When I am putting God first and making my morning time with Him a priority, I find myself in balance everywhere else. Even if I am short on time and things seem to be chaotic, if I just spend time with Him, I find I have enough time  and energy to do the things that need to get done. I am better focused in my workouts, I don't fall into as many temptations with my nutrition, and I am able to better keep my emotions in check.

One thing that focuses my mind in the morning is sending some sort of scripture or prayer that is edifying to my best friend. She lives 2 hours behind me (and I get up at ridiculous times in the morning anyway), so I am able to have a message waiting for her on her phone when she is ready to roll out of bed and look at it.

I am not totally sure when this got started, but I have been doing this for months now and it is something I am consistent with and forces me to sit down, look at scripture and write about it! This also allows me to pour life into someone else the way I have had life poured into me so many times!

I send her things that I feel God wants her to know and He is leading me to share. I sometimes share lessons that God is working on in my life, or sometimes it is a scripture that I find motivating to get the day started and started right!

On a perfect morning in my world, sending off this message is the first thing I do (of course I pray that God would lead me to what he wants me to share first). Then, I will read out of my devotional book and journal prayers and affirmations for and over my husband.

Next, I will either get on my knees, face, or stand to pray. I will pray what is in my heart, I will pray over important people in my life and I will lift up prayers people have asked me to lift up. I pray that I will be so filled with His Spirit that it overflow from every thought or word that comes from me and every action I take in the day. I pray He use me for His will but that He be clear with me what that is (since sometimes I just don't understand or am being stubborn).  I pray He shows me who to reach out to and what to say and not say in my conversations. I pray that I am obedient to His call and how He wants me to go about my day.

I thank Him for the many blessings in my life and pray that He guide me every step of my day.

So, why do I share this? Because I think so many of us want to start to have a better relationship with Christ. We want to pray more but feel like it has to be complicated or there is a right or wrong way to do it. My prayer time has involved my message to my friend, devotional reading, journaling and speaking prayer out loud. My prayers have gotten longer and more powerful. Your prayer life is something you work at like you would any muscles. Over time you get better and stronger. You can do more and you can do it longer.

Your prayer life is something you become in better tune with like your body. I know when my body needs a more focus in one area over another, I know when my body needs a little extra love and care and I know when I need to push it further.

There are days I need to spend much more time in prayer. There are days I need to be flat on my face and there are others that I don't. There are days that I need to be reading more scripture and meditating and there are days I need to be journaling more. The more you do it the more in tune you are with your needs and the desires God has for you.

To close, I wanted to share the scripture I shared with Christine today. This scripture is exactly the kind of prayers I try to pray and it ties my thoughts together better than I ever could! I share scripture to her in the New International Version (NIV) because that is what she reads from.

“Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.”

Psalm 119:33-38 NIV

Mirror and Beyond Challenge

In a recent Challenge Group, I was challenged to a Mirror and Beyond Challenge...."Today I am challenging you to take a picture of your reflection in the mirror (ya know, how we used to do it before selfies lol) I want you to then share that pic in the group and tell us one thing you see in that mirror that you love about yourself and one thing that goes beyond your reflection that you love about yourself (something about your personality, character, skills, heart, brains whatever)"

I thought I would share mine publicly. I challenge you to do this exercise and share it privately with someone you feel comfortable sharing with. 

I took this picture this morning. This is one where I am not in my best shape, I don't usually share those. I like to share the ones where you can see some abs popping or some crazy strong looking move so you are distracted from those areas that aren't where I like to see them physically.

In this picture I see me. Someone who isn't going to bend or change to fit into a particular mold that others want me to fit in. This is how I workout and this is how I am comfortable. I won't wear cute outfits or do my hair because that's what others think I should do. I know many people think I look like a "dude" and I don't care. I know that I am a woman, albeit, a bit of a tomboy, but still a woman. 

Initially I see the areas where I let myself go because of my nutrition. I see the extra and bloat, and am a little annoyed. I know that a little discipline and a little clean eating and I will be right back in the game, but it still frustrates me, I mean, I am human, right?

Beyond that initial reflection I first see a little girl who has struggled figuring out who she is and what she is suppose to be. I see a little girl who still sometimes feels useless and not living up to what she should become. As I move beyond that, I see someone who is starting to finally find her worth and identity and is beginning to understand those were all just Satan's lies trying to keep her from being what God intends.

Continuing to move beyond that, I see a woman who is growing into what Christ wants her to become. I see a woman who is totally transparent and will do anything for others. I see a woman who is working to be more obedient to God's call in her life and who is fiercely loyal to those she loves. I see someone who is disciplined and consistent and someone others can count on.

When we look beyond the mirror we need to stop focusing on the imperfections that we see, because they are lies. God created each and every one of us and He did so with intentionality. Who am I to say that His work isn't beautiful and perfect? How dare I question The Creator!

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" ~ Romans 9:20 (NIV)

We were formed in the image and likeness of God. When we look in the mirror, shouldn't that be who and what we see staring back at us? 

If it isn't, why? Is it time to clean yourself up? Is it time to start looking more to the creator and less to the world? Is it time to stop listening to all the lies Satan wants your head filled with?

".....He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." ~ John 8:44 (NIV)

What do you see in the mirror. What lies do you need to push past to see you? What lies is Satan using to try to keep you from being who God created you to be?