Trust and Obey

Worry is so common among us all today...especially today with so many financial and economical, social and spiritual uncertainties looming in our sights. But there is One I know Who knows what is coming, and how to conquer it all. 

Okay, here is another quote or saying that I have heard all my life that has such strong meaning to me now: "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." We are all planners to some extent or another, and that is a good thing, I think. But something happens to us when those plans get thrown off in the slightest. We freak out!! Our plans are not always God's plans for us...and thankfully so. When I think back over my life, there are so many situations that I would have liked to have happened differently, at the time. But now, seeing the outcome and result and blessings from those times, I am SO happy that my God is in control! He is the creator of our universe! Why do we think we know better than Him in what should or shouldn't happen?! Who do we think we are?! (Totally talking to myself here!) 

Trust is an incredibly hard thing to do for us. I have had "trust issues" my whole life. It is something I struggle with to this day, but that does NOT give me the right to doubt anyone, most of all God. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that love believes all things. Do I believe all things good about others? About God?! I know what you are thinking now, "Wait, Lari, you don't mean that you don't trust God!" Well, I hope I trust Him with every fiber of my being. But you tell me, what does it say to Him when I doubt or worry? Isn't that saying, in essence, that I don't trust Him to work things for my good? Isn't that saying that I doubt His ability to handle my piddly problems?! If we get to the heart of the matter, I'm afraid it does say that to Him. In order to give control of my life to my Creator, I cannot doubt or worry. The LORD will provide for me and my family if we seek Him and His will. And I know these things, oh so well, but the devil is a lurking foe with fear, doubt, worry, and self-reliance dripping from his bared fangs. He is waiting for me to give him a foothold with a shadow of a doubt. He doesn't need much to grab a hold of me and drag me into his misery. I must cling to my Father as a child frightened in the night clings to the strong arms of her earthly daddy. But instead of asking my Father to make it go away, I have decided I want to ask Him to make it less scary. The struggles and scary things of this world will never go away while we are on this earth. So I want to ask God to help me defuse the fear and doubt. And He will because He has promised us all the "peace that passes all understanding". I have recently gotten to enjoy that peace, and although I can't explain it, let me share this with you, it is amazing and wonderful. Please take Him up on that offer. Give your worries and cares to Him and trust! He commands us to do this. Isn't it an amazing comfort to know that when we are Home with Him, this will all seem as NOTHING! So don't let NOTHING stand in your way of rest in your Father's arms! How sad to turn to our own understanding, and thinking that we can make it on our own! How arrogant and pitiful we can be. God waits to answer our knock for peace and comfort. Let Him be your Hero.

Lemons, Anyone?!

"If life gives you lemons, make lemonade." 

"That car is nothing but a lemon."

"She's as sour as a lemon."

These sayings or thoughts are things we have all heard our whole lives. But the other day, I was preparing my new favorite water concoction (I'll tell you about that later), and got to really looking at the lemons floating in the water. How pretty a slice of lemon is, and the perfection God puts into each little fruit.  How, if used properly, and with distinct purpose, they can be quite a treasure in the kitchen. But, lemons can be such a sour, unpleasant little fruits. So, as my mind usually does, it wandered to another thought. Our lives, and our tongues more so, are just like that lemon! I have heard a thought by someone guiding me spiritually that if you squeeze, or apply pressure to a lemon, you get lemon juice. So what do you get when you apply pressure to a Christian? Well, hopefully you get a Christ-like reaction. But unfortunately, more times than not for me, I emit something not very Christ-like at all: anger, frustration, stress, doubt, worry. I hate to say it, but it's true. And what truly concerns me, is that my children learn how to react by how I react, right? What a scary thought. There is no measure to the regret for the way I have handled myself in the past. But I am human and fall short daily. So what is truly important is that I teach these sweet little souls repentance. I tell them when I over-react, "I disappointed God with how I just acted. I'm really sorry you saw that." Honesty and humility is what our kids need today more than ever. I pray they remember that, and not how I flew off the handle to spilled milk...no pun intended there! 

Okay, so my point today is this: we, as Christians, can be really a sour thing in someone's life, or we can be a sweet, refreshing, healthy part of the life of others. I pray that I will use my life, my words, my example to be the sweet lemon to those around me. 

And so, as I promised, my refreshing, "detox" water is just this:

1 orange sliced

1 lemon sliced

1 gallon of water

Place the lemon and orange in a gallon-sized pitcher, and pour water over the fruit to fill the pitcher. After your first pitcher is done, refill water. You can do this a couple of times, but know that the more you do it, the stronger the citrus taste. So when that happens, I like to pour just a little in a glass and then add tap water to fill my glass. This citrus water, if you will, really, REALLY helps to keep your water retention down...so makes for really nice weigh-ins!!

Failure is Not an Option

Okay, so here we are...post holiday rush, excitement, planning, and stress. How did you do? Did you get everything done you wanted to get done? Were all your visits with family friends everything you hoped they would be? Did all your stressing pay off? OH, WAIT! Did you forget any presents stowed away in the closet?!?! Oh, well, if so, they will be there for next year! 
 Let me ask you one more question about the past two weeks: did you remember to sit back and enjoy the time? I have to confess to you that I let the trees choke out the forest. I got caught up in the "have to get done's", and let them drown out the "get to do's". How foolish of me. Something else I let happen over the past two weeks is the ever serious lapse in judgement of all thing health and fitness. Oh yes, I did. I let my routine be so altered and, well, non-existent, that now I am horribly miserable with the process of getting back what I have gained over the past ten months.
It all began on the Friday before Christmas. It was Anniversary Date Night at the Richards' house, and movie theater popcorn was on my radar! Now, I am a firm believer in letting yourself enjoy a little indulgence every now and then. BUT, when that occasional indulgence gives way to a cookie whenever, dessert with every meal, and NO exercise, you have THEN blown your diet! Yeppers! I blew it.  So is all lost? Do I just say, "Oh well! At least I am not where I was last year. Maybe this is just where I am suppose to be. This is my healthy." Or, do I get up, shake the dust from my shoes and carry on? I think I'll choose the latter, but it's not easy. It's funny how staying on track for a long period of time is so much easier than having a long break only to start over at, what seems like, square one. I am back to forcing myself to move, forcing myself to journal food, forcing myself to NOT eat that chocolate from the kids' stockings, and forcing myself to be good. But I do know that God helped me through this before, and I can, and will do get through it again. I have to remember that this body is not my own. I was bought for that price Jesus paid. I belong to HIM. I cannot live as I want, but as He decrees. And I love that He carries these loads for me. He is the reason I can face tomorrow. He is the reason for everything, and I hope that you have come to know that! There is nothing of me that is not HIS.
I hope that you will join me in beginning again this year! I hope that you never stopped, but if you did, never give up! I am not where I want to be yet. I am not at my healthy. I am not who I am meant to be. God is with me, so it is impossible to be against myself! Failure is NOT an option!

They're Not Heavy...

I can't believe you are back for more, people!  What an honor to have you reading! It is a great compliment, and for that I thank you!
     I laid awake in bed last night, unable to sleep. I thought about so many things, but mostly my mind raced, as probably many of yours have, to things that I want to/need to get done today, tomorrow, this weekend, before Christmas, so on and so forth... This time of year is horrible for my sleepless nights. But as I thought about all of those chores to accomplish, I drifted to another aspect of it all: I have a LOT of responsibilities!
     I still, less than two weeks until Christmas, need to plan gifts for our families. With a tight budget, and lots of activities this time of year, how am I going to manage the money to stretch it through the month?! I know, and have experienced how God provides for those who rely on Him. And boy, do we rely on Him! He is so faithful to give us what we need when we seek His will and obey it! Jesus promises this in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." I know this, and I believe everything that God tells us in His word. But, just like lots of things in this life, it is very hard to put into practice. God has never let us go without what we need, and He even allows us luxuries. So why do I doubt? Because I am a short-sighted, forgetful human. So daily, I remind myself of the One Who has never left my side while others come and go from my life. There is one Constant: God. 

     So, the mind drifted to a less stressful arena. I began to think of my sleeping babies in their snug little beds. But wait, my children alone are a huge responsibility. I remember the moments after I found out I was pregnant with our first child. I was at work, and sitting at my desk. I immediately had a knot in my stomach...or was it nausea? No, I realized there is a soul that is dependent on me for everything. But the thought that struck me the hardest was that it was a pure soul. It is up to me and my beloved to teach them about God, about love, about humility, about cleanliness, about respect, about other cultures and types of people, about how to treat each other...are you feeling the overwhelming feeling that kept me up? However daunting this responsibility is, it is my favorite. What a joy it is to share in the newness of the world in their eyes. I am amazed at what they take in and learn daily. They are little sponges that absorb the world around them at an alarming rate. So we must proceed with caution. It is my husband and my responsibilities to do all we can to return these precious souls to God as pure as He gave them to us.
        Another responsibility that I thought of was my responsibility to my husband. We, as wives, play a huge role in who our husbands are in the world. I have recently learned the influence I have on how successful he is as a husband, father, Christian, or even an employee! My relationship with him permeates so many aspects of who he is. So with a slip of the tongue, or over-stepping my God-given boundaries, I can strike a devastating blow to the man of my heart given to me by my Heavenly Father. Or, with a kind word of encouragement or literal pat on the back, his confidence is built up and he is off to conquer the world for us. I know that sounds pretty egotistical of me, but it's a fact. If he doesn't have my trust and respect and affection, what else matters to a husband? It will affect how feels about his ability to conquer other areas of life. So, add being a loving, supportive wife to my growing list of responsibilities!
        Next on the responsibility list is my duties to my fellow Christians. I pondered over my example to others who are striving to live as Christ-like as possible. Am I encouraging, or causing others to stumble? Does my "conversation" edify them or distract them from the cross of Christ? I truly believe we all strive to help each other in this life, but we constantly struggle with jealousies, competitions, arguments, insecurities, and so forth. Is my aim always to lift others to reach their goal? God's Word says it should be! "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another." (Gal 5:13-15) 
         Yet another concern that popped into this ever-cranking brain is my responsibility as a Christian serving God. Yes, that one should have been first on the list, but I admit to you here and now that I fail daily when prioritizing my time. I regretfully confess that my time alone with God sometimes falls into the gaps of the other chores and activities. I have to, with purpose and determination, set out to make time in my day to talk with Him. But let me let you in on this awesome revelation I have had: the more I make time for God, the more time I want to spend with Him. A very smart man once told me that, and I hoped to find it out for myself one day, this would be the case. And one night, not too long ago, I found myself lying in bed, feeling so eager to go to God with a list of things I wanted to tell Him! It wasn't that I was in need of a laundry list of things from Him, as I sometimes do. It wasn't that I had a heavy heart at all! It was that I had a familiar feeling of calling up my best friend to share my thoughts. Now, mind you, I did so with complete awe that God has reshaped this heart of mine. I pray that He will continue this process, as I undoubtedly know that I am so far from being complete. But please, take my challenge! If you struggle with spending time alone with God, set a timer for ten minutes each day...yes, set a timer. You will be amazed at the amount of growth that comes from ten minutes. Your ten minutes of quality time will grow and grow, until one day you will look back and be amazed that you once could confine your time to so little. Once again, I still have days where I let other things choke out that time...I told you I have so much to learn, and this skull is pretty thick! And as I lay in bed, I wondered if I had done my best lately at nurturing my relationship with the Creator. Sadly, I have to say I don't feel I had. 
        So my summary of all those responsibilities is that they are all incredibly important and worthy of my time, but none should be viewed as a burden. Each is a gift to be cherished. And so my assignment for today to treat each as the treasure they are! And may my LORD be glorified in the process!

Hello world!!

Hello World!

        Well, at the risk of sounding a little weird and inexperienced, this is a little weird and intimidating! This is my first attempt at this strange, new world of "blogging"! How strange to assume that others may have any interest in what goes on in this mundane, ordinary, everyday life of mine. So if you become bored and a little disenchanted with this blog, I tried to warn you! But for those of you who choose to stick around, this is a small glimpse into the life of a Christian, who tries daily to work her hardest for her husband, children, and most importantly, her God. I don't say that to sound self-righteous, or even that I have this whole life figured out. That is the furthest thing from the truth. Just like the title of this blog suggests, everyday is a new day for this mama. Everyday is a chance to try again to serve God with my whole heart. I have learned many things in my short time here on this earth, but there is SO much more that I hope others will share with me.  

So if you have the goods, share the wealth!! 

Now that the awkward introduction is done, let's get going on what's going on today. Over the past ten months, I have discovered a new catagory of my life that I never dreamed existed. I learned that I do have a drive to change what is wrong in my life. I am not stuck in the struggles of being unhappy with myself. I can take control, and I can change!

Ten months ago, I went to a Weight Watchers meeting with a friend to give it a try. I had once before lost significant weight with the program, so this should have been a hopeful time for me. Nope, I was feeling defeated already as I opened the door of the meeting. "I wonder how long this will last?" Not the meeting mind you, but my commitment to the process. I had started so, SO many diets only to last a week or two if I was really motivated. So what made this time any different?! What was I thinking?! This is how I am, and no amount of starvation would change my body. I honestly was convinced of that. 

But let me tell you what I have realized as over the next few months passed by, and the weight came off. I realized I am not in control! 

The same God that created the heavens and the earth created me. He holds me, and everything in His hands. As soon as I turned it over to Him, I succeeded. I prayed with my whole heart to lose weight, and become healthier. Although the physical process of eating less and moving more was ultimately up to me, He holds me in this. HE keeps me motivated, and driving forward.  

  And I believe the reason God has answered that prayer that I prayed was a key ingredient in that prayer. See, it was not for selfish gain to lose this weight. It was not to acheive the smokin' hot bod that I always dreamed of...that is SO not gonna happen in a million years! It was to become the wife and mother that I had always wanted to be. 

        When I had become a mother almost 6 years before, I was already over-weight. I began my pregnancy at 228 pounds. Not good. And proceeded to gain another 28 pounds before my Joe-man made his appearance a little over 8 months later. And, fast forward to 2011, three babies and pregnancies later, I was tipping the scales at 250...not pregnant! I know you are thinking, "You are insane for putting those numbers out there for everyone to see!!" And, yes, you are probably right. I have never been accused of being sane. But my point is this: I felt alone, but I wasn't. God was with me, yes. But there are other women out there who struggle with weight. Hello! I am not the only one. That is the point of this blog. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!! How's that for sounding corny?! But it is so true. When we feel alone, we tend to feel defeated. But always look for others to help you on your way. God was that One for me. The not-so-ending to this story is that so far I am 60 pounds lighter, and my faith is 60 pounds heavier. I know what Paul said in Philippians is true because I have lived it. "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13) The fact I am sure of is that because my aim is to be a better servant of Christ, He is strengthening me daily. My prayer now is that I keep Christ and God's will at the center of my life, in all aspects of my life. There is nothing of me that is not His.