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!