a bridge

Looking at a picture of my family, you might ask why?

Why this intentional pursuit of health?  I would assume that we appear to be a fairly healthy group.  So why health?  Why now?

1. To care for our bodies as they are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
2. To model health for our daughter
3. To heal from past pain

Our current pain and "sickness" could be best named as DEBT and STRESS.  We, as a family, have endured much over recent years.  Financially, physically, emotionally- holistically.  While we have experienced much healing already and are confident that the rest is on the way, we are still grieving financial losses and praying through our next steps with the added costs of having a child.  The impact of this stress on my body along with the many physical changes it has undergone with pregnancy, delivery, and recovery has left me weak, exhausted, and desperate for change.

I have always heard that if you want to get something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.  I started this new year in a state of being more than ready to try anything new to seek the financial and physical healing I deeply desire for myself and our family.

So when I decided to ask God for help in my pursuit of health this year I had 2 specific requests:
1. Physical health- not image stuff but real foundational health.  A strong, energized, and thriving body.
2. Financial health- we want to be DEBT FREE so we can start writing a positive financial story rather than constantly climbing out of the negative one from our past.

So we prayed, waiting and listening for God's answer to our prayers.  While I am convinced that God can and does perform instantaneous miracles all the time (like miraculous healing with one touch and unexpected checks in the mail) it is sometimes through seemingly secular opportunities, connections, and experiences that He answers our prayers and heals. 

It was after watching our cousins experience so much physical and financial freedom through a company called Isagenix that we realized this could be the bridge that God could use to give us the desires of our hearts, heal our pain, and take us from where we are to where we want to be.  Hayden and Emily were able to get out of debt while maximizing their energy and conquering anxiety once and for all in their lives, all through the same opportunity.  In the spirit of wanting something new and therefore being willing to try something new, we wanted in.  So we joined.

Last month.

And there is already fruit in both the areas we had prayed about.

Isagenix addresses both our physical and financial needs as it works like this: first we buy nutritional food and eat it.  Fortunately this food fits into our monthly budget, replacing other unhealthy foods we had been eating, and therefore does not change our monthly expenses.  Then we make money through continuing to buy and eat this food along with introducing it to others through an unbelievable compensation plan.

I have been eating food from this company for breakfast and can already feel a difference.  I drive to work in the morning and literally can feel the ingredients energizing my body.  We will also report that while we are very much just starting with this company, we are already positioned to make something like $100/month, which pays for a significant chunk of the cost of the food we purchase.  This residual income will continue to increase.

Even beyond meeting those desires, this company is giving us "more than we could have asked for or imagined or thought" as after one month I can already see that it is going to simplify our life in practical ways like grocery shopping, lunch packing, and general menu planning as the food is shipped right to our door once a month.  As a busy working mom, nothing could bless me more than the gift of time through a simpler lifestyle.

We are thankful for this bridge and believe God is going to use it to bring holistic healing to our lives.   And we give Him all the glory.

For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory.  All glory be to God forever.  -Romans 11:36

We would love to have others join our Isagenix team as we continue to seek physical and financial healing.  Contact me if you are at all interested in experiencing this same freedom whether it is conquering anxiety, healthy aging, weight loss, daily health, increased energy, and/or financial freedom.  This could be your bridge as well.  

healthy family

After my upside down thought that it is not selfish to take time for yourself, I realized that is ONLY true if you are also mindful of the needs of others in your life.  I realized that I was unintentionally expecting my husband to be with Eden during much of our family time so I could go work out or take a nap or blog without asking him what he needed.

The Bible is the source of truth and the guide map for my life, and Philippians 2:3-4 instructs that we "do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others."

While I am not willing to comprise what I need nor back down on my recent pursuit of caring for my self, I am also aware that I need to consider what my husband needs as well.  So after this revelation we had a family meeting.

(Yes, Eden was there but she didn't contribute too much.  Someday.) 

This meeting consisted of my husband and I both sharing different priorities to our health now that we are more aware of what life is like with a little one.  I have learned that nothing happens if we are not intentional.  Time just keeps ticking away and because my goal for this entire year is to bear healthy fruit I realized we need to do some intentional planning.  To not plan would be like wanting to grow a garden but never sitting down to plan nor shop for the seed.  

Here are the minutes from our meeting! 

In order to be healthy during this season, my husband needs: 

1. 15 minutes in the morning to read and set his mind

2. 15 minutes after work to exercise MWF

3. Occasional weekends or days away to rejuvenate in the north woods (we set some dates) 

4. A couple of hours on Monday nights for homework

As I learn to value my body, I need: 

1. 20 minutes in the evening to unwind- alone

2. Exercise 3 times a week 

3. Quality time with Chris 

4. Time to write so I can post once a week

We are making arrangments to accomodate to each other's needs so we can be a healthy family.  

We also came up with 3 new family systems which can maintain our family health during this chaotic transition into this season of life as working parents.

1. Happy Hour. EVERY DAY from 5:00-6:00 will be happy hour at our home. NO, not with cocktails, but a time in which no one is working so we can all enjoy each other.  No laundry, cleaning, dishes, phones, or work.  Just happy play time.

2. Date Nights.  Ok so we have not worked out the details of this yet as now date nights require child care, but we are DETERMINED to at least once a month get out for a night together.  More details to come on this one, but I will be the first to admit that I have let my precious little peanut consume me.  I know this isn't healthy, but I'll take some newborn grace as I have made the initial adjustments to motherhood.  However, my baby is not a newborn anymore and it is time for me to look up and step back into my position as a wife which includes spending time with my amazing husband.  Marriage is an incredible gift and ministry and more than ever I realize how continual growth as a couple is essential for our holistic health.

3. Wednesday Night Worship. In order to keep Christ as the center of our family in the midst of adjusting to adding a new member, we decided that we need to have a time once a week in which we can connect spiritually as a family. My husband and I find such connection to Jesus through worship, and we want to set the family habit of worshipping and learning about Jesus together. So each Wednesday night we are going to worship and study- whether it is a book we read or podcast we listen to or particular topic we study in the Bible.

We desire health, not just for ourselves, but for the fruit and glory it brings to our heavenly Father.
John 15:8 has become somewhat of a family mantra in our home: When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples.  This brings great glory to my Father.

upside down

I want to change my challenge for this month to better align with my goal.  While I had intially committed to speaking affirmations about myself, I quickly realized that this just didn't quite fit with the root of my need to develop the healthy habit of valuing my body.

You know how you can tell when you are growing because there is tension and pressure and even pain?  It can be likened to lifting weights at the gym- if I am not lifting the right amount of weight it could be really easy and would, quite frankly, be a waste of time.  I felt this way about my habit of speaking positively.  It is a good habit to create, but not a major challenge for me personally.  There was no tension.  I have come to crave the tension and even strain of learning something new. 

My issue is not that I do not like my body nor value it theoretically anymore; I had lived that way for years and worked through that issue.  Lately my biggest struggle in health is the practical application of spending money and TIME.  I have already addressed the financial issue and given myself permission to spend money on my health, and most recently in my latest post discussed my desire to also give myself permission to spend time, and I have been thinking about that all week long and have more to add. 

I have been living under this false illusion that taking time for me is selfish.  However, the more I learn, the more I realize that it is not selfish to take time for my health.  If I want fruit, I have to commit to the process of caring for myself.  To not make self-care a priority would be as silly as wanting to have a garden and then never taking time to plant, water, or weed.

I am not the only one who benefits from my health.  The healthier I am, the kinder I am.  The more productive I am.  The more pleasant I am to be around.  The more energy I have.  Ultimately, the healthier I am the more I can give.  When I take time for myself I am a better mom teacher and wife.  It seems upside down, but it also makes perfect sense.

So I made a list of a few ways I can care for myself:

Massage
Chiropractor 

Bubble bath

10 minutes silence

10 minutes worship

Pedicure

Facial

Coffee shop time 

Nap

Date night

Exercise

Blog
Read
Pray

Isaiah 43:4 says, "Others were given in exchange for you.  I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me.  You are honored, and I love you."  I discipline myself to the obedient call to care for this precious body that my Heavenly Father created in His image and values infinitely.  My NEW goal is to treat myself to one indulgence each day for the rest of this month as a means of practicing the habit of taking time and money to value my precious body, knowing this discipline will produce incredible fruit.  

permission to spend more

Revisiting our 2 general approaches to health, I took time this week to more specifically reflect on my  motives for getting healthy.

On a scale from 1 - 10, 1 being I despise my body and am desperate to change and 10 being I value my body and enjoy taking care of it, where would I fall?

The more I thought about this I would rate myself at an 8, which coming from a 1 twelve years ago is miraculous.  It is valuable to take time to access metacognition and partake in the exersice of thinking about our thinking.  How do you think about your body?

For some with a low rating, this month is a time to intentionally create a habit of appreciating and valuing your body for the gift it is, but for others like me the enemy of our health may not be a poor body image.  So that leads me to question why am I not in optimal health?  If I value my body and want to care for it, why don't I?

While it was over a decade ago that I was abusing my physical body intentionally, it was only a year and even months ago that I would mistreat my body by neglect.  When I started teaching five years ago I lost over fifteen pounds this way; I was not dieting nor trying to lose weight at all, I was simply "too busy" to care for myself and allowed other priorities to slip in front of making healthy choices.  I stopped making time to eat, and when it did it was junk that was quick and easy.  I also stopped making exercise a priority.  I slept less and felt horrible.

Some of these bad habit have snuck themselves back into my life during this past week as it was my first full week back at work.  I am starting to recognize the culprit of my unhealthy lifestyle over the past 5 years could be identified as an issue of neglect.  It is not that I do not value my body nor want to care for it, but that I stopped making time for health and let important healthy habits slip out of my daily schedule.

Yesterday my school held parent- teacher conferences which meant I left home at 6:30 am and arrived back again at 8:30 pm.  It was not until my car ride home that I reflected and realized how little and how poorly I ate during the day as the demands of meeting the needs of 25 students (and their families) stole every waking moment and took precedent over taking care of my body.  From not taking time to eat healthy foods to not taking time to use the bathroom to not having one moment to sit and take a deep breath, the minutes and hours snuck by so quickly which left few moments for self-care.

I am so intentional to use my time at work well that I often prioritize work over health which leads me to neglect and mistreat my body.  It is even more of a challenge now as I am adjusting to life as a working mom which means arriving at the last possible moment, leaving immediately after school, and carving out time to pump in-between which means every second is even more precious than it was before.

Time is a major enemy of health and more of a struggle for me than having a negative self-image.

But I call to mind the reality that I am in control of my life through the gift of CHOICE.  I choose how I spend my time whether it is intentional or not.  The reality is that we all make time for things that are really important to us.  We do it naturally, without even thinking, and that is what habits are.  Habits are those natural reactions to life and those things we do without needing to think about doing them.  This year is a time for me to reset some of my natural reactions.

About a month ago I wrote about how I was going to give myself permission to spend money on my health this year and today I recognize the need to also give myself permission to spend time on this pursuit.

I am challenging myself to prioritize caring for my body once again, especially while at work.  I am forcing myself to take moments to STOP working throughout the day to eat life giving foods, take a moment of peace to clear my mind, and ask God for help.  I am determined to create the healthy habit of valuing my body and as a result caring for it, rooted in my desire to be obedient by viewing my body as a gift and vessel for the Holy Spirit.

contentment

After two long days back at work I have many thoughts in regards to valuing my body but no clarity nor time to create clarity in my recently cluttered life. So here I am holding my 14 week old daughter as she sleeps on my chest and enjoying every precious second I have with her, just staring at her beauty and trying to wrap my mind around the miraculous reality that my husband and I were able to partake in the creation of her life.

I am speechless.  

My speechlessness can best be articulated through an incredible quote I just found which perfectly clarifies and summarizes my recent musings. 

This is a prayer of contentment: I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking. 

-C.S. Lewis

This is true of Eden.  Of me.  And of you.

This motivates me to care for this incredible body that God Himself, the Creator of universe, thought about and then created in His image. 

Create a habit of seeing yourself in this way, through the eyes of your Maker, as you seek health this year.

By the way, how is that list of things you value about your body going?  

February: Value Your Body

I have observed 2 general approaches to "health."
1. I want to pursue a healthy lifestyle because I do not like the way I look and want to change.
2. I want to pursue a healthy lifestyle because I value my body and want to take care of it.

To illustrate, I could create a healthy habit of exercising because I do not like the way I look or because I want to take care of my body.  The action will be the same, but the motivation is drastically different which will produce much different holistic results.  If I am choosing to eat carrots instead of chips only because I want my body to look different or to lose a certain number of pounds, I will be easily defeated when after two long weeks of carrots there are minimal physical results in appearance and weight.  Having already attempted the pursuit of "health" on the foundation of not liking myself, I can testify that it did not produce any lasting fruit in my life.  My desperate desire to look better only initiated a negative cycle of mistreatment which led to frustration and impatience which led to self-rejection which eventually led to depression.

Goal: This month I hope to start my health pursuit with the foundational attitude that I am thankful for my body, the understanding that I only get one, and the commitment to caring for it.  This will give me patience to endure the pains of discipline and motivation to make real lifestyle changes in the upcoming months.  I am not simply attempting temporary fad diets because I am not looking for specific results in my image or weight, but I am seeking to take care of my body.

I promise that we will get to the practical bodily implications of health such as sleep, drinking water, eating, and exercise in the months ahead, but it is so important that we first set the foundation of this pursuit on the life giving truth that our bodies are incredible gifts and vessels for the Holy Spirit.  After first asking for God's help last month, this is the next layer of a solid foundation as we seek health.

Habit: This month I will value my body by discipling myself to be thankful for it.  I will take time to meditate on the miraculous functions my body can perform and beautiful features I carry.

Challenge: I invite you to join me in saying two positive statements about your body every day of this month: one statement about a function your body can perform that you value and the other a physical feature that you appreciate.

Example: I am thankful for my functioning fingers that can type and the beautiful tones of my red hair.

If you really want to create this habit of appreciating your body then set up some accountability whether it is writing down your positive thoughts in a journal, sharing them with a roommate or spouse or friend, or posting them in the comments of my blog.  While I will commit to sharing with my husband each day, I plan to post my results at the end of the month as another means of accountability.

Romans 12:1-2  Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you.  Let them be a living and holy sacrifice- the kind He will find acceptable.  This is truly the way to worship Him.  Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Disclaimer: I am going back to work in a few days and therefore will already set the expectation for myself and readers that I will be posting much less.  I will commit to posting every Saturday of this month, and while I would like to write more, it will only be if I find time throughout the week.