blessing, not burden

I will first apologize for not staying true to my word.

I initially said I would write about simple, practical health tips that were light and easy to read and I look back on these past few months and realize that I always seem to find a way to take a simple thought onto many lengthy tangents.

I did, however, keep my word with my physical challenge this month as I sought to increase my energy by eating my largest meal in the morning and eating throughout the day and I will share that the results are awesome!

I start my day with an incredible protein shake which is packed with amazing nutrients and 23 grams of protein, add a scoop of greens for the day, and eat a protein bar a few hours later.  By 9:00 AM I have already had 40 grams of protein and my daily servings of greens and feel incredible!  I then continue eating snacks throughout the school day.  Yogurt, string cheese, quinoa salads, fruits, crackers, and veggies every couple of hours seem to keep me going during the business of life with six year olds.  I then enjoy a nice big early supper while saving just enough space to have a evening snack.  I really do have more energy and enjoy this lifestyle of eating.  I was rarely hungry all month because as soon as I would feel the first inkling of hunger I would find a snack to keep that metabolism turning my fuel into energy.

There.  Something practical.

Now onto the fun stuff, for me anyways.  My latest thought tied to increasing energy is to shift my thinking about the daily tasks in my life.  So much of life is mundane, and I often get stuck in a rut of doing the same things again and again and again, either by choice or demand, and eventually shifting into "autopilot," which is a gear that has the potential to drain the energy right out of me.  

I will admit that even something as precious as rocking my daughter to sleep each night can become a "burden" in my mind when I allow myself to get mentally taken away by the endless demands of dishes and laundry and meals and work and emails and relationships and marriage.  So the other night when I was rocking Eden to sleep and she was staring at me, wide awake way past her bedtime, I was getting a little frustrated and feeling overwhelmed at the thought of needing to do this for 20-30 minutes before she would release the struggle to stay awake and surrender to the peaceful sleep she so desperately needed.

And in that moment of frustration, I heard the whisper of the Spirit say, "this is a blessing, not a burden."  And within seconds I got a flash of what an incredible gift my precious daughter is and a reminder of what an absolute joy it is to get to have that intimate time of holding her and enjoying her while she is still so small.  My mind flashed forward to her as an elementary school child climbing on the bus, a teenager hopping in her car and driving off, and even an adult on her wedding day.  And I just stared at her precious little body and enjoyed every second of my time rocking her to sleep, acknowledging that her life is a gift and this season of baby needs is such a fleeting joy.  I shifted my thinking to the truth that I am completely blessed to be her mom, and not at all burdened by the daily and seemingly constant needs.

And instantly I was energized to rock her for hours, if needed, all through the power of my thoughts.  It is so easy to drain ourselves and decrease our energy by our negative attitudes about the tasks we are required to perform each day.  While I doubt many things are as precious as rocking a baby to sleep, whether or not we enjoy the necessary tasks in our lives, many of them have to be performed regardless of our emotions and why not choose to enjoy life?   We hold the key to the quality of our lives through our perspective.  The truth is that we are blessed, and this truth will set us free. 

I can apply this same principle to other areas of my life.
While at times I struggle with the "burden" of some of these tasks, the reality is that... 

I am blessed to have a job to attend where I have purpose, friends, and a paycheck  

I am blessed to enjoy the gift of intimacy with my husband 

I am blessed to have two mouths to feed

I am blessed to have a healthy body to care for and the health to exercise
I am blessed to have clothes to fold and beds to make and dishes to clean 

Even those things in our lives that are truly awful and nothing about them is a visible blessing, even those we can view through the lens of good training ground.  Romans 8:28 teaches that God uses all things for our good and those hard challenges often produce the most fruit in our lives.  We can access the power of the Holy Spirit to edify ourselves as a way of producing the energy we need to walk through all circumstances. 

Increase your energy in practical ways by starting your day with a hearty breakfast and eating throughout the day, but also by shifting your mind as you complete your daily tasks.  Don't forget to value yourself and your body and ask God for help along the way.

I am so thankful to have increased energy to enjoy every moment with this little peanut!

our financial story

Because we have been so blessed by Dave Ramsey and are passionate about inspiring others to live debt free lives, we shared our story on his website!   After much interest in our story, I find it appropriate to share on this blog as well as it totally aligns with the pursuit of fruit and specifically pursuit of health!

Before the details, we MUST give credit where credit is due!

We credit our ability to get out of debt to:
1. The incredible teaching and applicable principles of Dave Ramsey
2. The generous support of family and friends in prayers, meals, gifts, and checks
3. The grace and provision of God as well as the anointing of the Holy Spirit to make choices

Because our story is unique, it may shed light on my previous post in which I shared that we were willing to press past the pain in disciplining ourselves to reach our goal of living a debt free life!  Hebrews 11:12 says, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  However, later on it will produce a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to stand and declare that our debts have been paid in full.  We are so thankful for this anointing and the gift of choice.  

we did it, twice!

Because our story is a bit complex, with enough details to fill an entire book, I will do my best to summarize as briefly as possible.  I am actually editing a book right now that I wrote about this story with the major theme of CHOICE interwoven throughout each chapter.  More than anything, throughout our financial experience, we have learned of this priceless gift of choice as we have been empowered through the teaching of Dave Ramsey to choose to take control of our finances and lives, and to continue to make daily choices toward financial peace even in unexpected and painful circumstances. 

The most basic summary of our story is that we climbed out of debt twice.  We first beat $32,000 of student loan debt after following Dave Ramsey’s teaching through FPU on two teacher incomes in just under a year!  We were ecstatic and I immediately started writing our story on this exact same website, when literally one week later my husband made a mistake that led to the loss of his job and career, along with $32,000 of new debt. 

We moved out of our apartment and in with my husband's parents for 9 months.  We tightened up every possible expense and pressed into the pain of loss as we adjusted our financial plans and dreams to our new reality.  We grieved what could have been and then made a life-changing choice to try again.  

After 2.5 years of painful choices, we are excited to report that we are now, officially, debt free!  We did it, twice.  By the power of the Holy Spirit we were able to stand up again after falling down and recreate our gazelle like intensity in building another debt snowball to motivate ourselves to beat a second round of debt.

These principles and baby steps WORK, and we should know because for us they have worked twice!  In all, we paid off $64,000 in 3.5 years on an extremely inconsistent income as, for almost 18 months, my husband was unemployed.  God miraculously provided an incredible new career opportunity for him and he is now in an apprenticeship to become an electrician.  We are thrilled to finally move onto the baby step 3 and excited to have new financial plans and dreams!  

To God be the glory!

press past pain

Dave Ramsey has taught us to "live like no one else so you can live like no one else" meaning discipline yourself now so you can reap a harvest later.

His teaching very much aligns with the pursuit of fruit.

Hebrews 12:11 explains, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful..."

Can I just pause there?  If you are looking for a life with minimal pain, DO NOT PURSUE FRUIT.  The pursuit of fruit of any kind demands discipline, and even the Bible reveals the reality that discipline is painful.  Once we can press past that discomfort, set our minds, and make a decision that we are ok with some productive pain, then we can finish.

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  However, later on it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

There have been so many times in my life when I have been tempted to stop and settle as soon as my circumstances have become uncomfortable, but as soon as I am able to jump over the hurdle of the pain of discipline, I do eventually get my fruit.  And jumping over that threshold to press past the pain is a choice we have the power to make.

We make choices now that will produce fruit later.  We sow seed like no one else through discipline now, so we can reap fruit like no one else in the future.

For our family, this has been a financial concept we have lived out over recent years.  We are so overjoyed to share that we are officially debt free!  After $64,000 of debt and 3.5 years of financial struggle and pain, we are free!  And as we stand in our freedom we declare that every painful choice was worth this fruit.

We chose to live like no one else during these past 3.5 years so someday we can live like no one else. We lived on one income, stayed faithfully committed to our cash budget, and prayerfully considered how to spend each and every penny.  We learned practical instruction about financial freedom through Dave Ramsey's course Financial Peace University and implemented these principles into our lifestyle.  We put things back at the grocery store when we didn't have the cash to pay for it.  We minimized outings, vacations, window shopping, and financial extras as we focused on living below our means so we could life a debt free life.  We said no to our emotions so someday we can say yes.  And it has been painful.  We have chosen to discipline ourselves so that, later on, we can produce a harvest.

Not only is discipline painful, but it demands intense self-control and focus which require energy.  The more tired we are, the weaker we are and the weaker we are, the easier it is to break our commitments, to get impatient, to be unkind, to allow our emotions to make impulsive and often foolish decisions.  Whether it is with finances, food, words, attitude, lifestyle, or relationships, energy and holistic health will set a foundation for this pursuit of fruit.  Now that we are enjoying the fruit of pressing past financial pain, I am excited to apply this life changing idea to other areas of my life.

I am excited to maintain this focus on financial peace as I have more energy than I have had in years physically and now financially as we are relieved of the burden of a negative financial story.  Everything we make is now building towards the incredible future God has for our family.

To God be the glory!

things I don't do

Through listening to a sermon by Shauna Niequist, I have recently discovered that I kind of want to be better at everything which I am learning is an addiction that often times results in an exhausting pursuit in being excellent at nothing.  As I pursue health this year, it is time to simplify my lifestyle and streamline my energy.

The mark of a healthy life is having the vision and priorities to know what is important during the current season and then the ability to live out those priorities in the dailiness of life.  In this light, more than maximizing my metabolism, I can also increase my energy by deciding what is worth my time and energy so I can give my best to those pursuits.

We need to prioritize.

Beacuse we can't do it all.

Shauna Neiquist taught me to make two lists: things I do and things I don't do.

While it was easy to come up with a list of things I do, it was hard to figure out what I was willing to give up in order to create the time, money, and energy to pursue the things I really care about.

While some of these ideas were no-brainers, others required a deeper digging as they were a struggle to recognize and then admit.  But truth sets us free.  And the reality is that we can't do everything.

things I do:
family time- daily supper, Wednesday worship, bedtime stories
pick up my home before bedtime in attempts to keep it a place of order, peace, and rest
host and mentor
give gifts
blog once a week
cloth diaper
nurse
sleep when I can
buy healthy foods
family walks

things I don't do:
work out at the gym (as promised, I very recently canceled my gym membership to enjoy outdoor exercise)
stay late at work (I honor contracted hours and fit my tasks within that time)
clean my house (while I do pick up each day, tasks like floors, windows, and shower cleaning have taken a back burner)
cook nightly meals (pre-made freezer meals have been my saving grace while working full time) 
keep my phone with me (I set it on the dock when I get home and rarely look at it)
invest in my family's wardrobe (keeping up with the Jones's and latest trends is too hard)
rigid "quiet times"(my moments with Jesus have taken a new spin since motherhood, and although they look different than before they are infinitely more intimate and precious and spontaneous and constant)
serve at church (while still looking for our niche, I am temporarily embracing a transitional season in which work and family are extremely consuming) 

Because time, money, and energy are finite, many of these kind of cancel each other out.  To illustrate:
I don't keep my phone on me when I am home so I can have quality family time
I don't take time to clean often so I can read bedtime stories to Eden
I don't spend money on new clothes so I can spend it on healthy foods

I will warn you that with this revelation comes a trap that I pray you won't fall into: DO NOT COMPARE.  I personally slipped into this comparative thinking for awhile after initially listening to Shauna's teaching as I struggled with the guilt of not sharing some of her same convictions.  As I shared in my pregnancy experience, no good comes from comparing.  For some they need a consistent rigid time with Jesus or they find great joy in dressing their family and can afford to or their phone is a healthy source of connection!  This is MY list of MY convictions during this season of MY life.  It is an ongoing list for me and it is something I am constantly reevaluating as I discover what is worth my time and energy during each unique period of life.

Your list WILL look entirely different than mine and not only is that ok, it is good.

In the same way I have recently given myself permission to spend time and money on health, I am now giving myself permission to let go of some areas I would like to invest in so that I can streamline my energy for what really matters.  It is hard, but it is possible.  It is a discipline to stay focused on sowing seeds that will produce the kind of fruit we seek.

my 15 seconds are up

My goal for the month of October in 2013 was to slow down, and although I have already written about this last year it is a consistent weakness and worth reiterating in the light of pursuing fruit in this new year.  As I mentioned before, I was informed by a mentor that the newborn stage of life almost literally lasts "15 seconds," and advised to enjoy every single moment.  I can testify that this is true.

My little peanut is not a newborn anymore.

My 15 seconds are already up.

This harsh reality makes me want to slow time down so I can enjoy every stinkin' second of her growth and life.  It makes me want to savor every moment, and stop wishing time away.

When I rock her to sleep, I want to shift my thinking from

"please fall asleep right away so I can go get the 56 things done that I need to do before trying to catch a few hours of sleep before I have to get up and do it all over again tomorrow"

to

"ahhh, there is nothing more wonderful in the world than holding my sleeping daughter as she falls asleep in my arms."  

I commit to stop saying things like:
"I just want spring break to be here."
"It will be so great when Eden is sleeping more during the night."
"I will take better care of myself during the summer."
"I just need to make it through these next few weeks or days or hours."

While many of these thoughts are innocent, the general idea that tomorrow will be better than today is a lie planted in my mind to steal my life.  I don't want to live in the future, I want to live in the now.  Today.  The cold, exhausting, busy day I have been given.

Psalm 118:24 says, "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Today, March 8, 2014, is an incredible gift.

While this post has a little carpe diem theme, it is heavily interwoven into my new goal this month which is to increase energy.  Seizing the day and enjoying life requires energy.  I don't want to be crawling through any day or season of life in survival mode, just waiting for time to pass and neglecting myself in the process UNTIL...

until we have more money or better weather or more time or more freedom.

No.  No more.

I want to thrive in EVERY SEASON of my life, and I am suggesting that this is possible.  Living a healthy lifestyle and having more energy by eating effective food at efficient times will create a full life in which I have everything I need to enjoy each day.

My 15 seconds are up.  I don't want to miss another moment.

March: Increase Energy

We have now set a solid foundation for this pursuit of health over the past two months.  In January we invited God into our plans of getting healthy by creating the habit of asking Him for help each and every day as we recognized that we can do NOTHING apart from Him.  (John 15:5)

In February we looked at our perception of our bodies and motivation for getting healthy as we created the habit of valuing our body as it is a gift and treasure to be cared for.  Viewing our bodies through this perspective addresses holistic health and creating such a solid foundation will be sure to produce the lasting fruit we seek.

To further illustrate what I mean by "fruit," think of it this way.  If someone came to observe me in my day to day routine, how much patience would they see?  How much gentleness?  How much love and peace and joy?  How much faithfulness and self-control?  To be completely honest, most days, probably not much.

This leads to our next healthy habit as we now get to move into the practical stages of physical health and focus more on the specific functions of these incredible bodies God has given us as it pertains to producing fruit in our daily lives.

This new habit came from a revelation: the more energy my physical body has, the better I feel, and the better I feel, the easier it will be to make life-giving choices in the daily moments and therefore choose to operate in this fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23.  Again, for the first time in my life I am not pursuing "health" for IMAGE but rather for FRUIT.  I am not trying to fit into a certain pant size but want to have more to give to my students, family, and friends this year.  I don't want to be skinnier or look better, I want to be kinder and more patient and more gentle with the people I encounter daily.

Habit: One major asset in this pursuit of more energy is our metabolism which works to break down food and convert it into this life giving fuel on which our bodies operate.  I want to learn more about how metabolism works this month and use my knowledge to my benefit by maximizing my eating based on when and how my metabolism is breaking down food and converting it into energy.  The overarching idea here is not to necessarily eat LESS, but to eat more INTENTIONALLY with metabolism in mind.

Challenge: While there are a variety of ways to maximize metabolism and therefore increase energy, such as cardio exercise, building muscle, drinking water, and sleep just to name a few, I plan to expand on many of those topics in future months.  This month I will change my eating habits to maximize my metabolism and therefore increase my energy. 

Two practical steps:
1. I will eat a bigger breakfast to kick-start my day with an abundance of energy.
2. After this energy boosting breakfast, I will eat smaller meals throughout the day.  This way I can constantly fuel my body with manageable portions rather than stuffing it full 3 times which will keep my metabolism working all day long, hopefully providing me with a consistent flow of energy.

The big picture goal this month is energy which I can then use to activate this incredible fruit of the Holy Spirit.  "The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23