Dora and Diego Cake I made for Will’s B-Day :)

GratiTuesday- Faith Journeys

It’s been a bit since I visited this section of the blog.  Not because I haven’t been grateful, I am ever grateful, but because all of the things I am so grateful for have been consuming my time!  So, over the next few weeks as we enter the holiday season I can’t promise I’ll be diligent and blog every day like normal, but I’ll definitely do my best to post as often as possible.

Today I want to touch on how thankful I am for faith journeys.  Isn’t it special that God puts us each in different parts of our faith journeys at the same time so that, in the end we need each other?  It isn’t that He is punishing us, or abandoning us, but that He’s teaching us.  Sometimes it’s so difficult to get outside of our own mess to see the wonderful family we have in other Christians. 

Do we get hurt by our church family?  Of course we do.  We get hurt by our birth family, or our adopted family, or our chosen family too.  It doesn’t mean there isn’t love there.  Sometimes having the truth spoken in love to you by someone in your Christian family is hurtful…. but necessary.  It’s when we take the pieces of our lives, the different people, the different backgrounds, and *gasp* the different denominations and let them fit together like the beautiful puzzle God is creating in our lives that we get to see the true beauty of a life in Christ, and realize what others who don’t have that are missing out on. 

I have many people in my life who are not Christians.  I have some in my life who claim to be Christians, but they are either not walking in their faith, or it is so weak it is not really helping them.  I know some people look upon those outside our faith with judgment and disgust.  I do not.  I hate to say I feel sorry for them, because I don’t really feel sorry for them – this is a choice THEY are making after all – but I do wish better for them.  I wish for them to be touched by the love of God, not hurt by sinning Christians.  I wish for them to see the magic, not the misery.  I wish for them to experience the acceptance, not the judgment. 

It’s not that I think we as Christians shouldn’t call sin sin.  It’s that we need to acknowledge that WE as Christians are ALSO sinners, and that ultimately, GOD will judge us ALL.  And, for the record…..  From someone who is currently in an in depth study of Revelation…. most of the people in our lives who have wronged us, hurt us, are not Christians, etc have not done nearly enough to us for us to want God’s judgment upon them.  It’s nothing to squabble with. 

But here’s the thing.  God judges ALL sin.  Did you hear that?  God judges ALL sin.  Equally.  He loves us ALL.  Equally.  We chose to become part of His family by accepting Jesus as our savior, but that doesn’t mean that we are now without sin, nor are we allowed to sin.  It doesn’t make my sin any cleaner than yours.  You may be in an adulterous affair, and I may be practicing a bit of gluttony with the pan of brownies.  Both are sin.  There is no greater or lesser sin.  They are both sin and we both have to answer to God for our sins.

Anywho, I didn’t mean to go into that detail, but I guess that’s what God wanted me to say today, because these words just flew out of me.  I want to encourage you today to not feel like you have to have all together.  I want to encourage you to not feel like you have to be perfect.  I want to encourage you today that you are not the judge of others.  I want to encourage you today that other humans are not the judge of you.  Sure, you may suffer some consequences on earth for your actions, and sometimes, even forgiven sin has consequences, but ultimately who we answer to is our maker.

Give a kind smile to those around you and I hope today you are as grateful for our faith journeys as I am

Menu Monday 11/28

Ok, so apparently the business of the holiday season has the ability to throw me off track in just about EVERY area of my life!    I’m sorry I haven’t been blogging, finding time to get in front of the computer for more than a minute at a time has been a challenge. 

Anywho- last week on WW I lost .8 pounds, but I’m still up from my lowest weight…  My plan, so to speak for the holiday season is to stay as focused as possible on days/weeks that aren’t filled with extracurricular activities and food, and enjoy the days that are in moderation.    I’d like to say I did a good job of that last week, but I didn’t do the best…. I wasn’t completely without abandon, I allowed myself ONE piece of pumpkin pie with the crust, and the other 2 or 3 (can’t remember) I didn’t eat the crust.  I’m speaking about the whole weekend, not just Thanksgiving LOL…  So, while I didn’t journal this past week at all, and I’ll most likely show a gain today, I still feel like that was a non-scale victory!

This week I’m journaling EVERYTHING.  I’m also going to have some fruits and vegetables that aren’t covered in sugar or oil.  Crazy.  I know.  And, I’m committing to 5 workouts this week.

It is time to get back to real life….. until the next string of holidays

Monday:  I’m going to give Turkey and Dumplings a go…  Based on my Chicken and Dumplings recipe

Tuesday:  “Cheap but good” Burritos

Wednesday:  Snack Dinner (Kids and hubby at EYC)

Thursday:  Kids eat Pizza, Hubby and I for a Date night

Friday:  Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries, Pea Salad

Saturday:  Chicken with Scallion Sauce, Cauliflower Cheese Soup 

Sunday:  Parade of Lights- get to watch my hubby in action   We’ll eat out so we get a good spot!

Have a great week!

Menu Monday- 11/14

Have you missed me?  I’ve been so busy, I’ve hardly had a second to think! It’s been a weird couple of weeks on WW for me, because I’ve been doing the T-Tapp Boot Camp, and she doesn’t recommend that you diet during that.  So, I’ve eaten whatever and haven’t counted points.  It’s been weird.  I have gained weight, but she also says that will happen- between 5-7 pounds of muscle the first 2 weeks.  I’m not concerned.  Know why?  Because she tells you to take measurements and focus on the inches lost instead of the scale.  And, while I’m watching the scale…… go up….  I’m focused on the inches, and I also went down a size this week in my jeans------ TO A SIZE 12!!!!  Yeah…  Speaking of focusing on the inches, I measure again tomorrow, but the first week (which was actually only 4 days because I didn’t measure until 3 days in) I lost a total of 8 1/2 inches!  Curious where they came from?

Area to Measure	Starting Measurement	Week One	Inches Lost
Bust/Chest	40	39	1
Pecs	36.5	36	.5
Ribs	33	32	1
Waist	35.5	34	1.5
Abdomen	39	39	-
Hips	46	45	1
Up Thigh -R	28	28	-
Up Thigh –L	28	28	-
Low Thigh -R	21	21	-
Low Thigh –L	21.5	21	.5
Calves -R	16	16	-
Calves – L	17	16	1
Upper Arm R	14.5	13	1.5
Upper Arm L	14.5	14	.5

 

I’m eager to measure again tomorrow!  I finish up the boot camp Wednesday (missed a day this weekend because I was sick) and then I move to every other day on the work out.  It will actually be weird to not do it everyday!  I mean, really, it’s only 15 minutes, so it isn’t really a big deal to do   I’ll also resume counting points on Thursday, having finished the boot camp.  I’m staying focused on the inches right now, so I’m not real concerned with the scale….  I do, however, believe that I still need to watch what I eat, because I know I am a person who responds negatively to too much sugar/starch and who has some problems with mindless and/or emotional eating.  I need to deal with this as well as getting my body in healthy shape. 

Enough rambling…  Here’s the menu:

Monday:  Taco Soup, Churros

Tuesday:  Date Night/ Totinos for the kids

Wednesday:  Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

Thursday:  Clam Chowder/ Rolls

Friday:  Hot Dogs and Mac and Cheese for the Birthday boy!

Saturday:  The Great Turkey Experiment at a friend’s house

Sunday:  Snack Dinner because we’re up at the church for the Advent Conspiracy