Week 1

Well first week was not a hit with checking off each days task.  I did get my morning medicine in all week, I did do my fasting for the most part, I did choose more wisely  most days on eating right but I still have not gotten up and moved except for the first two days where I don't think I sat down at all . I'm going to blame this week on holiday and long hours at work. I did  read this week. In week one it was more about knowing God because you know we can't do anything on our own strength we need God strength to do it.
 Day 1  talked about the Spirit of God who gives us what we need to live out our calling as disciples for him. In our every day living he equips us, empowers us and reveals to us what is hindering us so that were able to lead  a victorious life style not just in our eating and exercise habits but also in everything we do. This gives God the glory.
Day 2  talks about the God who heals. It says for the sake of our health we must strive to be convenant keepers A convenant keeper  not intentionally commit to the sin of Idolatry.  Food is a form of idolatry when we allow it to be authority of control  and it is something we worship.  We must break the tendency of expecting God to operate on our terms and instead live by His terms. The Holy Spirit enables us to adhere to the conditions required for healing when we learn to yield to him we will enter into the benefits of a healing as promises in the Scriptures.  To experience God is the healer I need to listen carefully to the Lord, do you right what is in His eyes and pay attention to his commands and to keep all his degrees.
Day 3 God of love. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do it all for the glory of God.  When this becomes our passion we experience health and well-being and every aspect of our lives- The spiritual, emotional and physical. We glorify God in many ways to obedience and worship  with praise and so on.  The evidence of love is sacrifice. God manifest his love through sacrifice He gave  his one and only son for me. If we are to glorify God through love then there ought to be evidence of that love in the form of sacrifice life.. now this day is a very toe stumper  it talks about the preventable deaths  that tobacco is the number one but  obesity is a close second.  Obesity has a substantial effect on our morality, reducing the length of life by 5 to 20 years for people who are severely obese.  So since God loves us and he sacrificed his only son for our sake what then are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of those we love? It's not  enough to profess love we are called to  show it. Do we keep our love ones in mind when we decide what we will or will not eat? Are we willing to break that habit no matter how much we enjoyed them so that the people we care about won't be burdened by the diseases and disabilities be brought on ourselves?  Are we mindful of the impact our choices will have all those we profess to love? Love is sacrifice! God set example of his love for us in the life and death of Jesus Christ. If God loves  for us was  so great that he sacrificed his son then shouldn't we be willing to sacrifice something on a much smaller scale for those we love? Refusing to eat a second serving of mashed potatoes is a small sacrifice. Breaking the television in order to cook a healthy meals it's a small sacrifice. Taking a walk it's a small sacrifice. We are called to give God glory and we do this through love, sacrifice love. Let's examine our lives and purpose to love not just in words but also an action show your love by making some sacrifices for a better health.  Yes I toe stomper!'!!
Day 4 The God who provides. Then God said I give you every seed bearing plants on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beast of the earth and all the birds of the air in all the creatures that move on ground, everything that has the breath of life in it. I give every green plant for food and it was so Genesis 1:29-30.  God is a loving provider, a faithful provider to those who obey his commands, God who met our need for food before creating us also provided for Abraham before Abraham recognize a need.  When we pray give us today our daily bread we are knowledgeing that God is in goodness and alone he's sustains us we trust him each day to supply us with the things we need in order to survive and we admit that we are incapable of meeting those needs by ourselves.
Day 5  The God of power and authority it is only by God's power that I will be successful. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Finally be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. So I say live by the Spirit and you will not  gratify the desires of the sinful nature. The unmistakable truth is that we as believers should live dependently not independently. Dependencd on the Spirit leads to victory, and independence leads to defeat.  I must knowledge God for his authority and power and humbly submit to him and asked for him to give me the power to lead a lifestyle that is  Holy and not distractive. My verse I always have I can do everything through him who gives me strength I quote that when I was walking and I wanted to give up  and I have recognized the lip service of that verse because unfortunately I forget the part that says through Him give me strength I highlight more of I can do everything but I can't unless it is through Him!
Day 6  The God of second chances. If the Lord delights in a man's way he makes his steps firm though he stumble he will not fall for the Lord upholds him with his hand Psalm 37:23-24.  Second chances reflects God's grace a gift he freely grants to us  They gosl for this 50 day renewal is to become wholeheartedly committed to manifesting such bibilical attributes as discipline , moderation, self-denial and self-control in our every day living. A lifestyle of of obedience to God percent is what our goal is the outcome of weight loss is really just a bonus.  Self denial and self-control will keep me succeeding but self-indulgent and self-centeredness I will fail.  We are no longer slaves to our sin nature  but rather we are slaves to a obedience and righteousness. If however we make a deliberate choice to gratify the flesh  nature then we deny the liberating power of Jesus. We then walk into bondage when we been set free. It is not enough to profess that God is our Lord and master we must also do his will. A loving father's nature is that a patient, kindess, Grace and second chances but God forbid we take these things for granted .
Day 7  The God of wisdom  Jesus call to cry out to him and said listen and understand what goes into a man's mouth does not make him unclean but what comes out of his mouth that is what makes him on unclean Matthew 15:10-11.  What comes out of  our mouth reflects what's inside our hearts. If the wisdom of God is there we will be conscientious  in the way we eat so that food nourishes our bodies and does not destroy them..  The daily prayer today is one that spoke to me this week since I get so overwhelm on what to eat.. Lord I ask for your perfect wisdom to guide me in the foods I select and the quantities I eat.  Help me to discern dietary truths from misleading fads. Help me to rely on wisdom  rather than persuasive  advertising in determining what I will and will not eat.

 So my prayer this week is to humbly lay all my selfish desires down at Jesus's feet and to quit relying on my own  strength and to ask God to give me the will power the discipline and the wisdom that can only come from  him to be able to make it Through this journey, to be able to sacrifice what is only good temporarily for those that I love.   To truly commit to a daily living of glorifying  God and everything and when I fall  to get back up and thank him for second chances .  I know I can do this all through Him!

 Plan for the week sacrifice sleep or coming home and watching TV instead go exercise .  To continue to make better choices on what I eat, to start taking my night medicines and continue reading my 50 days

100 Day Challenge

This year I decided that I needed to go and have  a physical done and find out if dealing with any health issues.  After all the blood work was done the results came in my vitamin D and B12 are to low but my A1C  and insulin or too high so with all of that I have been welcome to the world of a pill box where I have all these vitamins and a medicine I don't want to take.  My sweet nurse practitioner Lisa has advised me to eat low-carb which is something I struggle with, which that's telling consider my insulin levels and it is also a diet I have been trying to do all year and have failed. She also advised me to exercise  40 minutes a day which is also I have been trying to get on that wagon all year and I have Failed ( Bad feet , knees and lower back and no energy makes it rough ), She also told me about Intermittent fasting  where I should fast for  12, 14 or 16 hours a day. I have read up on this and doing this my result could be lowering my insulin levels, loosing weight and many other health benefits.  We also talked about how losing weight and eating healthy is a mind thing and how we need God in all this. I found a book last year called spiritual secrets to weight lost a 50 day renewal of body mind and spirit which I have never gotten past day 5 so another thing I have failed.  See a pattern :( For the next 100 days I will be keeping track of my carb intake, exercising,  fasting and reading.  Will I fail?  I'm sure there are days I will. Will I be successful? I sure am praying I will be. It's a day by day thing.  At the beginning of the year at work we did a challenge and when I got on the scales that first day I just knew the scales were wrong because there was no way  I had gained that much weight over the holidays. Thankfully that was almost 20 pounds ago and I know what  losing that has felt like. So on those hard days I will just keep reminding myself what another pound of sugar will feel like losing.  I will be 50  in six months my first big goal is to lose 50 by then.  I want to be able to go to Disney with my husband not feel self-conscious on any of the rides and to be able to keep up for three fast full days. Losing means more to me in being healthy and to have more energy then it does on how the clothes fit which that part would be kind of nice too :)  I have allow fear and the enemy to take over my mind and body for way too long so I am now taking my body and mind back  and with God help I am going to win this!!!  I will need support, help and encouragement  from not only God but from friends and family as well. I have been going to weight watchers for last couple of month with a couple of friends between them and my wwgroup that weekly weigh in and motivation has been a great help . I am not going to post much on Facebook about this but I am going to post my journey on Instagram  for myself as a visual reminder.  I am also going to try to post every 25 days of this journey through my blog.  So if you want to keep up with it and help me along find me on Instagram.  Please keep me in your prayers some of the main things I need prayers for are I have a hard time with discipline,  commitment, making good choices and willpower. So today is day one of a new chapter, a new me, and a new fight!!  With God all things are possible!! 

Words

I was ask to share in Sunday school this morning about my word for 2016 and I couldn't make it through it without a little help and also with out tears and sounding crazy so I figure today would be a good day to blog about My Word no matter if anyone reads this or not I will be able to look back on this time and see God hand at work in my life...

About 3 years ago I saw something on Facebook about instead making new year resolutions pick a word to focus on for the year and I thought that is great I never can keep the resolutions anyway so maybe I can focus on 1 part of my life and make it better for the year so that year I thought about Consistently or Commit since I can't keep a resolution maybe if focus on committing to something and consistently doing it my resolutions would actually happen this year.  Well I wrestle with that and couldn't commit to it ☺ but the word Pray kept coming up and my prayer life was not the best so I decided (well God did I just didn't know it) that my focus for 2015 would be Pray as in Rejoice always, Pray Continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV  This is where I learn it was God who choose my word cause this is my verse that I try my best to live by but I pray when I need to and don't you dare to ask me to pray out loud but it says here to Pray Continually... I had friends going through some difficult things that year I had things, my family did about everybody around me did and I learn that year I can't fix anything but God sure can I just have to Pray. My prayer life 2 years later is my sweet time to talk to my closest friend and my father and to the one who is in control of everything. I actually now will pray out loud may sound like a mumbling dork but God knows my heart and my prayers..
 
In 2016 it was very clear that word for this year will be Joy now I know around Christmas you see the word Joy everywhere but I honestly didn't notice it until this year but God place it in places that were not of Christmas and He laid it on my heart. I struggle at first cause nobody can be a happy person 365 days 24/7 so I didn't happiness to be my focus but I wanted my focus to be on Joy of the Lord , my Salvation and finding Joy in all things. Same verse above but in the Message Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.  Well we got prayer going and now lets start having Joy this is going to be a great year.. WRONG!! Under the smile it was a dark year I felt my life falling apart and I just was not the most Joyful person.. There are unanswer things about my birth, there are things I don't understand, I have been hurt, I have been broken down, I have been left out, I don't feel I have a place or a person, the devil was having the time of his life with my brain and I run and stay busy so not to fall so far in the pit.. My mother had stage 4 lung cancer she was found out in September and I went to visit her and the doctor came in and ask her how she was and she said I am doing good I have my 3 daughters here and my sisters but that was just a little chisel off the brick wall. I kept in touch with my sisters to see how she was doing, called her a couple of times but I continue to run. Weeks before she died my sisters were her care takers and all I wanted to do was to help but I was so emotionally withdrawn from her that I didn't think I could do it so I did what I know best I stay busy and I pray her and pray for my daddy cause they have been together for 59 years  and pray for my sisters and their families and pray her (our) family that was about to loose another sibling and I  pray for myself. I was able to see her in the last week on Thursday I drop everything to go and spend the day at her house and took her an apple pie (you know us Baptist women believe food makes everything good)  she knew I was there, she sat up in the bed and ate some she could barely talk but the look in her eyes I felt like I saw sorrow, regret and forgiveness and I felt a peace I never knew before. Sunday she died and  I was in a daze cause I still had hope our relationship might one day be restore that I would get answers, I would have a place and I would have that mother that a lot of my friends have and my kids would have a grandmother. The service was beautiful and my cousin Andy spoke the words my heart needed to hear (would love to have the recording of it) but during this time of sorrow there was joy in my life I was with my family that part is being restore, I have peace cause I am letting go of all the damage and focusing on the good things instead. She is heal physically but also emotionally, mentally too she has found her true joy with our Father. I realize that 2016 was truly my year of Joy it may came in December but I am late for everything so it is understandable. Here is Kay Warren definition of Joy-  Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation. Sorrow and Joy run together some days are wonderful but others are not so while you’re experiencing something painful, there’s the glorious realization that there is still beauty and loveliness to be found. They’re inseparable. 




So for 2017 God laid on my heart and I heard him that this year word is Still as in Be still before the Lord.. Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3 I Google verse on Be Still and this came up but I wanted to read the rest

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

      Serve the LORD with gladness;
            Come before Him with joyful singing.

      Know that the LORD Himself is God;
            It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
            We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

      Enter His gates with thanksgiving
            And His courts with praise.
            Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

     For the LORD is good;
            His loving-kindness is everlasting
            And His faithfulness to all generations

  Whew.. that is my verse to memorize for this year.. I see God hand so much in my life for the last 2 years that blinders have been lifted... I have a place in His kingdom, His love is everlasting, I am His He created me I will sit still before him and will praise Him for all He has done in my life.. I pray that 2017 is a better year, I give thanks for all He has done in my life and I have a joy in Him...

On a little side note I went to Winter Nights at First North Friday night and I thought of all day I don't want to go I need to work, I am tired, even though friends were going I was going alone but something in my soul wouldn't let me back out.. Well God wouldn't let me :).. I went and I will tell you he show out and bless me so much for going and not letting Satan win.. Donna Ward gives out love notes and mine this year spoke so much to me. I am waiting for your step of faith. Just one step into the water, I have already set things in motion that will guarantee your success. What are you waiting for? You do trust me, don't you? I am the Lord your God and I will do this . Step Out! Joshua 3:1-17 
Then her message was from Nehemiah How Am I doing? 
We are free but we live captive lives.
We need to hear God knock on our hearts and he must certainly has been doing that to me I just haven't been opening the door all the way.
We live in holy confusion where it hurts but He is God
We get knock down so much we loose hope
Sometimes God allows us to be wreck to the uttermost so He can rescues us in the most uttermost. WOW fast forward to the end of the night I was wreck like I have never been before.. .
When God is silence go to His word He will speak to you (me). Get into the habit of running to Him and not away..
The damages that have been done to you, the unanswer, the never understandings they are ok cause God is God,  God is sovereign, He is eternal, and from Pastor DJ today He knows all things and Control things.

My break group was with Michelle Johnson and it was on Waiting
She in herself was awesome and I loved hearing her speak she is powerful or I would say She got some spirit in her...
Highlights from her, prayer is the most powerful thing we have, suit up each day in our Armor cause the enemy is real, God is faithful, trustful, Go to His word and remember His promises. We will see God glory on the backside, He works together all things for the good, In the wait worship Him, pray on our knees, and go to His word
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord Psalm 27:14
Her song was Waiting Here For You by Christy Nockels

Donna played Toby Mac When Love Broke Thru and Love Feels like
One song I remember of the band was Love On the Line by Hillsong
God is Love :)

I am being still and not running this year!

   





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