What a difference 46 Days can make.....

It was the day after Ash Wednesday that I decide to give up social media....Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+.

I am amazed at how much peace, healing and restoration has entered my life since then.  Today is the first day I logged on and I don't plan on doing it too often.  My primary intent to any public postings will serve the purpose of encouragement and share parts of my life that could inspire others in a positive manner keeping my focus on others. As I refocused on how I was spending my time, without any distractions of social media, there has been so much change in these last 46 days........

• I've continued my women's bible study and have had so experienced growth and healing.  As I have completed the last aspect of the study, called Lifegiver. I found out that sometimes to attain the peace and joy of life, you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable, allow yourself to rip off layers of your life to get to the new creation of you.  I could not have done this alone.  I had women in my life who encouraged and lifted me up. With Christ in me, I was reassured the whole time as he whispered truths into my mind, of who I am now, and how I can completely release my past through repentance. This healing part of my life, I am sharing in a separate blog post titled,"My Life Lesson as  LifeGiver."  This bible study has really encouraged me to become a better mother and to my kids.  This class and the other aspects and teachings I'm grasping onto from people in my church, daily devotionals and online sermons, has really helped with the process of restoring my relationships with my children.

• I've completed my 50 hours of training in the Stephen Ministry program!  I am over the top about this Ministry and the potential it has, not because of what we can do as Stephen Ministers, but the impact that God will have as he uses us to do his work in and through us to those who need his love most.  I am so excited to meet my care receiver and begin loving and supporting the person in whatever their need may be in their life. It is going to be a wonderful journey of hope and healing. Over the weekend of March 29-30th my class of 72 students stood before our congregation and were commissioned.  I could not stop smiling and feeling blessed to have the opportunity to serve God and my church family this way.

As for me and physical fitness, I'm doing my best to remain as active as possible, which are the days that my ankle isn't swelling too much or that I'm experiencing too much pain.  Recently, it has been locking up quite a bit.  I'm only two weeks away from my 2nd surgery.  I am praying that this round will be successful in removing the entire PVNS tumor. With that said.......

• I finished my final 10k race until surgery day.  Surprisingly, being that I have not trained or ran much prior to this race I did rather well.  I completed the 6.2 mile race in 1 hour 8 minutes! My daughter and one of my BFF's both were unable to join me as they had planned, so this year I ran it for all 3 of us.  I wore their bib numbers and enjoyed the beauty of the California coast as I ran. I wish I could say the fun was pain free, but unfortunately, it was not. Although, it did feel pretty amazing crossing the finish line with all the other ladies at the She.Is.Beautiful. 5k and 10k race.

• I've had the opportunity to hike up Mission Peak 2x in the last 46 days.  I never get tired of this hike. I find myself surrounded by so much beauty. I always enjoy it regardless if I am hiking it alone or I have company. I find myself thanking God for the ability to do such an amazing thing. It gives me time to reflect on life, listen to worship music, have a breathless conversation on the way up or just exchange a friendly smile with a passer-by's.  Life is good.

•  I've continued my training for the 2014 Tour De Cure Century ride set for May 4th in Napa. Last weekend I rode the 50 mile course in a team ride.  I'm so excited to do this ride with friends, but mostly to do it with my daughter.  It will be a great accomplishment for her and also experience something special together as a family. The joy in seeing the beautiful woman she is developing into is beyond words.  The best way to express it, is by the smile I get on my face when I think about where her path is taking her and when I get opportunity to share where it is taking her.  She is an expression of my love ♥

In addition to bike rides and a few spin classes, I've continued to keep active by challenging myself to another 30-day challenge.  I do my best to complete the circuits daily, sometimes making up a day by doing a double circuit because my ankle hasn't been cooperating with me over the last couple of weeks.  But when my ankle does permit the circuit includes the following exercises:

• Burppee's (Day 1 starts with 5 and Day 30 ends with 100)
• Plank's (Day 1 starts with a 20 seconds and Day 30 ends with 5 Minutes)
• Push-Up's (Day 1 starts with 5 and Day 30 ends with 100)
• Hi Knee's (Low Impact) (Day 1 starts with 15 and Day 30 ends with 50)
• Russian Twists (Day 1 starts with 25 and Day 30 ends with 100)
• Mountain Climbers balancing on a 8lb dual grip Sklz ball (Low Impact) (Day 1 starts with 10 and Day 30 ends with 50)
• Dips with one leg elevated (Day 1 starts with 5 and Day 30 ends with 100)
• Step-ups w/8lb dual-grip Sklz ball over head (Day 1 starts with 20 and Day 30 ends with 100)
• Shaper rotation routine w/5lb weight (Day 1 starts with 5 and Day 30 ends with 20)

Yesterday marked my last day of another 7-day cleanse. With surgery only two weeks away, I desired to focus back to healthy eating habits.  This past week came as a good opportunity to begin implementing those healthy eating habits back into my life.  I will continuously as with any discipline, need reprogram my mind from reaching for those unhealthy snacks and meals and choose healthy ones.

I will need to find the mental strength to deal with my limitations over the next few months.  This can only be done by giving that part to God and reminding myself of his truths.   I am very thankful that my daughter tells me often that, "God loves you exactly as you are Mom."  The low self-image issues I battle with constantly cause me to have a tendency to become obsessive over my fitness capabilities, weight and nutrition habits.  This obsessiveness leads me to a path which I do not want to go down because it is full of prideful behavior and idolization. My Taylor Boo does her best to point me back in the right direction and helps me keep my focus on what is really important; not on how I see myself in the mirror or how others may think I should look like, but on how GOD views me. ♥ 

I love as each day of life shows up, I get to choose the path to take. Perhaps I don't have control over my circumstances, but I can choose how to view each one.  I can choose to sit and pout about it, or I can make it an opportunity to learn, grown and gain wisdom.  Life is truly what you make of it and although most of us think it's about being happy by getting the materialistic things, the perfect job, getting that raise or promotion at work and all the other things we can store up here on earth. I've resolved that the secret to my joy and happiness, is what I'm storing up in my heart, mind and soul - who is CHRIST and all the promises of the Bible.  Learning contentment in what I have, who I am, and the circumstances placed before me have been a key factor in the joy I have in my life today.  

Give up a little.....Gain a lot

In a world of give me, give me, give me, sometimes if we choose give up a little, we can gain much!

Life has been pretty crazy over the last few months.  I've faced health issues, relationship changes, and made amends with people in my life. During this craziness, I've found that I need to put my full dependence upon The Lord as it has been crucial in these challenges and changes I've encountered.

As this blog does focus on the physical aspect of staying "fit", my own personal focus is on the spiritual fitness and disciplines I must maintain.  In doing so, it enables me to be physically fit.  In keeping a healthy mind through continuous God centered thinking, the goodness of God flows into every other aspect of my life. This can only be achieved through prayer, getting into the word daily, staying connected with Godly women, attending church service each week, reading great books that educate me in the life of Christ, listening to worship music, sermons online, but most importantly, applying everything I learn directly to my life. 

Part of staying spiritually clean, I find it necessary to remove major distractions from my life. Currently I find these distractions to be particular social media platforms and the content of some television programs I view (even as little as that may be.) The removal of these items are the first steps I've taken to begin spending more "quality" time with God.

Disconnecting myself from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google + for the last two weeks has been an eye opening experience.  It's made me realize how much time I had invested in grabbing my Iphone, clicking those little icons of these social media portals checking who or how many people liked my status updates, photos, along with the time I would spent carefully thinking of what opinion I wanted to share on various topics or on friends status updates. I recall how excited I would get when I would see the notification number show up on the Facebook or Instagram status bar. The excitement grew even larger if I saw a friend request on Facebook or that someone new began following me on Instagram. Reflecting on that excitement, I think about how much power I gave those things in my life.  I allowed the affirmations and praises of others to fill my life rather than God. This has been a humbling realization.

My time away from these areas have brought out to the open parts of my life which needed addressing; my pride, the intentions of my heart, reconciliation in matters that I have chosen not to deal with and my need to focus my free time on things of importance.  This quality time to spent between God and I, distraction free has been life changing and also life challenging.  Life changing because in the last couple weeks I've addressed issues that have been keeping me stuck in certain relationships which were not permitting myself to grow in Christ.  The ability to become intimate with God, has allowed me to hear His voice and act upon what He has revealed to me.  It has created an inner peace in my soul.  Life challenging because in this quiet time I've had with my Savior, those revelations have forced me out of my comfort zone as I have built up the courage to take bold steps of faith. I've also have found that the things I've feared about myself have shifted.  This has come from clearer thinking.  I have more confidence in my decisions as I learn to view God for who he really is and how he views me.  This confidence comes from the promises of what my capabilities are through Him.  I need not fear the unknown for He is all knowing and all powerful.  I find there to be so much truth and assurance in believing that with my entire being.  

In addition, to my spiritual cleansing, I've recently completed a 7-Day diet cleanse. This lifestyle change was a jump start to getting back on track to healthier eating patterns.  For the last few months I've allowed myself to indulge in whatever brought me pleasure. Today, I am trying to view food as fuel and not something to bring me comfort, pleasure, or with an attitude of I "deserve" it.  These past 7 days helped kick start a return to my healthy eating lifestyle.

One of the biggest challenges I faced during this change was going from a sugar and cream filled coffee cup to one filled with just black coffee! I'm happy to report that for the last two days I've continued to drink my coffee black. It's a daily choice to maintain a healthy pattern of eating.  During the 7 days of cleansing my body, when I felt hungry, instead of reaching for a quick fix or giving up and saying, "I'll start again tomorrow," I reached out in prayer and for the strength I get through Christ.  This is a practice I must implement into my life daily to deter from any type of cravings, whether it be a craving of food, breaking my fast from social media or any other unhealthy habits that pull me away from God.

As a result of my diet cleanse, I lost 6.5 pounds and 1.5% of body fat.  As exciting as it was to shed a few pounds in the last week, the best part of this 7 day cleanse is how in times of struggle, I found that I kept being pointed in one direction......To God.  I vividly notice how much I have gained in this last week and look forward to how much more I will attain as I continue my spiritual cleanse.

Don't get me wrong, I see benefits of social media.  But when our lives are defined, consumed and dictated by it, it causes us to lose a part of who we are.  When we have to pick up our phones first thing in the morning or they become the last thing we look at it before we go to bed, it apparent at how habitual and programmed our lives have become. Honestly, I don't think we realize how many times we pick up our phone to log on because it has become second nature to us. Some time ago I heard a sermon that said something along the lines of, "What if we prayed every time we picked up our phone?  What if we opened our bible every time we picked up our phone?"  When I ponder those questions, my own conclusion is how different the world would be, how different the would could be if we choose differently.

Time away from my phone, computer and television programs has given me extra time for living life; experiencing joy with my loved ones through quality and non distracting time. We sit and have eye to eye conversations with one another.  I actually hear what they are saying to me as I give them my full attention.  It is cleansing the junk out of my head and giving me clearer and cleaner thinking and a more intimate relationship with God.

My the relationships with my friends, family and Savior have become more enriched as they are filled with quality attention, quality focus and quality time.  In giving up a little, I've gained a lot. Thank you Jesus ♥