My Journey: Food, Fitness, and Faith

"Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit."-(3 John 1:2)

(Editor's note:  Today's post comes from my friend Michelle.)

Weight loss has always been a struggle for me.  I would dive in each Monday, give it all I had, only to have my will-power fail me. I'd feel terrible about myself, ashamed and embarrassed that I couldn’t stick with it, and the cycle would begin again.

A year and a half ago, something changed.  I started to learn about clean eating and found myself worrying less about losing weight. I was eating whole foods to fuel my body, my taste buds changed and I started to crave the healthy foods.  I ate more fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats.   I cut out added sugar, artificial sweeteners and flavors, as well as processed foods full of chemicals. If I didn’t recognize an ingredient . . . I didn’t eat it!  I started planning my meals and snacks in advance so that I didn’t make bad food choices when the day didn’t go as planned.  Writing down everything that I ate helped me to be more aware of what and how much I was eating.

A month after changing my nutrition, I started a new at-home fitness program.  I had joined gyms, started running programs and bought tons of fitness DVDs in the past, but didn’t stick with them.  This time was different. I had an online group that I had to check in with that was full of ladies grounded in their faith.  We were there to encourage each other and hold one another accountable.  I was so proud of myself as I finished Day 60 of the program.  I was in better shape than I’d been in a long time and had grown to love exercise.  I continued my daily workouts because I loved them and loved how I felt as a result. I continue to do daily workouts at home as my twin girls sit watching and my son frequently jumps in and joins me. 

This health and fitness journey has centered in reliance on God and His strength, doing it for a much bigger reason than changing the number on the scale or what size jeans I am wearing.  This was as much a journey of faith as it was fitness or nutrition.  I began seeking the Lord to help break my old habits of emotional eating.  I started paying attention to why I turned to food and turned that desire for comfort into a prayer for guidance and surrender.  As I have sought the Lord in this, I have become much more interested in treating my body as a temple and desire to honor God in my choices. I want to take care of my family by setting a good example, and making better decisions that help us to avoid illnesses and medical issues that could be controlled or eliminated by healthier choices.

As my mind-shift changed, and I sought the Lord, my health became more of a priority than how I looked, but did result in a physical transformation.  My new outlook and beliefs are no longer all or none, focused on MY will-power, or driven by the number on the scale.  I still enjoy occasional treats, but eat mostly whole foods.

If your story is anything like mine, I’d encourage you with these tips –

• Pray!  Ask God to show you where to start and more importantly seek Him for your “why”.  Why do you want to get healthy? What is getting in your way?

• Start looking at nutrition labels and ingredient lists.  Every good choice matters.  This is not an all or none way of life.

• Find something you enjoy doing for exercise.  Do you like dancing, boot camp, walking, running, lifting weights, kickboxing, or something else?  You won’t stick with it if you don’t enjoy it.

• Connect with others who can encourage you and hold you accountable.  Share your goals and successes with them.  We are so much more successful in community.

I pray that through small changes and refocusing on the Lord and the life and body He has gifted you with, you will also start to experience a physical, emotional and spiritual transformation.

In health and in Him,
Michelle

Michelle Hight lives in Oklahoma with her husband, 3 year old son, and 7 month old twin girls. She is a stay at home mom and fitness coach still on her journey to daily grow more physically and spiritually fit. Michelle can be found online at FB.com/coachmichellehight or on Instagram @michelle_hight.

Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary-Book Review

"The most courageous of the judges was Deborah, a woman who prevailed upon Barak

 to attack the mighty army of the Cananites (4:1-5:31)

-excerpt from the section on "Judges", page 644 in Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary



I was really excited when I saw this dictionary as one of my choices for review.   A new Bible study tool for my library!  My personal belief is the more we understand about the context, culture, and time period in which the Scriptures took place, the more we can understand God's Word.  In turn, this will increase our faith and enable us to receive everything God has for us in His Word.

Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary is 1,132 pages of dictionary entries, maps, and photographs.  A sample of what you will find in this Bible study tool includes information about different Bible Translations, people, places, and things in the Bible, and Books of the Bible.  In the front of the book, you will find several times lines and a guide on how to make the most of this dictionary.

I really like this dictionary.  My first impression was about how heavy it was when I picked it up after it was delivered.  There is a wealth of information all compiled in one place. It is an excellent resource for Bible study, and I look forward to using it more in the future.

There are some amazing photographs in this dictionary.  They include:  a photograph of "Jaffa", the modern day Joppa, mentioned in Acts 10; a photograph of a reconstruction of the exterior and interior of a what a typical house would look like in Palestine during Old Testament time; a photograph of palm trees in South Palestine, of which the leaves were mentioned in John 12-these are just a few of the photographs you will see.

Another exciting aspect of this dictionary is that it includes study and teaching outlines to go with books of the Bible.  For example, the book of Esther is broken down into two parts and those parts are broken down into key points to give attention to in each book. 

 I am especially impressed about what a favorable view of women is taken.  The tone and words towards the sometime ignored gender is very honorable and uplifting. 

Here's an excerpt from the entry on the word "WOMAN" on page 1193:

Jesus lived and taught a better way-the way of love.  He invited women to accompany Him and His disciples on their journeys (Luke 8:1-3).  He talked with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well and led her to a conversion experience (John 4).  Jesus did not think it strange that Mary sat at His feet, assuming the role of a disciple; in fact, He suggested to Martha that she should do likewise (Luke 10:38-42).  Although the Jews segregated the women in both temple and synagogue, the early church did not separate the congregation by sex (Acts 12:1-17; 1 Cor. 11:2-16).

I recommend this dictionary to everybody.  It will deepen and enrich your study of the Bible.  It is a great resource for anybody, including homeschoolers.

My prayer is that you come to know Christ more fully as you study His Word. 

In Him,

Beth

To read a sample of the dictionary go here to amazon.

Disclaimer:  I received this book free from Book Look Bloggers in exchange for a review.  I was not required to give a favorable review.  The thoughts and opinions here are entirely my own.



Let Them Get Married Young

Last year my friend’s daughter got married. This stood out to me because she was 18, an age younger than what our culture is currently choosing for themselves.

I was very happy for them, glad that they had found each other early in life and were in love. And I was so thankful that their parents supported them.

The wedding made me start thinking about marriage in our culture, how it is been relegated to later in life. People are out trying to experience “life” and missing out on its greatest assets, people and love.

Parents are very influential in this decision because they want their kids to be successful, and that often means college, or travel, so they encourage them to move in those directions. And not that those things are bad, but what do we do when a young couple that loves God want to get married?

We should let them.

Recently another young couple I know got engaged. This made me start thinking about the subject of getting married young again. I wanted to write something about this, so I got brave and asked my friend about her daughter getting married and their supporting it as parents.

Her response was awesome. This is what she said...

“The fact is that our society has changed so much in the last 100+years and not for the better in many ways. To me, WHO my daughter marries is much more important than when. Both these kids love the Father with all their heart and want to please him with their lives. My husband and I had many conversations with both of them about the pros & cons and then left it between them and The Lord. Most of the cons and most of the uproar from family & friends all had to do with what they would miss out on; then breaking that down it consisted of just worldly nonsense that would only bring regret anyway. Bottom line was, He was the right one and we speak into their lives as often as they need. Their motives and heart were right, and it was the most anointed wedding I've ever been to. People still talk about how the presence of God was so strong.”

Two great points my friend brought out:

1. Who my daughter marries is much more important than when.

The age of a couple does not determine success. There are so many other factors involved in what makes up a successful marriage, the most important of which is God in the lives of those getting married.

2. Most of the cons from family and friends had to do with what they would miss out on.

Popular culture says that people must experience all they can before they settle down and start a family, like that is lesser in some way. But it in no way reflects the truth or God's perspective on things.

I am so thankful that as parents they chose to listen to God instead of be molded into what is happening currently in our culture.

Now, why else is this important?

In Ephesians 5:21-33 , Paul writes,

And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of his body.

As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Did you get that last part? “...it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.”

We should let them get married because they are a living, breathing, walking around picture of Christ and His Church.

God is an amazing creator, and He likes to speak to us in pictures. Through stories in His Word, the world He created, and even through us, He is demonstrating who HE is to all mankind.

Marriage is His visual picture of Jesus and His Bride. IT is the story of what He did when He redeemed and rescued us. It is the greatest love story ever told.

So, when your son or daughter want to get married at an age, where you might previously have questioned the timing, Let them.

They are preaching the Gospel with their lives.

The Cure For The "Perfect Life"/ The Best Yes

(Editor's Note: Today's post comes from my friend Pattie.)

Do you ever struggle with saying yes too much? Overloading your schedule? Being too busy? Worrying about what others think of you if you do or do not do something?

I do.

In fact, more times than I care to admit, I’ve said “yes” to doing things I know I shouldn’t have committed to; and because I was taught to finish what I start and do what is expected of me, I’ve spent a lot of time being tired and overloaded. Being tired and overloaded seemed like it was expected of me as a Christian, not to mention a ministry wife and mom of two growing girls.

Recently I read two books that have helped me begin to reshape my thought processes into following what God wants of me, and I’d like to share them with you. One is The Cure for the “Perfect” Life and the other is The Best Yes. Both of these books are written with a sound Scriptural basis and an element of practicality that is honest, fresh, and incredibly helpful.

In The Cure for the “Perfect” Life I found that I was not alone in my belief that I was never going to be good enough or smart enough or talented or accomplished or achieving enough. Kathi Lipp and Cheri Gregory give quizzes for the reader to determine her level of perfectionism, people-pleasing, performancism, and procrastination (also known as the “P-Bullies”). But they don’t leave us feeling badly about how much we struggle with pleasing others or being perfect—on the contrary, these ladies give Biblical wisdom, practical steps and tips and ideas for “Braver Living” that help those of us who struggle with these issues a way to step by tentative step move past them and start being brave enough to say “no” to pleasing others or trying to be perfect—or just giving up completely in the case of procrastinating—and say a big resounding YES to what God wants from us.

The next book I read immediately following this one was Lysa TerKeurst’s excellent book The Best Yes. I was struck immediately by this quote, and I knew I needed this book: “A woman who lives with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule will often ache with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul.” Oh my goodness, I knew what that felt like. I’ve lived there, on more than one occasion. I don’t want to live there again. This book is full of ideas of what to do in the case of having too much on our plates, or when we’re tempted to say “yes” to something we think God wants us to do just because someone we respect tells us they want us to do it. Or when we aren’t sure if it’s what God really wants, what should we do to determine if it is or is not since we don’t have a telegram from heaven above to tell us our exact plans for the next six months (don’t you wish sometimes He did that?). Lysa also includes plenty of good Scripture to memorize and meditate upon as we relearn how to think of ministry in God’s kingdom.

In the months after reading these books, I can say that while there have been moments I’ve felt really busy (I have a daughter who’s a senior, so all senior moms are saying “amen”), I can say with all honesty that I’m not at the place where I feel as if my soul is underwhelmed. I’ve taken some steps to make sure I’m taking care of myself, and I’ve said “no” to some really good things that have come up as opportunities. What happens when I say no to things and yes to God is that He uses others to come up alongside the ministry or the church to meet the need, and it’s a beautiful thing to see.

Pattie Reitz is a ministry wife and mom of two teen girls who lives in south central Alaska. You can read more from her at her blog (http://freshbrewedwriter.blogspot.com) and at Wives of Faith (www.wivesoffaith.org/blog).