Our Bodies are God's Temple. Let's get in shape!

Thank you everyone who donated to Sergey's Fund Raiser. It was an absolute act of God! They were able to raise over $17,000.00 in that short amount of time. Praise God! Thank you for being willing to be used for God's will. They are still almost $10,000.00 short, but we have faith that it will be a piece of cake for God to make this happen in His perfect timing. You can still donate if you didn't get a chance to at Danielle's blog http://www.farleykids.blogspot.com/ . You just won't be entered into the raffle since the winners were announced yesterday. Again THANK YOU to all of you who gave when it might not be an abundant financial time in your life. Trust me when I say that God will bless you for your selflessness and your faithfulness. God is sooooo good!

On a health note, since this blog is about my health, spiritual health is just as, if not MORE, important than your physical health. There are things that are beneficial for my spiritual health that I need to do daily just like a work out. I will be honest and confess that I am not as disciplined in that area either as I would like to be. I try to read my daily devotional book by Joyce Meyers every morning along with my Bible. I need to make more of an effort to make time for that since I make time for other things like working out, my business, school, house work, and rest. I also take time every day to read 15 minutes, at least, of a book that focuses on my personal growth. Right now I am reading The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie O'Martian. I can't explain the results that I have noticed from it, but I can say that I have noticed them! It is so amazing! Stephen and I have a pretty good relationship, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't prepare ourselves or prevent problems from arising in the future. I credit a lot of our communication skills to these amazing books: The Bible, The 5 Love Languages, Power of a Praying Wife, How to Win Friends and Influence People, As a Man Thinketh, and Everyone Communicates, Few Connect. I recommend EVERYONE to get these books and read them asap. They help in so many areas of life, especially your closest relationships.
So, my plan is to group my Biblical reading with my personal growth reading and make it a 30 minute window instead of (2)15 minute windows. Before bed seems to be the best time. Also, prayer is the most powerful thing we can do for our spiritual health. It's like water to the body. Without water our bodies will perish. Praying is the social network to God, you should update your status frequently! Reading is like vitamins and supplements. What we put into our minds and our hearts eventually comes out of our mouths. It is true that what a person thinks, so is he. Let's put good stuff in, so good stuff goes out. Church is your scale. This is where we can evaluate where we are in our spiritual health and what we need to do to improve.  Finally the world is your gym. As a Christian I believe that I am constantly exercising what it is I believe. I need to be an example of what a Christian is supposed to be; loving, forgiving, positive, encouraging, gracious, helpful, honest, etc. Basically, Christ-like. That's the ultimate goal, isn't it? There are a lot of times I fail, but I need to keep looking up and seeking God's help to help me back up and keep moving. It's kind of funny to think of this in this way, but if you want to lose all the weight you are carrying around in sin, guilt, fear, hate, loneliness, regret, depression, etc, you can in an instant just by asking. Ask God to remove it from your heart and soul and trust in Him to do just that, then He will. If you didn't know already, but that is what Easter was all about. We can have spiritual liposuction the second we ask for it with no payment plan. Jesus already paid it in advance, an early Christmas present, if you will. If you want to talk more about this one on one I am more than able to do that. I know I spoke of this very serious matter in a light hearted way, but sometimes making it fun and simple can make it stick better. Love You!

Yoga!

So, recently, on Wednesday mornings, us girls (the Fab Four, as I like to call us) have taken on YOGA. I have always wanted to be a Yogi. I love everything about it, except the process it takes to become one. I am talking about how awkward I feel transitioning into the positions, how I feel verses how I look in the mirror, how loud I breathe, and how not streamlined my body is at the moment. I will get there, but right now it's not pretty. I enjoy the end of the sessions when you get to lay down and rest. I just think about that as my reward for the physical and emotional pain I go through as I stretch, contort, and breathe. :) I have realized, just from this last session, that I need to do cardio BEFORE Yoga because I just feel like taking a nap afterwards. Plus, I don't burn as many calories as I like by just doing Yoga. So, to make myself even more pumped I am purchasing a new Yoga mat and carrier as a Birthday present to myself! I will post a picture when I get it. I am turning 29 tomorrow. I really need to think about what I want to accomplish in the next 365 days, before I am 30!

Still plugging along

Well, I am still in the game. It was hard this last week to keep up with a routine. My husband, brother, and I went to Vegas for business and pleasure for 5 days. I got cardio in the first night: I pushed Stephen in his chair up and down the strip for 5 HOURS!!! Yuck. It was freezing, windy, and he couldn't push that well in it, so I had to assist. It became a long night, but fun. My legs hurt so bad when I woke up the next morning. Then the only thing I managed to get in was a 30 minute swim on Friday. I started out good, but then came the food. I was aweful. When I fall off the wagon, I fall hard. So, today was the first day back in the gym. I burned 720 calories! Woowoo! Gotta make up for Vegas. I just realized that I have less than a month to drop 2 dress sizes. I might have to readjust my goals. I have already knocked my calorie consumption to 1065 in order to lose 2 pounds a week. I add back whatever calories I burn for that day, though. I checked to make sure that was what I was supposed to do and it is. I work out to eat, it seems. Haha.

On a different note, I wanted to talk to you about Sergey, my soon to be nephew. He is an orphan from a different country and has Down Syndrome. My sister, Danielle and her family, are working towards adopting him. They are allowing people to donate money or an item to their fund raiser. Please check out the information on the bottom left of this blog to learn more about her family, their heart, and Sergey. We can't wait to bring him home, so please help if you can. Thank you!



 Meet Sergey

Meet his parents

His Big Brother

and his 5 Sisters