Food, Fitness and Faith - Day 9 of 21

God's words can help us establish clear priorities for our physical, emotional or spiritual fitness. I have trouble sticking to His plan, I keep trying to do it my way. I need to keep praying that He will help me become the person He intended me to be.

Today's lesson is about knowing your blood pressure and finding some exercise that is fun. Simple enough. But everyday we have opportunities, challenges and choices. If we don't choose God to be the center of our life everyday, the consequences will be both temporary and forever.

Today I choose God and ask Him to help me be proactive in my choices about my health.

Food, Fitness and Faith - Day 8 of 21

Everyday we make thousands of small choices about what we do and what we think, usually without much thought. I'm like most people and spend most of my day reacting. Somehow I ended up with this book. I don't believe that was for any other reason except God is asking me to slow down and think about the choices I make.

What am I learning? Here I am on Day 8. Am I applying what I'm learning to improve me personally, spiritually or physically? No, not really. Although, I have learned enough to know I can't fool God. Every step in my life is a choice and my choices are determining the quality of my journey.

None of my friends are as overweight as I am. But, when I think of the people I know that have healthy habits, the list is small. Now, if you're a friend of mine, please don't take this wrong. I definitely have friends who eat right and exercise regularly. Well, at least one does. Regular exercise is different than being active. Although I have learned that a short walk and a small healthy meal is much better than a full meal and no walk.

Here's my prayer for today.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please help me! I'm not that dense. I understand what you're saying. Please help me to follow your commandments. Please help me get it - not just understand the words, but learn to live by them.

In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Food, Fitness and Faith - Day 7 of 21

Today's lesson was about praying. Pray in the morning, at night, and all through the day. Ask God every morning to give you the strength and wisdom to treat your body as the one-of-a-kind gift that it is.

Prayer asks, praise accepts the answer. Remember, we don't always get what we pray for, but we always get what we need.

Be anxious for nothing and pray about everything. Pray eyes-wide open.

Amen.

I'll be back...

Month-end's got ahold of me.

I didn't give up!

Food, Fitness and Faith - Day 6 of 21

I don't like today's lesson at all. It's about procrastination and goals! Hmmm. I seem to have something backward. I always procrastinate and I never set goals. God help me. How am I going to get through this one?

Here's how to defeat procrastination! Pay less attention to the sacrifices made today and more attention to the rewards of tomorrow.

To quote Beth Moore "Measure the size of the obstacle against the size of God".

If not now, when?

Food, Fitness and Faith - Day 5 of 21

Okay, I know it's been a few days. I was at the Creative Memories Showcase - an event not to be missed. Now back to work.

Here's what the message is today: consistent, regular exercise and having good health is more than only not being sick!

I remember when I did aerobics 3x/week. I not only looked better, I felt better mentally. When I used to go for walks/runs, I relieved the stress in my life. I wasn't trying to follow the Lord then, but I'm certain that if I put exercise back into my life, I will look better, feel better and become closer to God. That would pretty much take care of all my problems.

God's instructions are clear. He rewards wise behavior and punishes misbehavior. He gave me a good, whole body. I need to respect it.

Food, Fitness and Faith - Day 4 of 21

We live in a fast-food world where choices are convenient, inexpensive and tempting. It's also a digital world filled with modern conveniences that rob us of the physical exercise needed for healthy lifestyles.

There are no shortcuts. We have to make the right choices and do the work to live a healthy lifestyle. It's that simple. So, why is it so hard?

Food, Fitness and Faith - Day 3 of 21

If you want to lose weight, don't go on a diet. Change your lifestyle! Moderation! It gets worse.

God's instructions are clear: if we seek to live wisely, we must be moderate in our appetites and disciplined in our behavior.

How am I going to do this??? By earnestly seeking it by turning my weaknesses over and asking God for strength.

Now for all of you who know me, you're probably thinking I've fallen into the deep end. I promise you, I have not. It's been a long time, but I'm pretty sure that if I lost weight I'd feel better, have more energy and look better. I've already proven that I can't do that alone, or on a diet. I'm trusting, by faith, that God will help me.

Food, Fitness and Faith - Day 2 of 21

Poor eating habits are easy to make and hard to break.

God has protected me in the past. There is no doubt in my mind that God has been protecting me my whole life. The one thing that stands out the most is when I got pregnant at 17 years old. In just 10 months, I got pregnant, my Mom died, I turned 18, my Dad died (six weeks after Mom died), I got married, I graduated from high school, I had my baby, I moved to MN. Being pregnant and in high school, living in CA without any parents, who knows what might have happened to me? God knew and he protected me. I have always believed that getting pregnant saved me. Strange, I know. But it made me make wiser choices and think about something else besides myself. My fun wasn't over, but I was much more responsible. After all, losing my parents made me realize that my son needed his parents. I had to grow up fast.

I also recall one answered prayer not too many years ago when I prayed for my son's safety. I pray for all my family and their health and safety, but this was specific, not general and God answered my prayer. Most of my prayers are not answered immediately, but they have been heard, not always answered with what I wanted, but with what God knew I needed - and when I needed it.

The point of these two stories is that they span more than 40 years and they're proof to me that God is everywhere, knows everything and is always with us.

I'm trusting Him to help me on this journey, especially when it's hard - that's when I need Him most. I've proven that I can't do it alone.

"Measure the size of the obstacles against the size of God." - Beth Moore

21 Days of Focus

Day 1 - When you form a deeper relationship with God, you can start establishing healthier habits, starting now.
Day 2 - Your journey toward improved health can be, and should be, a journey that you make with God.
Day 3 - It takes wisdom to be moderate; moderation is wisdom in action.
Day 4 - If you're not determined to be the master of your body…then you might just become a slave to your impulses.
Day 5 - Your exercise regimen should be sensible, enjoyable, safe, and consistent.
Day 6 - When it comes to food, fitness, or faith, the best moment to begin major improvements is the present moment.
Day 7 - If you're serious about improving your fitness or your faith, pray about it.
Day 8 - First you make choices…and soon those choices begin to shape your life. That's why you much make smart choices…or face the consequences of making dumb ones.
Day 9 - Fitness is a journey, not a destination. Achieving physical fitness - and maintaining it - is a seven-day-a-week assignment. If you don't make physical fitness a priority, your health will suffer.
Day 10 - Discipline matters. It takes discipline to strengthen your faith; it take discipline to improve your fitness.
Day 11 - God's Word has the power to change every aspect of your life, including your health.
Day 12 - God wants you to get enough rest. The world wants you to burn the candle at both ends. Trust God.
Day 13 - You're the human being whom God has entrusted with the responsibility of caring for your body. So it's always the right time to become proactive about your health.
Day 14 - God has a plan for your spiritual, physical, and emotional health.
Day 15 - You must guard your heart against addiction…or else.
Day 16 - Life is a balancing act. To improve your balance, consult your Heavenly Father many times each day.
Day 17 - When negative emotions threaten to hijack your day, lift your thoughts - and you prayers - to God.
Day 18 - Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, it's always the right time to take another step toward God.
Day 19 - For the journey through life, you need energy. The best source of energy, of course, is God. So if you're wise, you'll ask the Creator to energize you and guide you today and every day.
Day 20 - When you worship God with a sincere heart, He will guide your steps and bless your life.
Day 21 - God deserves first place in your life…and you deserve the experience of putting Him there.

Daily focus is from the book A 21 Day Journey to a New You - Food, Fitness, and Faith for Women.

Food, Fitness and Faith - Day 1 of 21

I picked up a book awhile back titled A 21 Day Journey to a New You - Food, Fitness, and Faith for Women. The book has 21 Biblically-based principles for achieving physical, spiritual and emotional health. Since I've already tried everything else, I figured I'd try this. After all, 21 days is an insignificant amount of time to change decades worth of bad habits.

I read an old saying today - "First, you make your habits, and then your habits make you." How true. Like almost everyone I know, what worked for me when I was a young lady, doesn't work now that I'm mature! I could elaborate on that, but I think you get my drift. I have never really taken care of myself, although there were years that I was in great shape - both physically and mentally (but never the at the same time), and now I'm paying the price. What has always been missing was my spiritual well-being.

My history as a Christian can be summed up like this: During my elementary school years I attended a Baptist church with my friend Judy. Her grandfather (if I recall right) was the minister. I remember going to VBS and still have some remnants of my time spent there. I also remember going to Unity by the Sea in Santa Monica and singing in the choir. My favorite song was "This is My Country". I learned that "Jesus loves the little children", but I really didn't know what being a Christian meant. I knew I wanted to be a Christian, but didn't know how. Then, about 10 years ago I searched, and found, God. I had been saved before, in the early sixties at the Los Angeles Coliseum during a Billy Graham Crusade. But, I expected some sort of noticeable difference in my life (without me doing anything different) and there wasn't one. I ran across Joyce Meyer on TV, then read the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, watched the Passion and began craving more knowledge and understanding. That led me to Oak Haven Church where I continue to learn how to be a good Christian.

My buddy Jack is amazed that after years of him trying to help me turn to Christ, I have actually done it. He says I always knew it was the right way because I had a solid foundation! So, that brings me back to my book.

Matthew 7:24 is about the sensible man who built his house on a rock and when the rain fell, the river rose, and the winds blew, his house still stood because its foundation was on a solid rock. So, Jack was partially right. I did have a foundation. I have always known God was real, but my foundation wasn't solid, it was very slippery.

I plan to spend the next 21 days changing that - it's really not optional at this point. I can be old and overweight if I want to, but it's not what God intended for my life. It's never too late to change, and so I'm trusting God to help me through this. If at first I don't succeed, I'll keep praying. He'll transform my life if I let Him.

During the next 21 days, I plan to establish good habits and change bad ones. Two good habits I plan to develop are to walk Grizz and drink more water every day. The bad habits I plan to change are no over-eating, no late-night eating, less eating out and going to bed earlier.

Today I choose to follow God's plan for my life. Faithfully, I believe He will help me if I let Him.

Three Amigos

Meet three of my grandsons. The Three Amigos are just one reason I LOVE to scrapbook and preserve precious memories. These boys are not only adorable, they are a part of me! They are lucky to have wonderful parents who tend to their everyday needs and also spend time at the city and county parades, rodeos, or whatever the celebration is - they get to participate. That is so important, but sadly, I have to admit, I didn't do that with my kids. It is undoubtedly one thing I wish I could change about my early parenting.

But, you can't go back. You can, however, make sure that your family knows that you love them and that they are important to you. Scrapbooking is one thing I like to do for the people I love and care about. Both my boys tease me about the time and money I invest in scrapbooking. But, I'm 100% sure that in the near future, they will look back at the things I've made and be so grateful that I took the time to celebrate the significance of our family. They'll have a permanent record of my love and my life will live on through my albums and gifts.

Everyone has memories to preserve. How are you ensuring your precious memories will be recorded for future generations to share?

Need help? Give me a call.
I can help you get started,
get caught up, get finished.
It's something I love to do
and something I love to share.
It's that important to me.


www.mycmsite.com/rondi
612-418-2845

And, that's NOT all I have to say about that!