Verse for Today: You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20 (NIV)
God is with us as we go through our days. There are times that we "feel" as if we can't feel His presence. However we need to move forward knowing that God has us in the palm of His hand. While the circumstances might seem terrible for us, we don't know yet how God may use that circumstance to encourage others. Remember the world is watching you to see how you will react and you might be the only "light" that they see today. Let your light shine and proclaim God's love to the world.
Remember light will shine in the darkness, however darkness does not extend into the light.
Don't hide your light under the bushel, let it shine for the world to see.
May God bless you!
Deb
Monday, March 22, 2010
Back on the wagon
Well, it has been a while since I posted anything. We are back from Ohio and while it was a stressful time for me (and the rest of the family), when I got back on the scales on Wednesday night, I had lost 2.6 pounds. I'm not sure I have done that well since then, we will see Wednesday I guess.
I tried really hard while we were away to stay away from the starchy foods, the family was supportive of my efforts to eat right and it was successful. It was hard because they are all very good cooks. :)
However, now that I am back home and working out of the home office, I find that I need to be careful again, or I will be back where I was before. I covet everyone's prayers as I move ahead on this journey. I would still like to lose 40 pounds in two months - yes I know that is not logical, however a pound a week, would be about 10 pounds in 2 months. That would be awesome! So stand with me during this journey and we will succeed!
May God bless all who read this.
Deb
I tried really hard while we were away to stay away from the starchy foods, the family was supportive of my efforts to eat right and it was successful. It was hard because they are all very good cooks. :)
However, now that I am back home and working out of the home office, I find that I need to be careful again, or I will be back where I was before. I covet everyone's prayers as I move ahead on this journey. I would still like to lose 40 pounds in two months - yes I know that is not logical, however a pound a week, would be about 10 pounds in 2 months. That would be awesome! So stand with me during this journey and we will succeed!
May God bless all who read this.
Deb
Monday, March 8, 2010
In Ohio
Well I need all of your prayers. We are in Ohio now. Jim's mom passed away this week, so all of the siblings are here, it will be hard for me to stick to my diet, but I am trying. Keep me in your prayers that I can be strong.
They are all good cooks, so.... :) I am staying away from the scales during this time. It is so hard to be in her house and she is not here, but I know she is in a better place - she is in heaven with Jesus. No more pain, no more medication. She won't have to reember if she has taken her medication or not. :)
I am so thankful, that she went so peacefully, she didn't have to be in pain for years and years.
Keep praying.
Deb
They are all good cooks, so.... :) I am staying away from the scales during this time. It is so hard to be in her house and she is not here, but I know she is in a better place - she is in heaven with Jesus. No more pain, no more medication. She won't have to reember if she has taken her medication or not. :)
I am so thankful, that she went so peacefully, she didn't have to be in pain for years and years.
Keep praying.
Deb
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Lifestyle - March 3
Ok, well I said I would report the good as well as the bad, so I will live up to my promise - sighhhh :(
Yesterday, I was working in town and was on my way home, tired, ready to be home and my blood sugar dropped (not an excuse - just the truth!). So what did I do? I did what I knew I shouldn't, I stopped in for a McDonald's. I knew as I was getting "I'm going to be sorry for this!". And I was. That night I was really sick. Should teach me a lesson right? Ok, I fell off the wagon, time to get back on again and try again. We weigh in tonight, not sure I really want to - I think I will be lucky if I stay the same. I will have to report back on that too later. :)
So today - what happens, but my husband (sweet caring hubby he is :) ) came upstairs and took me downstairs to explain all of the buttons on the new treadmill we got. Secret everyone! I'm scared of treadmills - I am sure they will take off and leave me behind. So now that I know how it works, guess I better go down and walk a little bit before we go to class tonight.
Just remember - we can all do it - we might have moments of disappointment, but we can always go back and try again. God is always walking along beside us if we only ask Him - you are never alone.
Yesterday, I was working in town and was on my way home, tired, ready to be home and my blood sugar dropped (not an excuse - just the truth!). So what did I do? I did what I knew I shouldn't, I stopped in for a McDonald's. I knew as I was getting "I'm going to be sorry for this!". And I was. That night I was really sick. Should teach me a lesson right? Ok, I fell off the wagon, time to get back on again and try again. We weigh in tonight, not sure I really want to - I think I will be lucky if I stay the same. I will have to report back on that too later. :)
So today - what happens, but my husband (sweet caring hubby he is :) ) came upstairs and took me downstairs to explain all of the buttons on the new treadmill we got. Secret everyone! I'm scared of treadmills - I am sure they will take off and leave me behind. So now that I know how it works, guess I better go down and walk a little bit before we go to class tonight.
Just remember - we can all do it - we might have moments of disappointment, but we can always go back and try again. God is always walking along beside us if we only ask Him - you are never alone.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
New Lifestyle
Some days are good and some are not so good when creating a new lifestyle. Well yesterday wasn't the best day for my new lifestyle. I think I sort of did ok with my new lifestyle, but sometimes antibiotics causes odd reactions.
Most of my cravings were back again, however I did pretty good about not bowing to them. I think I was catching up on sleep most of the day. I did discover a new recipe yesterday however. My mom had us over for supper and it was pretty simple, but tasted really good. Here it is if you want to try it:
Ingredients:
Pork Chops
Apples
Onions
Brown pork chops in a skillet with oil
Put pork chops in a baking dish with cut up apples and onions
Bake at 350° for about an hour.
Pork chops fell off the bone. They were so tender!
Most of my cravings were back again, however I did pretty good about not bowing to them. I think I was catching up on sleep most of the day. I did discover a new recipe yesterday however. My mom had us over for supper and it was pretty simple, but tasted really good. Here it is if you want to try it:
Ingredients:
Pork Chops
Apples
Onions
Brown pork chops in a skillet with oil
Put pork chops in a baking dish with cut up apples and onions
Bake at 350° for about an hour.
Pork chops fell off the bone. They were so tender!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
New Lifestyle
This blog is being written as a walk in my life of trying to lose weight and to document my successes and failures. Yes, I said failures too. I believe that we need to record everything, so we can look back at our lives and see what works for us and what doesn't.
I have finally accepted the inevitable! I am getting older and my body doesn't work as well as it used to. :)
About a month ago, I decided that I was going to have to be proactive in my weight loss. However, the question is how do you go about losing weight. I had been on several diets throughout my life:
1. Weight Watchers
2. Restricting calories
3. Atkins
4. 3D - Bible Study
5. South Beach Diet
All of these worked for a time, however I found myself again back at way too much weight. I needed to control my eating and get my life under control again. So how do I do this?
Finally, one day probably in November, my husband came home and told me about this group close to us where everyone was getting together to study the Bible and lose weight. I felt God nudging me to look into this. With a big sigh and a fear of failure, I said ok and joined this group.
It is a wonderful group, and I attended for about 2 months, thinking that it would all come together and I would be better. Of course being that I tried to do this without changing my exercise or my diet, of course nothing changed.
After the 2 months, the Holy Spirit spoke to me again and said "Ok, you did it your way are you willing to do it My way now?". While I was fighting this, Christmas and New Years came along. Instead of my weight going down, it went up.
If you remember, I stated when I started this that my body doesn't work as well as it used to? Well, it wasn't just that it wasn't as efficient, I had actually been diagnosed with Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol. The medicine I was put on took care of the numbers, but I really wanted to feel better, which I hadn't yet. So I decided to go back on South Beach Diet again. This diet is hard for me, because I like pizza, chips, potatoes, corn and all of those starchy foods that as a Diabetic, I shouldn't have. So I knew I needed help this time to stick to it, so I did what I should have done from the beginning. Why is it that we know what we need to do, but we fight as hard as we can to get control of our lives?
Well, I finally realized that one of the problems I was fighting was that I didn't want to give up control and while in many ways, I felt I had lost control of my life at least I could have control here - I could eat whatever I wanted. I took these feelings and gave them to Christ. I am not saying I don't still struggle with this issue, but I realized I needed to lay these feelings at the cross of Jesus and let Him have control.
Once I did this, and realized that this was not just a change for a short time, this was going to have to be a lifetime decision. One of the things that I like about South Beach is that while for a time you are giving up some foods, you can add them back later. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
One of the things I noticed, was that as I ate the foods allowed on Phase 1 of South Beach, I felt so much better. Some of those things that didn't work right, were starting to work right, when I ate right. This was such a releasing idea, that if I just ate right, I would feel better, that it was enough encouragement to keep going.
So how am I doing? Well.... on January 5th when I gave this situation over to Christ, I weighed in at 185. The first 3 days were not bad. It was a new diet, new things to learn, new foods to concentrate on. Then Day 3 happened.
Day 3 - I became so frustrated with not being able to eat those things that I craved - mostly starch, that it was difficult. I determined that it was like hitting a wall. I pushed through with the help of friends, prayer and bible reading. I kept telling myself "I can do this." This lasted for 3 days, but with the help of my friends, my wonderful husband and some determination, I broke through the wall.
Day 7 - Tonight is weigh-in day. Time to go to the Bible Study and to weigh in, so with fear and trepidation I weighed in. YAHOO!!!! I lost 2.7 pounds. That was good news and made me feel so much better.
Week 2 - I continued with the eating meat and green vegetables (not my favorite vegetables, but if it makes me feel better. :) ). Here comes Wednesday and it is time to weigh in again. How did I do this time? Will it be good or bad news? Cautiously I stepped on the scales and what did I find? I lost 4.1 pounds :) Wow! How did that work.
Week 3 - Ok, now is Phase 2 of this diet - how will I do? Well it was not a good week for me. I ate pizza half way through the week, and then had some snacks that had too many calories. On Wednesday, when I got to church I stepped on the scales and I had gained 3.6 pounds. Talk about frustrated. I was so disappointed, I didn't even want to go to the Bible Study. We talked through the week in our study and I found I wasn't the only one that had a bad week, but my slogan was "I fell off the wagon, but I am going to get right back on again."
Week 4 - So now that I had my bad week, I had to do better. I did still add the foods back in to my diet, but I tried to be better and really watch the calorie count this week. After pushing through this week, I got on the scales on Wednesday again. I had lost 4.1 pounds this week. :) I discovered even though I had gained weight the week before, I was now at the lowest point in the last 5 years. It was enough to let me continue on my journey. In fact when I looked back on my last 3 months - I had actually lost 15 pounds since I started this journey.
Thank you Lord - for helping me through this journey. He is so faithful to help us even when we fail Him. He loves us in spite of our sinful nature.
This is the first of this blog. I will keep tracking my weeks and what I find as I travel through this new life. I don't like the word "diet", because it gives the concept that there is an end to this way of eating. That is one of the problems so many times, we go back to eating the way we did before and we regain the weight. This is a life change not a diet.
I have decided to set up intermediate goals to aim for. My first goal is to be under 160 pounds by June 5th. Why June 5? We are going to a niece's wedding and I would like to have a pretty dress and make my husband proud to have me on his arm. :)
Deb
I have finally accepted the inevitable! I am getting older and my body doesn't work as well as it used to. :)
About a month ago, I decided that I was going to have to be proactive in my weight loss. However, the question is how do you go about losing weight. I had been on several diets throughout my life:
1. Weight Watchers
2. Restricting calories
3. Atkins
4. 3D - Bible Study
5. South Beach Diet
All of these worked for a time, however I found myself again back at way too much weight. I needed to control my eating and get my life under control again. So how do I do this?
Finally, one day probably in November, my husband came home and told me about this group close to us where everyone was getting together to study the Bible and lose weight. I felt God nudging me to look into this. With a big sigh and a fear of failure, I said ok and joined this group.
It is a wonderful group, and I attended for about 2 months, thinking that it would all come together and I would be better. Of course being that I tried to do this without changing my exercise or my diet, of course nothing changed.
After the 2 months, the Holy Spirit spoke to me again and said "Ok, you did it your way are you willing to do it My way now?". While I was fighting this, Christmas and New Years came along. Instead of my weight going down, it went up.
If you remember, I stated when I started this that my body doesn't work as well as it used to? Well, it wasn't just that it wasn't as efficient, I had actually been diagnosed with Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol. The medicine I was put on took care of the numbers, but I really wanted to feel better, which I hadn't yet. So I decided to go back on South Beach Diet again. This diet is hard for me, because I like pizza, chips, potatoes, corn and all of those starchy foods that as a Diabetic, I shouldn't have. So I knew I needed help this time to stick to it, so I did what I should have done from the beginning. Why is it that we know what we need to do, but we fight as hard as we can to get control of our lives?
Well, I finally realized that one of the problems I was fighting was that I didn't want to give up control and while in many ways, I felt I had lost control of my life at least I could have control here - I could eat whatever I wanted. I took these feelings and gave them to Christ. I am not saying I don't still struggle with this issue, but I realized I needed to lay these feelings at the cross of Jesus and let Him have control.
Once I did this, and realized that this was not just a change for a short time, this was going to have to be a lifetime decision. One of the things that I like about South Beach is that while for a time you are giving up some foods, you can add them back later. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
One of the things I noticed, was that as I ate the foods allowed on Phase 1 of South Beach, I felt so much better. Some of those things that didn't work right, were starting to work right, when I ate right. This was such a releasing idea, that if I just ate right, I would feel better, that it was enough encouragement to keep going.
So how am I doing? Well.... on January 5th when I gave this situation over to Christ, I weighed in at 185. The first 3 days were not bad. It was a new diet, new things to learn, new foods to concentrate on. Then Day 3 happened.
Day 3 - I became so frustrated with not being able to eat those things that I craved - mostly starch, that it was difficult. I determined that it was like hitting a wall. I pushed through with the help of friends, prayer and bible reading. I kept telling myself "I can do this." This lasted for 3 days, but with the help of my friends, my wonderful husband and some determination, I broke through the wall.
Day 7 - Tonight is weigh-in day. Time to go to the Bible Study and to weigh in, so with fear and trepidation I weighed in. YAHOO!!!! I lost 2.7 pounds. That was good news and made me feel so much better.
Week 2 - I continued with the eating meat and green vegetables (not my favorite vegetables, but if it makes me feel better. :) ). Here comes Wednesday and it is time to weigh in again. How did I do this time? Will it be good or bad news? Cautiously I stepped on the scales and what did I find? I lost 4.1 pounds :) Wow! How did that work.
Week 3 - Ok, now is Phase 2 of this diet - how will I do? Well it was not a good week for me. I ate pizza half way through the week, and then had some snacks that had too many calories. On Wednesday, when I got to church I stepped on the scales and I had gained 3.6 pounds. Talk about frustrated. I was so disappointed, I didn't even want to go to the Bible Study. We talked through the week in our study and I found I wasn't the only one that had a bad week, but my slogan was "I fell off the wagon, but I am going to get right back on again."
Week 4 - So now that I had my bad week, I had to do better. I did still add the foods back in to my diet, but I tried to be better and really watch the calorie count this week. After pushing through this week, I got on the scales on Wednesday again. I had lost 4.1 pounds this week. :) I discovered even though I had gained weight the week before, I was now at the lowest point in the last 5 years. It was enough to let me continue on my journey. In fact when I looked back on my last 3 months - I had actually lost 15 pounds since I started this journey.
Thank you Lord - for helping me through this journey. He is so faithful to help us even when we fail Him. He loves us in spite of our sinful nature.
This is the first of this blog. I will keep tracking my weeks and what I find as I travel through this new life. I don't like the word "diet", because it gives the concept that there is an end to this way of eating. That is one of the problems so many times, we go back to eating the way we did before and we regain the weight. This is a life change not a diet.
I have decided to set up intermediate goals to aim for. My first goal is to be under 160 pounds by June 5th. Why June 5? We are going to a niece's wedding and I would like to have a pretty dress and make my husband proud to have me on his arm. :)
Deb
Friday, January 29, 2010
Mustard Seed
What is a mustard seed and why is it so important in my life?
God is so awesome, He gives us the delights of our hearts. Sometimes we don't know what we want and what is good or us, but He is watching from above.
Many years ago, probably as I watched my parents running their own business - not knowing how difficult it was - I thought it would be cool to run my own business and work from home. Looking back now it would have been extremely hard when the kids were little and God knew that I wouldn't be able to concentrate on what I was doing, but later in life He answered my prayer. It is awesome being able to work from home (and not worry about snow days :) ).
The awesome thing is that 15 years ago I didn't have the knowledge to do this and God walked me through life so that I could do this. It took a series of events to teach me the technical things I needed to know before I could do this. I started out working for lawyers because I wanted to be an executive secretary and then finding a temporary job testing software (how cool - I got to play with software programs all day and tell the developers what things didn't work - talk about a fun job!). From there I moved to another QA position and even was able to do some management work. Because of the management work, I learned a lot about ISO processes and audits and process improvement. Because of that job I was able to get a job working QA for an insurance company.
Then came a couple of miracles in our lives. My husband became pastor in a country church and so the drive to work was really long. I started to look for something closer to home. I was able to get a job doing some technical writing fora software program, but they wanted it to be a contract position. After checking into some agencies I decided to start my own company. I, of course, had to come up with a name for my company. I settled on Mustard Seed Enterprises. It comes from the verse in Matthew 17:30. He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
I never thought I would actually get to have my own company and it has developed much more than I thought possible. I still only have it as a sole proprietorshp, but I have gone from technical writing to doing web research and it is awesome that I get to stay home and work and help my family. This helps me to support my husband in his work and I have fun.
God is so awesome! He loves us so much that He allows us to grow from a small person and grow in our spiritual life. He works with us to teach us as we go. As a grain of mustard seed, we grow from a small seed to have the faith to move the mountains in our life out of the way.
May God bless you today! Allow Him to work in your lives to grow closer to Him and relish in His presence.
God is so awesome, He gives us the delights of our hearts. Sometimes we don't know what we want and what is good or us, but He is watching from above.
Many years ago, probably as I watched my parents running their own business - not knowing how difficult it was - I thought it would be cool to run my own business and work from home. Looking back now it would have been extremely hard when the kids were little and God knew that I wouldn't be able to concentrate on what I was doing, but later in life He answered my prayer. It is awesome being able to work from home (and not worry about snow days :) ).
The awesome thing is that 15 years ago I didn't have the knowledge to do this and God walked me through life so that I could do this. It took a series of events to teach me the technical things I needed to know before I could do this. I started out working for lawyers because I wanted to be an executive secretary and then finding a temporary job testing software (how cool - I got to play with software programs all day and tell the developers what things didn't work - talk about a fun job!). From there I moved to another QA position and even was able to do some management work. Because of the management work, I learned a lot about ISO processes and audits and process improvement. Because of that job I was able to get a job working QA for an insurance company.
Then came a couple of miracles in our lives. My husband became pastor in a country church and so the drive to work was really long. I started to look for something closer to home. I was able to get a job doing some technical writing fora software program, but they wanted it to be a contract position. After checking into some agencies I decided to start my own company. I, of course, had to come up with a name for my company. I settled on Mustard Seed Enterprises. It comes from the verse in Matthew 17:30. He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
I never thought I would actually get to have my own company and it has developed much more than I thought possible. I still only have it as a sole proprietorshp, but I have gone from technical writing to doing web research and it is awesome that I get to stay home and work and help my family. This helps me to support my husband in his work and I have fun.
God is so awesome! He loves us so much that He allows us to grow from a small person and grow in our spiritual life. He works with us to teach us as we go. As a grain of mustard seed, we grow from a small seed to have the faith to move the mountains in our life out of the way.
May God bless you today! Allow Him to work in your lives to grow closer to Him and relish in His presence.
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