Not much news...

We have been busy with kitchen remodeling and Thanksgiving prep. I stepped on the scale this morning and busy hands are turning out to be a great way to lose weight, I was down 5 pounds! This was a real shocker but not really after I took a moment to think about what I have been eating. Both breakfast and lunch have been protein mix in my sugar free coffee.

I failed my initial parathyroid blood test. The subsequent, more in depth, blood test came back as normal. There was much praising and rejoicing as a result of that revelation.

While pursuing my homeschool magazine I found an ad for an online law degree from a Christian school. This is an option I am seriously thinking about. There is also a shorter program for paralegal that is an option. The hard part is finding funding. My financier said he doesn't want to pay for school when I may not like working in the field. However, I represented employers in unemployment hearing prior to kids and LOVED it. This is a great indicator to me that it is a field I am suited for. My overall desire would be to work for the ACLJ or HSLDA to protect Christian rights. There is no immediate need to get a degree but if something were to happen, it would be nice to have something to fall back on.

The Doc Challenged Me, it is Official

I saw the doc yesterday about my sudden weight gain. The 'vampire' is drawing blood but is convinced that I just need to workout and add fiber to my diet. The challenge he presented was for me to track my weight and exercise daily (which I already am doing as of Monday).

Yesterday was a down day...only yoga. I stayed on my eating plan and had 2 sodas. My goal is no soda but since I drank all my water I am not concerned. Today I did 1 set of stairs and I am buying some Reebok Easy Tone shoes this morning. When I get home it is time for sprint intervals (30 sec sprint, 90 sec rest x 10). There is another product I will be trying out soon: the FlexBelt muscle stimulation technology. I am hoping that all this will strengthen my core muscles and relieve some of my back pain from degeneration.

My weight is down 1.8 pounds from Monday but other factors may be more of an indicator of the small loss (ie: salt, water weight, hormones, etc) and we will have to let time tell!

I suppose the dreaded before picture needs to be posted soon. Grab your bucket...

SIGH

My first roadblock already. I went to the fridge to make lunch...no protein for me. The only thing I could do is pick out some chicken with cream sauce from Saturday and eat the parts with the least creamy goodness. Overall, not a bad start to the challenge. Later today I will be heading to the store for some more options. Lesson learned: BE PREPARED!!!

I am about 1/2 way through the new (kick me in the butt) workout schedule. It is draining and great at the same time. My first set of stairs is done and I completed my treadmill sprints (30 minutes) as well as a 15 minute bike session. Only 2 more sets of stairs, abs, and yoga left.

So Long, No See...

As always, life has been too busy to blog. Winter is here again and it is time to spend more time indoors. That means I am on my new, yearly mission to get it together!! Maybe this time it will really happen. This blog is the Amusement Park of my mind because it will be fractured and full of random thoughts and life posts. Hold on because my mind is a wild ride!!

Today I am starting a 35 day challenge. This challenge was contrived from the thought that I can do ANYTHING for 30 days. To make the math easy I lengthened it to 35 (7 days x 5 weeks= 35 days). Can I REALLY do ANYTHING for 35 days? I suppose in 35 days we will know!



There are some rules to this challenge:
1) Record it all
2) Stick to the eating and exercise plan (unless SERIOUSLY injured or too ill to do so)
3) Pray daily
4) Do Bible study daily

I am going to need encouragement!! The plan I made is more like a boot camp...or like an immersion...actually, mostly like a dousing with gasoline near an open flame. Will I combust before the open flame goes out?

Matthew 1-4 thoughts, questions, and summary

As I was reading Matthew 1-4 again I discovered that I had not noticed a few things in my prior readings. I also started to ask questions I had never asked before. The following is a list of my questions, the answers I have come up with and a summary of the chapters.

Questions:
1)Where is Egypt in relation to Bethlehem? How many miles away? Egypt is 300 miles South of Bethlehem

2) Where was Herod located? Jerusalem

3) How far away from Herod was Bethlehem? Jerusalem is 5 miles North of Bethlehem

4)Were the Magi sent by Herod? NO, they came and Herod attempted to trick them into telling him the location of Jesus

5)Where did the Magi come from? They came from the East; possibilities include Persia 1050 miles and Babylon 720 miles to the East of Bethlehem
6) How long did it take the Magi to get to Jesus?

7)Why does 2:11 say the Magi came to a house? They had to travel along way to see Jesus so it is likely that Mary and Joseph had a house before they came to visit

8) Why did Herod kill the babies that were 2 and under? Was Jesus between 1 and 2 years old when the Magi came? Herod questioned the Magi about when they first saw the star. The Bible does not say how long it took the Magi to leave for the West and it does not say how long it took them to travel to the West. Herod made his decision based on how the Magi answered his question about when they first saw the star. It is possible that Herod added a little bit of time to cover finding and killing Jesus and it is possible that he picked the age of 2 because Jesus was older than one and younger than 2. Picking the age of 2 would have been easy for the soldiers to remember when deciding if a child was to live or die. The Bible is not clear on the answer to this question

9) Who is Rachel in 2:18?

10) How long was Jesus in Egypt as a young child?

11) Were Jesus and John related? Elizabeth, John's mother and Mary, Jesus' mother were cousins. This means John and Jesus were also cousins

12) What is the baptism by fire in 3:11?

13)What does the axe in 3:10 represent and does it mean that the axe is at our feet and when we die is then the tree is cut down? Does it mean that we are pruned as we make bad choices?

14) Who is John speaking to in 3:7-12?

15) Was John tempted in the wilderness like Jesus was? (See Luke... The Bible is not clear on what happened to John in the wilderness)
16) What does Jesus teach us through His example while being tempted?

17) Why/How did angels minister to Jesus (4:11)? Why did that happen? What was the purpose? Do angels minister to us as well or just Jesus?

18) Jesus started off with 5 disciples, how long did He travel with them before picking up the rest?

19) Why did Jesus pick 2 sets of brothers to be His first disciples?

20) Did Jesus' followers come from all the areas in 4:25 to follow Him or did the follow Him to all these areas?

Summary:
The genealogy of Jesus reveals that He is a descendant of Abraham and David through His earthly father Joseph...not Mary. There were 42 generations between Abraham and Jesus. Mary was a virgin until after Jesus was born which and she was married prior to Jesus' birth. Mary and Joseph were married less than a year when Jesus was born.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem while Herod was ruling Judea from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is 5 miles North of Bethlehem. The magi came from the East following the star to see Jesus and stopped in Jerusalem where they spoke to Herod. Herod deceived them and asked them to reveal the location of Jesus when they found Him. The magi left Jerusalem and went to Bethlehem where they found Jesus. Jesus was likely between 1 and 2 years old. God warned the magi to not tell Herod where Jesus was located because Herod wanted to kill Jesus. The wise men left and went home a different way than when they came. God also warned Joseph and he left with Jesus and Mary before morning to go to Egypt where Herod was not a ruler. Herod killed all the baby boys 2 and under. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus stayed in Egypt until after Herod's death. Herod died in either 4 or 5 BC. When Joseph, Mary, and Jesus left Egypt they went to Nazareth which is 63 miles North of Jerusalem. Joseph was afraid of Herod's son who was now ruler. God came to Joseph in a dream and Joseph left for Nazareth.

John the Baptist was preaching about the coming of Jesus. Jesus was John's cousin...Mary and Elizabeth (John's mother) were cousins. Jesus is related to John through Mary. This is very interesting to me that both Mary's family and Joseph's family were in the prophesies regarding Jesus. Jesus was born of a royal bloodline through His father, Joseph and His mother's family prepared the people for His coming. John baptized Jesus and the Spirit came down to Jesus as a dove. God's voice said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Jesus went into the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan. He fasted while in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. Satan tempted Jesus to make bread from stone and Jesus replied, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Then Satan asked Jesus to fall and call the angels to keep Him from falling. Jesus said, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." Finally Satan promised to give Jesus the kingdoms of the world and their glory if He would bow to Satan. Jesus commanded Satan to go saying, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." Then angels came to Jesus and ministered to Him. Jesus went to Galilee when He heard that John was arrested. He left Nazareth and went to Capernaum where He preached and found His first 5 disciples. He called 2 sets of brothers. First there was Simon, Peter, and Andrew. Then there was James and John. All of the first 5 the disciples were fishermen. Jesus and the 5 went through all of Galilee preaching and healing. They went through all Syria and large crowds followed Him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

Loving God

Dearest Lord,I love you. Even if I forget to tell you or get to busy to tell you...I love you. Just thought that you might like to know that I love you. Even when I am mad and throwing a tantrum because I didn't get what I want I love you. I love you when I am broken and crying. I love you when great things happen. I love you when you are quiet and when you are strong. I love you every day, all day, no matter how much I am doing. Just thought I would tell you.

Love, me

Thoughts and meditation for today:

How can I show God I love Him? Is there something I can do daily to let Him know I love Him? Any reason I can't do that?

Godly Intervention

I bought a book today full of small prayers for people that are too busy. I know, too busy to pray? I bought it because I have had a hard time praying for several years now. My old journals are full of prayers, scripture readings, and my thoughts/questions about what I studied in the Bible. My current one is blank. Well, I actually have one page written and part of it was a plan to do more. Back to the book...I thought maybe if I saw some prayers by other people I would remember what it was like to pray to God as a friend. Maybe I should tell you what makes me so scared to pray. My life has been hard. Very little of what I wanted of it has come true. I suppose you can say the most important things are a reality since the 2 things I always wanted and have are a husband and kids. I became afraid to pray because I didn't want more prayers to be answered with a "no". I am tired of all the heartache I have as a result of me believing that God would give me what I want. Am I ready to get close again? Will I give up my eternal life to have what I want? Hopefully I will keep my eyes on God and remember that I should have been asking God what He wanted of me all along instead of asking Him to give me what I wanted without regard to Him.

Today's prayer was something like this:

God, I never have enough time. Help me to make wise decisions in using my time.Show me how to use it for the things and people that are most important to me.

Naturally I have to ask myself who is most important to me? What are the things that are most important? Beyond that I had to ask about Godly intervention because these questions came to me on a day when I wondered what my life would be like if I walked away from it all...away from my family, husband, kids....everything. What would it be like if I started all over again alone? I would still have to clean my house but it would be in a different place. I would still have to cook but just for me. I would have to go back to work and then I would meet more people and not be alone again. So we could say my life would be the same but different. So how can I make my life, the one I have right now, work for me? I know God made me think of these things today. I know it the same way I know I was supposed to marry my husband and the same way I know I have to stay with my husband. It is the same way I know God gave me each of my kids, just the way they are, and who they will be in the future...made them like they are for me. He gave me these beautiful, specific gifts because He loved me and wanted me to know how much He loved me. So I have a decision to make...

1) Will I choose the gifts God has wrapped up in pretty packages for me to unwrap as life goes along or will I continue to be disappointed when I don't get the gifts I want?

2)Who and what are important to me?