What about fitness??...

How do you feel about being physically fit?

Do you think it's part of the whole person that God wants us to be?

Do you also struggle with being that person?

What are some of your ideas and 'tricks' that help you pursue fitness?

The reason I am asking is because I have been on my own personal trek to getting fit... again!

I have been an up and down and upside down dieter for years... sometimes slim and trim, other times needing to be more slim and trim. The thing is... I like myself better when I am fit and trim and in control of what I eat, so the battle never ends... unless I am disciplining myself!

I have been dealing with the whole concept of food and fitness NOT being a diet!
I am sometimes a slow learner, but all through the years I've heard... 'it's not a diet... it's a way of life'... I think I am starting to see it and believe it!

Some of you may have one of those metabolisms that lets you eat anything and never put on weight... I'm thinking MOST of us don't!

My dad used to tell us 'eat live food'... now I am beginning to see the wisdom in that. I am not throwing the boxed stuff out of the pantry, but I do find that I am spending more time in the produce section than I ever have...

I would love to hear some of your 'tricks' that help you stay fit. I've lost 14 pounds, and I'm walking and doing aerobics for 30 minutes each day. I do NOT always want to... in fact mostly I DON'T want to, but I am finding out that if I just lace up my tennies and get moving... I never regret it and in a couple of minutes that sense of 'right' kicks in... I am wearing clothes that have hung in my closet for an embarassing amount of time, and I FEEL cute again!! :) I want this to be the way I live from now on.... I really LOVE the way I feel!

So here are a few of my discoveries that help...

1. drink water and then drink more water... it DOES help, and it keeps your system hydrated...

2. Protein rich foods make me FEEL more satisfied, and fuel my body...(duh!)

3. MOVE... walk, aerobics... something!!! Just DO it!!

Please share an idea that has helped you... it will help everyone!

7 gold nuggets...

I've just now finished reading the book on my dad's life... Everything by Prayer...

I was really late in reading this., and having finished it, I know that now was God's timing for me to have read it. I probably wasn't as prepared to hear the truths contained there until now... even though I have always hidden them in my heart...

What the author, Fred Hartley, describes as the life of my dad, is what I LIVED and experienced, as his daughter... It's like my sister and brother and I say to each other... 'how could we live in their home and be raised by these 2 parents, and be so slow in getting to some of the truths we watched them live by'!!

But they were the first to encourage us, and challenge us in our own faith, without making us feel guilty, day by day and year by year...

These 7 nuggets are what my dad called the 'golden promises in the Gospels:

1. "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 14:13, NKJV)

2. "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." (14:14, NKJV)

3. "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you." (13:7 NKJV)

4. "In that day... most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my Name He will give you." (16:23 NKJV)

5. "Whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." (15:16 NKJV)

6. "Until now you have asked nothing in My name, Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full." (complete) (16:24 NKJV)

7. "In that day you will ask in My name." (16:26 NKJV)

Fred goes on to quote dad's writing in his monthly prayer letter to other ministers...

"When I was a boy, my father once gave me a 5 dollar gold piece. I felt rich! I treasured it and kept it for the right time before I used it. Here Jesus gives His disciples and us 7 gold pieces: freshly minted prayer promises, golden nuggets. Who can estimate their value? When the Lord offers the same thing 7 times we had better listen.

Can you imagine what would happen in the gold rush days if suddenly they saw not one but SEVEN large nuggets of pure gold?...

But here in full view are 7 gold nuggets in God's Word. Any one of us can have all 7 without interference or competition. Cash in on them! ... He said so!... If we are willing, we are able to pray as He prayed and to get answers like His."

So... are these promises only for THEN or rather for NOW and for each one of us to claim, in faith, as we pray, remembering that our faith is based on HIS promises....

when God says your name twice...

It's always interesting to me that when I write about something, God has a way of reinforcing it in my life.

Here's an example...

Just last week I posted a blog about Mary and Martha, and I know the message was for my heart... 'Mary & Martha' always hits close to home!

But... He wasn't finished...

Today as I was thinking of Mary & Martha, I went back to the way Jesus said "Martha, Martha", and a whole new thought was formed...

I knew right away that He could just as well have been saying "Sonja, Sonja"...

And what was Jesus feeling as he said her name... twice?

I'm pretty sure he was feeling a little less than thrilled that Martha didn't 'get it' in the way she should have. I feel like it was a patient but deep "Jesus sigh'... one of those that we have all given one of our much loved children, when they are somehow missing the mark on behavior that we have corrected many times before!

So now it is getting really personal. How many times has He said my name... twice?... A lot...

I want to up my learning curve, to be more in tune with Him more quickly in areas where I am too slow to respond ...

I don't really want Jesus to have to say 'Sonja, Sonja' in that way!

I have no doubt that Martha learned something important that day, as her sister chose to sit & listen to Jesus. The lesson for Martha is just as relevant for Sonja today!

hurting but trusting...

As I was looking through some blogs today, I was reading from some very special bloggers who are in the midst of real trials.
We all have them, some of us aren't there right now, but we have been and we will be again.

What speaks to my heart is that these friends are trusting God, praising God, and walking through these times by faith... in the midst of uncertainties, frustrations, heart aches and sorrows.

The hurts of life have landed in their laps, and while they are experiencing all the things that trials bring, they are doing exactly what God has asked us to do... trust Him!

My words today are to tell each one of them... THANK YOU... thank you for the example of how we are to live 'in the midst of'... because we know Jesus!

It's when the rubber hits the road that we find out...

who we really are...
what our faith is...
who God is...

We also find out that He was already there, before we arrived at this place, and that He is not going anywhere... He will see us through to the other side.

For each of them, and for all of us... keep trusting God, there is no safer place to be!

"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine. When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end—Because I am God, your personal God."... (Isa.43:2+ The Message)

Distraction...

The old "Mary & Martha" message hits me every time!

Our pastor used this passage in the message this morning:

Luke 10:38-42 (NAS)

"Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Our pastor talked about Martha rushing around preparing special foods and table settings and as she peeked around the door, there sits her sister Mary, listening to Jesus speak, and feeding her soul! Martha was ticked off... she TELLS Jesus to tell Mary to get back in the kitchen and help her!

"Martha had God at her house for lunch, and she was worried about cucumbers!"...

Jesus said "Martha, Martha", and went on to gently correct her...

What was Martha's problem?? She was distracted by all of her preparations. She wanted everything to be perfect and the meal to be beautiful for Jesus. I have to admit, I would want that too if Jesus was sitting in my living room!

What Jesus said to Martha was... "Only ONE thing is necessary"... so the thing He really WANTS for me, is to put aside the things that distract me, even the good things... for the BEST!

To learn to "live for an audience of one"...

The ordinary days...

"Not fears I need deliverance from today-

but nothingness;

inertia,

skies gray and windless;

no sun,

no rain,

no stab of joy or pain.

no strong regret,

no reaching after,

no tears,

no laughter

no black despair

no bliss.

deliver me today... from this."

Ruth Bell Graham
"Sitting By My Laughing Fire"

The ordinary days... these are the days that make up most of our lives. There are some wonderful highs and lows, and surprises and joys, along with many trials and griefs...

But the 'ordinary days' are where I live, and spend most of my time...

I don't always like that! The highs in life are where I love to be... the valleys, not so much. But the reality is... it's a lot more about the valleys and plains than just the highs... and the truth is that I learn to know Jesus more deeply in the valleys.

The question... Is God sufficient for all of it, the high, the low and the dull and ordinary days?...

The answer... A resounding YES!!!...

"But my God shall supply ALL of your needs according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus"...

I know in my heart that HE understands those ordinary days, when we keep putting one foot in front of the other and persist... there are so many who are going through very deep valleys and trials, that this may almost seem irrelevant, or even trivial, but... I find that I am living in these days much of my life...

Often when I feel 'ordinary' and not much is on the horizon, satan LOVES to use that to pull me down! I am learning... to STAND IN FAITH on those days, to KNOW that GOD means for all of our days to be lived in the knowledge that He is in control, and that our REAL joy comes from knowing that we are His...

...and the JOY in my ordinary days IS the knowledge that GOD is real and that HE LOVES ME, and that HE is at work in my 'ordinary', to make me shine for Him!

Now THAT is worthy of a blog!!

My favorite daughter...

and yes... she is our only and very precious daughter!... (2 brothers came later...)

Firstborn on August 17 ?? years ago!... (not sure if she wants me to broadcast the number")... :)

or maybe I just don't want to admit to being THAT OLD myself!... :)


bright, articulate and funny...

loves to have fun and is fun to be with...

is an amazing mom to her 3 girls...

is a natural teacher...

a loyal and caring wife and friend...

loves God and cares deeply about her walk with Him...

has a quick and hilarious sense of humor!... LOVES TO LAUGH...

was born with a profound love of chips & hot sauce!...

artistic, with a great sense of color & design...

she is warm, witty, wacky and wise...

and a daughter who makes our hearts proud!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLE...

WE LOVE YOU TONS!!!

Speaking of Moses...

George and Moses...

George W. Bush, in an airport lobby, noticed a man in a long flowing white robe with a long flowing white beard and flowing white hair. The man had a staff in one hand and some stone tablets under the other arm.
George W. approached the man and inquired, "Aren't you Moses?"

The man ignored George W. and stared at the ceiling.
George W. positioned himself more directly in the man's view and asked again, "Aren't you Moses?"
The man continued to peruse the ceiling.
George W. tugged at the man's sleeve and asked once again, "Aren't you Moses?".

The man finally responded in an irritated voice, "Yes I am".
George W. asked him why he was so uppity and the man replied, "The last time a bush spoke to me I ended up spending forty years in the wilderness"...

My mother... myself...

You know how the saying goes... "I am my mother!"...

It is strangely true for me, the older I get, the more I see myself in her, both in the mirror and in my mind and thoughts...

I am a realist, something I never knew about myself during my growing up years...

My mom was also a realist...

...but her reality was always tempered with good humor and the sure sense that God is in control of everything!... I am getting there, but on certain days, I know I'm not there yet...

My mom loved to laugh... I do too! There was never a time when life was too serious to share our laughter, even sometimes through tears...

My mom knew that God was the final answer to all of our life's needs! I do too, and this is something that He is growing in my heart daily...

The greatest thing I can imagine... in this life, is for me to be more like my mother... her life is my best example of a Godly woman!

A book that's close to my heart...

Shortly after my dad went to heaven in 2001, a very dear friend wrote this book, "Everything by Prayer", on dad's life and prayer ministry.

The author is Fred Hartley, he has written quite a few books and pastors a church near Atlanta, as well as teaches College of Prayer to ministers and lay people all over the world. He is a busy guy! My husband always has said ' find the busiest, most productive guy if you want to get a job done'... that is true with Fred.

He and dad were close friends, and he considered my dad his mentor. This book is a joy for me, it captures so much of my dad. I'm just high-lighting some of the one-liners Fred includes... my dad loved one liners, so it's no surprise that I do too!

Here are a few of dad's one-liners...

"If we do what God tells us to do, He will do what He says He will do"...

"God never made anyone who couldn't pray... including you"...

"In the Book of Acts they are praying in every chapter except two; and in those chapters they are in trouble"...

"What we often call weakness, God calls wickedness"...

"There is not a scripture that says 'Be sad'. I looked for one but I couldnt find one"...

"The effectiveness of our prayer life is measured by the size of our answers"...

"If you only pray on the run, you run out"...

"On the cross, He died praying. He died as He lived"...

"You can't get a thousand dollar answer for a ten cent prayer"...

"If the Holy Spirit doesn't do it, there's nothing to it"...

"God will not do apart from prayer what He promises to do in asnwer to prayer"...

"Oh to be known at the throne"...

I can see dad right now, he kind of paused after a one-liner, with a quiet smile on his face, waiting to see if it made the point... then he went right on...

I can tell you that I am sure he is busy in heaven, and whatever work he is doing there, prayer is a large part of it!