Month: February 2011

I was very encouraged and blessed by your many encouraging comments to my post yesterday. I find that when I see myself many times a day, I had not really stopped to recognize the progress I have made, and so the pictures and your words, made my experience very real. Thank you so much!

Today I took time to realign my body, mind and heart. I am gearing up for my next 50 pounds and I started to feel a bit overwhelmed. It was at the start of those thoughts I realized I needed to focus in on my body, mind and heart to ensure I am successful.

My mind: I recognize the power of positive thinking and am learning the small and sometimes subtle messages that begin to defeat my possibility of success before I even set out to make change. I want my mind to believe in me as much as I believe in others. I am growing in my ability to do so and I enjoy the thoughts of my mind when I am thinking positive and hopeful thoughts.

My body: I often remember my experience at Fitness North and how when I took each exercise and gave 100%, I was surprised at what my body can endure. I also remember when I focused on the whole day, my body would feel fatigued long before it was truly tired. I want to believe in what my body can do and allow my mind to be surprised daily by my ability, my endurance and my strength.

My heart: I want my heart to stay tender and curious about my redefining body. I want to delight in the journey and not lose the lessons that I am learning in anxiety or uncertainty or fear of failure or anything else that can harden my heart along the way. I am enjoying this journey and delighting in how it is not about all the do’s and don’ts but it feels more about mystery and discovery.

And so, tomorrow is another day on the journey….a day when I will celebrate my friend Cathy for her birthday, a day I will enjoy my house guest (and wonderful niece) Karolyn who is here for the weekend, a day when I will complete a P90x workout and enjoy an hour at the Kroc center. Life is full…and I am thankful!

The journey has been life long and ongoing. I have cared about my weight at some times more than others. I have worked on it at times and ignored it other times. I have never been a yo-yo dieter…more of a rationalization in my thinking  that this must be how I was created…

This picture was taken on day one of  my Fitness North experience in late October of 2010. This was after a five am cold and wet walk. I see it as the day I started a very intentional journey and that journey continues today and will for many years to come…

But in the last year I have learned to distinguish between weight loss and wellness. I have started to consider the effects of weight that are not reflected on the scale and I have made a commitment to live well. It is not about the scale or the size pants I am wearing, but it is about my choices. What do I believe about myself and why? What am I eating and why? When am I active and how? When am I resting and what am I doing with my time?  Who am I spending time with and how is my spirit renewed when I am with them? Who am I pouring myself out for…. and the questions can go on as I consider my desires to live well.

And this updated picture is taken in February of 2011. The timing is good to see the change as I lose sight sometimes of the benefits of the journey. I am working hard at my new routines and establishing of habits. It is not all joy and roses and I have days when I throw in the towel, but the contrast of these two pictures reminds me that the journey is worth it and the benefits are visible. I am thankful for my family and friends who surround me and the many who love and encourage me. I am convicted again that even the journey of wellness and weight loss was meant to be journeyed in community….

 

Come into my World: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwQ7rWPnigU

Come into my world
Come crashing through the ceiling
And find the messy rooms, the scattered pearls
If you are brave enough then come into my world

Come into my world
So lovely from the outside
So dark in here the demons dance and twirl
And find their pleasure frightening this girl
If you are brave then come into my world

[Chorus:]
Cause I never saw the changes come
Or knew enough to run when this old house had come undone
And now I’m buried in the walls
And no one comes to call but you
Come into my world

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was introduced to this Amy Grant song in Grace Groups this year. I find that the words really resonate with where I have been as I have journeyed to my heart.

There are seasons in my story where I was asking people to Come into my World.

There are seasons in my story where I longed for someone to find the messy rooms and scattered pearls.

And yet, do you understand the tension of really wanting something and being very scared of the very thing you desire. I lived there for a number of year sin my 20’s and even into my 30’s.

And I can remember many times when I felt as if I was saying….If you are brave enough then come into my world.

I am grateful for good friends and family who were brave enough to come into my world. I learned that I was required to lower my walls and risk letting people in. I found that hiding in busyness and ministry was a really lonely place to live. It wasn’t ministry or what was keeping me busy that was the problem, it was my refusal/resistance/unwillingness/fear of living in community.

I have learned that when I am willing to live in the presence of other people, to live in relationship with God, when I am willing to allow other’s to come into my world, when I am willing to live life honest and vulnerable, with a tender heart and compassionate spirit, it is then that I feel alive.

And so tonight, I am thankful for the people who have come into my world and I ask that you consider if you need to invite people in or perhaps respond to someone who is asking you to come into their world.

It’s risky

It’s scary

It’s worth it!

 

I am keenly aware of my body today. I have worked out hard for the last 48 hours and started the P90x workouts as well. It is a good deep ache and I can clearly see a change in my mind when the pain of a good workout is very much connected to my desired outcome, as opposed to a reason to take a break.

This morning I completed a lot of push-ups and tonight I feel as if I can feel the muscle fibers in my chest muscles. As I thought about the muscle fibers, I got to thinking about the awe of our design. I begin to wonder how the process of fat burning occurs in a proportionate fashion? I wonder how opposing muscle groups (triceps and biceps, chest and back, hamstrings and quads etc) balance one another out.

I wonder how my body knows what to do with protein, fat, sugar, carbs and take what is needed in my body and create waste from the rest?

Now, remember, I am a Social Worker and not a Scientist in any fashion, but I am pretty sure that the answers to the questions I am asking are not all found in the Science books. I believe that as I journey this journey of weight loss and wellness, I am embracing in new and deeper ways that my body is Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!

Remember, not even two weeks ago, we were anticipating the blizzard of 2011.

I remember that day it seemed that like we might have six more weeks of that windy, blustery, snowy weather.

And yet this week we are seeing the sun so much more, feeling the warmth, the breeze smells like Spring, it is light past six pm and  they say by the end of the week we will have rain and see grass….

Really, and just two weeks ago we were buried in snow…

Now, what lies ahead for the rest of February and into March, only God knows. We may have another storm, ice, wind, cold…but one thing I know for sure, the seasons will change and

Spring is coming….Thank you God!

I really liked the songs we sang in Church today. They were one’s that resonated deep within me and were familiar. I have enjoyed the lingering words and tunes that have been repeated in my thoughts for most of today.

I especially have been thinking of the words of “Make me a Channel of Your Peace.” I want to take the words with me into this week and be curious about how God is going to call me to action in the words I sang and asked God to make real in my life this week.

I wonder how these words speak to your heart this week. Will you be one who reaches out to others or perhaps one who receives the peace offered. It is my prayer that this week will be one where we feel God’s embrace and love through the community of people He has surrounded us with.

I am happy to share this song with you if you follow the link below, sung by Susan Boyle. (To start the song, fast forward to 35)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf8RA-TLpPI

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your
love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there’s doubt, true faith in
you.

Chorus:
Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring
hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.

Chorus:

Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we’re born to eternal
life.

…God looked around and thought, “the daylight still needs a bit more work and the night is just too dark.”  So, He made the sun to light the sky during the day and the moon and stars to add a bit of sparkle to the night. (Children’s Bible)

The sunshine was beautiful today. I thought a lot about the Creation story as I thought about the power of the sun. The power of the sun for warmth, for growth, for healing….

I thought about how fast a week goes and yet how a very long time ago, there were six days when everything under the sun (and including the sun) was created….it really is something I should be in awe of more often.

And then I took some time to read about the importance of the sun. It is my hope we will have the opportunity for lots of sunlight in the coming days and weeks….

Yes, sunshine is a good thing when taken in moderation. Vitamin D is produced by your skin in response to exposure to ultraviolet radiation from natural sunlight. Five minutes a day is all it takes to prevent numerous diseases, such as:

Osteoporosis is commonly caused by a lack of vitamin D.

Rickets, a bone-wasting disease.

Insulin production impairment exacerbating type 2 diabetes.

Obese people need twice as much vitamin D due to impairment of utilization.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is caused by a melatonin imbalance initiated by lack of exposure to the sun.

Chronic vitamin D deficiency is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia because its symptoms are so similar: muscle weakness, aches and pains.

Vitamin D prevents prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, depression, colon cancer and schizophrenia.

Infants who receive vitamin D supplementation (2000 units daily) have an 80% reduced risk of developing type 1 diabetes over the next twenty years.

Shocking Vitamin D Deficiency Statistics:

32% of doctors and med school students are vitamin D deficient.

40% of the U.S. population is vitamin D deficient.

42% of African-American women of childbearing age are deficient in vitamin D.

48% of young girls (9-11 years old) are vitamin D deficient.

Up to 60% of all hospital patients are vitamin D deficient.

76% of pregnant mothers are severely vitamin D deficient, causing widespread vitamin D deficiencies in their unborn children, which predisposes them to type 1 diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia later in life. 81% of the children born to these mothers were deficient.

Up to 80% of nursing home patients are vitamin D deficient

Sunlight exposure is truly one of the most powerful healing therapies in the world, far surpassing the best efforts of today’s so-called “advanced medicine.” There is no drug, no surgical procedure, and no high-tech procedure that comes even close to the astonishing healing power of natural sunlight.

excellent observers and rotten interpreters!

This thought was shared at our Grace Groups last week. I have thought of it often this week….

Children, without guidance and honest conversation are left to interpret so much. I noticed this last week when I was with Isaiah (age three and three-quarters) Our conversation went like this….

I am tucking Isaiah into bed. He is snuggled into his pillow and blanket and remembers he did not turn his CD player on and starts to get up to do this.

Aunt Trish: Buddy, I can do that for you ~ you stay in bed and I will turn on the Frog Story

Isaiah: I better do it Aunt Trish, I don’t think you know how.

Aunt Trish: I might surprise you. I know how to do that. I have to hit power and then play.

Isaiah: But do you know what buttons those are?

Aunt Trish: I believe I do. If I need your help, then you can get up to help me.

Isaiah: But how do you know, did my Mom and Dad teach you?

I proceed to his radio to turn on the power and then hit play.

Isaiah: Wow, Aunt Trish, you really do know how to play my story!

And on that note, I got a big hug and Isaiah was very quickly asleep….

I share that story because Isaiah had never observed me practicing my skill of turning on his radio and so he drew his own conclusion, that I did not know how. He did not really even venture to consider otherwise until we were able to talk about it and I was able to show him differently.

Children learn by observing AND the conversations we invite them into that surround their observations.

I have been thinking about where did I as a child observe something and make some false interpretation. Where do those false interpretations affect my thinking today?

I want to be aware of my own observations  and interpretations and where they are fueled by what I know to be true and where they may be fueled by what I have made up to be true. I want to be an adult who invites children into conversation about what they are observing and interpreting. I want to be an adult who invites adults into conversation about what they are observing and interpreting. I want to live with a stance of curiosity….

We really are complex people with a myriad of experiences shaping our being.

I took the day off to get some things done and while the sky is blue and sun is out thought I would also take Dutch to the park.  We set out to Wilcox park which is across the street from Suzi and Andy’s new house. Now, although Dutch likes Suzi and Andy, she is most enthralled with Peter, Isaiah and Johanna. I opted to park up the road about four houses since I knew they were not home. I let Dutch out and headed towards the hill to throw her ball.

Dutch was off and running as soon as we were out of the car. She ran across the street (not a busy one), past four houses  and sat on the porch at the Bos home. It was as if she was saying to me she just wanted to see if the kids could come out to play.

It was a sweet moment and a made me realize what a great arrangement we have….

Andy and Suzi provide the kids…

I provide the dog…

And everyone is happy!

Life doesn’t get much better than that!

It seems that today I read of many people’s lives that are devastated by tragic loss or sudden life changes.

I read of a little girl whose cancer has returned and at four years of age, has no option than to live her last days surrounded by family and friends.

I read of a man named Chad (http://sadandchara.blogspot.com/2011_02_06_archive.html) whose wife Sara was killed in a car accident and his first-born daughter was delivered 45 minutes after his wife’s death. He ended his blog last night with the following words ~ Miranda Evangelene Cole is taking her first steps tonight…straight into the arms of her mommy and Jesus.

I am keenly aware that around me people are hurting, some physically, some emotionally,  some spiritually….all I can continue to pray is “Lord, please show me how I can be a comfort to those who ache, an encouragement to the discouraged and a hope bearer, even in very difficult situations…”

I trust God will be near to each and everyone and let’s continue to reach out and love another well!