The Heart Part:
(Reflecting on The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren)
God is love. God doesn’t “have” love. He IS love.
Wow.
I’ve never thought of it quite like that before. As He is love, he made us because he wanted to express His love. Ephesians 1:4, “Long before he laid down the earth’s foundations, he had us in his mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love.”
I was created as a special object of God’s love. God made me so He could love me. SELAH. Oh, that I could hide that truth in my heart and never let another situation in this fallen world separate me from it! Can you imagine? To never again feel insignificant. To always feel like I mattered. So, therein lies the rub. I “feel”. I know I will feel insignificant again… possibly tomorrow (am I being pessimistic?). But, I will renew my mind with this truth. “He has settled on me as the focus of his love.” And that knowledge will give me wings the next time I “feel” insignificant.
God made this universe to meet my needs. He knew that I would be here in this time and place. He knew what I would need. He provided it for me ahead of time. That’s how much I matter to Him, the Creator!
As I was pondering this chapter, and all the support and information on the fact that I was in no way an “accident”, I was reminded at how often I feel blessed to be a woman in 21st century America. I believe that I have more opportunity than any woman born in any culture at any time in the history of humankind. Have you ever read any text on ancient women? They are heroes! Those women had no toilets, no showers, no feminine hygiene products, no toothpaste, and no epidurals! They relied on each other for everything. If humanity had been left up to me in ancient times, we may have ceased to exist. I am not that strong of a woman. And of course, God equipped those women for what they had to do, as he has equipped you and me for this century, year, day and hour. We live in turbulent times, to be sure. And God offers us this peace; nothing in our lives is arbitrary. It’s all for a purpose, for God’s purpose.
You, my dear friend, were created as an object of God’s love. As Rick Warren writes, this is a truth of build your life on!
The Hard Body Part:
Today was the day of the workout plan wherein I did the extreme hard body workout. At one point in one exercise I could feel the burn in my quads, gluts, hamstrings and calves. I’m not kidding! And though tomorrow is Sunday, which is designed to be a day off, I have only been exercising for 2 days in a row so I will exercise tomorrow as well. It will be a fun activity such as walking the dogs or taking Quinn to the park, but I will get up and move for at least 45 minutes.
As far as my two health related goals, things are going great. I’m about 10 ounces away from my 64 ounces of water today. And I did the workout! And remember how I wrote that I would be addressing nutrition next week? Well, that’s a good choice! Though I ate three very nutrient-rich meals today, I found a 75% off sale of fine chocolate at Cost Plus. I went a little crazy in the candy aisle! As a result, I sampled every single thing I bought after dinner tonight. Ha! I have no idea how many calories it represents and I don’t plan on figuring it out today (Or ever for that matter. What’s done is done, right?).
One step at a time: exercise (check), water (check).
Now, it’s time for bed and a concerted effort to ignore the call from the pantry where the chocolate is stashed. You know, Dr. Phil would say throw that chocolate out! But I’m just not there, yet. I’m sure ancient women enjoyed something akin to “chocolate”. So shall I… at least for today.
By the way, I have measurements. Yep- my weight documented, too. I have “before” photos! I’m going all the way with this! As with my schedule (which I tried to post today without success) I will put together a spreadsheet to track my progress, which I will post and update. I find that “seeing” the results on paper inspires me to keep on. There is something concrete about documentation that I find inspiring. None of that sentence sounds like it goes together, but in my brain it does.
The “Head” Part:
I have not shared much in the way of my goals related to the “head” part of this journey. I will share more by the beginning of the week. It is mostly related to my vocation and so Monday through Friday I will be focused on spending time each day to that end. In other words, getting myself credentialed and working in education, improving my book proposal and sending out manuscripts, and shoring up my voice studio with students. I’m welcoming the “arts” back into my life, coupled with my career change. This is going to require a lot of discipline and little procrastination. As I love procrastination (and that is not an overstatement), this is going to be interesting. I will share more on this topic on Monday.
In my quest to change, I desire so much to be a great wife and mother. And this may sound silly, but a better pet owner as well. At the end of the day, my animals get very little of what they need to be happy animals. I’m grateful they are so forgiving.
So today, I focused on relationships. I enlisted Quinn to help me with housework this morning and we had cuddle and TV time off and on all day. We played a game together tonight. Todd & I did some shopping together this afternoon (he worked most of the day), and I met a dear friend today for tea. Teatime with a good friend is like the Balm of Gilead to a tired soul! Dana, I praise God for you! Tomorrow my focus will be on Todd, Quinn, Coco and Bailey in that order.
Thank you again for checking in and reading my thoughts. My prayer is that as I journal to keep myself accountable, that anyone reading my journaling may be sparked to some new measure. I’m praying for you!
Love,
Natalie
No comments:
Post a Comment