Sunday Sermon Series- The Teaspoon Mentality

As luck would have it, my child is running a fever today and I was unable to make it to church today.

However, last weeks sermon was pretty life changing and I took pretty good notes so here goes....

Luke 6:46-49
46 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?
47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:
48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."

There are very few things as exposing to us as an evaluation, a review of how we are measuring up....

Jesus begins his "evaluation" of His people by saying, in essence, you say that you believe in me, you say that you want to serve me, you say that you want to honor me with your life.  But your actions say something exactly opposite of that.

Your actions say that you don't need me.  You don't serve me.  You don't want to honor me with your life....

Ouch!

He shows us 2 different men who are in the process of building their homes - their protecting boundaries.  One man went to great detail to ensure that the foundation was strong BEFORE he started to build the house.

The second man was in such a rush to be comfortable that he didn't even bother to build a good foundation.  Comfort was priority.

And of course, in the end, it didn't pay off for him.

Jesus tells us in verse 47 to come to Him. To hear Him.  To do what He says.

I'll admit that the rebellion inside of me looks at those words and think, I don't want to do anything that SOMEONE else is telling me to do.

But He is greater than just anyone.

So here's where I ask myself...
Am I in a position to come to Jesus?
Am I in a position to hear His words?
Am I in a position to put His words into practice?

The illustration provided is that we approach the things of God in the same manner  as someone who approaches the ocean with a teaspoon. We leave with so little when in reality, God has provided so much.

Do we approach God with a teaspoon when he has oceans for us?

At this beginning of a new year, I am inspired to see God for all He is.  For all he has provided and take advantage of it with all that I have!

A Few After's

Just because I can.

Remember way back when I posted about my addiction to bedding?

Well, I wanted to show you what I have finally come up with that I LOVE.  And that isn't currently falling apart.  And that was still EXTREMELY affordable for a king size bed.

Thank you, Christmas Tree Shop for cheap bedding that I LOVE!

And for my friend Lauren, who demanded that I post an after pic of myself since she hasn't seen me in oh, 35 lbs....

This is what a slightly blue, size 8 version of me looks like at the moment.

Also because my baby boy is a year old and I consider that to be "after" worthy....

And my final after is of my dear, sweet, techno-savvy hubby
Or rather, what has happened to him after 5 years of marriage....

He sees this



Does this

And then posts it on Facebook.

I have trained him sooooo well!



Weight Update # 12

What if I told you that I weighed in higher than my last weigh in?

Would you be shocked?

Devistated?

Curled up on the fetal position in mourning for my not-loss?!

No?!?!?!?!!?

Well, to be honest, neither was I.

I mean, my last weigh in was before Christmas.

Also known as the time of year when I like to gorge myself on food completely unhinged of all restrictions.

And yes, I gained 5 lbs.

Meaning I was at 147.4 when the week started.

But I deleted that picture.

So you will never know for sure... HA!  HA!  HA! (said in my spookiest Count from Sesame Street voice)

However, this week I worked hard to get back on track.

And the hard work seemed to pay off! 

I managed to lose exactly 3 lbs.

And even though you can't really see it in this pic, I painted my toenails!

Wow.

Big Week People!

-3 Pounds AND Painted Toenails.

I am so impressed.

This still leaves me 7.4 lbs. away from pre-pregnancy weight.

However, it also leaves me only 14.4 lbs. away from my goal weight, as seen here....

And for now, that's good enough for me!

My Honest Opinion: Weight Watchers Works For Me!

If you have read any of my posts this week, you have probably noticed a theme.

If you have read any of my shared items this week, you may have noticed the same reoccuring theme.

(Seriously, click on the one entitled, "I am my own infomercial.  It's INCREDIBLE!)

Along with the entire rest of the world, I jumped on the New Year's Resolution/Weight loss band wagon.

It's annoying isn't it?

I know, I know.

And I promise to tone it down soon. 

If March 1st is soon enough for you.

And IF I have actually lost my weight by March 1st.

But today, since the entire world is working on dieting kick, I thought I would share with you the diet that has worked for me.

The summer between my junior and senior year of college, I went on birth control.

Just to give you a feel of my starting point, check out the chub here:

Ewwww, and that hair....

Already being a nice 162 lbs., I didn't want to pack on any additional weight, so I decided to try weight watchers.


My mom was a member and thereby, I became an Honorary Member.

I proceeded to read all the books, borrow her points calculator, and tote the handy meal calculator to every restaurant I went to.

But that summer I lost about 10 lbs.

So I toted her smallest book with food calculations back to college with me.

Where I continued to follow the plan along with hitting the gym for a 30 minute workout on the stair climber.

And by Christmas, I was a good 15 lbs. lighter than when I left.

By spring time I was down to 125 lbs.

That's almost 40 lbs! 

And I was on the pill!

And here's the kicker, people.  I didn't follow WW every single day of my life. 

I followed it from Monday through Friday and every weekend would be free.

It worked for me then.

It has worked for me now.

Now, admittedly, over time I did gain 12 lbs.

But, honestly, 125 was probably not the healthiest weight for me, anyway.

My goal weight is 130.

Where it probably should be.

Point being, with the help of Weight Watchers, I managed to maintain a healthy weight for 6 years just prior to getting preggers with Little Man.

And with the help of Weight Watchers and the same kind of freebie weekend schedule, I have managed to lose over 50 lbs in the past year.

I have tried other diets in the past.

Like Atkins.

But I think I have made mention of the fact that I am a little bit of a carb fanatic....

And I failed that HARD CORE.

And the pre-packaged meals diets just don't cut it for me.

I need freedom.

Otherwise, I start chewing my arm off in rebellion.

That's not to say other diets can't work for you.

Just that the freedom and lifestyle that Weight Watchers offers is the easiest for me to follow.

And it makes sense to me now!

And that, people, is my honest opinion!

Sorry for beating a dead horse, here....

I CAN'T HANDLE TODAY!!!

Because I feel like my pile continues to grow and grow and grow.

Because my Christmas tree is still up.

And so is my dancing Santa

Credit

Because I gained 5 lbs. over the holidays.

And then deleted the pic of my scale to prove it.

Because the pile on my desk at work continues to grow.

Because the pile on my desk at home is even higher.

Because my house is a mess.

And my pants are too long.

Because the bills are high.

And it's tax time.

I just wanted to say "ACK!!!!"

Hopefully, you get it.

If not, here's a hint.

Credit

It's a Cathy kind of a day.


Stay tuned...

I plan to work on a My Honest Opinion post as soon as I come up with something to be honestly opinionated about!

Helpful-How To: Sticking to a Resolution

Did you miss me bossing you around in my weekly HHT posts? 

Telling you how to live your life, tie your shoes, and zip your fly?

I know I have missed being the authority on all things near and far.

And this week, I am back to annoying thrilling you with my amazing wit and charm, while making your life complete with my Helpful How To.

And because, despite the fact that January 1st is just another day on the calendar, it is still another day to decide I want to be better than I already am (yes, people, it is possible!  Shocking, I know....) and to begin working toward that goal.

But the real elbow of the situation probably won't happen in January.

It will probably happen around February 14, when you get that giant box of chocolates and tear into it like a T-Rex in faced with a shiny car full of fresh tourist-meat in Jurassic Park.

Unless, like me, you got sick 1 day into your "New Year, New You Diet".

Then your "elbow of the situation" will happen on day 2.

That being said, where do the resolutions go when you hit the rough spots?

Do they go out the door like last night's trash, or do you pick them back up, brush them back off and embrace them as soon as the opportunity arises?

Either way, here are a few helpful hints for how to remain faithful to your New Year's Resolution:

1.  Be truthful to yourself.

Unless you have one of these

You aren't going to go from this

To this

(Note, this is a GOAL look for me.  This is not a CURRENT look for me.  Oh, and that's me in the orange....)

Without a lot of this.

Whether your resolution has to do with losing weight (me) or saving money (Techy) or making money (Techy) or travelling (me AND Techy) or having a baby (me) or doing home improvements (me) or learning something new (always TECHY!), you have to be honest about where you are starting from and where you want to go and rationalize a REALISTIC way of getting there.

2.  Realize it takes alot of work and even more CONSISTENCY to reach your goal.

As in, you have to be dedicated to your goal daily.  Techy once told me that if I were as dedicated to saving money as I am to losing weight, we would be millionaires.

Know what?  He's probably right!

The point is, you have to approach each day with the bigger goal in mind.

Yes, bumpy days will come. 

And you work around them.

And pick up where you left off after you get over that hump.

3.  Remember, you don't want to achieve your resolution through means you can't live with.

The idea of a resolution is to get you to a better place, right?

So why not stay there?

In that case, the best way to get there is by doing things that you can continue to do.

No, I am not saying that all Biggest Loser contestants need to continue working out 8 hrs. a day for the rest of their lives....

But I am saying the best way to reach your goals is to change the way you LIVE. 

And then live that way.

But it has to be comfortable enough for you to enjoy living that way....

Is anyone even reading this anymore???

4.  Finally, follow-up with yourself.

Every year, my boss performs an annual review to see if I have gotten any closer to the goals we set last year.

Every year he talks about wanting to do these reviews more frequently to keep both of us more consistently working together toward the goals.

And that's what I am suggesting to you.

Do a "Quarterly Check-In". 

If your goal was weight loss, in March, check your scale and see if it's any lower than it was today. 

If it was Home Improvement related, make a honey-do list and get him going pick out a date to have your big project of the year done (mine is March 1!!!!). 

And if it was baby-making, when March 1st comes around, go buy this book (am I the only one who ever saw "The Other Sister" and laughed until they cried over this?!) and one of these and get to gettin!

And at the other end of this year, I hope we can all cross at least a couple things off of our list.

Just because I didn't say it....

After having learned some lessons the hard way about making confrontational comments on this here blog o' mine, I have opted to keep most of my posts as far to the middle as possible.

But in being as non-confrontational as possible, I have managed to leave out one of the most important components of my life - my faith. 

Because it's easier to not talk about.

But that doesn't make it any less present.

I think I may have mentioned a time or two about how private I am about silly things.  Things that don't mean much to most people.

And my faith happens to be one of them.

Odd, huh?

It's just that I don't want to step on any toes or tear anyone down.

But I can't not talk about it anymore. 

Part of me thinks I am going to come off as a hypocrite.

Because I like to complain.

And I talk about things like hanky panky.

And periods.

And just stuff.

But I hope you don't think that. 

I hope you understand that this is just another way for me to really be me with you.

I am going to start out with something really simple.

And I am going to try to focus it to one day a week.  That way if I get too preach, and you decide you are sick of it, you can skip it.

I am going to call it the Sunday Sermon Series.

And in a nutshell, I plan to be posting them on Sundays as a general recap of what I got from church that morning. 

Feel free to comment with your thoughts on this as I am still formulating ideas for how I want to do this and your input as readers is very valuable to me.