Mid-Year's Resolution

The title may be a misnomer. I've always had the resolution to "get fit," but not in a cardio-bunny kind of way. The treadmill makes me cringe, and if I'm going to be honest, it has been a life goal of mine to avoid running at all costs. I want to get fit in a "get strong," I-can-pull-my-own-weight kind of way. However, I've never been able to quite muster the resolve to resolve this dying resolution. And it dies a little more every time I get fast food after leaving the gym. To resuscitate this dying goal of mine, I've created a Mid-Year's Resolution Intervention! I don't know how I stumbled upon it, it must have been Pinterest or something (the sarcasm is dripping digitally down the page), but I found this great 12-week program by Jamie Eason, and I've firmly resolved to carry out my resolution of getting (and staying) fit and healthy! The website is awesome; she has day-by-day schedules for workouts, recipes, shopping lists, videos, and did I mention recipes?? She's made it so easy! You can find the website here, if you would like to join me! I'll be starting Day 3 tomorrow!
If you find that you're wanting to try her Carrot Cake Protein Bars, don't hesitate! I made them today. However, here's some tips: Don't bother to go out and hunt down the Oat Flour it calls for. You will wind up on an endless search like I did. Instead, I put 1 and 1/2 cups of oatmeal into a blender until it was fine like flour, and I mixed 1/3 cup of whole wheat flour with it. Also, do not use the recommended amount of sweetener. I used Stevia, and it seems my mouth will perpetually taste like sugar. It calls for 3/4 cup, but I would only use 1/3. However, despite the fact that they were a bit too sweet, these bars are AMAZING!

It was all I could do not to eat the whole batch right out of the oven! Well, since I have resolved not to un-resolve this Mid-Year's Resolution, I must go to bed now or else I won't want to get up and go to the gym tomorrow! If you want to join me, it's never too late for a Mid-Year's Resolution!

More of You and less of me...

I thought that summer would be a time for relaxation and fun, travels and adventures, baking and eating, sewing and wearing, reading and maybe even some writing. My daily plans were to get a little sun and then read a renowned classic in literature with the occasional sewing project and baking venture mixed somewhere in between. Well, according to this list I just made, my summer has been moving right along without deviating from the schedule one bit. My current projects are of the knit nature (to get a head start on winter!), and I just finished "Emma" by Jane Austen. It was a long, slow, but very good read. Up next, "Sense and Sensibility." After that, "The Great Gatsby!" (Did you hear they are making a new movie for this book? Check it out!)
However, amidst all the scheduled relaxation and fun, sometimes I forget to just take a moment and sit somewhere and really relax. I often forget to take Psalm 46:10's advice, the crucial key to true relaxation at any time of the year.
"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46:10.
How simple a to-do list:
(1) Be still.
(2) Know that he is God.
Such a simple command, yet it gives you total relaxation in knowing that HE is God. HE has everything under control. HE has it all figured out. Who am I to worry and stress and try to do everything myself? Who am I to try to elevate myself in my mind to His position? HE is God, not me. And sometimes I forget to just let Him be who He is without questioning or complaining. My job is to sit there and know that He is God. But that involves, of course, making more of Him and making less of me. John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease." More of You and less of me...