Because She Believed

I'm journaling my way through the scriptures leading up to Jesus birth this month. I started doing it last year but never finished and this year I got off to a late start. So goes my life.

It has been very refreshing and deepened my understanding of all that God did to prepare his people for His son. I love when the Lord gives me a refreshed and new view of characters in the Bible that I have heard about my whole life. The Lord brings them alive in new ways every time! I am ready to keep it going with a new book of the Bible after Christmas. 

And then there was Mary.

The Bible doesn't give us a lot of details about Mary. We have to make a lot of assumptions about her based on the culture of the time and the events that surrounded her. The character of God also gives us some very definite hints about her character because he chose her to play such an important role; being the mother of Jesus.

But this morning as I read my scripture passage I read it as a mother, expecting my first child.

I couldn't help but let my mind wonder into the mind of Mary on that night when Jesus was born.

Wait! I can't go into labor here! I want my mother with me! I need the midwives! I want to be at home! We are in an animal barn in another town with complete strangers! The Son of God cannot be born in an animal barn! It smells horrible in here! It is dirty! God, this isn't how it is supposed to be! My baby needs to be born in a quiet, clean place where I can protect him and keep him warm, not in a barn!

I don't really know if this is what Mary was thinking, but I bet a barn was not where she expected to give birth. I'm sure she had a plan for Jesus birth. I'm sure she had idea's of where the birth would happen. Her expectations were possibly all being tossed out with the straw in that barn as her contractions grew harder as the animals looked on. And to make things worse, as far as we know, Joseph had to help deliver the baby. That was not appropriate according to culture. 

Mary was a real person with real feelings and even though she had great faith, I have a feeling she also had a lot of spunk about her. Serious spunk! Her whole life she had to deal with people who didn't understand who Jesus really was.

She could have recalled scriptures read to her by her father.

"For I know the plans that I have for you, ' declares the Lord,' plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

"Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand." Proverbs 19:21

How many times have I let my expectations of something or someone cause me to miss out on truly experiencing God's blessings. Many times!

How many times have I let my own plans get in the way?  Many times!

How many times have I become so caught up in the chaos around me that I can't see what God is trying to do? Too many times to count.

And because she believed...

But Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. Luke 2:19

I don't think anything happened like she had thought. Actually, her life had been turned upside down for the past 10 months so I'm sure his birth didn't surprise her much at all.

Maybe that is why she was able to cherish it all in her heart. She knew who was orchestrating this world changing event. She knew God would do what he said he would do. That is why God chose her to be the mother of His only begotten Son!

Lord, give me the faith of Mary. A faith that is so solid that any plan I have is simply laid aside for your will that is always so much more exciting than anything I could ever dream.

What if Essential Oils are not a Fad?

So, what do you think? 
Are essential oils a fad? After all, there are quite a few famous people who have caught on to them. 


So what is the big deal about these little bottles of liquid?

Anyone who knows me well, knows our family has used essential oils for many years.  In fact, I placed my first order December 2004 with Young Living. Our naturopath had suggested an oil blend to support our son's respiratory system. It did such a great job that I just had to know what it was! We were already using herbs and homeopathic ways to support our health. I was thrilled to find out that the essential oils were simply a much more potent form of the herbs I loved to use! I had 3 reasons to love them.

1.  They worked quicker than the herbs and proving to be more effective.
2.  I didn't have to buy or use as much which means I saved money.
3. I could get them delivered to my door and as a mom of a lot of little kids, that was a huge score!

Over 10 years later, our family has incorporate YL products into basically every aspect of our lives. I love that my kids reach for essential oils before they reach for anyone else to support their health.  I love that after my son works out & comes looking for essential oils to soothe his sore muscles. I love that while my father in law was battling cancer, the Young Living supplements and Ningxia Red juice helped to keep his immune system so strong that he experienced no side effects from the treatments and he had plenty of energy to live life as he normally does.

Ok, but still...what is all the rage all of a sudden? I mean, I fell in love with these products over a decade ago, what is the big deal all of a sudden?

Social Media!

Yep, plain and simple. Word spread super fast, like a grass fire and BAM! Before we knew it, everyone else wanted in on the oily goodness.

So, some may say that this is a fad and in some ways, it probably is. People try them out and then stop. That is so sad to me.
I did that. I used my favorite 8 oils for a few years and then I stopped. The reason is that I didn't understand the difference between Young Living and the oils I could get in the stores. It didn't take me long to smell a difference. And it didn't take me long to experience a difference.  And when I had a true need for the oils, those store bought ones just didn't cut it.

When I returned to Young Living oils, I learned of the difference. It is called Seed to Seal. You can read more about this here.  But, the short of it is unlike any other essential oil company, Young Living has complete control of the entire production process of the essential oils. From the seed that is put into the ground to the seal put on the bottle just before it ships out to you, Young Living controls every step.  The reason they do this is because they want to ensure that the oil in that bottle is of the most pure therapeutic grade quality possible.

So, let's play the "What if" game.

What if, I'm not crazy for using essential oils in our family? Because I have been accused of it.

What if, I'm not crazy for taking a proactive health approach?  Is what you're doing working, because what I'm doing is working.

What if, none of my kids needing a prescription for the last 4 years isn't a coincidence? Many years ago I knew the pharmacist by name & he knew mine.

What if, it's possible to support the immune system with something just a little outside the box of the western school of thought?

What if, you could purchase over $300 worth of these said products for $160?

What if, you could get your money BACK through the referral program?

What if, you could make a little money in the process?

What if, you could change your family's financial destiny?

What if essential oils are not a fad, but are one way God has given us to be healthy so that we can live the life he has purposed us to live?

Any of that, in fact, all of that, is possible.

I rarely blog about our business, but allow me just this one post today.

Today is a great day to get started, but each day is a great day to start. I'd like to ask you that if you aren't going to choose today, why are you waiting?

The cycle you're in can only change if you change what you're doing. It's time to start. I can help.

Monday is Cyber Monday and Young Living is said to have some pretty amazing specials, but there's a catch. Only YL members can take advantage of these special deals.  I don't know what these deals are yet, but as soon as I find out I will be posting on my Facebook Business page, Dynamic Life.

If you are ready to make a change, I can help you get started. I'm not a trained professional in the field of medicine or aromatherapy, but I am a mom who has personally used these products for a long time and I will walk with you, help answer your questions and direct you as best I can.

For the next few days, I am offering anyone who becomes a YL member an extra special offer. Everyone who joins Young Living using my referral number receives one on one product support and a packet of information to help you get started. But if you join with my by Monday, I will reimburse for your shipping and tax as well.

If you are interested, send me this text to 903.502.0135, "I follow your blog, I am ready to get started with YL today!" or you can email me.  Or if you are still not sure, visit my website by clicking the "Essential Oils" tab at the top of the page. You can also contact me via the website.

Time to Stop, Rest and be Thankful.

It's Thanksgiving Eve.

Chocolate Meringue Pies are in the fridge along with the Orange Cranberry sauce. Pecan pies are on the buffet where more desserts will be added tomorrow.

Turkey is about to go into the roaster and my list of side dishes is posted on the fridge so that I don't forget any.

Thanksgiving Day is our family's favorite holiday. We love it because there are no expectations for gifts. Just come and eat with us and let's have a great day together as we remember how faithful the Lord has been this year to us.

So, you want the honest truth? This has been a really hard year! I am not going to dress this up. It's been really hard. And it is often difficult to remember the good things that happened.

It's been a hard year for my business.  It's been a hard year for my husband who worked 2 jobs most of the year. It's been a hard year for my Father in law as he battled cancer. It's been a hard year for my father as his health is not good and doctors can't seem to find any relief for him. It's been a hard year for my daughter who struggled with anxiety and depression. It's been a hard year for 2 of my sons with their jobs. It's just been a really hard year!

In History, Sam, Gracie and I have been studying Early American History. Last month we were reading about the Pilgrims who spent 3 months on the Mayflower in pursuit of a life of freedom from England.  Once they landed they were not ready for what was about to happen. On the ship, only one person died on the trip. That was remarkable. But when they began trying to make a new life for themselves, they realized just how difficult things would be.

I'm sure you know the story. Thanks to the help of Samoset & Squanto, the Pilgrims learned how to farm, and hunt. The Pilgrims were so thankful for the help of these Native Americans and for the new life they had made for themselves, they devoted a day away from work to spend time together giving thanks to God for his provision and protection. But wait... It was a hard year!  This is why they set aside one day to rest and be thankful!

What happens when we are thankful?

We are more hopeful of the future. I know my God is faithful. I know that the trials we experienced this year were not in vain. I know that whatever he allows next year may also be hard, but He will still be there just like he was this year.

We are energized and empowered. There is just something about choosing to say, "I'm thankful for this". It is choosing an attitude of joy. That gives us strength.

We are healthier.  Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and they report feeling healthier than other people, according to a 2012 study published in Personality and Individual Differences.  We also sleep better and are less stressed.

Of course the Pilgrims didn't have scientific studies showing them why they needed to stop for a day and rest. But, we know the benefits of it.

I'm so glad we have a day like Thanksgiving that forces us to stop and spend time with our family and friends. Time to focus on what the Lord has done for us and how we are blessed.

So, yes...this past year has been hard. But a quick scroll through my Facebook pictures reminded me of the many blessings we experienced as well.

Sarah came home from the Philippines early. That was an awesome blessing!

Sam went to Children's camp for the first time and loved every minute of it!

We kept Brody, my grandson, everyday for several months until his parents found another daycare for him. I love that!

My kids all have good jobs right now!

My husband is only having to work one job & even though it is extremely hard on his body, the Lord is using it to provide for us.

My Father in law found out this week that he is cancer free!

So yes, it has been a hard year, but God is good and we are thankful for the many ways he has blessed us.

Ok, so I'm off to get my Turkey in the roaster!

I pray you have a very Happy Thanksgiving with your family!!

Sunday Solitude: There is no other Savior!

I encourage you to rest in this verse today. There is no other god that can do what our God can do. He has already made a way. He already see's the outcome. He loves you more than you can ever understand. There is no other Savior!

Are You Listening?

I found this quote and it stuck with me.

As a mom, my day is full of background chatter among my kids. I usually zone it out so I can get my work done. But then there is that moment when one of them says, "Mom, did you hear what I said?"

And usually, I didn't hear them. I didn't realize they were talking to me. I was so focused on something else.

I want my kids to come to me when they need to talk. But if they are always fighting for my attention eventually they will stop coming. I work from home, and my day is full of a lot of multi-tasking.  Making sure I am available can really be a struggle at times. Creating a schedule has helped. Teaching them to respect my schedule is often a battle.

One day I observed some friends in a discussion. One friend was explaining a struggle she was having with one of her children. We were all listening to her explain a specific situation. I looked around the circle of friends as she spoke.
One was checking her phone, but nodding as if she were listening.
Another was deeply engrossed in the story, you could tell by her face.
And the last mom continued to interrupt with her own story that was made to sound much worse than the story being told.

Which mom was truly listening? The second one of course.

I have to admit, while my friend was pouring her heart out to us, I was thinking of ways to respond to her. But, when one of the moms continued to interrupt I realized that I wasn't listening to my friend anymore than she was.  I text my friend later and said, "I'm so sorry you are struggling. I am praying for you."

I never want to be like that last mom who interrupts with my own stories or ideas. I can't learn how to encourage or serve others if I don't listen to them.  I won't know how to pray for them if I don't listen to them.

But the truth is that I have been her on many occasions.

Lord, help me listen with my eyes, ears and heart so I can help comfort & encourage those you put in my path.

Are you listening?

Is Your Immune System ready?

September is coming in just a few days. I cannot believe it! Do you know what that means to me?

Crazy schedules
Germs
Sweets & desserts (Holidays are coming)
Germs
Being around a lot of people indoor (church & homeschool co-op)
Germs

I don't want to sound negative, but the reality is we are coming into the crazy season!
School has started back.
Our church fall schedule is about to kick off.
Our homeschool co-op is beginning soon.

It can often mean dinner in the car and snacks on the way. Eating out of a cooler instead of at home. Not getting enough sleep. Late night meetings or work sessions for me.

Our body will take a beating if we are not careful. Stress levels can easily get out of control.

And to make it even worse, we are coming into a season of holidays, baked desserts, being indoors with a lot of people who forget to wash their hands when they sneeze or cough, etc...

Is your immune system ready?

How are you preparing yourself for this crazy time of the year?

Stress can get you down so fast you didn't know what hit you! I get stressed out just looking at my calendar! And when I get stressed, I want to eat. I don't want to eat salads, I want a chocolate bar!

Did you know that sugar compromises the immune system? And what do we have a lot of from October until February? Sugar & lots of it!  And when do we seem to get sick the most? October through February.  Coincidence? I don't believe in that! Is there something we can do about it? Of course!



Number 1: Limit or even better eliminate sugar! Sometimes, you just can't. That Christmas party is too much fun, hanging out with your friends is too much fun and the desserts are way to good to pass up. But, limit yourself. If you know that party is coming up Friday evening, avoid all sugar during the week. 
If you know your kids are going to have cupcakes at school on Monday, make it a no sugar kind of weekend. A few days of your kids having no sugar and I have a feeling you will never want them to have it again. My kids always behave better when they haven't had any sugar. And be mindful of those hidden sugars in snacks. Sugar shows up everywhere.

Number 2: Drink a lot of water. This helps the body flush out the toxins that can make it easier for our immune systems to fail. A well hydrated body is a healthy body.  See this blog post for an idea of how much water we should be drinking.

Number 3: Protect your immune system. This is so important. Don't wait until you are sick to make changes. Make them now before you are sick. Build your immune system up so that it is better able to fight off the germs & whatever is floating around.

Natural, Plant based protection is best!

We build up and support our immune system in several ways.

Ningxia Red is a nutritional drink that is packed with fruits, veggies and essential oils. It does not have the junky fruit juices in them like white grape or apple juice that tends to raise the blood sugar. The protein levels of 2 oz equals that of a boiled egg and it scores higher than any other juice on the market on the ORAC scale.  My kids love it and I have to ration it out or they would drink it like Kool-Aid! It doesn't take much of this to give you the nutritional boost to your immune system, that is another reason why I love it!

Thieves Vitality is an essential oil blend that is another mainstay for us during this time of year. Adding a few drops of this to some warm water or into a capsule makes for an amazing body guard to my immune system!

Citrus Vitality essential oils added to my water is how I not only keep myself hydrated, but give my immune system that support that it needs. These oils also contain Limonene & you need to google that so you know why it is so important! Lemon, Orange, Tangerine & Lime Vitality are my favorites!

Thieves hand sanitizer and Thieves spray in my purse so that while on the go, we can protect ourselves from germs.

Number 4: Protect your schedule! It is so easy to sign up for everything. I homeschool my kids, I work from home and I'm involved at my church. It is very easy for me to let my activities get out of control. I have to be very careful! I have learned to set boundaries. I have to say no sometimes. I need to know what is important, what will help us accomplish our goals, what fits in to the purpose of our family.

Stress is a crazy thing and it can make us sick, lose sleep, crave the wrong kinds of food. So we need to keep it in check.

If you want to incorporate Young Living products into your daily health regimen, now is the perfect time to do that!! Contact me today & I can help you get started!!  Or click this link to get started right now! The offer below won't be available for very long.

You can also visit my business site for more information on the products.

Are You Moving?

Exercise.

I can hear you groaning already.

I've never been a good example of exercise. I'm still not!  So, I just want to put this out there now. I am not writing about how I have it all down and am not an expert on the importance of daily movement. Nope. I'm not there. But, I am working on it, because I have not only realized the importance of it, I have experienced the amazing benefits of it.

Last year, Scott had decided he was done being fat. He almost weighed 300 lbs, more than he had ever weighed in his life. We were already working on cleaning up our diet, but he knew that the missing factor in his weight loss was exercise. So, he began getting up early and walking. It wasn't long before he was walking over 2 miles a day, 6 days a week and the weight was coming off.

Then we went to the Young Living convention in August. The Young Living Foundation had a 5k fundraiser. He bought us entries. What? I can't walk a 5k!!  But, it was for a great cause, so I did it. And do you know what happened? I survived! I felt good! That night I knew I had to join my husband and begin walking with him.

So, every evening we would walk together. Sometimes our kids would join us. And that was fun. But something began to happen that I didn't expect.
I began feeling better.
I slept better.
My moods were better.
My clothes got too big. (OK, that one I was hoping for)
I got a lot more serious about taking care of myself.

30 minutes a day. That is all it took!

Walking is easy and free! You don't need any special equipment or gym memberships. You just need a good pair of shoes and ground to walk on or a treadmill. It is a good place to start if you aren't doing anything.

Don't walk alone! It is a lot more fun to walk with a partner.

It is time to get moving! Make it important! You will never regret it!

Sunday Solitude

Lord,
My heart desire is that my way would be your way, but I know that is not always the case. Stop me. Cause my heart to grieve if my ways are not your ways. Give me clarity of mind to see your direction. You want to delight in my ways so I pray that I will be faithful to your calling, faithful to your ways, faithful to you.
Amen

What are You Eating?

It only makes sense.

If you want your car to start & operate the way it was built to, you have to put the right kind of fuel in it. If your car takes gasoline and you put diesel fuel in it, you will have problems. If you put water or something similar in it, you won't get very far. In fact you will need a tow to your mechanic, who will then charge you a lot of money to fix what you did.

You can't be surprised if your car won't run right if you didn't give it what it needs.

The same is true for our body. If we want it to function the way God intended it to, we have to feed our body what he created for our body.

It is pretty simple actually. But not easy unfortunately. In a day when we want everything fast, eating healthy is not very convenient.

So, what is considered healthy food?  Well, we all have our own idea's on this. My teenage son considers a hamburger healthy because he has lettuce & tomatoes on it.

In a perfect world, we would have plenty of access to fresh produce and grains that are grown in healthy soil. But as we know, our world is not perfect and our food is not as healthy as we need it to be.

In my opinion, healthy food is food that is fresh and alive. Food that still contains digestive enzymes. Food that does not come in a box or can. I would love to have a garden so I can grow my own food. We can't always have that, so foods that are organically grown , GMO free and as close to its natural state as possible is my next choice.

Fruits and Veggies. Raw is best! Raw produce contains a lot of vitamins, minerals and digestive enzymes that will super charge your digestive system.  It is also easier for your body to digest. Your system can absorb more of the nutrients, giving you energy. When we eat processed food,  our body has to use more energy to digest it. That is energy we need to function through out the day. Ever feel sleepy after you eat a meal? Your food should energize you, not slow you down.

Food should be healing to the body, yet most of the food we eat today is damaging our body.

Sugar is in everything processed. Sugar compromises the immune system. When is cold & flu season? Is it a coincidence that it happens during the same time of the year as most of our holidays? What do we do to celebrate those holidays? We bake desserts, candy, etc... When our family began making better food choices during the holiday season, we did not experience near as much sickness.

Cancer cells thrive off of sugar in any form. Sugar is very dangerous to anyone with cancer or who has had cancer. This article explains it well.

The majority of Americans suffer from chronic digestive problems. This is a result of years of food abuse. There may be no immediate consequence to drinking soda's everyday and eating processed food, but it will catch up with you eventually. You may think your body is doing well at digesting your food, but when you look at the symptoms of poor digestion we realize that we aren't doing as well as we thought.

Do you have any of these symptoms? These are all symptoms of poor digestion.

How many of these do you have but just thought they were normal?

Here's the good news! Simple changes can help reverse many of the ailments we have. When we choose good food, it can help our body heal.

Here is my personal guideline for what good food is.

• Expires quickly because it is natural, not covered in preservatives.
• Colorful. Avoid white food. It is a sugar trap! (white flour, sugar, pasta, bread)
• It cannot be bought in a drive thru!

If this is a totally new change for you, go slow! Make one change at a time. When you remove an unhealthy food, replace it with a healthy one. Don't remove all of the junk food at once and then not know what to replace it with. That sets you up for failure really quick! And if you are taking your family along with you on this change, they will rebel if you take all of their favorite food away at once! Trust me.

Research! Use Google. Educate yourself on what food is healing and what food is hurting you.
Here are some sites I have found really helpful and trustworthy.

http://www.mercola.com/
http://foodbabe.com/
https://draxe.com/
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/

Click on the image for a larger view

Locked out!

I still don't know what I did, but I somehow got locked out of my blogger account, so that is why I haven't posted since January! Crazy stuff!

I'm working on the remaining post to the Wellness series I was in the middle of & will get those posted soon.

In the mean time, I'll just leave this here. We finally had a family picture done in June. I love that our family is growing in a new way.

Choosing Wellness: What are you Drinking?

I grew up with a mom that was a firm believer in drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day.  If I poured some milk to drink, she was right there...

"How much water have you  drank today?"

I just rolled my eyes and drank my milk.

When I was nursing my first baby the nurse and still at the hospital, the nurse told me that I had to drink a lot of water to keep my milk supply up. I figured that water and Dr.Pepper was pretty similar so I drank both.  Not true!

What we drink and how much is really important. Keeping our bodies properly hydrated is not hard, yet the majority of Americans are dehydrated and don't even realize it.  If you are thirsty you are already dehydrated. If your lips are dry, chances are you are dehydrated. If you have a headache, you could be dehydrated.

I like this article by Dr. Mercola about dehydration. Take a moment to read it completely.

One of the first things I did when we became intentional about getting healthy was return to drinking mostly water. I am not good at measuring it, so I can't tell you if I am getting the right amount. An easy formula to tell you how much water you need is to take your weight & divide that by 2. That number is the amount of ounces of water you need a day. It's not an exact number, but a good place to start.

I get tired of just drinking water, so I like to add some citrus essential oils to my water. The citrus oils have some really important health benefits as well, so I'm not only flavoring my water, but maintaining my health as well.
My favorites are:
Lemon
Grapefruit 
Tangerine
 I get my oils here and do not recommend using any other brand internally as I cannot attest to the purity of them as I can to Young Living's EO's.


Herbal teas are ok, but be careful of the brands. Some have caffeine in them and others are not worth the trouble. If it won't benefit my health, then I'd rather just drink a Dr.Pepper. I still like them & I still want to drink them even though I choose not to...most of the time. At the time of this writing I am going on 14 days with no DP.

Back to the tea. One of the things we had to become very intentional about was reading labels and avoiding chemicals. We find chemicals in things we never dreamed...like herbal teas!

Here is a great blog post by the Food Babe concerning what is in our tea.

If you need to remove something you are drinking that is not healthy, make sure you replace it with something healthy.

I need to stop drinking coffee, but am not there yet. This is a process and I'm not ready to ditch my morning mug of Java yet.  Scott went cold turkey on the coffee. He replaced his morning cup of coffee with fresh juice! He is the rock star!!

We drink fresh juiced fruit & veggies through out the day. He juices carrots, beets, cilantro, spinach, celery, apples & oranges and so much more. I joke that if I don't use up the produce fast enough he will juice it. I have gone to the refrigerator many times to get veggies to make for dinner only to find that he juiced them already. The struggle is real! We need a frig just for our juicing produce!  We have a Jack LaLanne juicer and really like it. We have had it for almost 10 yrs.

But there is no way we could eat that many fruits & veggies in one day that we are getting in our juice.

In addition to that, we drink Ningxia Red by Young Living! This juice is an even bigger boost to our health than the juice we juice ourselves. This juice is very high in antioxidants and supports every body system. We have seen big improvements in our health since making this a part of our daily regimen.  Our immune systems are strong, I sleep better at night and Scott only needs one short power nap during the day instead of several like before.

So what are you drinking?

Are you hydrated well?

Is what you are drinking, giving your body what it needs to function and way God created it to?

Don't forget...if you remove an unhealthy beverage, make sure you replace it with a healthy one.

Choosing Wellness: What are You Thinking?

Do you realize how powerful your thoughts are?

Please don't mistake this post as a feel good- just think happy thoughts - kind of post.  That is not what this is. One of the biggest things that had to happen before we could begin to experience a healthier life was we had to start believing it was important. We had to start thinking we were worth the effort. We had to start thinking that we really could make a difference.

How you think about yourself really does matter!

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”—Albert Einstein 

I learned a long time ago that our imagination is more than pretending. It is simply creating a picture in your mind of what you want to accomplish.  It is actually a very powerful tool when it comes to making changes. Our mind is the most powerful organ in our body. And what we allow ourselves to think is equally as powerful. Scripture tells us what we should think about. 

Remember the "Whatever" verse in Philippians?

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8

What we think matters! It sets the tone for how we live, how we communicate, how we dream.

Zig Ziglar said, "Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will."

I love that, because it is so true. If all I say to myself is, "I will always be fat, I will always be sick." how I can I expect anything to be different. We always accomplish more when we are focusing on the positive.

Ok, so what in the world does this have to do with choosing wellness? It has a lot to do with it. 

First I had to decide I was tired of the cycle of bad habits I had created for myself. I had to believe that I was worth the change and that I could change. I had to know that I needed to change for the sake of my health & the health of my family. It had to be very important to ME. 

I made a short list of a few things I wanted to change. It was short, because I still wasn't totally convinced I would accomplish any positive changes.

Then I began to make simple changes that helped me get closer to those goals. Drink more water. Walk 2 miles a day. Put down my phone & close my laptop to spend time with my God & my family.

My thought process and habits were at times all that kept me from falling away because I didn't see a difference very quickly. If I told myself that it wasn't working or it didn't matter I would have quit.  But I had to keep the Lord's promises in front of me as a reminder that even though it is hard, it is important.

Find 5 verses that inspire you to press on. Write them down. Print them out. Post them where you will see them everyday. Quotes are good, but nothing keeps me going better than the Word of God.

The secret to your success lies in your ability to control your thoughts. I don't know about you, but I need a lot of help with this and the Lord has always been faithful.

Today is a new day, a new month, a new year! There is no better time than today to begin making changes that you have thought about making for so long. We are spiritually new in Christ because of his sacrifice for us! But, by his grace we are also given new days, new opportunities.  What are you going to do with them?