Apologize to your body

I have you ever thought of apologizing to your body?  I haven't either until I watched this sermon.  I have watched this three times and I will probably watch it again from time to time.  This video reminds us to be loving to ourselves.  Whether you are a man or a woman, we all need to watch this to remind us to love ourself.  I hope you enjoy!

Preparation

So it's been a while since I have given an update.  Honestly, I don't have the time to always write it down!  So much is going on and I'm trying to keep up!

Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.  Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it.  Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my door.  For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord.

  - Proverbs 8:32-35 (NIV)

One thing that has been going on with Sean and I is that we have felt God truly put this in our heart.  Sean and I had a conversation about a month ago on how we want to be healthier (we've had this convo multiple times).  This conversation was different though.  We have friends who are also aligning their bodies & their hearts to what the Lord wants for us.  We had the conversation of "what if"... 

"What if something catastrophic happened to our world?  Would we be ready?"  

Our answer was no at the time.  

Our answer is still no at this present time but we are starting to prepare ourselves for the "what if" and "what could" happen in the future.  The Bible prophecies these things and we believe we are in the last days.  We no longer have time to be slumber and be so drunk in the worldly things that we cannot even see what is happening in the spiritual realm. 

With this being our conversation on that day, we decided to find a new gym that has classes to take rather than just working out on our own.  We found a gym that does crossfit, bootcamp, and strike zone.  This is the perfect solution for us!  Sean can do crossfit and I could do bootcamp.  Sean has been wanting to do crossfit for a few years now and I finally caved in and decided that I will do it with him.  We have completed our intro classes and today we did our first crossfire class this morning.  It was a great first class as well.  The best part was that one of the owners taught our class and he really focuses on form and technique.  I look forward to doing more and getting stronger.

We are in a time to no longer be lazy.  We must get ready for what's to come.  We must follow the instructions of the Lord.  The Lord is pressing our hearts to get ready for Him, to get ready for His will for our lives.  I want wisdom and I want to be blessed because I listened to the Words of the Lord.

We have also been changing our diet slowly so that we don't get burnt out so quickly.  One of my favorite things I enjoy making is smoothies!  I love my smoothies!  They are so filling to me and I love just sipping on them throughout the morning for my breakfast.  The one pictured below has become a favorite recipe of mine.  It's a banana, peanut butter smoothie.  It's full of protein which is so good to have after working out.  Protein helps repair your muscles after working out.  Don't worry, I am not the person that will be a health expert and I don't plan on being that.  It's just a great journey that Sean and I have started.

 

Valentine's Day weekend

So I'm late on the Valentine's Day post but oh well!  Valentine's day weekend was great.  I got to go to Miami for the first time and walk on South Beach.. and unfortunately, I did not see any celebrity.  ha!

But I did get to see Bethel Music in Miami and I don't think I could have given myself a better reason to go to Miami other than for this.  Sean and I have been wanting to see Bethel for a while now so we took the opportunity to go.  It was great too.  We got to just soak in the Lord's presence that night along with other people in Miami.  It was great to see what Bethel wants to do with their music.  Their heart is so pure and they long to see God everywhere they go by raising up His children.  Here are some photos from the Worship Night.

Paul McClure

First Band of the night

Kalley Heiligenthal

Stephany Gretzinger

Amanda Cook

On Valentine's day, we went downtown towards South beach.  So I acted like a tourist in the car taking a bunch of photos of the buildings... it's just something I do...

                                    

We also walked up and down Lincoln Road.  My favorite part of the day was hearing Sean's stories of where ministry used to be and what all they did with the Bible School.  It was great to hear it. 

We only went into this store on Lincoln Rd because of the industrial look. The store was too expensive for me.

Loved these antique sewing machines.  All the walls were covered in them.

On South Beach!

The water was so clear!  It was beautiful!

                                     

The gentleman in the background goes by Apache. He's homeless on South Beach. Holy Spirit told Sean to give our leftover pizza away after lunch. We gave it to a homeless couple who then later gave it to Apache & his friend. He summoned us over to him to make me this beautiful rose out of a palm leaf for V-day. We started talking more & he kept saying 'cool beans.' That confirmed in Sean's spirit to keep talking with him since he says that all the time. After hearing Apache's heart for the people in this world, Sean prayed for him, prophesied over him, then he gave his heart to Jesus. Apache also LOVED Sean's shirt so much that Sean gave it to him. Needless to say, today has been a great Valentine's Day

The staff at Light did a three week fast of your choice.  Our pastors and majority of us did the Daniel Fast.  It was mine & Sean's first time to do it.  We really enjoyed the fast because we are trying to start living healthy and eliminating the foods we do not need.  My main struggle that I had with the food part was not eating chicken.  If you know me, you know how much I love chicken and how much I eat chicken on a regularly basis.  Sean also struggled not having meat towards the end.  Even though the fast is over, we plan on to continue to keep the foods we have been eating in our meal plan.  We have completely eliminated sodas from our choice of drinks.  I am still working on less coffee intake.  It's a work in progress :)

This fast has been helping us realize what we need to do spiritually.  For one, we both have forsaken our First Love and we starting to make Him the true center of our relationship.  This has been a little hard for us because we have had little time to devote to us and our devotion time.  We were so busy during our fast with things in our lives and it hasn't really slowed down.  So we are learning to balance this.  It is an adjustment that we must make but I am so excited to make this adjustment for us and our relationship with our Father.

One thing that has really stuck out to me towards the end of our fast is how I have become completely drunk and consumed in this world.  I have been consumed with others (which isn't bad) and I have been selfish.  It amazes me how I see things and let it consume me.  It may be because I am still trying to adjust to the life here.  I am not sure but I do know that it has taken me a while to get used to life down here.  I love it down here but it is hard when it is your first time to ever 'move' away from home.  Sean has been so great to me.. listening to me when I get home sick and when I reminisce.  He truly is an amazing husband.
 So with all that being said, I have started to really reading the Word daily again.  Right now it's been my daily devo's on my phone and I am thankful for them.  One thing God has really laid on my heart was becoming sober again,  here is a passage:

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine:  that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience;  the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—  that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,  to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
          Titus 2:1-5


I love this passage because it reminds me of part of my purpose here on earth.  We are here to stand out of the crowd by the way we live.  I have let myself forget my purpose but now that it is a new season for Sean & I, we are not letting this season go to waste.  We are so excited for God is doing in our lives right now.  We are excited to see the things come to pass that have been promised to us.  We are excited to be serving together as one for our King. 

beauty seen from the outside

"All beautiful you are, my darling, there is no flaw in you."
Song of Solomon 4:7

I hope you enjoyed this video as much as I did.  I basically cried at the end of it.  I think we need to start believing the compliments we receive from others.  I know I need to believe.  How many of you actually believe when your husband tells you, you're beautiful?  I know I don't believe mine every time.

The verse above is my absolute, favorite verse.  It has been favorite verse since college.  I even have a tattoo that is based from this verse.  Every girl wants to know how beautiful they are.  They may not mention it but they do.  So, to know that Jesus sees me with no flaw makes me smile.  So thankful for Jesus and I'm so thankful for my husband.  He sees me as beautiful when I don't. 

Wednesday wisdom

You have a purpose. You were put on this earth to do something great. You were created with value. God cherishes you. Being created delights God. He loves when you take one glance at Him. He delights in you. He LOVES you! 

Now, all you have to do is believe it.