the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook

I am linking up with Jessi over at Naptime Diaries today for another 1% Change. I cannot tell a lie. I fell into "the depths of despair" for one reason and another then totally fell off the bandwagon with my previous 1% Changes. But I am back at it and it feels good. On to the latest change/improvement...

Once a long, long time ago I read a chapter in Proverbs a day. One chapter for the corresponding day of the month. {Today is the 19th so this morning I read Chapter 19.} I loved it then, but once I completed the book I stopped.

Lately, I have been trying to figure out how to put God time first thing in the morning. The reason it has been so difficult for me is...  I have to work out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. It's how my body rolls and I've got to go with it. It is what works for me. But if I get up and spend my usual time in The Word I end up stark raving mad with hunger and it makes the working out on an empty stomach kind of an issue. Plus I don't want to feel rushed through my quiet time to get to a work out. So here is where the Proverb a day comes in...

I can totally wake up, sit up in bed, read a chapter in Proverbs, pray a bit, and then work out. I feel like I have started my day in the right way on the right food and that I've got my priorities straight. Then I work out and listen to worship music while I get ready for the rest of the day. When I sit down for breakfast I go back and read the Bible again, sometimes I read the chapter in Proverbs a second time through and sometimes I read something different.  If there is time then I can do my Bible study/prayer time before I head out the door or I can come back to it later when I get home.

This routine really sets the tone for the whole day and I really, really like it. So this new routine is my 1% Change of late.  

 

   

what i am not saying

Past 1% change updates:

1. The Elliptical - we hit a snag. I was doing great. I was so impressed with my own resolve and gained endurance, and then Tuesday I made myself finish out the last 30 minutes even though I thought I might end up losing my right foot. My toes were numb and the soles of both my feet were burning. SO I worked out at home with corny workout videos just so I'd be doing something in order to give my feet a break and to figure out how to fix the problem. I am glad to report that I have missed the elliptical. I really have.

2. Gluten and sugar free for a week - I did quite well. However, I did not even try Easter Sunday. I had two homes in which I would be sharing a meal and I was not about to bring my own food or request a menu change so I ate some glutened dishes and I chose to have a small slice of chocolate cake. The rest of the week I did great, except for the 2 Ritz crackers I ate at BSF when I was taking care of the toddlers {I plumb forgot about my own challenge.} and the chocolate Easter candy I ate when I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't go to the elliptical {Try making sense out of that one. I know!} Other than that I rocked it and I impressed myself. So I am going to continue the challenge. {After I eat a cinnamon roll from Knaus Berry Farm. They are closing up shop until November people!}

Jessi over at Naptime Diaries has challenged her friends and readers with a new challenge this week in her 1% change campaign. She asked her readers these questions, "What is the thing you've struggled with that you've stopped talking to the Lord about? Maybe you don't talk to the Lord about anything, why not start? If we have a loving Father who wants His absolute best for us, why do we stop asking Him for help? Why do we stop telling Him what's on our hearts?" 


I let her know that this is my favorite challenge yet. These very things she brings up are so true for myself. I definitely keep things from Him. Not in the way of a child trying to cover up a mistake or a friend trying to keep a secret. I just don't think to go "there" in my prayers because it never really occurred to me that I needed to. And if it had occurred to me then the right words or approach seemed to be lost on me so I never put in much effort.


But when I think of these things that I am not talking to Him about. These things that I am not searching His heart on. I realize how deeply they affect me and how much they weigh me down and I am truly dumbfounded that I simply never put in much thought about it before Jessi posed the questions.  So I am really going to make an effort each day to start uncovering those places in my heart that I've kept hidden from Him for such a long time. I am really excited about this 1% change because in my experience with God, He is always so faithful to listen and tend to a sincere cry for being known, challenged, and changed.

  

homework

Last night Andrew and I went to Barnes and Noble and I did some gluten-free homework and Easter reading. That children's book, The First Easter, has gorgeous illustrations! I started reading The G Free Diet and I like it so far. Andrew found me the Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking book. When he took it off the shelf and handed it to me the heavens parted, beams of light streamed in, and the angels began singing. I thought I might be stuck eating brown rice and egg whites for breakfast for forever. {I know! Gross, right!?} So if you look really closely at what I have written down in the notebook you will see where my priorities lie...pancakes.

Andrew did this while we were there. Work! That he claims was "fun" to do and not really work. Oh my!

this one's gonna hurt

Jessi over at Naptime Diaries has suggested committing to a time sensitive challenge for the better to see how it makes us feel and how it improves our quality of life for this week's 1% change. So I have two huge changes that I am going to make...

I have fought with myself over the idea of going sugar free for forever. I am addicted to sugar. It has been proven to be more addictive than cocaine! Hence, the reason it has been a really hard decision to cut it out of my diet. But I think it's for the best and I have to go cold turkey. I am going to go refined sugar free for one week to see how I feel, but I'd like to make it much longer than that.

I am also going to go gluten free. I have had my suspicion regarding this one for awhile. I don't feel well most of the time and most meals and snacks consist of something with gluten in it, so I am going to just test this one out for one week also. I think I will need to do it longer in order to really see if that's what makes me feel less than awesome all the time.

I'd really like to make these changes for a longer period of time, but I am honestly afraid I will fail, so I am going to take it one week at a time! And allow me to give a disclaimer, refined sugar or no refined sugar I will have the occasional piece of dark chocolate. End. of. story.

My first 1% change is going well and I am still on the wagon. I went to the gym faithfully this week and even increased my time on the elliptical. Holla!

 

she did what?

 

I do not possess one single athletic bone in my body and not once when I was growing up did I take part in any sporting event, whether it be a little league or P.E., with any kind of enthusiasm. I also have never been one to spend time in a gym. Just never have. However, now that I am getting older, my metabolism is slowing down, and I want to be a healthy mom who sets a good example for her kid's one day I have decided it is high time to get my butt in the gym.

Jessi over at Naptime Diaries has started this movement and I'd really like to get in on the action. It's called 1% change and the idea is to improve your life by taking one little step at a time. I like that. 

So this week my 1% change had to do with a huge fear. The gym. It scares me. I don't know what it is about that place, but I am so incredibly intimidated by it. I feel like the minute I walk in everyone in there is going to know that I'm a newbie and that if I were to get on the treadmill I could very well pass out from my lack of "being in shape" and all. 

So I didn't go near the treadmill. 

I got on the elliptical and I liked it. So my goal for the week was 3 trips to the gym to get on the elliptical for 45 minutes and I. Did. It!

I think this is a great idea/movement. Won't you join us in making a little 1% change to change your life for the better?