He must deny himself...

Tuesday, February 11, is a big day in my world.  It is the start of my last year in my thirties.  Whew, that sentence sure stirred up emotion in me as I typed it!  I honestly think turning 39 is harder than turning 40.  Turning 40 is the beginning of a new era while 39 is marking the end of a previous one.  It is a time of reflection over the past decade.  Evaluations of victories and defeats.  Wins and losses.  God has been so good to me!  I watched my babies grow into young ladies.  I fell more in love with my guy and witnessed his hair turn from brown to a lighter shade of grey.  I gave my hairdresser and sweet friend, Rachel, the green light to begin covering my own signs of age.  How did this happen so quickly?  In my head, I'm still 23 but when I look in the mirror I am caught off guard by new lines on my face that say otherwise.  Now, let me be clear.  I know I'm not old!  I realize I still have lots of life to live!  But there is something about staring at 40 that causes one to pause and say WOW!  That was fast!  

But, as I said in my original post, I am determined to exit my thirties in a blaze of glory!  I want to finish strong!  I want to celebrate 40 victoriously!  It is the desire of my heart that I enter my next decade with a stronger body and a deeper faith.  Thirty-nine is going to be my year in the cocoon and I plan, with the Lord's help, to emerge as a butterfly.

One of the tools I am using to start me on the right track is the book, Made to Crave, by Lysa Terkeurst.  The premise of the book is recognizing that God designed us to crave HIM.  Unfortunately, rather than craving Him, our cravings are misdirected.  I find that to be true in my world.  In the intro of her book, Lysa reminds the reader of Mark 8:34: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."  Growth requires sacrifice.  As Lysa summed up:

I posses the tools needed to succeed in my health and spiritual goals.  I have the finest nutritional supplements on the planet to fuel my body,  I attend an amazing church and have access to multiple books, sermons, and Bible studies.  But what has to rise to the forefront is the discipline and want to...and for me that will require sacrifice on my part.  As I pondered this, the Lord spoke very clearly to me what He wanted me to sacrifice.  Desserts.  For a year.  I knew this was from Him because it literally made me weep!  I'm talking streams of tears down the cheeks.  NOT DESSERTS!!  I LOVE DESSERTS!!!  Now, I don't crave little desserts like a Snickers bar....I like the Cadillac desserts...I am a Chili's molten lava cake kind of girl!  The thought of fasting from things like my grandmother's pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving is almost more than I can handle.  Can't I fast from salad??  Or exercise?? Something easier?  Yet, that is not the point of fasting is it?  Fasting is eliminating something from my life that requires dependence on Jesus and reminds me to turn to Him when I crave it.  Fasting is an individual conviction.  For others it might be fasting from TV or the computer.  And it isn't always for a year.  It may be shorter or longer. But for me, the Holy Spirit truly pressed it upon my heart that I needed to use this area of fasting as an exercise of faith, trust, and worship over the next year.

So, I will enjoy my 39th birthday cake.  But then the work on my heart and my flesh will begin.  It will not be easy and I covet your prayers for strength and discipline...even when I don't think anyone is looking.

God Can Use Anything....Even Vitamins

When I decided to do an AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge over a year ago, I got WAY more than I bargained for!  All I wanted to do was lose some weight and get healthy.  But God had more in mind...He always does.  Some of these things you may already know, like...

Chad and I had great results!  Clothes were fitting, the inches were shrinking, and I had the energy I had been desperately needing!  I felt like a withered plant who had been physically watered.  The products worked! People started noticing and wanting what we had! Unexpectedly, we had a business on our hands.  I loved that I could share these amazing products with others and fulfill a deep desire to help people.  We are blown away by what is ahead for us in the future and we are even more excited to help others reach their health and financial goals.

So all that sounds great, right?  Yet, the ol' pants started getting tighter.  What?  I am an AdvoCare Advisor!  That is not supposed to happen! Get ready, things are about to get real, raw, and personal.  This is where God has used vitamins to reveal a secret....and the revelation rocked my world.

There are things I am good at...discipline is not one of them.  It does not come naturally to me and I have to really, really work at it.  This comes into play in so many areas of my life, including but not limited to laundry.  Guess what...AdvoCare requires discipline.  I believe with everything in me that AdvoCare products, when used correctly with proper diet and exercise, work.  Period.  I believe it because I've experienced it and thousands of others have as well.  I have felt the change in my body. I have experienced the loss of inches.  I feel better and have more energy when I consistently use these products.   And have you seen my husband??  He is the result discipline with products, diet, and exercise.  He is proof.  But, my lifelong issues with discipline came into play.  While I 100% believed in the products and knew I felt SO MUCH better taking them, I got inconsistent.  I'd forget to take them.  I made unhealthy food choices.  I stopped regularly exercising.  I wasn't doing the very things I knew I needed to do.  I started to whither.  I let my lack of discipline overshadow my need for bettering my health.  And my progress stopped.  Believing the products work does nothing for me if I don't do my part. Being an AdvoCare Advisor did not take away my humanity and ability to sabotage my progress.  And that lack of discipline became visible and I could not hide it.

Then God showed me more.  Enter the ouch.  My physical life was paralleling my spiritual life.  He showed me that I was exactly the same way in my relationship with Him.  There.  I said it out loud.  I believed in Jesus as my Savior.  I knew what He did for me.  He has changed my life and the lives of millions.  I knew others needed Him.  I felt better when I spent time with Him CONSISTENTLY.  There's that word again.  But guess what?  I wasn't.  I had become lazy there, too.  What?!  But I teach AWANA!  I have served on 1/2 of the committees in my church!  How could I not be a spiritual rock star?  Because serving in my church and believing in Jesus does not improve my spiritual health if I do not consistently spend time in prayer and in His Word.  I cannot grow without spiritual discipline.  The difference between this lack of spiritual discipline and my lack of physical discipline...I was withering inside, but I could hide it.  There was no "visible" difference for others to see.  No tight pants, no piles of laundry.   Only I knew.  But God used what I was experiencing on the outside with my lack of physical discipline to reveal what was happening on the inside with my lack of spiritual discipline.  Whew.  No longer a secret.  Glad that's over.

But the good news?  My God is a God of REDEMPTION!  I don't have to stay in a withering state!  My sweet Lord loved me enough to not let me continue living that way. He got my attention and showed me what was happening on the inside by what was happening on the outside.  Message received!  Believing and acting on those beliefs are two different things.  Lack of discipline breeds fluff, physically and spiritually.

So 2014 is the year of no fluff!  It is the year that I will grow stronger physically and spiritually.  It is the year that I will act on my beliefs and live in such a way that those beliefs are evident. It is the year that I show off what God can do for my heart and what AdvoCare can do for my health!  It will be hard.  I will be tempted towards laziness.  But with the Lord's help, the last year of my 30s will be a year to celebrate God's goodness and victory!

So where are you as we start 2014?

Are you withering on the inside and hiding it?  The enemy thrives in secret!  Find a trusted friend and tell them.  I would be glad to be that friend for anyone who needs it.  Be accountable to someone and make this year the year you experience the full benefit of knowing Jesus...the one who quenches our thirst and waters our soul.

Are you withering on the outside with your health and feeling frustrated?  Have you been like me and had a great start only to let your old ways creep back in?  I'm committed to changing that course in my life this year and vow to help anyone else who is ready for a fresh start!  No judgement here!

Thank you for hearing my heart...for letting me be vulnerable in sharing my weaknesses...and for loving me anyway!  I hope it has encouraged someone.  And get ready for more....I will be using this blog to record my journey.

Bring on 2014!!