Lessons From the Trampoline

I heard it over and over....and over.....and over...

"Will you come jump with me?"

-- it's too cold

"Now will you come jump with me, it isn't cold?"

--no, I'm busy

"Mom, will you come jump with me?"

-- I just don't want to jump.

Finally, it slapped me upside the head that my attitude was HORRIBLE! All she wanted was for me to come play with her. Even if I jumped for 5 jumps and then just sat there, she would be happy.  Finally,

"Mom, will you come jump with me?"

--I really am in the middle of this, I will, but let me finish.  A little later, right after I emptied my bladder - that is important. REALLY IMPORTANT. I said okay, come on, let's go jump. She dropped what she was doing and came running, hollaring at her brother to come too. "Come on, she won't jump long!"  So true, she knows me. I just really don't like jumping for very long. Did I mention the bladder thing?

We jumped and jumped. They did flips, I said no way. She fell flat on her back and bounced back up to her feet and said "now you do it". I said I can't! This kept going. They would do something I thought was crazy and then want me to do it, I would say, "I can't." I'M 42!!

Then I got slapped upside the head again (not literally) why do I keep saying I can't. I haven't even tried. Is that what I want them to learn? What difference does my age matter? It's not like I'm 92!!

So I tried. I tried to land flat on my back, but seriously it was hard. I could not let myself just fall back without bracing myself, which made it hurt worse. I did keep trying and she kept laughing!

Then something happened and they thought it would be hilarious to play "don't crack the egg" with me as the egg.

This is where one person lays in the middle of the trampoline in a fetal position, holding their legs and the others bounce you. The "egg" tries not to let go of their legs, which would mean they got cracked. They bounced me and I screamed. Seriously, I screamed. I closed my eyes because if I kept them open, I screamed more - it was too scary. They thought it was hilarious. I would scream and they would laugh.

Then it was time to play follow the leader and I was leader because seriously, I cannot do half what they can do. I did corny things, but they played along. Then, I let them each have one time as a leader and I TRIED to do what they did. They laughed again.

Finally, it was time for me to get off. We've already discussed the why's of this. By the way, I may not be able to walk tomorrow, because that really is a workout!

My lessons for the day-
1.  I had fun jumping on the trampoline, I should do it more often instead of automatically saying no. Plus it counts for exercise.
2. Stop saying "I can't" and just try! Who knows, maybe you can!
3. My children love when I play with them - okay, I already knew this one!
4. It does crazy things to my hair.

Blessings my friends,
Rashel

How God Taught Me to Trust Him in All Things Part 2

I promised you the rest of the story about my son and the lessons God taught me ~ here it is:

(if you want to read the first part of this story, go here)

Allow me to set the stage for a moment, we had recently changed churches and were about to join this new church. Now, in this particular church you had to be baptized in this church or in a church of the same denomination and bring a letter of referral. We had neither as we came from a nondenominational church. Although three of the six of us had been saved and baptized previously, it was not in this church. After much discussion, we decided we would be baptized into the church. In the meantime, my daughter accepted Christ and was ready to be baptized for the first time. My middle and youngest sons both decided they were also ready to be saved and baptized; all six of us were baptized into the church at the same time. Now, I’m just going to leave that like it is, because I have no desire to start a debate about different denominations right now, or about whether this practice is right or wrong. I will say that if we had the chance to do it over – it wouldn’t happen.

The only reason I told you all of that was so that you would understand the rest of this story. You see my son went through the motions then, but fast forward several years and I start getting nudges from the Holy Spirit that I’m just really not sure my son is truly saved. It wasn’t because he was a bad kid, he’s not. It wasn’t because he was doing horrible things, he wasn’t. I just started noticing things like he wasn’t reading scripture verses I was sending him daily, he was very defensive about certain things and he didn’t seem to be convicted by scripture in areas of his life.

We go to church as often as we can, we attend a weekly family bible study group and we go to a week long bible camp every year. He participates in and seems to enjoy all of these things. We pray at every meal, we discuss God often; we thank Him and pray to Him – all the time. He is a very huge part of our lives. 

So, when God started speaking to me and telling me to ask my son about it, I didn’t want to. I was afraid he would be offended that I would dare think such a thing. But God didn’t let up, so I obeyed.

I went into his room while he was working on school work and sat down on his bed. I said, “I want to ask you something and I need you to tell me the truth.” Of course he said, “That depends on the question.” Yeah, he’s 16.  I said, “Have you ever given your life to Christ?” He paused, quiet for a moment, thinking and said, “I don’t know.”   Silence.

Ugh, my fear was true. 

I wanted to cry, but I tried hard not to. 

I asked him more questions, and we talked about what it all meant. I asked if he wanted to give his life to Christ. His reply, “I don’t know.”   WHAT?!!

Why? Why wouldn’t you want to?

 I did not understand and he couldn’t tell me. We kept talking. I kept asking him if he believed in God, in Jesus, in the Bible and he answered yes to everything. He knew it was all true, but he still didn’t know if he wanted to.

I.DON’T.UNDERSTAND.

I told him that. I said, “I just don’t understand how you can believe it all, how you can know heaven and hell are real and not know if you want to give your life to Christ.” I told him, “The scripture says if you are not for him then you are against him. There is no middle ground.” We talked about it all, about how much God loved him and Jesus dying for him. He couldn’t tell me why and I couldn’t understand.

I left his room, went to mine, fell on my bed and bawled. I wondered if I had done something to turn him away from God. So many things went through my mind; I can’t even begin to list them all. Mostly I was sad and just didn’t understand. I prayed and prayed and then I remembered. God reminded me to trust Him – to trust Him in ALL things and I knew why He had been drilling it into my head the last week.

Here is what I wrote in my journal: “I cannot dwell on this. I have to give it to God and trust Him. He loves my son and wants this more than I do… It is hard not to worry about this, but that will do no good – I must give it to God –He’s got this.”

I kept praying. I prayed off and on all day. We had our second night of revival at church that night and you better believe I was praying hard that he would accept Christ that night. He didn’t. I kept trusting God. I was reminded that God said, “I’ve got this.”

The next morning I was having my quiet time and praying about it again, because believe me it never left my mind. God reminded me of Mark 9:29: And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting”. I needed to pray AND fast! Then, I needed to lay hands on my son and pray over him. So, that morning I fasted and prayed. I had determined to fast until dinner time, only having liquids, but right before lunch time God said it was time to go pray. I had been talking to God all day, checking in with Him to see what He would have me do. (I need to add a side note here- I have been baptized in the Holy Spirit and believe in speaking in tongues and the powers of the Holy Spirit).  At one point He reminded me to pray in tongues over my son and I promised I would, even though I still am not comfortable exercising that gift in front of others. (He is working on me in that area).

My other children were all outside and my son was in his room, so I went in there and knelt down by his bed. I said I am not going to ask you more questions, but I want to pray for you. He stopped what he was working on and let me pray for him. I put both my hands on him and prayed aloud, I rebuked Satan and then I spoke in tongues over him. I finished, got up, went to my room and thanked God. I chose to believe that He would answer my prayers and I gave it to Him. I trusted Him.

That night was the third and last night of revival. My son was sitting at the end of the row with my two other sons between us. Every time the teacher said something I thought might spark in my son, I prayed for him but I was no longer worried. At the end of service, the teacher had us bow our heads and asked if anyone wanted to give their life to Christ – I thought I saw the shadow on the floor of my son’s hand going up. I smiled and praised God, believing He had answered my prayer. There was much more praying before the service was actually over and I was able to talk to my son. I wanted to ask him and know for sure. I walked over to him and he said “No hugs.” That is just like him, a 16 year old boy that does not want his mother hugging him, especially in front of everyone. But, he said, “You can cry now.” He knows me so well! I did. One of our friends was sitting right by us and hugged me since my son wouldn’t and I just bawled. I’m a crier. I admit it.

Later some of us were in the front of the church, praying and talking and I noticed the teacher, our pastor, my husband and my son were all standing there. They were praying for him and he was smiling. They called me over to make sure I knew what had happened, I said yes and then I hugged him. I told him I didn’t care, I was hugging him anyway! He just gave me that half smile and let me. Thank you Jesus for answered prayers and hearts given to you!

I was literally shaking with excitement for awhile after the service. The power of the Holy Spirit is a mighty thing.

Now, I want you to understand that I didn’t tell you any of this so that you would think I have magical praying powers, God did the work. I give all glory to Him! I do, however, hope you understand how important it is for us to pray and then believe God will answer those prayers. We must trust Him and take Him at His word. We must cling to the scriptures and the truth in them. We need to listen for God’s voice and then obey Him. That is one of the lessons I learned through this.

Another thing God showed me was that I hadn’t truly had a heart for the lost until now. Until I had the fear of my son not going to heaven, I didn’t have the compassion for lost like I should. God opened my heart to them in a way he probably couldn’t have any other way.

I pray you have been blessed by this story and I pray you have been encouraged to listen for God’s voice and then obey him, in all things.

Blessings,

Rashel

How God Taught Me to Trust Him in All Things Part 1

Do you ever have those times that you just know God is trying to show you something, trying to teach you a lesson? Just recently this happened with me, again. It seemed like everywhere I turned, He was showing me what His word says about worrying versus trusting God. At first, I just felt Him nudging me that way, putting it on my heart - all the aspects of trusting God.

My heart had really been burdened about being real and open with others, just being myself and not worrying about what the world thought. You already know this if you've read some of my most recent posts. Well, in preparation for our church's upcoming IF gathering I decided to pick up a book by one of the speakers and read it as a way to get fired up and ready. The Lord directed me to Jen Hatmaker's book "For the Love" and I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love this book! I really need to do a review post about it soon. Anyway, I was talking to one of the other coordinators for our event and she said she was reading the same book! We had both picked it up and started reading it about the same time, not knowing the other one was doing the same thing. I love when God does little things like that!

Then, my daughter and I were asked to provide childcare at a local church during a Friday morning women's bible study. This was the first time childcare was to be provided, so we knew there was a chance we wouldn't have any children this time. We figured we would just go back home if no one showed up, but one of the lovely ladies leading the study gave us the book as a thank you for being there and asked us to sit in on the study if no one arrived. Sure enough, no one showed up and we stayed for the study. It is a 12 week study on calming your anxious heart, not worrying but instead, trusting God. A lot of it lined up with what I had been reading in "For the Love"!! Okay Lord, I think you are hinting at something.

The next evening we had our regular weekly home bible study group, we call it fellowship. It is just a group of us that get together each week at someone's home, eat dinner and one of us leads a bible study (occasionally we watch a movie or have game night). Guess what the bible study was about?! Yep, worry. I was thinking, okay Lord, I get it, you are definitely trying to get my attention on this. The funny thing is that I honestly didn't think I worried that much. I mean yeah, I do the normal mom worry about her children when they go somewhere, etc., but I thought I had really grown in the area of not worrying over the past few years. Obviously, God thought I needed a little refresher course!

In my little bitty scope of the world, I'm thinking God is trying to teach me not to worry about my family and what may or may not happen to them. Stop thinking I need to pray "please keep them safe Lord" every time one of my teenage sons drives off. Or "please return him home to us this evening Lord" when my husband leaves for work. Now, let me stop for a minute and say that within the last few months in our community that we have had two young women lose their husbands and suddenly become widows, as well as a young 15 year old girl being killed in a car accident. It really makes you stop and think just how suddenly loved ones can be taken from us - so I'm sure I had been praying those little prayers for safety much more frequently the last couple months. This was the lesson I thought I was supposed to be learning, "Stop worrying about them. Even if something were to happen, I am here for you.

"Do not be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6

I was wrong. God was preparing me for something else, something that completely changed my perspective.

But God knew. He knew I needed to be grounded in this lesson of trusting God before I discovered...

my 16 year old had not given his life to Christ like we thought, and what was worse was that he wasn't sure he wanted to.

Heartbreak. What? Why? I don't understand! At all!!

I cried. I prayed. I asked my son questions he couldn't answer.

My prayer went from "God, please keep him safe" to "God, please don't let him die before He accepts you as his Savior".

Desperate prayers. More desperate than I have ever felt. Ever.

Never in my life had I wanted something for someone so badly. Never had I felt so much urgency for the lost. Never had I understood more clearly how desperately God wants his children to accept him.

God didn't just want me to learn to trust Him in all things, He wanted me to learn compassion for the lost. To feel the urgency of sharing the gospel with others.

I will share the rest of this story in my next post, because I want to share the details of it and this post is already getting rather wordy.

However, I won't leave you hanging ~ praise God, my son did give his life to Christ!

I hope you will click over to the next post as I continue the story and share how it happened and what God taught me.

Blessings my friends,

Rashel

Part 2 is here

Examples of Real vs. Perfect

Yesterday I wrote about being ourselves instead of searching for that perfect way. So today I thought I would share a few examples of real vs "perfect".

Dishes in the sink because I chose to watch a movie after dinner with my family
........vs....... your sink should always be empty and sparkling

Blankets strewn across the living room this morning because of watching above said movie
......vs........ always tidy up the house before bedtime, nothing should be out of place

Frozen pizza for lunch because I didn't want to cook after grocery shopping
......vs......... if you feed your family processed foods, you are poisoning them.

Ponytail, no makeup and yoga pants on when my hubby walks in the door
......vs....... you should always freshen your makeup and fix your hair just before your husband arrives home.

Writing my name in the dust on my coffee table
......vs........ today is Tuesday, let's dust the entire house.

Talking to God while washing the dishes
.....vs........we should rise an hour before our family and spend quiet time with God.

Come on in, make yourself at home, oh let me move that blanket out of your way
......vs...... I can't have people over unless my house is spotless.

Taking my neighbor a tater tot casserole when they had a bad day
.....vs...... I must fix a three course meal in order to bless someone.

Pepsi, a bag of chips and some french onion dip while cleaning my house because that is a real thing
.......vs........ I must never put junk in my mouth if I want to be healthy and a good fitness example to others.

Saying I'm sorry when I lose my temper and yell at my children
..........vs........We must be perfect examples of Christ, maintaining self control in all areas at all times.

Popcorn, blankets and movies all day with my family - maybe even ordering pizza so I don't have to cook
.......vs........We must never be lazy, always busy with our hands.

These are just a few examples of my real life. Yep, they've all happened at one time or another. I tried to use some extreme perfects just to make a point, but please know that if you do any of the "perfect" things because that is how you like it, GREAT!! I just don't want us believing we are any less of a wife, mother or person because we don't do them. Remember, it is all about finding what works for us and our own families, not trying to live up to some standard "they" set for us - whoever "they" are.

I want us to live in grace and freedom. I want us to relax and enjoy life, to love others and let go of trying to be perfect. Just. be. you.  If that means having a spotless house, awesome - just don't expect that if you come visit me. ;)

Blessings my friends,
Rashel

To read the post that inspired this post, click here.

There is No Perfect Way

There is so much I want to write, so much on my heart, that I don’t really know what to say. It’s as if I have no words to accurately describe the emotion in my heart and mind. I feel as if I can’t express it adequately – but I will try, because it is so important, so vital.

I see so many women struggling in life – struggling in every area of life: marriage, motherhood, homemaking, business woman, child of God, everything. They seem to be always searching for the answers, for someone to tell them who they are supposed to be, what they are supposed to do and how to do it. They are always seeking the right way, the perfect way. They never feel as if they are doing good enough or even if they are enough.

That’s why there are so many articles like “The 10 things you must do for a clean house”, “the best way to improve your marriage”, or “top 5 ways to train your child”. There is always someone willing to tell us the “best way”, because there are so many of us searching for that “best way.”

I know, because I have been there. I have felt like I wasn’t doing enough, like I was failing at so many things. Sometimes at everything. I have felt like I was the only one that didn’t have it all together. I felt like a failure and I felt alone.

Dear sister, let me tell you right now – YOU ARE ENOUGH. You don’t need to keep searching for the perfect way. There is no perfect way. There’s just not! No matter what you are doing, there is no perfect way to do it. There is no best way. There are so many ways, because there are so many of us. We are all different – praise God! Our families are all different. Our homes, our lifestyles, our careers, our hobbies – they are all different. And do you know what, God created us that way. He wants us to be different. He wants us to find our own way. He wants us to be ourselves. Yes, ourselves. You be you and I’ll be me. I’ll keep my house clean the way I want, and you keep your house clean the way you want. How does that sound? Sounds kind of freeing doesn’t it?

Let me tell you a secret, it is. It is such freedom to just be myself. God is teaching me this lesson. I wish I could say He has taught me this lesson, but I’m a little stubborn and I still need reminding – often.  Sweet child of God, He wants you to learn it too. He loves you. He made you. He made you who you are. He doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t make flaws, you are perfect in His sight. You are perfectly you. Soak that in for a moment. Reread it if you need to. I’ll wait…..

I want you to really, really get this. You are enough just the way you are. You are the best mom for your children, the best wife for your husband, and the best keeper of your home. Stop tearing yourself down and stop comparing yourself to others. Just. STOP.

Yes, strive to be better…in Christ. Never stop growing in Christ. Always seek to be more like Him. But for the love of all things, stop trying to be like Mrs. Perfect across the road (or probably more like across the blog). When your heart is focused on Christ, when you are drawing nearer to Him, the rest will fall into place. Trust me, it just will.

When you learn that it is okay to be you, to be real, you can’t even imagine the blessing it is. Others will be drawn to you, because they will see that you are real, that you are honest. They will feel free to be real too. They won’t feel judged, they will feel loved. Do you know why? Because once you accept yourself, you are free to accept others just as they are too. You won’t judge them anymore, because you’ll know that just like you, they aren’t perfect. None of us are. (except in God's eyes)

My prayer is that we will learn to live in the freedom of Christ. The freedom of knowing that we are His and nothing will ever lessen His love for us. The freedom of being who He created us to be. Let’s lay down the bonds of comparison and guilt and instead, live in the freedom and grace of being a child of God.

If all of those how to articles help you draw closer to God and be a better wife or mom, then by all means let God use them to speak to you. But for goodness sake, do not buy into the lie that we all have to do it (whatever it is) the same way, because we don’t. Read posts and be encouraged, learn different ways of doing things and find what works best for you and your family, but blow the chaff away and let it go.  

I pray you have been encouraged to be yourself, to be free.

Blessings,

Rashel

To see my next post for practical examples of this, go here.

**be sure to see my link ups page to see which party this post might be linked to

Keeping My Priorities Straight Every Day

I just had to pop on here real quick and share my new to do list with you.

I have been looking for what "plan" would work best for keeping my home, but nothing has really stuck with me and worked for me so far.

Our daily schedule is rarely the same every day, so it can be hard to follow a "plan".  My husband's days off change and now two of my boys are working and their days change as well. So, I need a really flexible schedule. 

Also, things come up that need my attention and if it isn't "worked into my schedule" it can end up throwing my whole day off. I've been praying about what is important to me and what really needs to be priority in my home. I should also say that when I follow someone else's plan, I tend to compare myself to that person or compare my home to theirs - and comparison is never good for me.

Another thing is that keeping my home spotless really isn't a priority for me. I become too easily obsessed with keeping a clean home and neglect what is really important. Or worse, I become really irritable with my family when they mess up "my" clean home. That is really bad! I've learned that having my home picked up is good enough for us. I like things in order and don't like a lot of clutter, but we live in our home and if blankets are left out on the couch because we like to snuggle in them- it's okay with me. There are usually books all over the kitchen table because we homeschool. There are always cups on the table or counter because there are 6 of us and we use the same cup all day. My point is that rarely is everything put up all at once and almost always you can write you name in the dust on my end tables - even an hour after I dust! I think that is just part of country living. 

I need relaxed and I need to keep my priorities straight. I can look at my floors and know when they need swept or mopped, I don't really need someone to tell me when to do that. So, I prayed about it and thought about it. Here is what I came up with.

I'm not going to follow a plan. I'm not going to follow a daily schedule, or even a weekly schedule. Each day (or night before) I'm going to make out my to do list of what needs done that day, knowing what else I have going on that day and what I have time for. 

And to keep my priorities straight, that is how my list is typed out.

1. God

2. Husband

3. Children

4. Home

5. Other

For example, under husband I might have iron shirts or do laundry if he's out of socks. Under God would be pray, read or devotion time. For my children it might be fixing their favorite snacks, checking their school or chores. You get the idea. 

I think with it listed out this way it will help me remember what is most important and make sure I get those tasks done first each day. It also allows me to look at my home and see what needs done most, not just what is "scheduled to be done that day."

I know some need more structure than this, that's awesome. God made us all different. We just need to find what works for us and our own families, not try to fit someone else's mold. 

Your priorities may be different than mine, so you could make you own priority to do list. Only you can decide what's most important in your home. I just typed it up using Microsoft word and made it two columns on the page and cut it in half. I have it on a clipboard for sturdiness. If this is something you want to try, do it however works for you. You can just grab a blank piece of paper and pencil and write it out. Whatever you want! 

My hope is that someone else will be encouraged by this and remember to keep their priorities straight each day.

A Romans 12 Christian

As I was spending time in prayer God led me to these verses in Romans:

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.” Romans 12:9-18

I started thinking about how our family would be if we fully lived out these verses, can you imagine?

Yes, we love each other, but what if we REALLY loved each other – as God’s word says. 

If we loved unconditionally, always putting others first, never trying to get our own way, never irritable but always patient and always kind.

What if we hated what was wrong? If we hated anger or jealousy, would we partake in it?

What if we truly honored each other? Honoring, putting others before ourselves, respecting them and their wishes. Perhaps serving them with no thought of the cost to us nor thinking they should be serving us. 

Serving the Lord by serving our family enthusiastically, what a picture that is.

Always ready to help – and eager to do so.  Never cursing others, but blessing instead – even our enemies.

What if we sought to live in harmony with each other? To me, harmony paints a picture of beauty and of sweet sound, not just the absence of quarrels.

What if we lived our lives so that everyone could see we were honorable?

I pray that we are.

I wish that we were a perfect picture of Romans 12, but we aren’t. I pray that we are striving to become more like this picture of true Christians. Oh how I pray that is our goal.

I was reminded that as the Mom of this family, often times I set the tone in our home. I must be all of these things if I expect my family to be them. I can’t ask them to be something I’m not willing to be. I am the example they look to. I am the one guiding them and setting the standard.

Am I serving enthusiastically?

Am I truly loving them?

Am I honoring them?

I could go on and on with these verses, but I know you get the idea.

I printed these verses out and put them on the front of our fridge. I want to see them every day. I want to be reminded of how I am to be as a child of the King. I want to learn to fully live out these verses and be that example to my family. I want to live so that others can see I am honorable.

I want to live so that others see Jesus in me.

I encourage you to study these verses, meditate on them and pray over them. Pray them for yourself and for your family. 

Let’s strive to become a Romans 12 Christian.

Blessings,

Rashel

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It's ALL About Grace

It's true!

It is ALL about grace.

Everything.

Our interaction with others- whether in person or online, whether it is a friend or a clerk at the store.

GRACE.

Our faith - that is an obvious one right. God shows us more grace and mercy than we know, more than we can even imagine. 

GRACE.

Our family - hopefully we extend grace to each other as we are all growing and learning.

GRACE.

But what about ourselves. Do we show ourselves

grace?

What about our journey to better health? Do we allow ourselves grace?

We can be so hard on ourselves, our biggest critics and the first ones to condemn ourselves when we mess up.  In any area of our lives. Why? 

Why do we do that?

God doesn't condemn us or criticize us. 

He shows us GRACE.

Those that love us don't condemn us when we mess up. They encourage us and extend us grace. When our accountability buddy has a bad day and makes a bad food choice, we don't belittle them and make them feel worse. We show them grace and understanding.

We need to learn to show ourselves grace. We are going to mess up and we are going to make mistakes, it is just life. Why would we expect to be perfect? There is only one that is perfect. Jesus.

We may lose our temper toward our children. We may disrespect our husband. We might just eat that candy bar! 

We are going to have times when we don't do the right thing. As long as we are striving to be better, trying to make progress and learning from our mistakes, it's okay.

It's. Okay.

Grace.

Allow yourself grace. Show yourself the grace you show to others and then try to do better next time. It's all about progress not perfection. 

It's all about grace.

Blessings,

Rashel

Choosing to Let Go of the Guilt

Have I mentioned that I committed to run a 10k in April? 

Well, I did. I was planning to run the 5k and a friend talked me into doing the 10k - I'm excited and nervous all at the same time!

This all happened several months ago and I started using a 10k app on my phone to train. Everything was going great, I was making progress and knew I had several weeks beyond the app to improve my time before the actual race.

Well, then I went on vacation the first part of November and even though I ran one day while we were there, that was the last day I ran for awhile. Not because I got injured, but because I got lazy! 

Ugh! I took several weeks off from running. I don't know why, other than laziness.  I got mad at myself for taking so much time off and losing some of my endurance, but getting mad didn't help anything.

I finally got back into training and even though I had to back up where I was on the app, I've decided it is okay.  At least I am running again. Yes, I am not as far a long as I was, but I am further than I was last year at this time. 

You see last year when we went on vacation I got completely off track with my eating and exercising - but it lasted 4 months! I was determined not to do that again!

I did good with my eating this year and even though I had some off plan foods while on vacation, I got right back on track when we got home!

I keep telling myself that yes, I stopped running for a month, but at least it wasn't 4 months! It wasn't even 2 months! Progress is what matters right? 

Well, I am making progress and learning from the mistakes I've made in the past. I'm not going to let myself feel guilty about the time I wasn't running, I'm just going to determine to learn from that and remember it next time I think I don't want to run. 

My point - most of us mess up at some time in our lives, what matters is that we learn from it and do better next time. Living in guilt and shame doesn't help anything and that is not what God intends for us. Those feelings are from Satan and I refuse to let him get a foothold in my life.

I choose to believe what is real, honorable and true. I am a child of the King and He loves me even when I mess up. He just wants me to get back up and go again. No guilt. No shame. No condemnation. 

Just love and encouragement.

So if you have fallen off track with your eating, or gotten out of the habit of exercising or maybe something in your spiritual walk is lacking - just jump back up and get going again. It's okay!

Babysteps are better than no steps.

Blessings my friends,

Rashel

It's What We Do That Matters

Normally when I run, I listen to my Christian exercise playlist; it's just upbeat music that keeps me going and I love it. 

One of the songs has a line that says, "It doesn't matter how you feel, it's what you do that matters."

I. Love. That. Line.

It keeps me going when I really feel like quitting.

It makes me push through how I feel and instead, dig deep into what I can actually DO. 

Because what I FEEL I can do and what I can ACTUALLY do are two different things. Totally. Different.

But that line doesn't speak to me just about exercising, it speaks to my life.

It doesn't matter how I feel. It's what I do that matters.

I might feel angry - but what am I going to do about it?

I might feel hurt - but how am I going to respond?

I might feel frustrated - but does that mean I lose my temper?

We can feel lots of things. 

That doesn't mean we have to act on them. 

My feelings can get me in trouble, they can cause me to focus on myself and my rights, instead of on God's ways.

My feelings are fleeting with the moment and my circumstances, but I must focus on the truth that is never changing. 

I pray we all would respond and act based on the truth, not on our feelings in that moment.

I pray we would fill our hearts with the Word of Truth, that it would speak to us in those moments.

I pray we remember that it's what we DO that matters.

What we do is what others see and that is how they will see our Christ in us.

Blessings my friends,

Rashel

They Need Real

As I was having my quiet time with God today, I could feel Him pulling at me. I knew He had something for me, I just had to prepare my heart to listen.

I struggled. I waited. I prayed. I sang. I listened...

"They need real."

That's what I heard.

Increasing My Running Speed and Endurance

When I started running I used the Couch to 5K app and I really enjoyed it- for awhile. However, once I reached a certain point it was moving too fast for me and I couldn't keep up with the daily goals. I kept running, sometimes using previous days on the app and sometimes just making up my own goal that day. But I wasn't seeing much improvement in my 5k times and knew I needed to do something different.

That is when I really started researching what others do to increase their speed and endurance and I found out there is a vast amount of information on the internet about the subject. I read and read, then I asked questions on the THM runners facebook group. (They are so supportive and helpful!)

I learned enough to come up with my own plan and it has helped me tremendously! I thought I would share what I do each week, but then I highly encourage you to do some reading on your own and find out what works for you. Just because this works for me, it may not be the best for you. Also remember that I am not a professional, I am just sharing what I do.

My fitness journey

I've been thinking and praying about how I can best encourage you in your fitness journey, and I believe the best way is for me just to share my journey with you.

So, I plan to just kind of journal about my exercises, my food choices or whatever is speaking to me that day. I pray that you don't find it boastful or prideful, but instead are encouraged in your own life.

I want to encourage others no matter what their level of fitness. I have so much to learn and I want to share it all with you as I go.

I don't want to devote hours each day to being fit, instead I want to spend my time on what really works without taking tons of time.  While fitness is a passion of mine, it can't take up my whole day. I'm a wife and a mom first and those two jobs take up most of my time.

Today I want to share what I have been doing for upper body strength. I got this routine from several sources on the internet and put together which ones I would/could do consistently.

I know the quality of the photo is not great, but I hope you can read it anyway.

I keep this paper tacked up on the wall in my room where I work out and I use 3lb weights on the ones that require weights. I've been doing these three days a week, opposite of my run days. They really don't take long to get done, but they work! 

Here is a progress picture-

There is only 10 days between the two pictures and I know it isn't a huge difference, but it is enough to notice. Which makes me want to keep going!!

The other things I've been doing each day to help upper body strength are pushups and a plank. Each day I add a pushup and add time to my plank every other day. I am up to 17 pushups and a 95 second plank!

Working out doesn't have to be extra strenuous and it doesn't have to take hours. I'm usually done in 30 minutes.

Are you exercising regularly? It is so important to your overall health. I pray you find something you like and then stick with it.

Blessings,

Rashel

Would you get fired?

If, as keeper of your home, you had a boss watching over you, would you get fired? Are you doing your job to the best of your abilities? Or are you just doing enough to get by? How many "breaks" do you get during the day, or how long is your "lunch hour"? Do you take care of the tasks that need done in your workplace or do you look at certain tasks as not in your job description?

These are all questions we should ask ourselves as keeper of our homes. We have the most important job there is; taking care of our husband, our children and our homes. Are we really giving it the time and effort it deserves? I was thinking about this the other day and realized I was not treating my responsibility with as much respect as I would a "real job". Let's look at these questions individually.

Stopping to smell the flowers.

Learning to be free

Sometimes I am a slow learner.

Sometimes I am really stubborn.

Sometimes I need to hear it again and again before I really get it.

I need reminders.

Often.

One lesson that I know deep down inside me, but often need reminded of, is that it is okay just to be me.

It is way too easy for me to get caught up in caring what the world thinks of me or even caring what those close to me think of me. Instead, I should be caring what God thinks of me. 

If I am living for Him, then other's opinions really don't matter at all. The people close to me, that I really care about, they will love me more for caring only what God thinks because that will make me the best person I can be.

I will never please the world, there are too many people in it with too many different opinions- they will never all be pleased. No matter what I do. 

Besides that, I am not to be of this world. I am just a stranger here, a passerby on my way to my heavenly home. 

But sometimes I forget. 

Sometimes I start caring what others think of my house if it isn't clean.

Sometimes I care what others think of how I dress, is it modest enough in their eyes.

Sometimes I care what others think of how my children behave.

But then God will nudge me in some way and say, "Hey, I'm the only one that matters."

"My opinion is the only one that truly matters. And you need to remember that I love you just for being you."

I don't have to live up to some set of false expectations. I just have to be me, the way God made me. My priorities are not everyone else's priorities.

If I am pleasing my Lord then that is enough.

Yes, I need to be pleasing my husband as well, but if I am truly pleasing my Lord, then that will happen naturally.

My journey is not your journey and my life is not your life.

Just as yours is not mine.

God made us all unique, with different goals, different ideas and priorities - why would we try to live up to each other's standards when God gave us our own?

I pray you will find freedom in just being who God made you to be. In who God believes you are, a beloved child of the one true King.

Blessings,

Rashel

Bumps on my path

I have a busy day ahead so I don't have long, but I did want to share something with you.

This morning for my run I made a new path around my field instead of just running the driveway, it's much prettier :)

The problem is that this is a new path, out in a hayfield, which means it is not flat or level in all places. As I'm running and praying that God would make the path flat and safe so I don't injure myself, He reminded me that sometimes there are going to be bumps in my journey. The bumps may make things harder and I may not always like them, but -

the bumps make me stronger!

Just like in life, we have bumps in our journey. 

Things are not always easy or safe, God never told me they would be. He just said follow me and His path was not easy either.

So remember in your journey, on your run of life, that you will have bumps in your path, but those bumps will make you stronger if you just keep going.

Rely on Him in all things.

Trust Him in all things.

God is in control and He wants what is best for you, always.

Blessings,

Rashel

I got some new running clothes this weekend!

It IS Important

I'll start tomorrow. It's only one donut. We're all going to die anyway.

Yeah, I here people say these things all the time as excuses as to why they aren't taking care of their health. There are always excuses. Tons of them. There always will be. Be let me just say this...

IT IS IMPORTANT!

God created our bodies to be awesome, functioning machines, but we must put the right fuel into a machine for it to operate correctly. You don't put kool aid in a gas motor and expect it to run. So why would you think your body is any different? Yes, you will still live awhile, you will still breathe and be able to move - for awhile. Eventually, you will start slowing down, you will blame it on aging but is that really the reason. Maybe, just maybe, it's because you haven't been taking care of your machine properly.

Sometimes you don't even realize how sluggish your machine is running because it has become normal to you. Until I cleaned my system out I had no idea how bad I really felt. I was tired a lot, I had headaches often and my tummy was always rumbling. It was life, that was just how I was and I had gotten accustomed to it. Thank God He didn't allow me to stay like that. He nudged me and encouraged me to get healthy and I cannot tell you how thankful I am for that. I feel like a new person. I have energy I never had before. My headaches are few and far between, and quite honestly only when I eat poorly. My stomach is much quieter and I sleep SOOO much better.

IT IS IMPORTANT!  And what is more - IT IS WORTH IT!

You are worth the effort it takes to eat healthy! Your family is worth it, they deserve the best you that you can give them. God is worth it.

Yes, God!

How can you serve Him to the best of your abilities if you aren't the best you that you can be?

Your body is not your own, it is His. He bought it with a very high price. He is just letting you take care of it. So, how good of a job are you doing at that?

This might seem a little blunt, but sometimes that is exactly what it takes for some of us to see the truth.

Your health is important to God because you are important to God!

I'm running this same race with you and I know it can be really hard, but sister, it is so worth it. I pray that you start this journey, restart this journey or continue this journey - wherever you are right now, I am here with you. You are not alone. God is here too, always!

33 Day Challenge Day 1

Yesterday was day 1 of my PrayFit 33 day total body challenge so I thought I'd share how it went. Have you ever heard of Pray Fit? I love it! Jimmy Pena totally relates our faith to our fitness in every aspect and is super encouraging to listen to. My favorite thing about the total body challenge is that it encourages me to do better tomorrow than I did today, keeping my focus on improving myselft not comparing myself to others.

I also love that we only use our own body weight, no other equipment is required - so anyone can do this! It is your basic old school exercises, but put together in the best order for the best effect.

Yeah, totally being real here! I never look fabulous exercising, do you? 

Anyway, I said I'd share my journey and this is part of it, so there you go - me doing a squat!

My plan is to do this every day, in addition to my 3 days a week of 5k training. If that becomes too much, then I won't do the challenge on training days. We shall see how it goes.

As for my eating yesterday, I did well even though we ate out TWICE!! That is pretty rare for us, but it happened. I did the best I could at lunch, Taco Bell, and then stayed on track at Cracker Barrel for dinner (that place is easy).  If you want to know exactly what I ate, I track my food on the Two Grand app, username RashelTHM. That is a great accountability app for me, knowing I have to take a picture of everything I eat and then post it for all to see really makes me think about what is going in my mouth.

I'm excited to keep sharing my fitness journey with you and hope you enjoy it as well. I did take my measurements when I started and I'll give weekly updates as I go, maybe some before and after pics too :)

Have a blessed day today and do something toward better health for yourself today!

Blessings,

Rashel

You Are Enough

To the woman that is hurting inside, but smiling to the world. To the woman that pretends everything is okay, but deep down you drowning in your insecurity. To the woman that thinks she has to keep it all together. 

You are NOT alone.

You don't have to pretend, you don't have to hide your hurt, you don't have to be something you are not. 

YOU ARE ENOUGH.

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.

GOD LOVES YOU!

He made you. 

He made you just the way you are.

You are NOT a mistake. 

YOU are HIS wonderful, beautiful creation. 

And HE loves you more than you can even imagine.

He requires nothing of you - only to accept His love. It is a free gift, it is there, just grab ahold of it and don't let go.

Don't let go. 

Of His love.

Just sit there, close your eyes and breathe in His love for you. Open your hands, open your heart and just be still.

Just be still and let Him overwhelm you with His love.

With His grace.

With His mercy.

With His forgiveness.

It is that easy, you just have to believe in Him.

You don't have to believe in yourself, you don't have to believe in anyone else-

Just believe in God.

My friend, my sister, you are not alone.

He is there with you and He wants you to know...

YOU ARE ENOUGH!

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

YOU ARE LOVED!

Taking My Thoughts Captive

Sometimes I have trouble controlling my thoughts. 

Honestly, there are times my thoughts control me. 

Someone does something that irritates me and my mind will replay the event over and over, each time it grows just a little bit. Each time I add another negative thought about that person, something else they have done in the past that irritated me. Or maybe I think I know what they were thinking when they did that "thing" that irritated me to start with.

Wrong. 

It is all so wrong. I am wrong.

First of all, other people and things should not irritate me.

According to 1 Corinthians 13:5, love is not irritable. I am called to love, therefore, I am not to be irritable.

Second, I am not to bring up things of the past. Love does not keep a record of wrongs.

God has been speaking to me about this sin in my life and given me verses to help me. Obviously 1 Corinthians 13 is one of them, but here is another:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8

I've been studying this verse hard lately and trying my best to practice it. Instead of allowing my thoughts to go to the negative, I will think of something positive about the situation or the person. I will think of something I know to be true instead of just what I think is true. 

Memorizing and recalling this verse has helped me stop and think about situations instead of just reacting to them. It has helped me be more positive instead of critical and negative. 

It has helped me take my thoughts captive.

The other verse Jesus has laid upon my heart is 1 Peter 4:8, "love covers a multitude of sins."  This verse is huge. 

I think I'll save my thoughts on this for another day, but just ponder that verse for a moment.

Love covers a multitude of sins.

Really, honestly, the cure to almost every problem we have is

love!

Blessings,

Rashel