Fitness Blog Update

Hi, gals! I hope this email finds you and your families healthy and doing well. We are now over half way through our fitness challenge—only 39 days left. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU for trying! This challenge was designed with you in mind, giving you some guidelines to help you in a healthy lifestyle and fitness regimen. Whether you have been jumping rope since day one or you are going to start tomorrow, make sure and “just do it”. A healthy lifestyle is a lifelong journey, not something you can do ahead and store up to use later (wouldn’t that be nice…if that were the case I’d do 1,000 jumping jacks today). Keep up the good work. I can’t wait to hear how you have changed your life for the better. Have you tried doggies? I haven’t seen any of you in the news, so I assume that if you have tried them it has not been in public.

Well, I conducted an experiment the other day. I am sharing my results so you don’t have to conduct this one yourself. I was multi-tasking (as all mothers do, ALL THE TIME!!!), and as I lifted my Pyrex measuring cup off the pot rack hook above my head, it slipped out of my hand, hit me in the head, and hit my ceramic countertop. My observations—Pyrex does not bounce off ceramic tile; in fact, it explodes and shatters into a MILLION pieces!!! The next few hours (unplanned detour, don’t you love those) were spent trying to get every last shard cleaned up from every nook and crevice of my kitchen and breakfast area. It was like this stuff had wheels; it travelled farther than I thought possible. And, of course, I could not have my feathered toddler, Lucky Duck, step on a piece or eat a piece off the floor (sound familiar?). I did thank the Lord that I did not cut myself, that the countertop was not damaged, and that Lucky and Aubrey were in the other room. I just had a nice knot on my head. I had a chance to make a great impression on my daughter but blew it. She turned to me from the family room when she heard the crash and asked what happened. I told her, to which she replied, “Wow, you’re tough; your head broke the Pyrex.” Now, I have a reputation for having a hard head, both literally and figuratively. I was wrestling my dad as a youngster when we hit heads, and I knocked him out. But I had to fess up. My head was not worthy of this accolade. If you do conduct this experiment on your own, call me. I have great expertise in laboratory clean-up.

Which leads me to my point of this email. We all multi-task. If we didn’t, most of what we need to get done would go undone. How many years did I cook and clean (and sometimes use the bathroom ) with a growth on my hip! But there are times we need to just do one thing. The one thing I want to address is spending time with the Lord--talking to Him, reading His Word. I used to think that if I didn’t have an hour to sit down and do a structured study, that it just wasn’t worth trying; I already felt defeated. But if you have just five to ten minutes that you can carve out of your schedule, I promise you that it is time well spent. It then becomes a habit in your life, and something you desire and miss if you don’t do it. Find the time that works best for you. But don’t forget that you can talk to Him anytime, anywhere, just as I thanked Him when I broke my Pyrex. The world tells us to look inside ourselves-- that we have the power within us to do anything we put our minds to. The Lord says in His Word that “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Remember, you and God are a majority. Sometimes I feel like the world is spinning so fast like the merry-go-round I used to play on in elementary school, and that I’m about to go flying off and come crashing to the ground. Take time to be still before the Lord; He will renew your strength.

One last point and request-- with all the multi-tasking that goes on, I’m asking you to not do this one—drive and talk on the cell phone. Now, I’m stepping on my own toes here. This is one that I was convicted about a while back. There was a time when I was a youngster, not that long ago, when, if someone called my mom and we weren’t home, they just had to try and reach us later, sometimes days later. No answering machine, no call forwarding. Now, I love my cell phone. I definitely feel safer when I have it, in case of an emergency or that of my family members. But driving is enough of a multi-task by itself (watch your speed, watch for people darting in front of you, watch for people flying up on your bumper, watch for people running red lights…ugh!!!, watch the behavior of your passengers—that rearview mirror gets a workout, watch for people talking on their cell phones and not paying enough attention to their driving ). Just wait until your children start driving; your prayer life increases exponentially. Please don’t phone-talk and drive. If you must talk, pull off the road. Start now to set this example for your children. You surely won’t want them doing it. Take care, and have a blessed week. Now where is my cell phone........ —Suzanne.