Day 5

Yesterday was a hard day. I got a message from my big sister that our dog Butters passed away. I adopted Butters about 9 years ago from a family who couldn't have him due to allergies. I wanted an Australian Shepard at the time, but God had other plans. Butters was my first dog and there were days he drove me absolutely crazy. He was so hyper and playful, but also so loving and sweet. He made everyone smile, everyone loved him and he loved me. I went through some really hard times and he was with me through it all. There were days I would come home crying and tears running down my face and Butters would jump up on the couch and like my face until I was laughing. Everyone who has animals bonds with them in a way no one can understand. Butters was always so forgiving and so loving toward me. Unfortunately, through working full time and going to college full time, it wasn't fair leaving him alone all day, so thankfully my big sister and brother in law took him in and cared for him.  He was the first dog I had and the first animal I've ever loved and lost. I'll forever remember him and cherish him. I'm thankful the lord brought him in my life.

Today I read The Parable of the Great Banquet found in Luke 14:15-24. Here Jesus tells a story of a man who invited people to feast at a banquet. I'm assuming these would be his close friends. Each of them created excuses and chose not to come. The man then ordered strangers, poor, needy and anyone else to come and feast. What I learned from this is that God invites us to feast with him. He invites us in, but sometimes in our selfishness, we create excuses for not participating with him. I know I am truly guilty of that these days especially. Having a relationship with God is a choice and one we need to make. We need to be mindful of the importance of coming and meeting him every day understanding that other things are the things that can wait. I pray that I would be less like those friends and more like the poor and needy- craving a feast with God.

Day 3

This morning I made it to Crossfit at 6am. The workout consisted of: 100 push ups, 75 kettle bell swings, 50 sit ups and 25 pull ups. I found myself in need of going back to the basics with working out. Spin has been great, and I love it, but doing the basic movements again are critical. I was actually surprised at how difficult it was, but all and all it was a great workout.

Tonight I was reading the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast. This is a short parable and one that Jesus uses to try to help others understand what the kingdom of God is like. I remember a close friend of mine gave me a necklace that had a mustard seed in it and it referenced having faith like a mustard seed. A mustard seed is the smallest seed in the world and it produces the largest garden plant. I pray that I would have faith like that of a mustard seed. Learning to trust God with the small things especially and have faith to know he will make something great out of it.

Day 2

Word of the Day:

The next parable in Luke was chapter 10 verses 25-37: The Parable of the Good Samaritan. This is one of the most well known and referenced parables in my mind. I still remember watching this parable in cartoon form at church. In it's all simplicity, it is still convicting. The bible tells us that "an expert in the law" questioned Jesus to see how he believes one will have eternal life after death. Jesus replied with a parable of a man who was robbed and beaten and passed by a priest and a Levite. However, a Samaritan showed him mercy and took care of him at all cost to himself. He just chose to have compassion on a stranger that day. I don't remember the exact backgrounds of each of these men and the man who was robbed. From what I understand it had to do with cultures not interacting with others or some sort of manner where the priest and Levite had specific cultural reasons not to help him. But the Samaritan disregarded those cultural influences and did it anyway because he knew in his heart it was what God was calling him to do.

I guess this verse can hit home in a few ways. One being that the Samaritan must have been in tune with God that day to feel the spirit telling him to help this man and it was what God wanted him to do. Or that this man didn't live by the world's standards and lived by God's standards which is what we are called to do. I have found that working with poverty has hardened me over the years and frustrated me in many ways that I have lost that level of compassion for people. It's a wake up call that I need to filter my mind through the word of God and live by the spirit and not of the world.

Day 1

Word of the Day: 

I decided to go through a parable a day in the book of Luke. Today it's The Parable of the Sower. Luke chapter 8 verses 1-15. Here Jesus references Isaiah 6:9: "..though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand." I've heard this parable many times before. Today God showed me that I needed to reflect and see which seed I am right now in this time of my life. Not what I was years ago, because things have changed. 

First seed: Those that hear, but the devil takes away the truth from their heart and thus there is disbelief.

Second seed: Those scattered on the rock who hear the word, experience joy, but have no root. Thus it's just moments of joy and their spirit is weak. 

Third seed: Those who fell among the thorns are consumed with the worries riches and pleasures of life. There is no spiritual growth. 

Fourth seed: Those who are scattered upon the good soil. The ones with good hearts, they hear the word of God, receive it, retain it and produce a crop. They allow the word of God to continuously change them and work in them. 

The seed I want to be is the fourth seed. I've been there before, but I fear that through the past few years, I've moved. I now find myself somewhere in between the fourth seed and the third seed. I guess this is a big wake up call to me. I've known my spiritual life is lacking and I've made excuses after excuses as stated in my initial post yesterday. I want to be the fourth seed again. My prayers are that through blogging, I find accountability with myself, and I develop a more spiritual strength so that I can confidently say that I feel in my heart I am the seed that fell on good soil. 

50 days!

I came across my old blog page from 2013 and started reading through all of my old posts that I made. It was interesting to see how different life was back then. I lived and breathed for 3 things: Fitness, Food, and my Faith.

It's been 4 years, and I feel as if these 3 areas of my life are in a slump and I probably make excuses for each area. Excuses can be made for everything and anything, but in the end nothing changes, improvement doesn't happen and the only thing felt is disappointment.

I decided to start blogging again in hopes that it would keep me more focused in these 3 areas again. I want to start picking scripture each day and reflecting and blogging on that verse(s), blog about my eating habits for the day, blog about my workouts, and what great things happened in the day.

So starting with today:

I woke up and went to TREE UMPH with some friends from work, my boyfriend and my roommate. I went once before about a year ago and it was a blast. It's always enjoyable doing different activities outdoors that are challenge, fun and safe.

Afterwards we went to Cheescake factory and enjoyed some much needed lunch! I'm excited to start blogging again and trying to focus on improving myself in all areas.

My goal is to develop healthy and smart habits again over the summer. Both for the mind, body and soul. For food this week, we have decided to create healthy paleo dinners and focus on portion control. My goal is to workout everyday and push myself a bit further than I typically do.

Food:
Sunday: Spagetti Squash and Chicken Breasts
Monday: Pork Chops and Steamed Veggies
Tuesday: Paleo Taco Bowl (Ground chicken, Quinoa Rice, Veggies)
Wednesday: Stuffed Peppers
Thursday: Cheat Day: Slice of Pizza and Salad
Friday: Steak and Green Beans

Workout:
Saturday: SPIN @ 9am
Sunday: SPIN @ Home 1 hour with Glute Workout
Monday: Crossfit 6am
Tuesday: Crossfit 6am / SPIN 5:30pm
Wednesday: Crossfit 6am
Thursday: Crossfit 6am / TEACH SPIN 5:30pm
Friday: Crossfit 6am or SPIN 9am
Saturdya: SPIN @ 9am

I HAVE MOVED

 

 

 

 

I HAVE MOVED TO:

 

www.mvhblog.blog.com

 

 

 

All content from this blog is featured on my other website

Some Ramblings ...

Lately I've been lacking in my devotionals. I know it happens to a lot of people. It is something that we tend to do living in a world filled with distractions. I look at these distractions as something getting in the way of my time with the Lord and I feel bad for making time for friends, school, crossfit and relax time etc.. but I truly don't believe that is the Lords intention- to make us feel bad for what we do. He just wants to be a part of each aspect of our lives. Once he is the center of each part of our lives then he becomes the focus of our lives which I believe is the true desire of the Christian heart.

 

So I began to think to myself, how can I get in the word more and incorporate God into my life more throughout the day. Last night as I was reading through Mark I chose to just read what was in red (the words of Jesus). I have been reading in Mark lately and also reading a couple books on Jesus- just studying him, his words, his character/personality etc. There is no greater person to study in the bible than him. Over the past year I have learned so much about him from doing this. My thoughts about the kind of person he was has greatly changed. I grew up with this image in my mind that Jesus walked around angry at the world throwing tables over (Mark 11) yelling at people telling them all they are sinners and they need to repent or they will spend eternity in hell. I think a lot of people probably think this about him and unfortunately that is the issue with religion these days.

 

I hear so many people say they don't go to church and are not Christians simply because Christians are hypocrites. I'm not going to sit here and say that they are wrong because of course Christians are hypocrites. I'll fully admit that I am but Isn't everyone? Just because you are a Christian doesn't mean you get to by pass being a human and being a sinner just like the rest of the world. Being a Christian doesn't make you better than anyone else it just simply means that you understand that you have been given grace and have received it. Your life is no longer just about you and what you want. Your life purpose is not fulfilled in relationships, jobs, school, status or any other type of identity. Your identity is solely for the purpose of Christ. Every day that goes by you are actively seeking the Lord for wisdom and guidance through prayer and through his word (the Bible) learning more about the God that he is and the person that he created you to be. So yes going back to church and hypocrites. Yes they are there and I'm there and I am one of them. I've judged people when I shouldn't. I've preached and not practiced. I've messed up a lot and I'll continue to.

 

As I've been studying the character of Christ it's really made me more sensitive to this subject because my desire is not to ever be hypocritical and turn people away from the most important decision of their lives. The more I study Christ the more I see that he had personality. Ya he did get angry but at the religious people who should know better. You can have all the knowledge of the Bible in the world but if you don't actively live through the words it is meaningless knowledge. Jesus often got angry at the Pharisees and with his disciples he got frustrated with many times. He would respond to their questions in smart alack ways. I'm a pretty sarcastic person and I tend to enjoy other people that are too. Its a character quality that many possess. The bible does say that God created us in his image.(Genesis 1)  Humor and sarcasm is not something we created but that He did because I believe that is a quality he has. We love to laugh and joke with one another and the more I study Jesus the more I see that he did too. 

 

The more I study Jesus the more I fall in love with him. The more I desire to know because the more I know him the more I know my own heart. Every day is a battle. Just when I feel like I finally have it all together I somehow trip and fall off of a cliff. As true as that is, the reality is that God is there no matter how much we have it together or don't. He is love.

 

Its all about Jesus <3

Rich Froning "First"

I just finished Rich Froning's new book "First"

It was an awesome read! If you are not familiar with who Rich Froning is, he is the two time CrossFit champion and named to be the fittest man on earth. He won the CrossFit Games the past two years (2011 & 2012). He is not only an amazing athlete but he is a christian and has decided to share about who he is and how CrossFit has impacted his life not only physically but spiritually. I think it's amazing how he wants to use this peak of his life to glory God in any way possible. It is a constant prayer of mine as well, which is why I respect him as an athlete. I truly enjoyed this read as it was easy to relate to a lot of the things he talked about both as a CrossFitter and as a christian. I highly recommend this book- especially to CrossFitters! You will get pumped to read what was going through his head during the games and what kept him moving. You'll also find encouragement in his words about his faith in Christ and how that has shaped him to become a better man and athlete. 

Breakfast Acorn Squash

I got the idea from PALEOMG but just made it my own. I get a lot of people who ask me where I get my recipes. I used to follow recipes exactly for what they were but these days I kind of just get ideas and create them myself. It is a fun thing to do - especially when your creations come out delicious! 

Ingredients:

Acorn Squash (You would only use 1/2) 

1 Egg

2-3 slices of Bacon 

Cheese (optional) 

Method:

-Cut your acorn squash in half, remove the seeds and add a bit of olive oil. Bake face down on a baking sheet for about 45-60 minutes at 375 degrees. (I did this the night before so in the morning it would just need to reheat) 

-Cook your Bacon in a pan. Once it is cooked, add in the filling of the acorn squash and cook together. 

- Stuff the Acorn squash bowl with the bacon/squash filling. 

- Crack an egg over the top and add cheese if you would like. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the egg is cooked to your liking. 

Very tasty!! It's a different kind of breakfast which is nice sometimes :) 

Coconut Fried Paleo Chicken

I was craving fried chicken which doesn't happen often. I really do not crave fried food. Maybe fries but that is about it. I came across a paleo recipe for fried chicken using coconut flour and flakes. This is not the recipe I saw but I just winged it and did what I thought would work and be good using the ingredients in my pantry. It turned out awesome and the entire house smelt amazing!! 

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Coconut Flour
Coconut Milk
Coconut Flakes 
Coconut Oil 

Method:
- Melt some coconut oil in a pan 
- Dip your chicken in a bowl of coconut milk (just enough to get it moist) 
- Then dip it in a bowl of coconut flour (again just enough to cover it) 
- Dip the coconut flower covered chicken once more in the coconut milk
- Then dip the chicken in a bowl of coconut flakes for the crispy outer layer. 
- Fry on medium heat on your skillet 

**These ingredients are not the cheapest so I tried to conserve. Don't be frugal. A small amount goes a long way**