Lunch Notes

I decided to start making Emilys school lunches a couple months ago after viewing what they get served.... ick! I try to get a love note in her lunch every day and these are some of her favorites:

She seems to like them and I was touched to find out she keeps most of them. The only one I know of that she threw away was one I wrote on a napkin that she said she just had to use.

Feel free to print this up and use it for your little love bug!

If I could walk 10,000 steps and then I would walk 10,000 more

Great now that song is going to be stuck in  my head all day! In case you missed the reference click here for the link.

Ok so I follow a couple blogs (links on the side bar) and one of them mentioned how her husband and herself try to walk 10,000 steps a day. That totally made me interested in how much I walk a day. I went to our super store and purchased a simple pedometer. When I clipped it on I figured I probably walked 5,000 steps a day, at the least. WRONG! It is really embarrassing but I only walked a little over 2,500 the first day. The second day was a little better at 3,000 steps. My plan is to try to increase my steps by at least 500 a day.

One of the ways I plan on doing this is by walking during the commercials on TV. I had tried doing workouts during the commercials but I always forget. So I came up with this:

I taped it to my TV to make sure I have no excuses about forgetting.

I know this will help because I tried walking thru one show and gained a lot of steps!! Feel free to print it up and do the same!! Let me know how you do!

Love,

Ashley B. 

The post I have been dreading to write...

Some of you who follow my blog may be wondering how my family resolution is going. How is clean eating, no fast food, and sugar free lifestyle working out for us? To be honest it's hard and we have backslid. Now when I say backslid I dont mean a gentle small kiddie sized slide, No I mean the terrifiyng several stories tall, scream your head off all the way down kind of slide. You know like the one at the water park...
There are, in my opinion, several reasons I let it go this far.

First, I was losing absolutly no weight or inches and became super discouraged. As of today I have weighed the same as I did the day I got pregnent with Jax and continued the same weight the entire pregnancy! Writing this is making me sad as I was hoping to share good news.

Second, I have no will power to say no to fast food and cookies. If my husband wanted it he got it, and as a good submissive wife I couldn't say no to him right? (or so my addiction told me). He is severely addicted to sugar and was drinking soda far earlier then I knew he was. His mother spilled the beans on accident to me. To be honest it crushed my spirit to learn he was drinking soda. I thought I needed him on board to help me stay clean and if he couldn't then how could I? It's not his fault really. I was just letting him be my excuse for giving in to the food.

Third, I get sick of cleaning my kitchen. Cooking at home makes big messes. Lots of dishes to be exact. I hate dishes and so does everyone else in the family. Some nights I just dreaded the idea of cleaning the kitchen for the third time that day. This is just something I need to get over.

So what now?

My husband has admitted he feels worse drinking soda everyday. I will admit I feel awful for so many reasons about my food choices. But what to do? I can continue to feel guilty and horrible while eating my Famous Star and cookies letting the devil convince me I will never have the strength to take care of my own body, or I can ask God for forgiveness for not taking better care of myself and letting negative thoughts rule how I behave.

I am going to start all over again. I am not a slave to my own flesh (Romans 6:18). I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). I need to remember it is not just food I am fighting against, because its not. If the devil can keep me hating myself over how I eat and look he is keeping me from being a beacon of Christs joy and love. So I will remain in prayer and hourly ask God for His strength.

Love,
Ashley B

Special Guest Post "Speaking Jesus" by Lesley Plummer

That word "Jesus." Doesn't it just cut to the heart? I mean whether your a believer or not. It cuts in a different way. To a non believer it's like you're stunned, kind of stop and don't know how to process it OR you get insulted. To a believer you're like "Yes, yes Lord." 

I remember a store clerk said "God Bless" to Me and my Mom as we left the store in Oregon. My Mom said stunned, "What'd she say to us?" I clearly heard her and replied, "She said, God Bless."  My Mom said "Oh." but still confused. For my Mom it was like the lady physically slapped her across the face. It actually stopped her in her tracks she turned back to look at the lady, but said nothing and it was obvious she didn't know what to do or say. It's like she hadn't heard those words before. It's not like the lady shouted at us "Jesus is Savior!" or "Repent or you're going to hell!"  That would have been more unexpected than a simple "God bless." I think my mother's reaction would have been the same even if the clerk had said repent or you're going to hell to be quite honest.

Why does the name Jesus stop people in their tracks? Because it holds power? Because it lessens the hold of the darkness on them? Even if you don't know what to say when you pray and you just decide to chant "Jesus" over and over, it holds power. You lit your little light and you're letting it shine just by saying Jesus. It disturbs the disturbed. And to watch the reaction is a little comical, but really it should be more scary to me because there is so much evil on/in people these days. The more stunned people I see the more I think wow there's a lot of work to be done here. I am no evangelist either. I am not one to just outright talk about Jesus to any ol person I meet. That's not me.  I don't feel equipped for the anger that the discussion brings forth.  

You see I read the bible, but I am a young Christian I think they call it. If I cannot talk to a stranger about Jesus how can I talk to my family about him? Trust me I have tried. I come from an Atheist family. They have Christian values believe it or not, but they are in fact, not saved.  I will also not shove the word down their throats. For now all I can do is live for Jesus and hope they see him through me and my family.  I have been in the presence of my God Loving Aunt and my Mother at the same time, and I was able to talk freely with my Aunt about biblical books and God. My Mother noticed. My Mother and her husband visited and my husband expressed his thankfulness for them and spoke of God. They were deeply touched and they noticed where our family stands. My children have a firm foundation in Christ and my Mother notices their happiness.

So for those of us who can't evangelize yet, perhaps we're doing more than we think by living a Godly life and letting others see it. Don't give up, eyes may be watching that you're not aware of. You could be showing someone Jesus without even saying his name.

I Fail Evry Day

Yes, I see, I spelled every wrong in the title. I left it there on purpose. I fail all the time. I get things wrong all day long. I put so much pressure on myself to get things right that I get uptight and get them wrong. Wrong, wrong, wait for it..... wrong! There are times when I get so upset and frustrated I cry (fail). Maybe not on the outside, but inside I feel like Cinderella when her step sisters tore her gorgous dress apart. Crushed and hopeless, basically a hot mess. My want of perfection or at the least a yummy healthy dinner, puts strain on my marriage and my relationship with my kids (fail). When I am stressed and upset I tend to snap easily (fail). So I push my loved ones away (fail), trying to make things perfect for my loved ones!? So insane!!!
My point here is I am going to breath and except my failures. I will laugh and turn them into learning oppurtunities for my family. It is not to late to teach my children anything! After all, its just dust in the wind. At the end of the day I know I want my family to be in peace and see Gods love through me, not avoiding the emotional mess that I can be. I will remember Martha and Mary:
But the Lord answered her "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is nesacary, Mary has chosen the good portion and it will not be taken from her." 
 Luke 10:41-42
The good portion in this verse is time with Jesus. FYI : time with Jesus is super important! But it does not mean you have to be reading the bible all day, but in connection with him all day. Talk to him like He is in the room with you. Well because truthfully He is.

"Jesus I am not going to let these worldy wants of perfection ruin my peace I have been given by you."
"Oh Jesus, I've burnt the pancakes again, it's a good thing my soul wont burn lol!"
" We are eating fast food again, even though its not the way I want to eat, bless it to our bodies anyway and bless the hands that made it too"
" My house is not as neat as I want it to be Jesus, good thing my soul is white as snow!"
" I want to yell at my kids again, why cant they just do things the first time I ask? Oh your right, I have a hard time doing things you ask the first time too."
"Why cant I be more like so and so?

It seems funny to talk outloud to an empty room or maybe not empty if your family is home. But it will help. I will show my kids going to God all thee time and talking it out helps! I am not a failure, but a work in progress. A work that will only be finished as I enter the gates of Heaven.

Love,
Ashley B.

Bible Study!!!

What division and not fitting in at Church has led me to do...

So last night I was trying to write a new post on division. How upset and troubled I was at all the division I see all around. The subject always led me back to exclusion going on  in the Church, how I have never fit in and what a constant struggle that was for me. It kept sneaking into what I thought I was supposed to be writing about. I would turn the page and start writing all over again just to be back on to my sadness over fitting in. By the fourth time I started over I gave in. God was clearly showing me something. I came to this conclusion...
 I am sick of hitting up against that social wall, so sick of it that I am now going to a church  that I know I will never fit into just so I don't feel I have to try. Don't get me wrong, it is a great church. The kids are blossoming and the messages are great. Any who I am trailing off..... As I was writing last night I began to cry. I cried for me at first, but I also cried for all the women who have tried to find a place and left, never to know just how inclusive Jesus really is. Can you imagine Jesus not inviting you in just because you weren't the "right" kind of person. The idea is laughable because it is so far from who He is. For some time now God has been calling me to start a bible study at home. I have always been excited about the idea but never started anything because, well, what if no one shows? God told me if no one shows I am to do the study anyway. AAAAHHHH so scary! Today I made an event on Facebook and invited women from town to come. I cant back out now!!! Again AAAAAHHHH so scary!!! Our first study will be about the Work of the Spirit. It's a non denominational study so that everyone can come . Let those dividing walls fall down!! Every woman is welcome to come to my house the first Thursday of every month at 7 pm to share in Gods word. I hope to see you here.

Love, Ashley B.