I DO believe and I am NOT a Vampire!

Happy Tuesday to YOU!  So... it's a nearly Noon here in our little mountain town and I am sitting down with you over a lovely glass of Super Berry juice (in my fancy glass of course) and the worlds BEST tortilla chip!  Have you ever even seen these before???  When my husband brought them home, I was admittedly skeptical as I like my foods to remain true to their category... or so I thought!  This chip with some fresh salsa is very much like one of our favorite festive treats where we serve some sort of salty chip or cracker with a dip made from Harry and David's sweet pepper relish and cream cheese - DIVINE!  Anyhow, this is minus a few of "those" calories and nonetheless delicious!

I have been mulling around in my mind about a dozen or so things to write about (which is kinda how it goes), and I think I'll just give a quick update on our year to date.  I mean we're EIGHT DAYS into this thing... We should have something to report, right???  Well, it just so happens I do!

I gotta admit, I'm slightly intimidated by this year... not because there's anything necessarily foreboding about it, but because I've set myself up!  I've made some Big claims about things I want to accomplish and grow in and I've done it publicly and while to some it won't matter at all because they have no interest in me or my claims... and then there will be others, maybe even you, who wanted to make some big claims, but weren't sure if they had what it takes to see it through to the end and no one wants anything less than to make a fool of themselves by failing.  How do I know?  Well, I'm just like you... and I've made myself a fool more than twice!  So, feel free to follow me in mine and perhaps you'll have the courage to make a few of your own...

Anyhow, I really feel like this year is different.  Some of my targets are the same, weight loss, financial freedom, consistent order in my home... however, I feel like I've got some new tools in my collection to get me there!  Sometimes it just takes the right tool to get the job done.  I shared some of those tools with our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group this past Friday and I gave an illustration from my own recent experience that really helped me:

For several weeks, I've been making trips to our doctor's office, which is no short distance from our home... Anyhow, I think it must be run by vampires, because I'm pretty sure they have taken several gallons of blood from me over the course of at least 4 visits... I was scheduled to see our family practice doc for a general health exam and then to the "girl doc" who is NOT a girl to get the important stuff checked!  Now, this is kind of a big deal for a sister who doesn't generally do docs... not because I am opposed to them, but because I am generally healthy and don't need them.  However, my husband, who I lovingly refer to as "Red Beard" these days (he is sporting a very sexy full beard and stash which is the nicest shade of auburn), and I want to expand our brood... Well, he being "him" has, in subtle and not so subtle ways, suggested that if there's any reason I am not currently barefoot and pregnant, it is most decidedly and "obviously" NOT his fault!  Anyone besides me married to a "Red Beard?"  

Hence the reason I have been sacrificed to the vampires... Well, the good news is, I did not die, nor did I become a vampire... Better yet, after all that blood they harvested from my tiny little hand veins, they discovered what I knew they would and made it abundantly clear that I am also in perfect, childbearing health!  However... I was told one thing... by my "girl doc" who is NOT a girl... "I think if you lose a few pounds, you'll be pregnant in no time flat!"  Ahem... really?  No time flat, eh?  Do you know how long I've wanted to loose a few pounds???  And then I heard another voice in my head - one of my favorite women, Joyce Meyer: "what you need, is less WISH bone and more BACK bone!"  I KNOW!!!  Can you believe she would say that???  Audacious!

Ah, well... she's right and I'm sure so is my none girl, "girl doc."  What better motivation though, right?  And yet, it's not motivation as much as a decision that I need.  And not so much a decision as a BELIEF that I can... and then choosing to line the rest of me up with that belief!  I was also reminded of the verse in Hebrews 12:1 which says: "therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

And so, I run... well, not really - but I climb stairs, mop floors, plank, power squat and walk with endurance...  All of which I hear are really helpful!  And I make myself accountable:  To you, to my husband, myself and whoever else cares to follow... And I give an account of my Ability!  (Because I AM able!)  I'm gonna warn you... it's possible that I am not perfect... it's possible I may gripe once or twice when I want to devour a pan of brownies and instead I indulge myself in a cup of nearly fat free dark chocolate mousse, but... hey, you can smack me when I do - 'cause that mousse ain't nothin' to whine about!

And before the year is done, I plan to be thinner, more effective in my life and yep... you guessed it - Barefoot and Pregnant!  Lofty goals indeed!!!  I hope you make some changes as well... and I hope the first one is to Believe!