Wellness Witness

Encouragement for your heart, your health, and your home

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When your Family Isn’t on Board with Healthy Eating

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Things to remember:
1- Pray
Petition the Lord on behalf of your family. Ask for HIS wisdom on the best practices to implement and for the right words (and the right timing!) for how to discuss it. Pray for a heart that is free from pride or judgment and that your love wouldn’t be conditional based on their response.
When discouraged, pray. When confused, pray. When weary, pray.

2- Lead by example. 
I have never changed my husband’s mind (or his heart) about anything by ‘nagging’ him. In fact, I’m convinced that the more I try to ‘nag’ or (to put it kinder) “to remind” my kids or husband about something repeatedly, the more they tend to tune me out.
But the times that I choose to continue doing what I know that I should without having to point out the fact that I’m doing it? THEY NOTICE. 

3- Remember that your marriage matters more. 
Yes, his health is important, but not more important that the health of your marriage. Refuse to allow this issue to become a stumbling block in your marriage.

4- Start Small if needed:
Give him information in small, easy to process pieces. Don’t try to overhaul everything all at once. Maybe talk about a healthy habit that you could work towards together? Make it a challenge to see who can reach their water goal each day for a week. Then talk about how you feel. If you bring it up and he doesn’t respond in the way that you hoped, Don’t take it personal.

5- Offer choices when possible
Is one of his favorite meals spaghetti? Make up a big batch of his favorite sauce and then try a few of the pasta alternatives. Have some spaghetti squash baked and ready, or zucchini noodles. See if he’s willing to try them in the place of regular noodles.
When preparing a sandwich, see if he’s willing to let you try  wrapping it in lettuce leaves instead of putting it in between two loaves of bread.
Begin swapping out processed cereals for breakfast with some protein rich eggs or a protein shake.
Love Taco Tuesdays? Prepare all your meat and toppings, but then eat it over a large salad with just a few tortilla chips crumbled on top.
You don’t have to prepare two separate meals- just prepare ones that can be easily modified to fit your choices AND his if he chooses to go another way.

6- Give the situation to the Lord. 
You are his wife, not his Holy Spirit. Do what you have been called to do, but allow the Lord to work in his heart on his own time table. In the mean time, keep loving and serving well. Stay encouraged and keep going. Do your best to CHEER HIM ON when he tries something new and to encourage and build him up.

VIDEO TEACHING CAN BE FOUND HERE:

 

Cheer Her On

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If there is one thing I could clearly communicate and teach to each woman I encounter, it would be this:

There is a enough to go around.
There IS ENOUGH. Period. No lack. No shortage. No need to strive and hustle for our place at the table.

Another woman’s breakthrough does not mean it is your defeat.
Another woman’s bright light does not mean yours is dimmed.
Another woman’s success is not your setback.
Another woman’s breakthrough is not your breaking.

We get to CHOOSE to cheer one another on instead of competing.

And that can only happen when we know and believe there is no lack and that we get enough.

There IS enough to go around.

If our goal is His glory, then her win can be our win.
Her victory can be our victory.
Her bright light can make us all shine brighter.

I don’t sit here telling you these things as if I’ve got it mastered. I sure don’t.
I still struggle with jealousy, bitterness, and feeling left out or overlooked.

I feel those things, but I refuse to BE those things.

So when they come for me, I stop and consider a few things:

-God knows what He is doing and He can use ALL things for good. I can trust Him.
-His plans for my life are good, and that includes sanctification. This means His priority isn’t for my to be more happy- it’s for me to be more holy. Dying to self is a big step in that direction.
-Prayer is a sharp weapon to be utilized. Feeling left out, overlooked, or disregarded? I challenge you to pray blessings over those who are walking in the territory you want. Pray for their ministry, their family, their calling, their workplace. Take back territory the enemy is trying to steal and pray blessings over her and her life. Things will shift.

Sometimes I don’t want to. To be honest, many times I don’t want to.
But, I know what happens on the other side of my obedience: BREAKTHROUGH.

So get out there & CHEER SOMEBODY on today. Tell her you appreciate the work she does that no one notices. Tell her that her leadership makes your community better. Tell her that the gifting of the Lord in her life is beautiful. Celebrate her accomplishments even if its something you want for yourself.

There is no lack. We get enough. Cheer her on!

To the one…

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The truth?

Most days, it’s easier for me to post on social media to strangers on the Internet than it is to interact with the other moms at my kids’ school.

It’s easier for me to write and teach others across the country about what the Lord has been teaching me than it is to tell those I interact with weekly in my community.

It’s easier for me to stand on stage and speak truth to hundreds than it is for me sometimes to do it one-on-one.

It’s easier for me to tell you that I’ve “embraced my weird” when I’m posting online than for me to actually live it while around others who seem so very normal.

Being bold doesn’t come easy and sometimes hiding looks a whole lot like living big and loud so that no one really sees the real you. —Anyone else?

Sometimes He may tell us to go ahead and share online. But other times? He may ask us to be willing to go share with the lady behind us in the Wal-Mart checkout line.
Sometimes He may send us to speak on a stage, but others, it may be to spend intentional time with neighbors across the street.

Although it may feel safer to stay hidden behind social media or even behind the platform of leading large groups, He still calls us to be willing to do it one by one. Not large crowds, followings, or platforms, just simple obedience.

Person-to-person, face-to-face daily living and discipleship right where we’ve been planted.

Terrifying, right?
Here’s what I know: In the hard, He also shows us the Holy. And I know that His plans are so much better.

I’m asking Him to remove the scales from our eyes that cloud our vision and that tell us that numbers determine our importance.

What if when He tells us to, we decide to love the one? To serve the one? To speak up for the one? Even if they think we are a little strange.
We can be strange together. A tribe of those willing to risk our pride and our dignity for the sake of making Him known.

I think it just might change our circles of influence. Our communities. Our schools. Our cities. Eventually…our world.
Each one, reach one. Let’s do this.

Have One of Mine…

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Last week I helped volunteer at my kid’s school store. I watched as little ones came up, presented crumpled dollar bills or counted out dimes and nickels, then carefully selected the item they wanted.

One little girl who couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 came up to the front of the line and just stood. She didn’t say anything really, but eventually got out her book bag and started looking through it for money to buy a pencil.

She looked for a few minutes then stopped and stood, never saying a word. I decided to help her so together we checked each pocket and folder to see if she had any money. When we had finished looking with no money to be found, I looked at her and said, “there’s no money in there today”.

Again, she just stood and stared. By this point there were several students waiting in line behind her that had been waiting for their turn.

I watched as another girl in line pulled out her two crumpled dollar bills from her pocket, held one out to the girl and said, “you can have one of mine- I’ve got two”.

I’ve thought about that little girl several times and I’m thinking of her again this morning.

What do I have that I can give away today? Instead of using what I’ve got for myself, how can I use it to bless others?

Maybe it’s money, but maybe it’s something else like time, presence, energy, encouragement, hope, or even truth.

What can we give away today to bless someone else? Are we willing to slow down enough to see the needs around us? Let’s pray and ask God to give us opportunities to give it away today.

Progress Photos: Jan 2019 (not what you think!)

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Progress photos!

But, No, probably not the kind you’re thinking.
These two photos? Taken approximately 20 seconds apart.

I could easily post them and tell you that these were taken weeks apart and that the transformation you see is due to stellar food choices and movement.

But, actually, it’s just the same minute, the same body, standing at ease in one, and sucking it all in for the other.

And the truth? My body is the same good body in both.

This body has survived cancer, ran a half marathon, birthed two babies, held the hands of dying family members and kissed the faces of so many that I’ve loved along the way. This body has been the vehicle in which I’ve gotten to experience life, chase big dreams, stand on platforms to speak, fallen to my knees in prayer and with which I can surrender arms high in worship.

This body dances while I plunk my bass guitar when I lead worship and allows me to wrap my arms around those who are struggling. It houses the Spirit that prompts me on what to do and how to live and it overly expresses almost every emotion I am feeling.

This body has stretch marks and laugh lines, wrinkles and cellulite. This body is bigger than industry standards might deem acceptable for the profession I currently serve in and this body has been the very one needed for the people He has given me to lead.

This body is good. I refuse to call it anything else. It’s good because He designed it and it’s good because it allows me to live and laugh and jump and dance and
I.
Will.
Not.
Belittle.
It.

I won’t shame it because it doesn’t fit well into the new dress I ordered and I won’t condemn it because it hasn’t responded as quickly as I think it should.

The gift of a healthy body? Priceless. Literally. Priceless.

If you’re healthy today- I’m talking to you. Stop being so hard on yourself. Eat well. Move well. Rest well.

But more than that, love well (including the body you are living in).

Progress photo #1 for 2019? This is it.
A free heart that can’t be defined or defeated by a reflection in a mirror.

Ditch Your Resolutions Day

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Did you know today is literally labeled by many as “Ditch Your Resolutions Day”? No, I’m not kidding.

I heard it on the radio and then later got a text from a local ice cream shop inviting me to “ditch my resolution” and drop by to fill up a cup.

I guess I get it. Quick fixes are hard to stick with. Extreme dieting, over-exercising, obsessing over macro counting, carb cycling…all of it can be a LOT- and entirely too much to manage for long if done with the wrong motivations. And I’m sure somewhere along the way, you’ve been tempted to (or already have) quit.

But, what if we were called to something else? What if instead of determining that we’d do all the things perfectly just because the calendar flipped to January, what if we just offered up our obedience to whatever we are feeling called towards?

Maybe it IS changing your diet, macro tracking, or implementing a new exercise program. Maybe it’s adding in a few healthy habits that feel sustainable and life giving. Maybe it’s gradually moving your bedtime earlier to ensure you get enough sleep, or maybe it’s implementing technology limits in your home. Maybe it’s Scripture memory or time in the Word.

Whatever the things we’ve been called to are- what if we gauged our success solely by this: OBEDIENCE?

Not feeling like a failure and quitting because we don’t always get it right, but instead remembering that five steps forward and two steps back still means we are three steps further than we were when we begun.

Instead of ditching our resolutions today, what if we determine to dig into remembering what we’ve been called to do and then remembering why it matters? What if we reframe or shift our goals if needed because our motivation may have been wrong when we set them, and instead we try again, but this time in freedom and joy?

You’re not giving up. Not you, not this time. Rest, reframe, and try again. Not ditching- but digging in. Not despairing, but determining to continue towards the things you’ve been called to.

Let’s go.