It’s been a while since I posted anything. Life has gotten a bit crazy since life started back to normal after the craziness of the pandemic. I now have a sophomore in high school and a 5th grader who will begin junior high next year. I’m not sure how this happened, but my girls are growing up. I enjoy watching the many ways they have changed over the past couple of years. My oldest is now driving and becoming more responsible. My youngest keeps me on my toes with her silliness and wacky fashion sense. Whereas my oldest daughter is all about band, hoodies and sweats, my youngest daughter is all about fashion and makeup.

In 2022 I turned 50 and found that growing older is not for the faint of heart. It seemed that my body decided to rebel against me with arthritis setting in. The end of the pandemic meant more sitting at my desk job and less time for exercise. I have found over the past year that a sedentary lifestyle in not only bad for your physical body, but it is also bad for your mental state.

My goal for 2024 is to move more so as to reduce my physical pain and boost my mental mood. I also plan to eat better and work on ways to reduce my stress. Lastly, I am increasing my time spent in God’s Word. He has also uplifted my mood and helped me through the hard times.

Here’s to the beginning of a clean slate and a new year!

These past few months seem to have flown by. Some days pass more quickly than others. The girls have returned to school and I have returned to working in the office. In a different time, this would be a normal occurrence; however, with Covid cases on the rise things are much different. The girls wear face masks all day except during lunch.

Concern grows when there are new cases at the schools or when Rebekah reports her friends going home sick. Part of me wants to pull them out of face-to-face school and have them go virtual again. I know this comes from fear of the unknown; e.g., does that person have Covid? Will Rebekah get sick, too? This is a time that I draw on Christ’s strength and pray for peace knowing He is in control of the situation. Ultimately, I know that the girls returning to school is best for them as they need to be around their friends and they need a sense of normalcy. I will continue to rest in Christ knowing He will carry me through this and the many challenges I will face in the future.

I challenge everyone to lean on Christ during the hard times and praise Him in the good times. He is ALWAYS with you no matter what. He is the ONLY thing in this world that is consistent. His love never fails and His mercies are new every morning. Blessings to all!

Over the past few months, I have noticed that my youngest daughter has been having some trouble focusing in class and has been very hyper. I knew it was time to get her tested when she went through an entire day of virtual school and didn’t do any work nor did she know what the teacher talked about.

The testing for ADHD is very simple, the parents and teachers complete questionnaires and the doctor reviews the results. Once the doctor reviewed the results, she confirmed what I had already suspected – our daughter has ADHD. A few days later she started on Adderall to help her focus better in class. She is still pretty energetic, but is able to focus much better in school and has gotten better about asking the teacher for help.

Of course, ADHD is not just an attention deficit issue. It also comes with outbursts and upsets over seemingly small things. This requires me to be strong and maintain my own composure to be able to help my daughter through her struggles. I thank God every day that He has given me the strength to raise my daughter, patience to help her through her struggles, and peace knowing He answers my prayers when I get to a point that I don’t know what to do. He has also provided me the tools to help calm her down when she is upset. Lavender spray, a weighted blanket, and rocking her work wonders. It really calms us both down in a short amount of time.

My husband and daughter are a great help in stepping in to calm situations down if I’m either not available to do so or if I am struggling to keep my own composure. Long days of dealing with roller coaster emotions is exhausting, but knowing that God has gifted me the necessary tools and continues to work in me makes it much better.

When I wrote my previous post, I did not know that I would have a follow-up post on the same topic. As I write I think back to how far I have come over the past three months and know that it is God who has brought me to where I am now.

Looking back through my calendar, I noticed that I had started meeting with a nutritionist at the end of August. It took about a month or so for me to actually yield to the plan and start following it wholeheartedly. That’s because I am a stubborn soul who doesn’t like to change unless I want to change. Once I committed to the plan the nutritionist had set out for me, I found myself becoming more creative in my food choices and I even tried (and liked) couscous and quinoa. Eventually she would like to convert me to a plant-based protein diet fully, but that is where I draw the line. This momma likes her meat. Though I am trying to reduce the amount of red meat I eat and increase the amount of fish I eat (that’s not fried) I do still want to eat chicken, turkey, and occasionally pork. I am even eating different fruits like mango and pears in addition to apples, bananas, strawberries, mandarins, and blueberries. For veggies I eat a lot of spinach (even in eggs), broccoli, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, and butternut squash. Zucchini is ok, but my body doesn’t like it.

I recently started using a service called “Imperfect Foods” to have fruits and veggies delivered to my house. If you’ve not heard of this company, you should check it out. They sell you fruits and veggies that are irregular and could not be sold in a store. For instance, I have received carrots that are forked at the bottom. I don’t care how the fruits and veggies look as long as they are good and are not old. I have also received some sweet potatoes that are much smaller than what you see in the store. If it means I have to peel more to make mashed sweet potatoes, that’s okay.

At the end of October, I saw that the American Cancer Society hosted a challenge called “Texas 50 Squats a Day”. The premise is that participants would do 50 squats a day in support of those who have cancer or have died from cancer. Once I joined the challenge, I saw that some people were doing 100 or more squats per day. I thought to myself that I could do that, too. I mean it may be hard for me to do that many squats, but what’s a little leg and butt muscle pain compared to the pain that others go through while fighting cancer? Now I am working on doing 150 squats per day. I’ve done it a few times, but it depends on how much time I have to do them as I do my sets of 50 squats at different times during the day so as not to kill myself. I have to say that my energy level is up much higher when I complete a set of squats.

Overall, I am finding that when I follow God’s path, my life goes more smoothly. It’s when I try to do things my way that it gets crazy. I find myself procrastinating sometimes on decisions and I have learned that is my way of waiting to hear what God has to say about the situation before I make a decision. If you don’t already know God, I highly recommend learning about Him. If you do know God, read your Bible and get to know Him better. It’s worth it. I promise.

I have never been much for following others. I prefer to follow my own path and make my own mistakes. Of course, this has not always worked out well. It could very well be that when it worked out well it was because my plans actually coincided with what God had planned for me. Either that or I just happened to listen to the little voice inside myself telling me which way to go.

As I have gotten older and my faith walk has grown stronger, I realize that the little voice inside is actually God nudging me in the direction He has planned for me. Unfortunately, even though I have gotten older, I have not necessarily gotten wiser. I would love to say that I follow His path exclusively, but anyone who really knows me knows that I am very head-strong and stubborn. Sometimes I actually follow my own plan to spite others. Not very smart, but it happens anyway.

Take healthy eating and exercise for instance. I know what I need to eat to lose weight and become healthier. I do it a lot of the time, but I lack the consistency to lose weight or I eat due to stress. I also know what exercises I need to do to gain muscle and lose fat. I also lack consistency in this area because I let life get in the way or I simply get lazy.

In both of the above cases, I don’t consult God as to what He wants me to do or thinks I should do. I know that when I do consult God or when I yield myself to Him, things go very well. I have also learned that if I don’t plan, then I will fail because then I have nothing to follow and I end up all over the place.

One example is with my eating. I will eat healthy foods, but I eat too much food. For some reason, I have a starvation mentality meaning that I feel as though I will starve if I don’t eat a lot of food at once. As far as I know, I have never gone without a meal or been in a situation where I lacked for food. However, try convincing my brain of that.

Another example is with exercise. I know that exercise makes me feel good both physically and mentally. However, I get lazy and do other things instead of exercising. Other than being sidelined with a foot injury, there is no reason why I cannot exercise daily.

Today is a new day and a perfect time to consult God about what He wants me to do. Here’s to following the Master and whatever path He wants me to follow.

This week my daughters started school. The difference in the first day of school in past years’ compared to this year is that they didn’t physically go to the school building. This year they are learning online because of the Corona Virus. There was some anxiety between my youngest daughter and I as to how she would handle learning online. Her anxiety spiked just before school was scheduled to start so we prayed for a great day and for peace knowing that everything would be fine. Once her class began she found out that second grade is really fun. My anxiety was not just how she would do with online learning, but also how she would do with her reading. Thanks be to God as she is doing better than I thought.

I recently decided it was time to take better care of myself. I have put on about 15 pounds over the past six months and it’s not sitting well with me. I haven’t had to buy larger clothes, but I am also not able to fit into some of my clothes. My first attempt at weight loss began when I started running back in March. Running did wonders for my mental health and gave me lots of energy.

A few weeks ago, I decided to gain control of my eating, both nutritionally and the amount of food I eat. I have tried this many times in the past without success so I decided it was time to work with a dietitian. My first appointment was virtual since we are still under quarantine due to Corona Virus. I was pleased with how the appointment went and I think it is a very doable plan. Now for the implementation phase. This is where I typically lose interest or lack discipline. However, this time I am not only working with a dietitian, but I am also working with God. I believe He is the one who brought me to this dietitian and I believe the time is now to start taking better care of my health. It helps to have activity-based goals that will push me to do my best.

I am in a learning phase of life and my goal is to become more focused on my health and well-being as it affects more than me. My family, friends, and job depend on my taking care of myself. That aside, I simply want to live the best life I can.

Yesterday, I spent time in our chicken yard planting flowers and grasses that the chickens could eat. The purpose is to give them different treats plus to beautify their yard. As the picture above shows, they approve of the plants that I added.

While I was outside, I talked to the chickens and simply enjoyed spending time outside surrounded by God’s creation. I was outside early enough to be able to see the sun rise above the tree line. Though it was humid outside, I was done with my planting before it started to get hot.

I got the privilege of seeing a yellow-crowned night heron in the chicken yard. I frequently see the night herons and white ibis in our chicken yard. We are fortunate to have a spacious fenced-in area for our chickens to free range safely. Though there are hawks nesting or resting nearby, they have managed to stay safe.

After my time spent outside with God, I came inside for church. It was a very praise-worthy service and enhanced my worshipful mindset. I thank God for days like this where I can spend time with Him.

This morning I spent time watering my plants and trimming them back. I also transplanted several of my plants as they were either growing in the wrong space or needed a bigger pot.

The beauty of gardening is that I get a chance to prune back plants and see how they turn out with a little trimming. When I transplant a plant, I get to choose where I want it to grow or I can put it in a place where it will thrive.

Recently, I had two instances where transplanting/moving plants made a huge difference. The first was when I moved my angel trumpet plants to a shady spot in the front of the house. They were not happy at all and started to actually look sick. Once I moved them back to their original spot in my backyard, where it is sunny, they were very happy. I even managed to take cuttings and make two more pots of trumpets. They have even flowered in their new location.

The other instance was a plant a friend had given me that I had in a pot on my front porch. It was doing okay, but it looked like it would do better in a sunnier location. Turns out that I was right … the plant couldn’t be happier than where it is growing now. The plant is also very hardy as I have pruned it back a couple of times and it does not show any signs of stress. I love having plants that not only survive in the heat, but actually thrive. I consider myself to be a pretty good gardener, but I could only do so much when I don’t know what I am working with.

Today, I transplanted a flowering “weed” from a flowerbed where it did not belong into a pot. It turns out that this “weed” is an Asiatic Dayflower – a weed that is resistant to herbicides. I don’t know if the weed will survive transplanting, but if it doesn’t at least I am not out any money. 

I liken the pruning and transplant process to how God is with me. As necessary, He works with me and molds me into the person He created me to be. In other cases, He pulls me out of situations that are not healthy for me so that I can blossom into His creation. My time spent out in my garden is always profitable in that I enjoy seeing how God is using my plants to create homes for lizards, frogs, and even earthworms. 

When I started to run a couple of months ago, I decided that run to raise money for causes. My first fundraiser was for the Prostate Cancer Society. I do not have any connection to the disease, e.g., I do not personally know anyone who has had this cancer. However, I felt that it was a worthy cause and was able to reach my goal of raising $200.

My second cause was for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society called the Big Climb. This was not a run, but to climb 1,762 steps, the height of the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, California. I completed the climb on my front porch due to the quarantine and reached my goal of raising $100.

In early July, I ran the Wounded Warrior Foundation’s run, Carry Forward – Virtual 5K to support wounded warriors and their families. I feel it is the least I can do for those men and women who have been injured fighting for my freedom. I didn’t quite reach my goal of raising $100 for this worthy cause. I raised $95 of the $100 goal. If you would like to donate to this cause, click here to reach my fundraising page.

In September, I am scheduled to run the St. Jude 5K Walk/Run and have a goal of raising $400. The run is to raise funds for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This run is important to me because no one should have to fight cancer, but especially not children who are the future of this world. If you feel compelled to help me reach my goal of raising $400 for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, just click here.

I am also running a 5K for Autism Speaks on the same day as the St. Jude 5K. I have never run twice in one day, but there is always a first. I chose Autism Speaks because I have a nephew who was diagnosed with autism at an early age. He is on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum and is currently in his second year of college. My fundraising goal is $150. Click here to make a donation.

In October, I am participating in the Anti-Cancer Challenge. This is an 8-week virtual fundraising and wellness program. I am raising funds for this organization as my family has been seriously affected by cancer. Both of my parents have cancer (my mother lost her fight to lung cancer), my aunt and uncle passed away from cancer, another uncle is battling cancer, and three of my husband’s grandparents died from cancer. My fundraising goal is $250. Click here to make a donation.

I am walking in the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s 5K in October to raise awareness and funds to support care, support, and research for the Alzheimer’s Association. I have chosen to raise funds for this organization as I know of many people who have been affected by this horrible, irreversible disease. Click here to make a donation..

Lastly, I am running in the Colon Cancer Coalition 5K in November. My “why” for raising funds for the Colon Cancer Coalition is because my father was diagnosed with colon cancer about 20 years ago. Fortunately, the doctor was able to remove the cancer surgically and he has been in remission ever since. Click here to make a donation.

I am considering other fundraising walks/runs this year, but the above runs/walks are what I have scheduled.

So, last week I decided I wanted to do a virtual race to give myself a more concrete running goal to work toward. In my search, I found that RunTheEdge.com has the Un-Canceled Project. This project gives me the ability to run as many virtual races as I want between now and June 21 for free. So what did I do? I did what any normal crazy person would do … I signed up for a 5k, 8k, and 10k per week for the next five weeks.

I consider it crazy because I have only started running 5ks the past couple of weeks. However, I feel the need for a challenge and hello, it’s free. As the daughter of a frugal mother, I have a hard time turning away free things. Also, the opportunity to push myself outside of my comfort zone is a plus.

Now, I won’t be running these races on my own. I will have my faithful running companion with me every time. Who is my faithful running companion, you ask? That would be Jesus. He is not only my faithful running companion, but He is my overall life companion. When the going gets tough, I pray to Him. When life is easy, I praise Him. At all times, I focus on Jesus and remember all that He has done for me and all that He is to me.

So, it is in great faith that I have chosen to run the race that God has put before me. My goal with these races is simply to finish.

What have you done or planned to do that seems a bit crazy?