Finally November

Wow, it's finally November. October just dragged on and on for me. It was probably because I failed miserably in keeping my resolutions and just wanted to get to a new month! Part of me wants to just quit the resolutions before I ever really started. BUT that is part of the reason I wanted to START doing the resolutions... because I often quit things I start. So here goes.


Gym=F. I didn't go at least four days every week. I didn't go at least two days a week. I think I exercised more regularly when I didn't have a perfectly laid out plan telling me exactly what to do each day...

Quit sugar using the "8 week sugar detox"=F. Never started. I have a problem. I need to be locked in a room for six weeks until I am no longer addicted to sugar. I wish it was as simple as just liking sweets. It's so much more than that and I won't bore you with the details.

Keep up with the "Digging Deep" Bible study=C. I sadly and pathetically get so easily distracted by worldly things.

Stick with the budget=B. We actually did pretty good with this. We, of course, did go over on our eating out budget. It was sort of a weird month with Aaron being out of town two separate times and me gone for a weekend. Excuses, I've got plenty. Other than that, if felt good to have a plan and to know where our money was going overall.

I think that averages to a D. Great.

Some people like to dedicate the month of November to NOT doing something like "No Spend November", "No Make-up November", etc. Cute play on the word "no" huh? Well I've decided to make it "No Excuses November".

No more excuses when it comes to living faithfully to God first and foremost.
No more excuses when it comes to exercising and eating better.
No more excuses when it comes to our budget.
Just to name a few...

::mood change::

I am super excited that it is November. I love the weather this time of year. I love the opportunities coming up to be with family. I love the special opportunity to reflect on the many blessings God has given me and AJ. Many people take the month of November to share something they are thankful for each day on Facebook. I think that is a great idea. Of course we are to be and should be thankful year round. God's word instructs us to be thankful. Ephesians 5:20; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 2:6,7; 3:15-17 just to name a few passages. I think actually listing or "counting my blessings" each day would help me with my excuses problem.

God has afforded me with every necessity of life and beyond so I really have no excuse.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1:3

September Resolutions graded.

Okay, here I am to grade myself on how I did with my September resolutions... not too good I must say! However, just by making the resolutions at the beginning of the month I did think about my goals more often.

Let's go.

Hit the gym at least five days a week: C. The first two weeks I went four days then the third I went three. Last week I only went once! I did go out of town... excuses. So I never made it five times in a week, but I did go every week.

Keep up with the "Digging Deep" Bible Study: B. The goal for the month of September was to read through the book of Genesis while making notes about sanctification. I almost made it through the entire book, but almost doesn't count. :/ I did listen to the monthly podcast, too!

Stick to our budget: D. AJ and I made our budget at the beginning of the month and we really wanted to stick to it. What got us in the end was eating out too much.

Continue ALFYP Sunday series: F. That should be an obvious one. I didn't do it ONE time!

Average: D... +... Ugh. On to October!

Since keeping monthly resolutions is new to me I am going to basically go with the same ones for October, maybe tweeked a little bit.

Go to the gym at least FOUR days a week. Five was a little impossible. Four is doable.

Quit sugar using the "8 week sugar detox" by Naturally Knocked Up. You have to subscribe to her blog updates in order to get the detox info. (Obviously I'll only be half way through by the time November comes.)

Keep up with the "Digging Deep" Bible study. We are starting Exodus this month!

Stick with the budget! Two days into October and we are doing good. HA!

Excited about October! :)









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Three years gone but not forgotten!

Today is anniversary number 3 for me and AJ! What have the last three years been like? Amazing! Although, I must admit that nothing has really gone according to plan, ha ha. Whatever the plan WAS I am thankful for where we are NOW.

Since today is our wedding anniversary and I haven't blogged "our story" yet I figured today would be a great day to share! Read on if you dare! (I just rhymed... sorry.)

 AJ and I met in 2008 when we went to the Diana singing with a mutual friend... also known as "the guy I was talking to". When I first met AJ I didn't really give him any thought besides "Wow, he's funny!" and "Wow, that guy knows a lot about the Bible!". Anyway, the three of us went to the singing and had a good time. A few weeks later I wasn't talking to TGIWTT anymore... he dumped me! (Yay!) For some reason after that I got on good ol' Facebook to tell AJ I was dumped. From that moment on we were talking daily and for hours on Facebook and finally on the phone. Less than a month after we met we decided to meet for a date. I can't remember if he asked me or if I asked him.When it came time for us to meet for our first date, I couldn't even remember how tall he was! It didn't matter; I was already hooked. AJ came to Jacksonville to go to a JSU football game with me, and a friend of mine and two of her little girls. I guess you could say it was a chaperoned date. We had a blast and after that AJ and I were meeting every weekend we could, usually half-way in the big town of Talladega. It's where we had our first kiss and where I, according to him, proposed just about two months after our first date. I didn't get down on one knee or anything!! It just came up in conversation and ever since then AJ has been convinced I proposed... maybe I did.

Snap shot of my future husband the day we met!   Sept 12, 2008.      

Our first date! Oct 4, 2008

We are cool, we made a sign for the game!

One of my favorite pictures of the two of us.

Well we officially became engaged in March of 2009; six months after we met! When you know, you know; you know? After six months of wedding planning we became Mr & Mrs! September 25th of 2009 will always be one of the best, most amazing days of my life! We have been moving ever since... seriously!

Engagement shoot, CDP.

Claire Drummond Photography

Honey moon!

Sorry, I don't have a single wedding picture on the computer I am using! 

AJ moved to Jacksonville so I could finish school. Next thing we know we are moving to Wilsonville, AL in December of 2009. In April of 2010 we moved to Calera, AL, just two towns over, into a nice new and fancy apartment. We both had really good jobs at that time and could afford it. Later the cost became too high (2 hours to and from work for me... that was 4 less hours I could spend with my sweet hubby each day!) and it wasn't worth it. So we found ourselves moving again in... October of 2010, just after our one-year anniversary, back to Wilsonville. We almost stayed there for a year until AJ finally came to terms with the fact that his desire was to become a gospel preacher. (I was so glad. It's what he has always wanted to do.) So August 2011, we packed up again and headed north to Memphis, TN. Here we are today! We have officially lived here for one year, plus a couple of weeks; it's the longest we have ever lived anywhere since we have been married. Go us!

It's been a little crazy, but crazy is fun, right?! After all the packing and unpacking and telling our parents we are moving for the fourth time I couldn't be happier. I will never mind moving as long as I'm with my one and only. I love you, baby!

What's in store for us next?!?!?  

Babies! Lots of babies!!! LOL J/k... or am I?

Seriously, for now we are focusing on AJ finishing school at MSOP and finding a congregation of the church to work with. Pray for us! :)

How many times have you moved? Anything new and exciting in store for you?

Thanks for reading. You're awesome! 

PS. I don't know why the pictures are positioned the way they are so just deal! Thanks! 

Work out week 2.

Two? Yes, two. I repeated the first week because I didn't feel like I really did everything correctly the first time. Even repeating it I didn't do the 60 min jog on Friday. It is hard for me to get to the gym on Fridays.

Updated. I totally forgot to post my work out for the week. Here you go! 

Week 2:

• Monday – 5 sets of 8: deadlifts, bulgarian squats, lunges. 50: squat jumps,  calve raises.  Plank for 3 minutes, 60 reverse crunches, 60 hanging knee raises (these are almost impossible for me... going to get it.)
• Tuesday – 60 minutes HIIT cycling (:30/1:30 format)
• Wednesday – 5 sets of 8: incline bench press, clean and press, overhead tricep extension, bent over barbell row, concentration curls, upright row.
• Thursday – 60 minutes HIIT running (sprint for 30 seconds/jog for 1:30 minutes)
• Friday – 5 sets of 8: deadlifts, bulgarian squats, lunges. 50 squat jumps, 50 calve raises.  Plank for 3 minutes, 60 reverse crunches, 60 hanging knee raises

Tips: When there aren’t any sets listed for squat jumps, calve raises, planks, and any ab exercises, complete the number of reps/time in as few sets as possible. i.e. 50 squats as fast as possible, before moving on to the 50 calve raises.  Continue to go heavy on the weight during resistance training.

 
I use to really enjoy going to the gym first thing in the AM. Now I would rather go at 1:30 in the afternoon. I have figured out that it is the SLOWEST time for the gym; there are like 2 or 3 other people there at that time. Its awesome. Starting next week I will begin working again, keeping a little girl at my apartment 3 days a week. I will have to go first thing on those days at least.

I am afraid I will have another poor weigh-in next week. Even though the first is a Monday I am waiting until the fourth in order to give myself an extra couple of days. :/ Sad I know. I am going to predict a 2 lb loss. We shall see!

Tomorrow is mine and AJ's THIRD anniversary!!!! Yippee!!!! I love him A LOT! Won't say much about it since I will probably do an anniversary post tomorrow. <3 data-blogger-escaped-br="br">
Wednesday is our oldest nephew Sam's 8th birthday! I can't believe how grown he is! He is in second grade and loves video games, books, movies, Star Wars and all the super heroes. Most 8 year-old boys do though, don't they? He plays soccer, too! I am planning to go home for his birthday party this weekend. I am more than excited about this because it has been awhile since I have seen him! Not only that, but my brother (Sam's dad) and his youngest son, Gareth, are coming from Maryland, too! Its been a really long time since I have seen them. Its going to be a great weekend. The only thing that would make it better is if AJ could go with me. Sam loves his uncle and will be sad AJ couldn't come.

I'll leave you with a couple pictures of the birthday boy.




Sam when he was about two. Photo belongs to his mom.




Sam at 7 and 3/4s with my beautiful mom. Isn't Sam a handsome boy? :)
This photo was taken by my sister-in-law.

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Monster sighting... Big and green.

Okay that was sort of corny. I'm talking about the "Green Monster" spinach smoothie. I've known about these smoothies for a while, but am just now getting to try them. You can find more information about green smoothies here and the benefits of spinach here.

I bought the ingredients I needed for the most basic green smoothie on Monday and made one that day for lunch. AJ even tried it and said he would like to have more!

Here is the recipe I tried.

1 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon flaxseed
2 cups organic baby spinach
1 banana
Blend completely then add ice and blend on ice setting.








Viola! Green Monster! I am really weird about things I have to drink and its texture. However, this was not awful. The spinach taste really is covered up by the banana taste. It sort of had a bite to it when it first hit my tongue, if that makes sense, but then it just tasted like banana. I haven't tried to make another yet, but planning to today. I am going to put one or two more types of fruit in it. That should make it taste super delicious!
Have you tried a green smoothie? What is your favorite recipe?

Gym time

Check out my gym routine this week.

Week 1

Monday – 60 minutes HIIT cycling (30 seconds 100% intensity, 1:30 60% intensity, repeat for an hour)

Tuesday – 5 sets of 8: squats, barbell deadlifts, sumo squats, walking lunges, reverse lunges. 100 box jumps. Is that possible?

Wednesday – 30 minutes HIIT jump rope (45 seconds jump, 30 seconds rest. repeat for half-hour)/15 minutes row machine. This day will also include a training session with Trainer Lady, henceforth "TL".

Thursday – 5 sets of 8: bench press, military press, barbell curls, skull crushers, snatch, lat pulldowns. 250 ab reps ( you pick the type of exercises)

Friday – 60 minute jog

Tips: Try to complete this Mon-Fri, allowing yourself a full two days off on the weekend. On weight days, make sure the weight is heavy enough that the 7th and 8th rep are VERY tough to complete. Training heavy at the beginning of this program is key for establishing your base.

I found this routine on Pinterest. Its a 12 week program that I intend on sticking to exactly. It looks pretty intense, especially as you progress. I need intense though if I want to lose 30 by Jan 1. It seems like Cross Fit almost. By the way, I saw some of the 2011 Cross FIt games on ESPN today, those ladies are hosses... I don't want to be a hoss. I am not going to post a link because the woman who designed this routine has photos posted of herself and she is not dressed appropriately. Sorry.


Today I'm going to try my first green monster smoothie! Everything I read says they are delicious. Going to do the most basic version first. What are you going to do today to better your health?


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49 Fun Things I'm GOING to Do This Fall

Thanks to Pinterest I found a really neat blog that featured a list called "101 Things to Do This Fall!" After I read it I immediately thought I needed to make my own list. Her list included a lot of things to do with your own children. I modified a couple of them to do with other people's kids (We live on campus with all the other students and their families... lots of kids!), but I removed most of them. Plus, 101 things is a lot to do! ONE day AJ and I will have children and I'll have a whole NEW list. :) Fall officially starts on Saturday, September 22! Make your list and get going!
(My list has many of the same things listed as the original because a lot of fall activities are very generic. i.e. visit a pumpkin patch)
49 fun things I'm GOING to do this fall...
49? Are you thinking why not 50? Well, I couldn't think of a 50th, but I might later. For right now its 49.

1. Go on a hike and take in the beautiful colors of Fall.
2. Watch a high school football game.
3.Create a new door wreath with fall flowers and ribbons. (Actually already did this one!)



4. Invite friends over for chili night and have a chili bar like this one.
5. Carve/decorate a pumpkin.
6. Go on a hayride.
7. Make cards for special friends and send in the mail.
8. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte!! This will not be a one time thing...
9. Go to an apple orchard and pick apples!
10. Make homemade apple butter :)
12. Start a family gratitude journal.
13. Surprise someone you love with a mum. My mom actually surprised me with one! Now I need to pay it forward. :)
14. Tailgate before a football game with friends.
15. Visit the pumpkin patch.
16. Collect pine cones and create a beautiful garland or centerpiece.
17. Go to local elementary school and read fall-themed books to children. (I have a friend who is an elemntary teacher who might could help me with this!)
18. Prepare a nature scavenger hunt for the kids at school and help them make art out of their findings.
19. Roast pumpkin seeds. I think I over cooked them! OOPS! I'll know better next time. 
20. Make pumpkin pies, mini ones!
21. Visit a corn maze. I went with my mom, dad, and nephew Sam. It was fun just because we were together. Missed AJ.
22. Have a night time singing (camp songs) and eat s'mores!
23. Participate in trunk or treat and decorate our car all spookey! 
24. Refashion a fall outfit/dress.
25. Make crockpot apple cider, YUM!
26. Purge my closet (and AJ's) of old clothes and donate.
27. Provide dinner for a family (or 2) in my community.
28. Jump in leaf piles and take lots of photos! (Does that mean I have to rake?)
29. Plan a day at the park just lying in the grass, take picnic snacks of course!
30. Invite friends over to watch a football game and serve game day snacks.
31. Enjoy a bonfire with friends and family.
32. Slow down… after the craziness of summer, enjoy the brisk autumn air, the smell of the leaves, the coolness of evening, and savor each moment…
33. Bake pumpkin bread!
34. Pull out the sweaters, wash them up, and anticipate the coziness to come!
35. Make caramel corn.
36. Watch "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".
37. Go for an early morning walk and watch the sun rise on a cool, crisp day
38. Go on a “day trip” with my hubby.
39. Make a huge pot of homemade soup and enjoy our cozy home!
40. Visit a craft show with friends (great way to get ideas for Christmas!)
41. Bake pumpkin spice cookies.
42.Stay up late and watch the harvest moon. (Sept 29!) It was over cast :/ and after the fact I read that this years HM was supposed to appear smaller than usual.
43. Decorate home and front porch for fall. Decorated the front door thanks to a good friend providing an adorable pmpkin door hanger!
44. Make homemade applesauce.
45. Enter a race! (An excellent gaol to include in my weight loss journey.)
46. Read through the New Testament. (I'm in Luke already!)
47. Eat a delicious Thanksgiving meal with family.
48. Make sweet potato casserole for the first time ever using my Aunt's famous family recipe!
49. Save my pennies to buy a new camera! (I'm reaching here.)
And there you have it! This is my list. I'll be updating the list periodically to cross thing off! Watch for posts about me and AJ doing all of our fun Fall stuff :)
What are you most looking forward to this fall?

So what's up?

Just so you know, trying to lose weight and gain my health back is not the ONLY thing I am doing lately. (It is a major part, however, because I don't want to get diabetes or heart disease!) But since you're here and I just got back from my work out I'll tell you what I did. Today was a weigh-in day, as you know from my last post. It went just how I thought it would go, well, worse.... I GAINED four pounds in August. In July I LOST eleven pounds. It truly is a science. Put the right things in your body and build muscle and burn calories... VIOLA! Weight goes down. Here's my work out today, pretty short but effective.

Concentration: Chest, shoulders and triceps

Dumbbell chest press on exercise ball, 15 reps.
Dumbbell shoulder press on ball, 15 reps.
Lap around indoor track holding weights.
Repeat three times.

Seated dips on bench, 5 reps. (I know, I'm a weakling!)
[Girl] push-ups, 5 reps.
Repeat three times.

Chest press on band machine, 15 reps, 3 sets.

Shoulder press on band machine, 15 reps.
Seated dips (I think that is what its called. Its the same motion) on band machine, 15 reps.
Repeat three times.

10 minutes on Stair Master (death) at 55 steps per minute.

It was about a 40 min work out. I usually try to work out for an hour to an hour and a half, but part of my time was taken up with the weigh-in and then after the SM I was ready to go.

So besides trying to exercise 5 days a week and boring my husband with chicken and veggies I am super excited to say things at MSOP have gone back to exciting! The students' wives meet every Monday night for a chapel service and ladies Bible class. Usually afterwards we go to Starbucks, because we just can't get enough of each other. I have refused to in the past... but I suppose I should start ordering the "skinny" version of anything I order.
Its just not right to skip the whipped cream!!!!

Several other activities have commenced as well including FH ladies class on Tuesdays and Game Day Wednesdays. :) Also, I've been doing a good job about keeping up with the Digging Deep Bible study by Cindy Colley! Are you following along as well?

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On the eve of a weigh-in.

Tonight is the eve of another weigh-in for me. This will be the third one. I thought this would be a good time to write about the beginning of my weightloss journey.
A short background... All my life I was active. I took ballet and tap from the time I was three years old and continued dancing until my college years. The reason I stopped dancing is a whole other story its self. I'm 5'11" and have always been a bigger person. There were about two glorious years, while I was marching with the band in college, that I was totally fit.




Here I am in my best physical condition... about five years ago when I was 21. Two years later I met my husband. I had not been dancing for almost two years, but I was still pretty fit. Here is a picture of AJ, me and our parents a month before we got married in 2009. I was also working out almost every day to prepare for our wedding day.




Still looking and feeling great as far as I was concerned. Coincidentally, my parents (on the left side) have both dropped a ton of weight now and look great. I'm so proud of them. The first six months AJ and I were married I was able to maintain a healthy weight for my height. Close to our one year anniversary I started to slowly gain weight. Mainly, I thought, due to my inactivity and just being happy. I've heard that a person gains weight when they are happy!




At first the weight gain was slow. Then between September 2010 and September 2011 I gained 30 to 40 pounds. Mixed in that year AJ and I completely uprooted our lives and moved to Memphis for him to go to school. (So glad we did!) In September 2011, I stopped taking birth control. (TMI? So sorry!) A couple of months passed and NO CYCLE. I've always had irregular cycles so it was no big deal... at first. Fast forward to May 2012 and still NO cycle. Also, I've only continued to gain weight. Tipping the scale at almost 250 pounds! I made an appointment to see a doctor. After blood work and an ultra sound it is determined that I have PCOS. Poly-cystic Ovary Syndrome involves and can mess up so many things with your body. I won't bore you with all the details. I'll just mention that PCOS is why I wasn't having monthly cycles... because it totally messes with a persons hormones which can totally mess up a persons metabolism which can cause a person to gain a ton of weight if gone undetected. ::sigh::




(This is me shortly after we arrived in Memphis. Getting bigger...)
So after I was given the diagnoses and immediately began thinking of fertility... or infertility. I began reading and reading. It is possible for a woman to become pregnant with PCOS with the help of different medications. Well, at the time AJ and I weren't interested in becoming pregnant so I determined within myself that I was going to correct my PCOS symptoms with weight loss. I've read that sometimes just losing 5 to 7% of you body weight can correct some of the symptoms.




(Here I am, tallest in the middle, at my heaviest back in June 2012. I had actually already started training but not showing a change yet.)
That week I signed up with a personal trainer at the local gym and began changing my diet. I started training at 237 pounds. At my first weigh-in, almost 6 weeks later, I was still at 237. However, my body fat % had gone down and my muscle mass % had gone up. I was showing some promise. At my second weigh-in I was at 226!! I had lost 11 pounds!! I couldn't believe it. I had also shed 4 inches off of my waist alone. I had my trainer measure twice because I just couldn't believe it. I was ecstatic. Losing 11 pounds gave me the boost of confidence and belief that I needed. Just two days after that weigh-in, AJ had a long break from school, two weeks. Thats two weeks away from home, away from the gym, eating out and little to no control over what I was eating.
That brings me to right now. August has been a bust for sure. I am just hoping I am at the same weight I was at when I weighed in at the beginning of August. I think I gained back two or three pounds though. There isn't another break from school until the middle of December. That's over three months of continuous hard core exercise and eating the right foods! I've set a huge goal of thirty pound by January 1st. I can totally do it.
So that's [part] of my story and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far, ha ha! I'll be back with an update after I weigh-in tomorrow.

**Update** Just as I suspected. My weigh-in results are only a minor set back, though. Ready to hit the gym hard.

Four months later...

I'm back! For some reason I cannot explain I just fell off the blogging wagon for a little while. I was still putting in the same amount of time READING other people's blogs of course. Now, I have so many blogs bookmarked that there is no way I could possibly follow them all... it overwhelms me if I try so I just don't. I have bookmarked blogs about sewing and crafting/DIY; pregnancy, childbirth and parenting; cooking, baking and gardening; fitness, dieting, and clean eating. Then I have several blogs that I follow through the blogger reader tool. Although I don't read each one every day they are there if I need an idea for a project or a recipe or to see what the latest is on the "best" style of parenting out there.

There is a blog that I recently found, don't remember how, called She Learns as She Goes. The author posts resolutions for each month and then grades her self at the end of that month to see how she did in keeping those resolutions. This is something that I would really like to start doing for my self. When SLASG does it she opens the post to a "link party". I don't want to do that though. I'm not SO interested in other people reading my resolutions. If its something you might like to do though you can follow the link to her blog. If you are subscribed to "BlimeyCow" on youTube you might recognize the author of this blog.

So, that is how I want to get back into blogging. I am going to start doing "monthly resolutions". At the beginning of each month I will list 3-5 resolutions that I want to keep. At the end of the month I will grade myself to see how well, or bad, I did. Guess what, its the first of September. Perfect timing, huh?

September Resolutions:

Hit the gym at least five days every week. I recently joined a new gym and have started working with a trainer every week. I'll post more about that later.

Start and keep up with the Digging Deep Bible study, "Sanctified". You can find more information about that here. It looks like it's going to be a really awesome study. You should follow along, too! The study starts today :)

Stick to our budget Dave Ramsey style, envelopes and all. Aaron and I really need to attack our school debt so we can start saving like we want.

Continue the Light for Your Path Sunday blog series!


Do you have a favorite blog that you read almost every day?

A Light for Your Path

Another beautiful Lord's day here. The sun is shining and the sky is clear blue. The heavens truly do declare the glory of God. Psalm 19:1

Have you ever heard someone tell you, "You do not have to DO anything to be saved"? Have you told someone that yourself? If someone believes this they will usually lead you to Ephesians 2:8 and say, "See? Through faith, not by works!" Obviously this person has not taken into account the entirety of God's word. We read in James 2 that we ARE justified by works and that like the body is dead without the spirit, faith is ALSO dead without works. So which is it? Does the Bible contradict itself? Skeptics would stop here and say, "YES!"

NO! The Bible does not contradict itself. Read the passage in Ephesians again. "for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory." (Ephesians 2:8, 9 ASV) "not of works, that no man should glory." What works could a person glory in? Well, works that they created by their own devices. So what type of works ARE we justified by according to James 2? Works of God. James refers to Abraham and Rahab and how they were justified by their works. Well who's idea was it for Abraham to sacrifice is son to God? Who's idea was it for Rahab to remain in her home to receive the spies? GOD. Abraham and Rahab, along with many others in Hebrews 11, did those things by faith in obedience to God. God TOLD them what to DO and they DID it. So when we are "doing" something to be saved, we are not "working our way to Heaven" as long it is something God commanded. We are simply submitting ourselves to God's will.

Please consider the following.

Mark 16:16- "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

Does that sound like if we DO NOT believe we can be saved? Does the word damned describe salvation? (Most people in the religious world will certainly agree that you have to believe in Jesus in order to be saved, leaning solely on John 3:16. Someone might even say, "You do not have to DO anything to be saved EXCEPT believe..." contradicting themselves.)

Luke 13:3- (Jesus speaking) "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

Does that sound like if we DO NOT repent we can be saved? Jesus repeats himself just a couple verses later. Does the word perish describe salvation? (Here we go again. Someone might say to you, "You do not have to DO anything EXCEPT believe and repent..." contradicting themselves even further.)

Luke 12:8,9- (Jesus speaking) "Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God."

Does that sound like if we DO NOT confess Christ we WILL be saved?

John 3:3- "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Does that sound like if we are NOT born again we CAN enter the kingdom of God?

So is there anything we must DO in order to be saved? It does not seem like according to the word of God that all we have to do is believe. It is true that God's grace in an unmerited gift to all people, but we MUST obey Him in order to recieve His gift. Matthew 7:21; Hebrews 5:9 Notice the words DOETH/DOES and OBEY.

Please consider the "whole counsel of God" when you are studying His word. Acts 20:27

Poached perfection and firsts.

*Hello :) If you like what you are reading or have a comment please let me know! You can leave a comment at the end of each post. Thank you!

After reading many different methods on the internet about how to "poach" chicken, I finally asked a few of the other student wives here at school. The over all concensus says to bring your water to a boil (enough to cover the amount of chicken you want to cook) then drop chicken into the water and boil for about thirty minutes. I just tried it and sure enough it worked! I cooked three chicken breasts (skinless, boneless) to poached perfection! ...well, I think next time I will not let it cook as long. After thirty minutes I checked the internal temp of each piece of chicken and they were reading above 180 F which is well above well-done. Maybe the chicken won't be rubbery, dry and tasteless. I am putting it into a casserole so if it is it will at least be camouflaged by cheesy, broccoli goodness. *I am writing this as I cook and the chicken is dry and chewy. Surely the soups and cheese will make up for that.

By the way, the recipe I am trying tonight is from the Once-a-month Mom. It is a chicken, broccoli, rice casserole... something you have probably made more than once. If you will notice, OAMM used homemade cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup to make the meal more "whole foods" friendly. I, on the other hand, opted for the canned versions... making my casserole even less spectacular... :/ I am sure it will at least be tasty, and as my husband says, "It will". On second thought, you do not want to know.
*I did not go to the gym this afternoon because I did not poach my chicken last night, like I wanted to. I do not know why I always think "easy" when I think "casserole". I definitely got my work out tonight. Think two cups freshly grated cheddar cheese. Yeah. My cheese grating muscles are out of shape have never been used like this. Is that another first?!

So there you have it, the first time I have ever poached chicken. Another first for me occurred while preparing supper last night. I cooked a roast in a crock pot (My second time, so that is not what I am talking about.) and made gravy from the meat drippings! It was SCRUMPTIOUS! I love gravy on my creamed potatoes... yum. I am drooling thinking about it now.

I know. My cooking skills are elementary, but I have to start somewhere! Pay no attention to the fact that AJ and I have been married for almost three years. I suppose the first three years of our marriage I cooked a lot of the same things over and over. They were all things that I know how to cook very well. I use the word "cook" lightly. Usually just opened a few cans and mixed some stuff together and "Viola! Supper's ready!" I do make a mean meatloaf! ...ah, as good as meat loaf actually is, the name just does not do it justice! Loaf is just a funny word. Just like congealed salad is so delicious... congealed is just an ugly word.

What is for supper at your house tonight? Accomplish any "firsts" this week so far?

...congealed... blech.

A Light for Your Path

AJ and I are headed back to AR this morning. AJ preaches for a small congregation there a couple times a month.

Today I just want to share a website with you. It is called www.ucanbsure.org This website has a lot of sound Biblical information including articles and sermons written by members of the Lord's church. The website also features a free Bible correspondence course that covers very practical Bible information that all people need to know and understand. I encourage you to go to this website and take a look around, especially if you have questions about God and the Bible and the church today.

Have a blessed Lord's day!

A not-so-average week.

It has been quite a week! After something going on every night of the week AJ and I are glad to just hang out at home today. I think we're watching the Richmond race tonight. Yes... NASCAR. When I married my husband I married all his likes and dislikes... NASCAR included. I must admit that I do enjoy watching as well! We usually snooze somewhere between the first 25 and last 50 laps anyway. *Oh, Update! In case you are interested, tonight's race featured the first all electric-powered pace vehicle. If you are interested than there is no need to explain further. If you are not... there is still no need.

What is for dinner tonight at your house? 

We are having Creamy Taco Mac. I have already tasted it and it is as good as it looks and sounds.
I found the recipe over at the Sing for Your Supper blog. This is the first recipe that I have tried of her's and I cannot wait to try many more! I followed her recipe almost to a tee. I didn't use all 8 oz of my noodles (AJ and I like more meat and sauce than noodles.) and I did not use the entire cup of starchy cooking water. That may be because I did not use all the noodles. ANYHOW. It is delicious and you should rush over to her blog and try it tomorrow night. The ingredients are simple, but not necessarily low fat. I did use light sour cream... every bit helps! 

So here is my week in short. 

Monday night I went to MSOP wive's class. It was very eye opening. We heard from a lady who has been married to a preacher for about twenty-five years. She shared some of the ups and downs of their life together working for the Church. 

Tuesday night AJ and I went to a gospel meeting at another local congregation. It was awesome. We heard Brother BJ Clarke preach about the one true church. He answered the question: "Has God ever confined salvation to one location in the past?" The answer is yes. Think Noah and the Ark (Gen 6), the tenth plague and the Passover (Exodus 12), and Rahab's house (Joshua 2). Today salvation is confined to the Lord's church which is His body and He is the savior of it. (cf Eph 1:22,23; 4:4; 5:23) We must be a part of Christ's body in order to inherit eternal life.

Wednesday night we attended a different gospel meeting and heard Brother Billy Bland preach about THE last day, as in the day the Lord will return and this world ends. (cf John 12:48; 14:1-3; 1 Thess 4:16; 2 Peter 3:10) 

Thursday and Friday night AJ and I, as well as a couple other preaching students, attended a formal debate in Little Rock, AR. It was awesome to be present for such an event. Debates like this do not happen as often as they use to, but they should. The topic of the debate was "ARE MECHANICAL INSTRUMENTS IN WORSHIP TO GOD SINFUL OR AUTHORIZED?" You can find more information about it at the Gospel of Christ. 

So after a lot of driving to and from we are very happy to be home on Saturday. Although, the driving was WELL worth it. I wish every week were like this one. We were able to spend time with brethren. We were able to hear the gospel preached with authority and boldness. It does not get much better than that. 

How was your week? Do you have mechanical instruments at the church where you attend? Ever asked if it was authorized by God?

A Light for Your Path

Welcome back! Its Sunday again and I am thankful that God has blessed me with another opportunity to worship Him! Are you assembling with the saints today? 


To continue my Sunday series, I would like to direct your attention to an article written by Kyle Butt from Apologetics Press. It is titled "Martin Luther Speaks on 'Faith Only' and Baptism". If you like this article I encourage you to look around AP's website. There are SO MANY articles about SO MANY different Bible topics. ENJOY!

Click here to read the article.
 
Have you been taught you can be saved by simply believing Jesus is the Son of God? 

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." Psalm 122:1

A Light for Your Path

*I have decided to start a series of posts for each Sunday which I am calling "A Light for Your Path". I got this phrase from Psalm 119:105. These posts will be of a spiritual nature. Sometimes, like this time, I may write about a Bible topic myself, but other times (probably most times) I will share with you an article or thought written by another member of the Church. I may have posts on other days of the week that are Bible related, but I definitely want to have one each Sunday since it IS the Lord's day. I hope you enjoy it and experience SOME spiritual gain.

It is the first day of the week! If you are like me, Sunday is a day you look forward to throughout each week. On Sunday mornings, AJ and I wake up and prepare ourselves to assemble with the saints and worship our Heavenly Father!

On the other hand, maybe you sleep in on Sundays and then lounge around the house in your pajamas all day. Why?!

Worshipping God is a great privilege we have as Christians! We GET to assemble with people of like precious faith, encourage and edify one another. (cf. Heb 10:24) We GET to sing praises to God. (cf. Eph 5:19; Col 3:16) We GET to approach the Almighty God together in prayer. (cf. Acts 2:42) We GET to hear a gospel sermon. We GET to commemorate the great sacrifice Christ made for you and me when He was crucified on the cross for the sins of the world. (cf. 1 Cor 11:24-26) We GET to give back to God a portion of the means He has so richly blessed us with. (cf. 1 Cor 16:2) Do you GET the idea? ha ha

So if it is not too late, get up and put on the best you have and find a local congregation of God's people and spend the day worshipping the Father!

If it is too late, you have an entire week to plan for next Sunday!
If you are not sure where to go, I will do my best to help you find a sound body of Christians to worship with in your area... if only you would ask!

"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Psalm 42:1 KJV

On becoming a Christian

I wanted my first post to be about the most important part of my life. Really the phrase "part of my life" does not give it justice. It is my life; it is who I am. I am a Christian.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 KJV)

When I became a Christian I died to myself and became alive to Christ.

How did I get here?

My purpose for telling you this is to give a little background information about myself and also to maybe help someone who is seeking the truth. I have not been a Christian all my life... not even most of my life. As a child,  I went to a Methodist church. Until I was about 21 I thought being a Methodist was as good as anything. But you see, that just is not true. While my intentions were pure and I was sincere, Methodists do not make Christians... nor does any denomination.

My faith had never been tested before. Then I started dating someone who was roommates with a Christian. We were invited to attend worship services with him regularly, which we did. We also attended group Bible studies on the campus of the college we attended. After a few months I figured out for myself that there is more to being a Christian that just saying you are one. I realized that I had been misinformed my whole life. I don't fault anyone for this but myself.

I learned about the one true church and how to become a member of it. I had already heard the gospel (Rom 10:17) and believed that Jesus is God's only son and died for my sins (John 3:15,16; 8:24). I learned that I needed to repent of my past sins (Luke 13:3), confess before others (Matthew 10:32) that Jesus is the Christ, the only Son of God, and then be baptized for the remission of my sins (Mark 16:15,16; Acts 2:38) AND for God to ADD ME to His church (Acts 2:47). I did all those things and now I am a new creature, a Christian, striving to live faithfully even unto death (Rev 2:10).

I am PROUD to be a Christian and thankful, too! If you have not done one or any of the things that I did to become a Christian then you are not yet a Christian. Yes, that is a bold thing to say, but it is true! Read your Bible and find out. You should want to become a Christian! The God that created you desires you to be and prefers you to be in Heaven with Him for all eternity (2 Peter 3:9). If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Anyhow, I broke up with that guy I was dating. I am thankful that we dated since I was introduced to the Church through him. However, it is a good thing we broke up because now I am married to the best, most amazing man ever! Of course if you are married you probably think that about your husband, but I promise mine is the best for me!

And thats me on becoming a Christian.