God time – Faith Fitness and Mommy Stuff

Why I Choose To Ignore God

chelsea-ferenando-163294-unsplash Photo by Chelsea Ferenando

This post was supposed to be all about how I hear from God but I’m not a prophet or insane. I feel like I have to add that disclaimer every time I choose to follow through on a God-invitation to give someone a word or share a message with a broad audience. Like, I need people to know God doesn’t speak to me through burning bushes nor do I think I’m a modern day prophet. But I also need people to know that I don’t hear voices – I can just discern between my thoughts and His.

I wanted people to know that when I follow through on a God-invitation to share a word or message that the message is not my own. But before I could fully flesh out that blog post God made that “Pump your brakes” noise and called me out on my unwillingness to follow through on said invitations. So the post went from one big disclaimer to a confession of my ego-driven disobedience. Yay.

You see, pretty much every post God invited me to write this year focused on or touched on a hot topic – something controversial that was relevant at the time I received His invitation to open my mouth (or write in the case of this blog) – that was sure to tick some people off. Believers and non-believers alike were not going to like everything God asked me to share. Not many people read this blog and I really didn’t want to alienate them. Ugh.

Why was I so caught up in people-pleasing when I thought I’ve made substantial progress over the year? Put simply it’s because I’m human and we all have an innate desire to be a part of a greater community. While I don’t know most of the people who read this blog I guess I like to imagine that if we met in real life that we could be friends. And as for the readers who do know me, I would prefer to not upset them because I avoid conflict like the plague – straight up.

What God hit me with tonight is that when I get to heaven it’s just me and Him. I’m not going to see any of the people who read this when I see Him face to Face. Not to say that no one who reads this blog is going to heaven. They just won’t be answering for my life choices. Only I will be giving an account for my life. God can be pretty direct with me like that.

I figured since He put it that way…

I need to get honest about my disobedience in order to do something different. So here’s the truth: I choose to ignore God because

I try to please people instead of honoring Him
I fear what people will think of me instead of trusting Him – this is especially true when it comes to my in-real-life people
I often choose comfort over Him
I question the call on my life
I don’t think I’m qualified to be an ambassador for God
I’m often tempted to reword His message in an effort to make it more palpable but He won’t let me so rather than surrender I just walk away from the invitation entirely

I’m sharing this today for a few reasons. First, confession is good for the soul. Second, I know I’m not alone in hearing from God and not really knowing how to walk it out (sorry if that song is now stuck in your head, too). Lastly, I’m sharing this because I am sick and tired of living in disobedience. I haven’t been spending time with God for months now. I’ll pray, and worship, hear from Him, talk with Him, but I haven’t spent like legit “Let me carve out some time to sit at Your feet and be fed” time with God. I blamed it on my routine being thrown off over summer break. But the truth is that after months of refusing to open my mouth when He told me to, I found it more and more difficult to be in close proximity to Him. Willful rebelliousness will do that.

So here’s to leaving the excuses behind and walking boldy in obedience. Will I still worry about all of the things I mentioned as excuses? Most certainly. I’m still a broken person working towards wholeness, still spirit wrapped in flesh. As long as I’m breathing I will struggle with that stuff. But, just for today – and hopefully each day hereafter – I am choosing love over fear. His love for me over my fear of being rejected by other broken people.

Last week, a friend asked via social media for people to share their 2018 in five words and look to 2019 in three. I responded with “Even the saved need grace” and “Surrendered and obedient”, respectively. I’m going to walk into 2019 holding onto both declarations. I will choose to surrender to God’s will daily and obediently follow through on His invitations while I accept God’s grace as needed to avoid getting caught up in the lie that it’s possible to follow Him perfectly.

***Let this blog post serve as a disclaimer for all future blog posts. I plan on writing whenever God prompts me to do so and I won’t be explaining why I’m writing or trying to make His message more palpable. Hopefully, we can still be friends (be it virtual or IRL) after you read whatever He’s asked me to share. But if not, that’s okay because obedience is better than sacrifice.***

There’s A Place For Me

bonnie-kittle-186235-unsplash — Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash

“Who the Son sets free

Oh is free indeed

I’m a child of God

Yes I am

In my Father’s arms

There’s a place for me

I’m a child of God

Yes I am” – Who You Say I Am by Hillsong Worship

I completely misheard this verse last Saturday in Franklin, Tennessee during the cooldown of the Rev On The Road workout. But I didn’t really mishear it. I heard it loud and clear exactly the way my Daddy wanted me to hear it.

Every summer God seems to make me keenly aware of the injustice in this broken world, especially where race is concerned. I just noticed His timing this summer. I think God opened my eyes to the fact that He’s been pricking my heart for the past several summers so I would let go and let Him move freely.

If the question of race or race relations makes you uncomfortable, go ahead and stop reading now. If someone sharing their pain – whether over their personal experiences or the experiences of others – makes you want to check out, please do so now. But if you choose to continue reading, I ask that you do so with an open mind and a softened heart.

I have avoided posting about race for years now. Be it my own experience, or my response to instances of systematic racism – namely the killing of unarmed men of color. All because of fear. Fear that I wouldn’t share my feelings well. That my doing so would make people uncomfortable. That when God told me to open my mouth via my keyboard that my brokenness and unaddressed hurts would muddy His message. So, as I sit here typing these words I keep praying to Him, between tears, that He will heal my hurts as I type so my hurt doesn’t turn to anger. Because while people can relate to anger, they can’t always hear past it.

I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Made on purpose with a purpose. I walk in this truth daily. But being a woman of color who presents as white has been a very lonely experience at times. I’ve endured passive aggressive and overt racism only to hear that I wasn’t “really Hispanic” or “really Black” or “not like that” implying that the hurtful words didn’t apply to me because I wasn’t really a member of the minority group being referenced. And I’d wonder – even sometimes ask out loud – well, if those words didn’t apply to me, did they apply to my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins? And on the flipside, I’ve gone out of my way to prove myself as a woman of color – that I belonged with the other brown women. Sometimes it’s all been in my head and other times I’ve been asked certain questions to see if my membership was legit or if it was going to be rejected.

And that’s what it comes down to, doesn’t it? Whether the question rests on race or some other means of identification, it all comes down to belonging or being rejected. And when I heard these lyrics God let me hear “In my Father’s arms there’s a place for me” I desperately needed to be held and didn’t even know it. In my life I have experienced more rejection – real or imagined – than I would have liked to. I’ve never felt like there was any particular place for me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel like this all the time. But it’s always like music playing in the background of my everyday life. I’m not acutely aware of it until I am.

I honestly thought I had let go of all of this belonging and identity stuff years ago. I was walking across the local dam and God told me that I didn’t need to be brown enough, or Latina enough, because I was His. It was the first time in my adult life I felt lies about my identity break off of me. It was cathartic but painful enough for me to want that to be the end of the healing process. Today, I accept that this is truly a process. And as long as I’m breathing He will take me deeper into the hard places to bring me more freedom, healing, and peace.

God met me on that mat last Saturday and allowed me to feel His presence in such a tangible, loving way. I did not like the feelings He stirred up inside of me, namely the deep sense of vulnerability, but it was so very worth it. I don’t remember everything He declared over me because our time together was cut short due to me needing to fulfill my duties as a volunteer at the event. But I did promise Him to get still long enough to go back with Him to that space of surrender.

I’m not really sure why God wouldn’t let me go to sleep until I wrote this. It may just be for my benefit – obedience does feel so much better than the alternative – but I pray that it isn’t. If He’s been calling you deeper, go. It may seem scary and there may be tears, but I promise you the encounter will be worth it. He always is.

Refresh Summit South

I originally wrote this while I was reading “Do Over” by Jon Acuff. It was in response to the Day 5 assignment. Good to know that three years later that I am consistent about not posting consistently – even drafts.

Motivating Place — Where is the most motivating place you’ve ever visited? Refresh!!!

So technically Refresh isn’t a place, it’s…

I find myself at a loss for words when I attempt to describe Refresh Summit ’14 in fewer than four sentences. I’ve been struggling to blog post about it for almost a year now. Mainly because I keep writing too much. Like an epistle too much. Seriously, I could write a blog series about the two days I spent in a B&B cabin with 39 other women in the mountains of Tennessee. I would describe it as “overnight camp” for women.

I never got to go to away camp and it was everything I imagined summer camp would be like. S’mores and all. Except there were no crazy antics involving paddling to the boys’ side of the lake or weird girl clique issues. Obviously, all of the camp ideas I had was based on the 1980’s movies I watched growing up. Even without all the cheesiness of an 80’s movie, I got all of the things I wanted out of an away camp experience at Refresh.

And a lot that I didn’t know I could get out worshipping God, fellowshipping, exercising, and eating really good food. What I can say succinctly about Refresh is that it’s the most uplifting and motivating experience I’ve had in the last several years.

Where’s the most motivating place you’ve ever visited?

Want to attend Refresh Summit South 2018? Registration is now open!

Craving Community? Me, Too

Disclaimer: I wrote this sometime in the summer of 2015, so if you were at the get togethers mentioned or watched the scope I reference, you know they didn’t take place this summer.

I prayed before I wrote this because I have the tendency to edit as I write. I also chose to write it in a journal before posting it. Here’s the prayer I wrote out.

Lord, clear my mind so I can have a conversation with You. I want to let go of all pretense – to give up on sounding clever or relate-able. I don’t want community based on smoke and mirrors. I just want to share my heart. My naked and broken heart.

I’ve been thinking about friendship and community a lot this year. Questions like “Why don’t I ever hangout with my closest friends?” and “Why does my community seem to all be virtual?” dominate my thoughts on the topic. I started to cling to the notion that my life would be so much richer if I got to spend time with my besties or meet up with members of my tribe for coffee. Okay, not really. We’d meet up for smoothies from Tropical Smoothie Cafe since God made me naturally caffeinated. I even half convinced myself that in lieu of getting to meet up with my besties or my tribe that I need to attend a conference or retreat every three months or so. You know, for spiritual maintenance. More like a mountain high experience fix.

I was at one such retreat/conference in June when I told Brooke, the woman sitting to my right, “I wish I could have this at home. I wish I could have this all the time.” I was referring to the intimacy, transparency, and grace that filled the room. I went on to tell her that although I get along well with the women of my church, I didn’t have this. She shared that she could relate.

Full disclosure – Totally unsure of what the Celebrate Motherhood Retreat was going to be like and not knowing anyone in the Happy Mommy Box community, I attended the pre-retreat dinner so I would be acquainted with someone, anyone, the day of the retreat. Yep, I drove almost an hour and a half so I would feel more part of the day of the event. That, and I was hoping to meet Jess Connolly who I’ve been following on Instagram since before she moved back to South Carolina. It was a little awkward that most everyone was familiar with each other through the Happy Mommy community and I had never even heard of the company before my friend tagged me in a comment for one of their posts. But by the end of our post-dinner trip to Marble Slab I felt like we’d all been meeting up like this regularly. And the next day, I totally scoped out the room and looked for someone from the dinner to sit near.

Just a few days after that amazing weekend, I caught Angela and Catherine of REFIT® Revolution on Periscope. They were in a Chick Fil A line with two of Angela’s daughters in the back seat. They were just doing life together and invited us to take a peek into that every day experience. Towards the end of the broadcast Angela said that she doesn’t have friends that she does everything with. And she was clearly disappointed by that.

So it got me thinking about community again and why I feel like I’m missing something. Something about friendship and community that holds the key to contentment. Something I assumed everyone had in their own friendships and communities but I didn’t have. But the confessions of Brooke and Angela had me rethinking all that.

I don’t blog much (I’m totally tempted to add “anymore” but let’s be honest, I’ve always been a sporadic blogger) but I remember writing something along the lines of “God calls us to be in community. First with Him and the with others.” I don’t know, maybe it’s in one of the many posts sitting in my draft folder. Anyway, God totally said those exact words back to me and then said “You’re glossing over that first part. That’s the problem.” What? “I spend time with you every day.” Silence. “I even took prayer walks after my quiet time for a couple of weeks.” I felt like a kid trying to convince her parents that she deserved a raise in her allowance because she was doing such an awesome job with her chores. Ugh.

That’s when the conviction set in. “That’s hoops and legalism. I want you. I want your heart.” I had to admit that a lot of my quiet time was about studying and not about spending time before a holy God. I also had to confess that I would often enter my quiet time hoping that God would give me a Tweetable nugget of wisdom or the perfect Instagram quote.

None of that has to do with communing with God. I’d love to say “I get that now,” but I knew that already. The thing is my heart is bent towards legalism and works. I can sit here and blame the denomination I grew up in, but it’s more universal than me or a single denomination. Since the fall in the Garden of Eden, mankind has been trying to earn or manipulate our way back into God’s good graces. To work our way to good enough.

Before I could even try to devise a new and improved approach to quiet time, God whispered softly to me, “You’re looking to community to give you something that only I can give you.” I can’t quite describe how I felt as that truth sank in, but it was like a mixture of relief and disappointment. I was grateful to know that there as a reason that although I felt full when I left a retreat or conference that the feeling didn’t last long. I knew part of the reason was that while a mountain top experience is meant to sustain me through the valleys, I can’t live up there. Now God was showing me there was more to it than that.

The disappointment crept in when I realized that the solution was to do something I can’t really “do”. I’m learning that communion with God isn’t’ about doing something, it’s about being something. Humble. Surrendered. Vulnerable. Willing. As much as I want to be in the Lord’s presence and hear from Him, all that has me feeling pretty fearful. And I’ve gotta tell you that my initial reaction isn’t to press into that fear, but to jump online and find a group of women who are in the same boat so we can go through this together. But I know that isn’t what God is calling me to do. I also know that He isn’t asking me to walk this out alone, either.

During the spring, on many of my post-quiet time morning walks I mentioned earlier, the Holy Spirit kept saying “Let’s do this”. At first I thought He was pumping me up for the walk. It was before the time change and it was scary dark out still, so I totally appreciated the motivation. But as the weeks passed and He kept saying it I saw that it was more than a motivation to walk. It was an invitation. An invitation to what exactly, I’m not sure. But I’m certain that God knows my heart. He knows how I earnestly long to be in community with Him and others. I trust that whatever “this” is that He’s inviting me to do with Him will equip me live the life He calls me to live.

Comfortable With The Uncomfortable

I wrote this a few months ago. I never did feel led to put in a photo. Instead I went with a verse. I’m not sure why God asked me to share this, but I trust that it will resonate with someone out there.

No graphics or photos for this post. I don’t know, maybe as I go through my day God will give me a visual to share. But right now, right this moment He’s telling me to just share my heart.

Yesterday a dear sister in Christ texted me a link to a video from the Leading and Loving It #JustONE2016 virtual conference. I’m not sure what day it was from, but it was good. Like brush off the dust of complacency and do some work for the kingdom, good. Work I have been too _______ (fill in the blank – tired, busy, lazy) to do. I’m not talking projects here, either. I’m talking about the work of boldly living out my faith. Declaring His truth whenever and wherever I feel His Spirit leading me to.

Here are some of the notes I jotted down, and you can watch the video here for yourself.

Get going – say YES to God without knowing the details, especially the outcome. Move when He says to and move with urgency.
Get strategic – be aware, be intentional, and be sensitive. Pay attention to people’s details.
Get uncomfortable – God calls me to serve and wash feet.

After watching that video I decided to sign up for the conference – funny, I thought I already had signed up but I guess that was last year – and watch all of the videos. They’re sent directly to my inbox so there’s no extra clicking on my part. The Day 1 video arrived this morning and I couldn’t really relate it to my current season of life. Lori Wilhite talks about God trading our junk for joy, our hurt for healing, and our pain for purpose. Believe me, I’ve had plenty of junk, hurt, and pain. Enough to last a lifetime. But as of this morning I had no current junk, hurt, or pain to reflect on. {Or so I thought} I still looked up Isaiah 60:17, the verse she was focusing on, and took notes. I even added personal reflections to each of her three points.

I could feel God stirring something up within me, and knew He was telling me it was time to dig deeper. Back in early January I signed up for my second ‪#‎cleanhearting‬ challenge to support the amazing ministry of Revelation Wellness. I wasn’t planning on going through the challenge again. I figured I’d watch Alisa Keeton on Periscope when I could or pull up a scope on Katch.

But I started experiencing heartburn a couple of weeks ago and it hasn’t let up. Heartburn is only something I dealt with during pregnancy. And before you ask, no, I am not pregnant. At first I was in denial, blaming the one meal that might have triggered it. But then I got still and quiet long enough (after several days of refusing to listen to my body) to see that the discomfort is God lovingly nudging me. Nudging me to look at my habits and idols.

So when I had finished watching the Day 1 #JustONE2016 video, I decided to read the Day 1 email for he Clean Hearting Challenge to do just that. To identify and confront the idols and habits that are keeping me from doing the kingdom building work God is calling me to do. Day 1 seemed easy enough – looking at the root of our desire to live clean, a desire God created us to have because we were made in His image and He is clean and blameless. Looking at Alisa’s very simple and straight forward definition of clean eating – avoid refined and processed foods and eat real food – was just the “Dude, I can do this” moment I needed.

And the let’s do this attitude wasn’t just about the eating either – and that’s the whole point behind the Clean Hearting Challenge, by the way, to pull off the blinders and see that it’s all about the condition of our hearts. It’s about treating myself better by eating life giving foods more often than fake foods, by getting more sleep, and by moving more. And moms out there, please hear me when I say that none of those goals are selfish. When I take better care of myself, I am better able to love the people God calls me to serve and love. And so are you.

The notion of loving people better got me thinking about February being the perfect month to practice being more intentional in my marriage. So I took The Husband Project: 21 Days of Loving Your man on Purpose and with a Plan off a shelf and started reading it. But right when I was getting to the “meat” of the first chapter it was time to get the boys ready for church.

Just a typical Sunday morning. Until it wasn’t. I got the twins dressed and fed. They were happily playing with our oldest until I had to go upstairs and get dressed and my husband out of bed. As I was getting ready he told me that he decided to sleep in and not to come to church. I was fine with that since he doesn’t sleep in very often. But a small disagreement with our oldest turned into something much bigger not only between the two of us but also between me and my husband. Before I knew it voices were raised and doors were slammed. And to top it all off one of the twins was refusing to get buckled into his car seat. I wanted to cry. And I did.

In spite of my feelings and the tears streaming down my face I went to church. Well, not exactly. The truth is I no longer wanted to go to church. I didn’t know what I wanted to do – I just knew I didn’t want to go. I almost marched everyone out of the minivan and back into the house, but I inadvertently locked the basement door when I slammed it and didn’t have a key to get back in.

So I drove us to church and apologized to my oldest on the way. I apologized for my tone and for slamming the car and house doors. He accepted my apology, because that’s what we do in our house. We humble ourselves to apologize, and we humble ourselves to forgive.

As soon as our junior pastor started preaching I knew that God meant for me to experience what I did this morning so I could really listen to his message. Not just hear it, but listen to it. His message was anchored in Job. It was such an encouragement from my Daddy. It was a reminder that when I make a kingdom declaration – like I did today saying that I was ready to do kingdom building work – that I will be met with opposition. I just forgot how quickly it can happen.

Today I spent some intentional time with God, and shortly thereafter the enemy came at me. Hard. He attacked my marriage and my motherhood. I wanted to throw up my hands and throw in the towel. But as a daughter of the King of kings I must remember that I am not called to do the easy things. I am not called to be comfortable. I am called to roll up my sleeves and wield the Sword of the Spirit and fight, for the victory has already been won.

Empires by Hillsong United + Giveaway

Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of Empires from Family Christian for review purposes. All opinions shared my own, and I clearly loved the CD seeing as I bought a copy to give away.

{I wrote this review over the summer some time but out of insecurity never posted it. I feared it was too long and detailed. As time passed it seemed as if the moment had as well. Since the CD was no longer on anyone’s radar why post the review? Now that “Say the Word” was just released as a single, I decided to shed my insecurity and share my thoughts on this beautiful piece of art.}

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Oh. My. This album is incredible. It’s not the kind of worship CD you pop into your car’s stereo system and get your praise on to, though. It’s the kind of worship album you need to listen to when you can steal away some time to be still and glorify the Lord. If I had only one word to describe this project it would be ethereal {extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world}. Even when the music and vocals build and the percussion is more up tempo, they build so organically and fall so effortlessly that it seems like the natural ebb and flow to each song.

It took me multiple naptimes – my sons’, not my own – to listen to all of the songs, as several of them are over five minutes in length. While percussion strings the songs together musically, the Gospel message does so lyrically.

As I listened to the songs I jotted down things down, including lyrics, that stirred my soul. Here is a synopsis of each song and a lyric from each that really struck me.

1 – HERE NOW (MADNESS) is pure adoration. It speaks of the closeness of God. It’s an invitation asking God to speak, to move, and to have His way. The song shares the Gospel message of grace, redemption, and Holy Spirit led living.

“Grace found my heart where logic ends”

2 – SAY THE WORD celebrates the power, majesty, and character of God. To me it’s a reminder of just how important it is to read God’s Word. How else can I get to know Him if I don’t read His Word? Sermons are great but that’s second hand knowledge. To get fresh manna I need to seek Him for myself. Amen?

“My soul will hang on to every word You say”

3 – HEART LIKE HEAVEN is a beautiful reminder that perfection is unattainable and imperfection is okay because God wants our busted hearts, not perfection. Jesus came for the sinners, not the righteous.

“Face down where mercy finds me first”

4 – TOUCH THE SKY is the first single off of Empires. It speaks to the reality of how upside down God’s kingdom is. So often we find ourselves exhausted from striving in this life. But throughout His word God tells us that not only can we do nothing apart from Him, but His power is made perfect in our weakness. {The cover art work speaks directly to the upside down nature of God’s kingdom.}

“I found my life when I laid it down. I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground.”

5 – STREET CALLED MERCY reminds me of 1960’s American folk music because of the beautiful opening harmony. The lyrics call up images of the prodigal son returning to his father’s open arms, Moses proclaiming that he will not go on without the Lord, and the psalmist proclaiming his loyalty and devotion to God.

“Tired of endless walking not knowing which way to go, I collapse on a street called Mercy.”

6 – WHEN I LOST MY HEART TO YOU (HALLELUJAH) is the most straight forward worship song on the album. You know, the kind that gives you permission to lift your hands up in abandon and let’s you sing along even if you don’t really know the words.

It has the most simple chorus “You have my heart…hallelujah” and again speaks of God’s upside down kingdom “I found Your love when I lost my heart to You.”

7 – EVEN WHEN IT HURTS (PRAISE SONG) is not your typical song of praise, as it lists “even when” circumstances and situations which remind me of Paul’s teachings on contentment and John’s teachings regarding trials. This song touches on the same issues raised in other contemporary Christian songs, but stresses that our hallelujah can be in tact even when our spirits are broken.

“Louder then I’ll sing Your praise”

8 – PRINCE OF PEACE is a beautiful declaration that God is still God in spite of all of the things in this life that invite fear and anxiety. As Lysa Terkuerst says, “He is still God, He is good, and He is good at being God.” Amen!

“Your love surrounds me when my thoughts wage war”

9 – EMPIRES is a beautiful portrait of salvation, sanctification, and eternity with God. I’m so grateful that God has gifted people with the ability to share such deeply spiritual subject matter in music.

“We are shadows and portraits, empires of light and clay, images of our Maker. Sinners called out as saints.”

10 – RULE is a call to Christ to be exactly who He says He is. It’s like praying the Scriptures back to God, but in song. It reminds me of the words of the Psalmist – set to a very danceable beat.

“Hope came dancing on an empty grave. Death has lost its rule to the King of grace.”

11 – CAPTAIN speaks to walking by faith and not by sight. It’s also a beautiful reminder that when we walk by faith we are not walking blindly, since we have a faithful Guide.

“Lost in the shallows amidst fear and fog Your truth is the compass that points me back north.”

12 – CLOSER THAN YOU KNOW is by far my favorite song on this album. It’s also the longest song on the album, at over nine minutes long. But it’s worth every second of your time, I promise. It reads like a beautiful love letter. The first half is written from Christ’s perspective, calling us to not lose faith and reminding us of all He has done and continues to do out of His great love for us. The second half is written from a believer’s perspective, acknowledging Whose we are and who we are in Him. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to have a tissue handy.

“For I’m Yours and You are mine and my soul knows well, You are here.”

If you haven’t already purchased Empires, you can buy your own copy here or click on this link below for a chance to win a free copy!

2/07/16 Update – the raffle is now closed.

Things to Try in 2016

Looking Forward to 2016

If you’re anything like me your email inbox has been clogged with “How to make 2016 your best year ever!” subject lines. Maybe it’s because I follow a lot of fitness and mommy accounts but my Instagram feed is overflowing with invitations to join the next challenge group that will blast away my excuses and extra pounds. This post makes no such promises. Nope. I will not be promising that you’ll have a perfectly manicured life if you sign up for any of these services or buy any of these products. These are just some things I’ve read/done/eaten/tried this year and enjoyed (or plan to read/do/eat/try this coming year) that I wanted to share with you.

One Word by Jon Gordon, Dan Britton, and Jimmy Page. I shared about my One Word experiences last year and I can’t recommend going through the process enough. You can get a copy of the book here and if you’re not into pen and paper like I am you can purchase the Kindle version. It’s a super short read but worth the purchase price regardless of the format you decide to get. My word for 2016 is abide. I know it’s the perfect word for this year because I’ll be working on a pretty big God assignment and I’ll need to stay focused on the One who gave the assignment rather than all the directions I can run with it.

Breaking Busy: How to Find Peace & Purpose in a World of Crazy by Alli Worthington is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I started several book this year, but I read this one all the way through so that’s saying a lot. She mixes biblical principles, real life tips, humor, and humility so effortlessly I felt like we were just chatting over coffee. Well, she would be drinking coffee but I’d be drinking tea because I can’t stand coffee. We did in fact chat via Tweets as I was reading the book which was quite fun. I couldn’t help but jump on Twitter as I was reading because there were so many moments of “Oh, that’s so true!” and “That’s so simple it’s brilliant!” that I wanted to share. The book releases January 26th but you can pre-order a copy here. {I just read in the launch group that there will be pre-order goodies to be had, but I don’t have the details, yet. I’ll post an update here as soon as I get them.}

Grokker is an awesome streaming service that provides everything from cooking lessons to workout sessions – including yoga. You can stream on your mobile device or television via Chrome Cast (which is what I’ll be using), Apple TV, or HDMI cables. I learned about the service through FitFluential and recommend you visit their site if you plan to research all things health and fitness. What I’m most looking forward to with using Grokker? The FREE access to the Grokker experts. I will be starting my free trial this weekend. You can get yours here.

Green Blender is another health service I learned about thanks to FitFluential. Each week 5 recipes along with the pre-proportioned ingredients are delivered straight to your house. It’s enough to make 10 smoothies – two 12 oz smoothies per recipe. You can share one or drink a big 24 oz smoothie. I geeked out when I first learned about this service because back in September I stopped ordering a particular super smoothie and I’m down to my last full bag. I was starting to research other protein options but not seriously trying anything because the choices can be a little overwhelming. I was planning on using some of my Christmas money to try the service but this morning I got an email saying that as a FitFluential ambassador I was selected to get my first shipment free. Woo-woot! I even got this cool unique url for you to use in order to sign up. They run cool analytics to see how many people sign up using the link. I think. Because they also gave me a code to give you – reina. I know you use the code, just not totally sure about the link. Can you tell I’m new to this? My first box will arrive the week of January 7th and I’ll have a blog post dedicated to my thoughts on the 5 smoothie recipes up by the 15th.

Revelation Wellness Instructor Training I will be completing a process I started back in August of 2013. I finished all the online training and attended all of the phone based chats but was not able to attend the instructor retreat. I was pregnant with our twins and couldn’t afford to give up five days of leave. I needed every day to go towards maternity leave. Two years later I have some leave saved up and the boys – all of them including my husband – can survive me being gone for a week. I’m actually not so sure about that so I’ll probably be asking my parents to come out from California and help out. If you have ever felt God leading you in the direction of faith then fitness, you should definitely check out Revelation Wellness. If not as an instructor, then at least check out their Periscope account and their YouTube channel.

So, these are the things that have me looking forward to 2016. What about you? What do you want to try out in 2016?

becoming myself

I don’t remember when I picked up my first copy of Stasi Eldredge’s becoming myself: embracing God’s dream of you. Funny, I remember where I bought it, but not when. Also, I’m pretty certain that I picked it up because I misread the title as God’s dream for you. For the past five years I’ve been torn between wanting to go into full time student ministry working full time as a teacher. Although I have accepted that teaching middle school is boot camp for God’s next assignment for me, I would be lying if I said there weren’t times that I desperately want to speed up the timetable so I can walk into God’s dream for me.

Like so many other books I have bought over the years, becoming myself went untouched. (I have a list of books to finish in 2015) Then last month, as a Family Christian Blogger, I learned of an opportunity to receive both the book and the accompanying eight session DVD. I didn’t even know there was a DVD that went along with the book. I’m not saying that I would have already read the book had I known, but just maybe. It wasn’t until I received the book and DVD did I remember I already owned the book. The memorable book cover had me searching through my library to confirm my suspicion that I had not only seen it before but walked by it several times in my own home.

As a mother of infant twins and a seven year old, I do not have the luxury of pleasure reading like I did before I had kids. What I do have though, is my morning time. It isn’t as sacred as I’d like it to be, as it is often sacrificed in order to get my oldest to school on time. And when I get to have it, reading a book is the last thing I do during that time. I pray, read short devotionals, pray some more, and then read. I say all that in hopes that you won’t judge me when I tell you I’m only about to start reading Chapter 4. Seriously. Although I thought I was cured from caring what others think about me, blogging and reading this book have made me keenly aware of my ever present desire to be accepted by others – especially women.

My friend Amia and I always talk about how you can’t help people if you haven’t walked through whatever it is they’re struggling with. And although you can commiserate with your friend if you’re still in that place, two people in a pit are still in the pit. One of the goals of Catalyst Movement – the dream God gave me for a girl centered ministry – is for girls to love one another as they learn to love themselves. I know that God brought my attention back to this book so I can work through some stuff so I can better lead girls into a life of freedom and wholeness.