As my due date quickly approaches, one of the things I am
most looking forward to is getting my body back into shape. I’m not the
skinniest or most athletic person but I LOVE working out and I have missed it
so much! This pregnancy has been especially difficult for me because I had to
quit exercising pretty much altogether right from the beginning.
Due to a pre-existing hip/lower back injury that was
provoked by a combination (most likely) of being pregnant and standing on my
feet for the majority of my 12 hour shifts at the dentist office in the most
awkward and uncomfortable positions imaginable, I was barely able to walk some days,
let alone hit the gym. After a few months of physical therapy, which really helped
dull the pain, but didn’t erase the problem,
I was released until after the baby is born. Hopefully the problem will
just resolve on its own, but if not, it will require an MRI and who knows what
else…. But I’m straying from my point a little bit.
Now that we no longer have a membership at a gym with
daycare provided, Drew bought me a double jogging stroller a few months ago. We’ve
used it quite a few times to walk around the track that is located
(conveniently!!!) just a couple blocks from our house. I absolutely LOVE it so
far, but I can’t wait to strap my tennis shoes on and really take it for a
spin. (Ask me again how much I love running around the end of June, when I
realize how severely out of shape I am, while running in the hottest months
Florida has!! LOL)
In addition to that, I have a true “health nut” friend who
got me hooked on juicing. Although I haven’t done any juice fasts like she does
to “detox”, I love it so far. Drew and I try to drink green drink (a combo of
spinach, celery, cucumber, parsley, pear, green apple, papaya, and lemon) about
3 times a week. Even Houston likes it. One of my newest pregnancy cravings is
carrot/celery/apple juice, which I make a couple times a week as well (I would
probably drink that every day if it wasn’t such a pain to peel all the
carrots!)
I have also traded in my other favorite pregnancy craving,
frosted shredded wheat, for organic, plain old shredded wheat. I have to admit
that the taste isn’t really that disappointing though, if you are wondering! I’ve
also been trying to add a lot more fresh vegetables and fruits to all of our
meals. We are pretty healthy eaters, but over the last few months we’ve gotten
a little lazy, just due to the convenience of it! I really don’t like to cook,
but I’m doing my best to only eat out a couple times a week, like on the
weekend.
I feel like we are on the right track for our bodies, but
more importantly we’ve both recently committed to making our hearts healthier
too!
Our preacher has been teaching a series of lessons on the “war”
of Christianity and preparing ourselves for the “battlefield”. This past week
was a huge wake up call to me, personally. He entitled it “Basic Training for
the Christian Soldier”. The lesson
outlined what we must believe, what we must know, and what we must train to do.
It was actually quite embarrassing for me to admit what I really didn’t know.
Even though I learned all of this growing up, it’s amazing how much of it didn’t
really stick with me. For example, he said we should be able to quickly locate
a verse in Nahum, when someone asks us, without breaking into a sweat. Yeah, I
can tell you I wouldn’t be able to do that! I’d be flipping through the pages like
a hot mess! Some of the things we must know included books of the Bible, the 10
commandments, the three points of the gospel, the three points of the great
commission, the storyline of major events in the Bible, and minimal verses that
should be committed to memory. He gave a list of twenty basics every Christian
should know and there were at least half of those I wouldn’t feel confident
discussing with a non-Christian.
This is how I’ve been neglecting my heart.
On Sunday night, we all got an awesome handout with more of
this outlined for us. (In fact when I called my mom and told her about it, she
requested copies for her and my dad!) The first two pages are 100 verses to
memorize. They are broken into sub-categories such as the word, prayer,
baptism, victory over sin, faith, return of Christ, and consequences. There are
39 total. In order to set a realistic goal, Drew and I have committed to
memorizing one verse per week from each of the categories. The other two pages
list the twenty basics as well as some basic Bible literacy. It’s my
understanding that we’ll be discussing this handout in the weeks to come, and I
am so looking forward to this. I think this is seriously going to take the “fear
factor” out of teaching others. If I don’t even know WHY I believe something,
how am I going to convince anyone else they should believe it too?
In addition to all of this, I have been influenced by
another friend to complete the 90 day challenge. This is a 90 day plan to read
the entire Bible. I’m only a few days in, so I’m sure my motivation will start
to wear off a little, but I feel like it’s going to be so worth it! How will I
know how to use my weapon in battle (the Bible) if I don’t even know what it
says?
So this is our plan to get back into shape.
He also told them this parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will
they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone
who is fully trained will be like his teacher. – Luke 6:39-40 (I stole
this from Sunday morning’s sermon)
Jesus answered, “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but
on every word that comes from the mouth of God” – Matthew 4:4 (This is
actually the first verse we memorized, and I think it can be applied here
perfectly! Side note: this verse is actually really easy for us to remember
because it’s the verse to one of my favorite songs!)
Here is the link to the 90 day challenge, which I stole from
my friend.
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