Household Happenings

Daughter is home from school today. She picked up a stomach bug and I'm now praying that no one else is "blessed" with it (although it would probably be helpful with my weight loss, LOL) She is disappointed to be missing school - a very different reaction than her brother would have had, I assure you. Speaking of him, he's had a rough couple weeks due to his behavior at school. Would really appreciate your prayers for wisdom as to how to handle that issue - we keep trying different things and so far haven't found anything particularly effective.

I went back to the doctor yesterday to follow up on my knee situation (now that the heart issues have all been addressed...) It's actually doing much better now, so at this point I'm choosing not to have an MRI or anything else done; I've had quite enough tests done for awhile, thankyouverymuch. It's still bothering me a bit, but I've been able to do some low impact exercises, and I know that strengthening it - plus losing weight - will help greatly.

Speaking of losing weight, I'm still doing it :) I'm using sparkpeople.com and am loving all the tracking tools. I really like that I can go beyond just calories to recommended ranges of carbs, protein, fat, etc. I felt like that was one aspect where Weight Watchers fell short, and I get downright giddy over a week's graph where I can see that I stayed in my ranges on everything. Yeehaw! And I've also been surprised on a few things - most notably sodium. I don't add salt when I cook, and generally don't use a lot of convenience foods. Well, let's just say that I was well over 2,000 mg daily (usual recommendation is that the gen population doesn't go over 2,300 and those with high BP stay under 1,500 - my doc said 2,000 is fine for me). A single meal out or a processed meal and I was pretty much done for the day (canned soup and those freezer meals are ridiculous!) Anyway, I'm doing much better now, and it's really forcing me to truly cook from scratch, which is obviously healthier in many ways. And while I have been spending a bit more on some foods, overall spending on groceries is actually down.

An even bigger part of the "self-improvement" journey, though, has been focusing on my relationship with Christ. I had let my commitment to daily prayer & Bible study slip, and have been really re-energized by digging into the Word. God is *so* Good!! Additionally, we've been getting more connected in the church, which again has been such a blessing. I'll be helping with the kids on Sunday - pray for them as well as me! :) And seriously, I truly would ask for prayer. I feel like I'm lacking wisdom in so many areas of life, specifically in my roles of being a wife, mother & friend. When should I offer advice, and when do I just need to keep my mouth closed?

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life
Proverbs 3:5-8, The Message

(I know I usually stopped at verse 6 or 7 in the passage - I'm now loving vs 8, too!)

Taking a look into my heart...

Oh, the stories I could tell! ;) I know things have been pretty quiet here on the blog, and there have been all sorts of reasons, some of them fairly dramatic.

Back on August 23 (first day of school!) I had scheduled a doctor appointment for myself, specifically to check out a sore knee. While there, my pulse & blood presure were both high - I knew that life had been exceptionally crazy and I didn't think much of it. The doctor was concerned and we did an EKG. After confirming that I was *not* having a heart attack, I was told to monitor my BP for a week, plus come back for a follow-up EKG. Did so, and there was a minor irregularity; the doctor recommended that I have an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound). My first thought was, "Wow, I'm sure thankful that we have good insurance so we don't have to pay for all this!" Obviously, I was not overly concerned. Anyway, I had the test done, and received a call from my doctor on Friday, Sept 3. There was an abnormality with my aorta that could potentially lead to aortic dissection; I would need need a CT scan to get a better look at my heart.

I was still relatively calm after talking to my doctor... until I googled aortic dissection. I then sat in front of my computer sobbing. I called my hubby and couldn't even get a complete sentence out. I tried to pray and just kept breaking down. I grabbed my Bible, and looked up "broken hearted" in the concordance. Read a lot from Psalms. Calmed down and just keep praying. On a "perfect God timing" note, the Bible study that I had started the prior week had run out of books and the shipment was late. I had picked up my book late on Thursday afternoon and had planned to start reading that night, but it didn't happen. On Friday afternoon, I pulled out my book and started reading:

"No matter how strong our bodies, minds and emotions may appear, unless we have spiritual tenacity and resolve, we will not be able to run the course God has laid out before us... It is one thing to say that Christ has first place in our life; it is quite another to put those words into practice... During this week, we are going to learn more about Jesus, the One who is altogether faithful and completely worthy of our trust."

The scripture reading was from Colossians 1 - verse 17 in particular jumped out at me: He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Amen! Anyway, it was a very emotional weekend. I just kept praying and reading Scripture and trying really hard not to think about the logistics of recovering from heart surgery or motherless children. Sunday morning, the chorus to the last song had the line, "What would You do with my heart?" and it was such a challenge to me - Was I truly letting Him have it all?!

I had the CT on Wednesday, and then had to wait to hear results... Finally received the call on Friday morning, and the doctor let me know that everything was fine. I don't know if there was a mistake on the echo or if I've experienced miraculous healing, but I do know that God is in control of it all. And while I *know* this, the events of the past few weeks have provided a very vivid lesson that I pray I do not easily forget. I'm excited to continue the Bible study and see what other lessons God has in store for me.

And on another note, I have lost 6 pounds in the last 2 1/2 weeks!! Let me tell you, committing to eat healthier has been a challenge, and it's only through HIM that I was able to get through the past week without inhaling every food in our house...

Friday Funny

Ran across this through a friend of a friend on Facebook, and I thought it was too funny not to share

New Week...

So here we are. I've dropped the kids off for their second week of school. After one week, our daughter is loving it (and has already surprised the teacher on several occasions with her advanced knowledge). Our son is doing OK and seems to be connecting better with friends this year (I'm still specifically praying for a new best friend for him, as his moved to Vermont this summer; it was a bitter pill to swallow as he still very much misses his friends in PA)

Me? Well, I'm adapting to the new routine. With this new stage in life, I was wanting to streamline our house (yes, it's an ongoing process), get involved in a Bible study, get better connected with some women and get healthier. I had considered joining Weight Watchers again simply for some accountability (I used their program about 9 years ago, but within 2 years had slipped back into old habits. Had joined about 2 years ago but life was crazy and I just wasn't committed enough). Anyway, a few weeks ago I was talking with a friend of mine and she mentioned that she was going to be co-leading a First Place 4 Health group. Basically, this is a Christian program that is more about health than weight loss - but obviously healthy weight is a big component. It's being held at the church where I attended MOPS last year (no longer involved) - and it starts today. Definitely an answer to prayer, and I'm excited to see what God has in store for me.

So is this going to become a weight loss blog? Definitely not!! :) If you recall, I had started 2010 with the goal of implementing a new "good" habit each month. Great idea... but I didn't do so well. I *need* face-to-face accountability (at least at this stage) and I know this group will really help. While my health is still decent at this point, I know that I will have more energy, feel less achey, etc. at a healthier weight. And well, if I don't make changes, with my family history it's pretty much a sure thing that I will end up with diabetes. Plus, I'd rather help our kids establish healthy patterns now and save them issues down the road. This was our breakfast on Friday - I'd heard about the idea of "green smoothies" (more here and here) and finally decided to give it a try. Our son wasn't so sure about it when he saw me add the spinach, but he took 1 sip and quite happily announced that he couldn't taste the leaves at all ;) So yes, I'll be looking for ways to incorporate more healthful things into our diet - but that means more veggies and less refined foods (although we don't do a ton of that, there is still room for improvement) as opposed to using artificial sweetener in everything. And yes, portion control, too. I will probably will end up sharing parts of my journey, so you've been warned!

In other news, we're also getting plugged in at our new church. Hubby has taken over the sound ministry (oh well, I enjoyed sitting with him during service while it lasted ;) and I'm going to helping out with the children's programs. They're going to be starting up some ladies programs in a few weeks that I'm pretty excited about (a Bible study as well as a weekly craft group - yeehaw!). God is so good! I've even been taking another friend with me to the service for the past couple weeks, and I'm excited to see God at work in her, too.

We've lived here for just over 13 months now, and I must admit it's finally starting to feel like "home." Ahhhhhh.

Love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy. Mark 12:30, Msg

That's our memory verse for this week with First Place. I memorized the NIV version, with the more familiar "heart, soul, mind, strength" components, but I just love the different spin the Message provides!

First Day of School

And there is my 2nd grader and Kindergartener. Guess who's more excited? :)

(And yes, I know I need to wash my car!)

Good Fear?

School starts on Monday - and for the first time ever, I will be sending both of my children off. My daughter is excited (and much more ready than her brother was) but I can also tell that she's a bit scared, apprehensive about all the unkowns.

Me? My emotions are all over the place. The selfish part of me is looking forward to having some "free" hours in my day, but another part of me wants to somehow freeze these precious moments. The Mama Bear wants to prevent the tears resulting from playground spats, frustration when a new school topic just isn't sinking in, and the loss of innocence from "learning" things from other kids... and while I know that we could cocoon them a bit longer, it's time to let go (just a bit ;)

This article over on girltalk really spoke to my heart. The world is a fearful place, but focusing on those concerns isn't going to get me anywhere (except possibly to the doctor for anti-anxiety meds!). God is always the right answer :)

The Fear-of-God builds up confidence, and makes a world safe for your children (Prov 14:26, Msg)

Magazine Winner - and zoo trip

Well, obviously everyone is super excited about a subscription to Cooking Light. At least I don't have to worry about hurting anyone's feelings ;) So without further ado, I'm happy to announce that the winner is #1 (yes, randomly chosen from *all* the entries). Moving on...

We were crazy enough to ignore the heat warning yesterday and go to the zoo. I had planned the excursion with a friend, and I must admit that if there hadn't been another family involved I definitely would have stayed home and soaked up the A/C... but despite the sweating we had a ball. We laughed at monkeys, petted goats, chased chickens (and no, there is not one growing out of my son's head :), and just generally hung out. The zoo has just built a new kid's play area that also has three misting stations, which were definitely the highlight of the day. Afterwards, we went to the zoo-themed McD's and guzzled Powerade. Hooray for free refills! I left my camera home, but here are a couple pics courtesy of my friend: