Berry our mindset!

In the kid's ministry on Sunday the children were asked what's the first thing you want to do when you wake up in the morning? While most were typical kid responses like 'play video games' or 'eat breakfast' one little girl, her big green eyes twinkling, said  "Go back to sleep!"

I found myself not only laughing because i enjoy the unexpected (especially from a kid) but because I found her answer would actually probably be my own.

At least it was this morning.

More than usual stubborn muscles, stiff and aching without remorse and exhaustion from not sleeping well caused me to commit repeated assault against the snooze button on my phone.Now usually the course of action I take when I don't feel like getting up is to count to 10 in my head & tell myself I'll get up after that. I realize it's not the most elaborate method of motivation but it does prove effective....most of the time....well except this morning.

10 seconds turned into 20 and 20 became 30 after about 40 I realized the approach was proving futile at best. My mind, momentarily uncontrolled due to exhaustion taunted me with the idea of doing my workout. Usually I enjoy doing my yoga and light workout once I can get started. But this morning the very thought haunted me, causing me to sink further into the mattress, if that was even possible.

While it may not take a lot of strength to do yoga, it does take discipline.And discipline was the furthest word from my vocabulary this morning. I knew after my workout it'd be time for the breakfast I've been having since I started this new diet. A smoothie. Doesn't sound too bad right? And it isn't. I've actually gotten used to it& believe it or not, looked forward it.  But let's face it, when you don't feel good you want something substantial, comforting. I don't know many people who say "man I've had a rough day, I'd sure like to go home and curl up on the couch with a bowl of carrots."

 No this morning I was thinking pancakes, a donut, or at least a muffin! And some coffee. Mmm coffee. I could literally smell the intoxicating aroma so much so that I wondered if Jeremy had skipped work & was chilling in the living room sipping on a cup of Joe. Crazy how the mind can play tricks on us. Even cruel, coffee smelling tricks.

 In the moment as my body lay motionless in the bed I'm not going to pretend that the thought of giving up the working out and the diet all together didn't cross my mind. I was in pain & fatigued anyway. So I laid there & did the only thing I felt like I had the energy to do. I prayed.

I prayed for strength hoping that God would equip me with hulk-like muscles & maybe a firm, yet gentle heavenly push to get me out of that bed. And then I realized it wasn't the lack of physical strength that was keeping me there. It was my state of mind. Sure my body hurt and I was physically exhausted but what was keeping me in that bed was my mind telling me it wasn't worth it to do otherwise.Nothing was going to change with my health. Why believe this diet or working out would benefit my health when I wasn't see results. Just go back to sleep & when I was ready to get up minutes (okay maybe hours) later I could go have some breakfast that actually sounded good. Donuts sure did sound a lot better than blueberries. But in the moment I knew what I needed to do & that was Berry my mindset.

You see, I think often times we miss out on God's best because we give up too soon.We constitute the situation as hopeless all the while not realizing how close we are to our victory. Just another few days of believing, another few weeks of doing the right thing, or another few months of staying in faith is all you may need to see His promises come to pass. The truth is we can hold on & fight longer because God is closer than we think.

I've learned that the intensity gets turned up when victory is near, when something good is about to happen.How else could we see God's glory shown or appreciate it the way we should. The enemy would not be fighting so hard if he didn’t already know he was about to lose.Instead of thinking negatively we need to start believing as victors not victims because through Christ that's just what we are!

The Bible is full of people who were closer than they thought...

• David faced impossible odds against Goliath, but he was moments away from victory (1 Samuel 17).
• Elijah was surrounded by 400 false prophets, but the power of God was about to be revealed for everyone to see (1 Kings 18).
• Joseph was forgotten and left in prison, but he was just a dream away from his royal position (Genesis 39–40).

Can you imagine if David dropped his slingshot and ran? What if Elijah had backed down? What if Joseph had stopped dreaming? But they didn’t give up, and God gave them victory!To me these stories reveal that the storm is roughest before the calm.

Maybe you're like me & at times feel like you are facing impossible odds. Maybe you feel overwhelmed by trials or even forgotten. The good news is that our God  doesn't need us to have it all figured out before He can act suddenly in our situation. We don't have to earn His mercy, just believe in it. In a moment’s notice, everything can change for the better! So let's Berry the mindset, stop waking up already saying "it's going to be a bad day." It's not always easy, it can be a day by day struggle but we can do it because God can do it. Instead of basing my faith on what I see going on around me I'm anchoring it in a God who is more than capable to not only handle it but to solve it!
                                    
                                    Just because something starts off bad doesn't mean it can't end Good:)

"But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."2 Chronicles 15:7

Clean House

              Clean House: to eliminate or discard what is undesirable. An idiom I'm trying both figuratively and literally to live by at this moment in my life. One of the benefits about getting sick a few years ago is that through it God has revealed to me a lot of things that I need to clean up in my life-not just physically but mentally as well. I've learned that while there are things I can't clean up on my own there are things that I can.

         My muscles weren't bothering me as bad today so I decided what better time to vacuum & with a hairy brown dog living in our house, it was much needed. Now with only two rooms in our house that have carpet you would think that would be a small feat to accomplish and you'd be right, it would be...if the vacuum was actually working. I went over the same spot again...and again...and again seeing no change. Nada. I eyed the black & maroon electronic with the "face" my mom used to give us when she wanted us to do something we didn't want to do. Now I admit I could be a pretty stubborn kid but something about that look made all resistance flee. However you must have to be a mom to perfect the look because this vacuum was not complying. Stubborn.

        I took a step back wondering why something that was created for the sole purpose of cleaning was refusing to do so. I felt God putting on my heart that we tend to do the same thing. God created us special, unique & yet often times we miss out on the purpose for our lives.

       I almost kicked the darn thing but somewhere common sense prevailed reminding me of the fact that I was barefoot & violence never solved anything. So I refrained & instead turned the vacuum over to look underneath. 'Well there's the problem!' I thought to myself as I peered (best I could) through the cracks & crevices to see nothing but dirt & grime. Although it was created to clean, the vacuum itself was so clogged up with mess that it was hindering it from fulfilling it's purpose.

       Often times it's easy to allow dirt to accumulate in our lives filling our hearts and minds with garbage
that clouds our thinking. We're tired physically,emotionally, spiritually saying we want to clean up our lives while still allowing the same things in that mess it up in the first place. Making the same mistakes, suffering the same consequences. We want to change but we don't clean out the dirt. It's something I've struggled with in my Health. There were foods I hadn't been necessarily 'told' were effecting my health but I could feel making my symptoms worse.Thoughts about all the things that could be causing my pain that would only bring fear & worry. Dirt. You can't just move it around. You can't store it somewhere for future reference. You can't recycle it into something more acceptable. You have to get rid of it.

      So with great determination mixed with some trepidation I took that rascal vacuum out onto the deck, into the 103 degree weather (thanks Texas) and prepared to go to work. Now it had been awhile since I did a thorough cleaning of that vacuum which became painfully apparent now as the sun provided a clearer view into the dusty, dingy bottom staring up at me. I wondered if it was worth it. Oh how easy it would be to give up,throw in the towel & just let the vacuum grow old & dirtier, never again fulfilling it's purpose. But the vacuum wasn't made to just sit in the closet collecting dust (well, not on the outside anyway) & our carpets wouldn't get cleaned if it did. How incredible is it to know that God never looks at us the way I looked at that vacuum in that moment? Even while seeing the filth & dirt in our lives he never questions if we're worth it,God would never give up on us-so much so that He gave up his only son. Through Jesus God gave us Hope, He created us for a purpose and because of Jesus He never doubts we can fulfill it. God will never forget about us even when we allow our clutter to make us forget about him."Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you."Isaiah 49:15

      So I took the vacuum apart (saying a silent prayer that I'd be able to put it back together) and proceeded to clear out the dirt. There were so many spaces that I had a hard time getting into to clean but refused to do this job halfway. If I really wanted the vacuum to work the way I wanted, the way it was intended I'd have to do whatever it took to clear away the dirt, all the dirt. In the same way I think God looks at us. He knows what part of our lives need to be cleaned up & he knows what it's going to take to do it. We just have to ask him & then trust him to do so. While it may be a tough, tedious, sometimes painful process it will be worth it. About an hour & a few pounds of sweat later I had cleaned out the entire bottom/inside of the vacuum, put it back together (yeah me!) and found it working efficiently. I couldn't help but be proud of myself. How much more is God proud of us when he sees the undesirable dirt in our lives,our hearts, and minds cleaned out, allowing us to reach the potential he created us to reach.One of my favorite verses says: "And he said, the things which are impossible with men are possible with God" (Luke 18:27). It's challenging, But it is possible.

So I'm washing away the procrastination and dusting off my attitude.I'm ready to clean house and fulfill the purpose God has for my life because I know it's greater than anything I could ever imagine, how about you?

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."Romans 12:2

RIP Monster Energy

Well...today I said goodbye to my old friend Monster Energy Drink.It's been a good run but it was time to say farewell to the Caffeine. I had done good for awhile not having them but when the fatigue kicks in the monster comes calling. I tried to convince myself since I'd only drink the zero sugar,zero calorie one that it wasn't that bad. And i found my mind wondering (as it often does) to how that relates to life.

How often in life do we make bad decisions? For me, quite often. But how often could we have prevented those decisions in the first place? More often than not I'd say that we know what 'bad' consequences will result from a decision but make it anyway. Whether we choose to ignore them or simply convince ourselves 'it really isn't that bad.' Now I know some of you may be thinking having a monster drink really 'isn't that bad.' And trust me as inclined as I am to agree (& have convinced myself of that very logical time & again) for me it is & much more.

I had my 1st energy drink in college & it was love at 1st taste. When I started getting sick a few years ago I knew the sugar in them wasn't good for me so I switched to the ones with no sugar. Better right? Maybe so. But it's kind of like saying a Grizzly bear isn't as dangerous because his claws have been clipped. I'm sorry,but if I ran into a bear on the street I'd be more concerned about his ginormous 'want to eat my arm off'-teeth than his manicure.In the same way (in my head) a monster is still a monster no matter what ingredients they say they take out. Just like a bad decision is a bad decision no matter how many ways you look at it.  Now I'm not saying it's not okay to make mistakes.Obviously we all have, we're human. But when is it time to start learning from those mistakes so we don't make them again?

I've learned caffeine makes me feel worse but did that stop me? For a little while, but then it was right back to having it. Now I do pretty good with eating health but Monsters have been my weakness. It was almost like an addiction. Sometimes I think I wanted one just to have one,always convincing myself it would be the last one. They seriously would consume my thoughts, Id wake up in the morning & that was the 1st thing I would want!CRAZINESS!

In the moment a decision can seem like a very tempting one but that doesn't make it a good one. The effects are not worth it. That's what I'm learning with food. It's been hard to start letting go of things that are so delicious but I know make me feel worse. Like Donuts. Don't even get me started on Donuts. But through it all I think God's showing me that not everything that happens in the moment is worth what could happen in a long run,to look at the Big Picture. Recently when I was fasting I was craving a chocolate donut (shocker) & my AMAZING mom told me 'eating one would only be a temporary satisfaction while resisting it could be permanent satisfaction.' My mom's a Genius! That has stuck with me ever since.


So I've replaced my monster with this green drink. Is it as tasty as a Monster......maybe not...Do I feel better afterwards?.....ABSOLUTELY! I actually have more energy drinking this in the morning than I ever did drinking a monster. I don't know how beneficial drinking a monster is (sadly,I'm guessing not much) but this drink I KNOW has healthy benefits. I know it's going to be a process but if I'm serious about trying to get healthy & beat this mess I'm going to have to make some sacrifices & live by the truth I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.Phil 4:13. So Goodbye Monster & hello Green concoction!

                                (All organic if possible)                                    

 1 cup kale

1 cup spinach

1 1/2 tbsp hemp seeds

1 tsp chia

1/2 avocado

1/2 banana

1 cup coconut water

You can add apple to make it sweeter. I add a little cinnamon.