Keep moving forward

Keep moving forward. Fall down? Get back up and move forward. Hurt? Down? Tired? Keep moving forward even if its by crawling slowly through the mud.

So often it seems it would be easier to just quit. To give up and not try to do any more. It would be easier to not care. It would be easier to plant myself in front of the TV and eat junk. It would be easier to send my kids off and let someone else teach them (well, in some ways maybe). It would be easier to just stay home all the time and not participate in Church or anything else.

Easier isn't always better though. Sometimes easier means you don't accomplish anything worthwhile. I have chosen easier from time to time, but it didn't get me to where I wanted to go.

Sometimes I fall down while I am running this race. Sometimes I fall down in the mud and just lay there wallowing in it, but then I fix my eyes on the prize and continue moving forward. Sometime I don't have the strength to get up, but at least I can crawl in the right direction. Sometimes I run hard and it feels like I am getting nowhere, but I keep going forward anyway, knowing, that at the end of this race, I will be with Him, and be like Him, and see Him as He is! That is worth every effort. He is worth putting all of my faith and trust in.

It is only by His grace that I am able to not give up or lose hope. It is only by His grace that I am able to move forward through the mud of this life. It is only by His grace through the reading of His Word that I can see the prize, the Kingdom of Heaven that awaits me.

There will always be things that trip me up, weigh me down, and try to stomp the life out of me. Until that day, the day that I come face to face with my Savior. Nothing can separate me from His love, nothing can keep me from finishing this race. The prize is too great to give up before I finish the race.

Tough time of year

I am finding it hard to eat healthy lately. I have good days and bad days, but lately more bad days than I would like. It seems like everywhere I go there are sweets calling my name! I fight with myself about it saying "Just a bite", and then "no! Don't eat it!". It has been a losing battle lately though.

There are several things at play here. For one thing, I associate Christmas treats with good memories of years past. I remember that great Christmas when I made honeycomb candy as gifts for everyone. I am also an emotional eater, this time of year brings up a lot of emotions, mostly because my little Silas, who should be 7 years old right now, is not here. I can't wrap up any presents for him, I can't teach him Christmas Carols, I can't help him make ornaments for the tree. This is the 3rd Christmas without him but its still hard.

Another thing is that I've been so busy with activities lately and I have not been planning properly. When I don't plan my meals properly I end up eating poorly.

I have been exercising pretty well lately. I've been working out 3 times a week and walking 6 days a week. Except this week, I was feeling run down on Wednesday so I took a break at the advice of my husband. I didn't want to be too worn out to teach at AWANA Wednesday night. I did work out Monday and today though, and I should reach my goal of 20-25 miles walked for the week this week. That is something. 2 years ago my goal was 10 miles a week and I had a really hard time reaching that most weeks, so I have definitely made progress!

I'm still going to try, even if I fail some days. Tomorrow is always a new day. I know that I can't win every battle overnight, nor can I win any battle on my own strength. The Lord isn't finished with me. He is still working on my heart in many areas, including my relationship with food. Yes, He cares about that too!

Thank you Lord for not giving up on me. Thank you for loving me so much.