Making Strides

It has been a very interesting week! I'm calling it "growth week" for now, and thanking God for changes in my attitude and mindset. Working my way through the book In The Arena of the Mind has been life-changing. It takes each of the words from Philippians 4:8 that describe what we are to be thinking on, and describes more in detail how we can do that. I have especially been convicted about thinking things that are true, and things that are noble. I find myself thinking a lot of "what ifs" in my mind, 99.9% of which never happen. I have been taking those thoughts captive and replacing them with things that are true. The author explained noble thinking as thinking about things that are important to God, not about things that are trivial to Him. God has been showing me a lot of the trivial things that I think about. First of all, I had a teacher workday the other day, and when I started getting bogged down in the details of math lesson plans, God led me to the whiteboard to make a list of what's most important. I was thinking "begin with the end in mind" about our girls, and how we want them to turn out. On the board I listed "The End" and underneath it, all the things we want our girls to be in the end. First and foremost I listed "Love God" and "Love Others", since these are the two greatest commandments. Under that I had a few others, like being grounded in truth from God's Word; having useful life skills when they leave our house like being able to change a tire, balance a checkbook, make a budget, cook a few meals, do the laundry, sew on a button, etc; having social and etiquette skills. Next to each "end", I started listing things we can do today that will get them to that end. It helped me to see again the importance of Bible study, worship, and prayer in our home, and of reaching out to others. Those are the top priorities. The rest is gravy. Second, I went to the gym yesterday and had a revelation. I have made strides in the area of body image. I watched a particular lady that I know is at the gym like 3 times a day, and at the tanning bed at least once a day, whom I used to admire. But watching her strive so hard yesterday for something so futile, reminded me that a perfect body is most definitely not on the "most important to God" list. Sure, He wants us to be healthy and take good care of our bodies. But not at the expense of the important things. I weigh 10 pounds more than I want to right now, and for the first time ever, I'm not stressing over it. My body has so beautifully and miraculously brought four children into the world and is now feeding and sustaining a newborn through a beautiful process created by God! Who cares if it weighs 120 or 130?? God wants me to be healthy, not driven to perfection.

So, like I said, in a lot of ways this week has felt like "growth week" for me. In lesser news, I got a Mac.  Woo hoo!! I can't just say "I got a new laptop", I have to say "I got a Mac." I am THRILLED. Can't wait to figure out what all these buttons do! :) The best part is that my cousin Lance at the Apple store helped me with my purchase. I love Lance!! Also, we are going camping this weekend if the weather cooperates. I love camping with Brian. He's such a pro at all things outdoors. :) We'll see how the girls do in a tent. . .

Keep you posted!