Meeting Jesus.....Again

The journey continues as I participate in Pursuing Wellness with Elisa at Extravagant Grace. Through my study time this week in First Place 4 Health's Begin with Christ, I have spent time getting to know Jesus better. This is what Week 2 looked like or me......


1. What was your take-away for this week's worth of homework?

I feel like I inherited a Big Brother to lean on this week - I have always known that with Jesus I am a co-heir in Christ, but this week that really came alive to me in a new way as I wrote 2 different letters to Jesus in my journal and shared my heart with him as to a big brother ......never had one as an only child and loved the way it feels!!!


2. Did you meet Christ for the first-time?

No Thankfully I met him some time back ;-)


3. Were you introduced to Him from a new perspective?

I was - I have a Big Brother that I didn't have last week ;-)


4. How did the I AM verses and You Are homework change your life this week?

I realized through listing the I Ams and the YOU Ares that I do not allow him to be those things to me and rely on him as fully as I should. HE IS - the Gate, the Good Shepherd, God's son, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way, the True Voice and a King.

Luke 20:9 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Sweet Jesus, I say......

You are My Brother, My Shield, My Savior, My Help, My Ever Present Friend, My Guide, My Warrior, My Righteousness, My Salvation and The Lover of My Soul


5. Are there any fears or doubts that are keeping you from declaring that Jesus is the Risen Savior?
If there are I am not aware of them ......only resolve to know him more ;-)



Accountability Questions
1. How did you do in terms of your wellness goal from the last week?
It has not been a great week for me in terms of success - I hurt my back on Monday and have not exercised all week because of it. I have a burden on my heart relating to a situation with my son and that has had my spirits low, and if those two things were not enough my crampy, grumpy little friend arrived for a few days as well !! In spite of it all - I ate better this week than what I had been doing and am more aware and tuned in to my health overall.

2. What goal have you set for this coming week?
This week I am claiming this over my life....
Psalm 40: 1-2
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
I know that the enemy works to defeat us before we gain momentum and I think that is part of what has been going on with me this week. I will not allow his shallow schemes to undermined the victory that is already mine in Christ!!!

3. If you want to share, what is your weight loss goal / how much did you lose?
I jumped on the scale this morning, well actually I sort of snuck on it .......no change from last week at all....I am ok with that - it was not a good week and there was no gain.....Next week however it will be a lower number - that is my goal ;-)

By way of quick summary - it has been a lousy week, but I am confident that I am on the path to where I want to be and that keeps me focused on the outcome - good health inside and out. I am thankful for a supportive and encouraging husband who is by my side through it all and that I have everything I need to achieve my goals - victory is a word that God has been whispering to me all year throughout many different situations - this is a victory that will be very sweet!!
If you feel led to add me to your prayers - I would ask that you would join me in petitioning God to give me guidance and direction in dealing with the situation with Wonder Boy that is weighing so heavy on me right now. I had a friend pray for me yesterday and she sought a quick answer and confirmation.....your linking arms would be most appreciated ;-)

Learning as I go,
Leisha

Thank You Father For My Son.......

Laura at HeavenlyHomakers.com hosts a weekly feature called Gratituesday that I have decided it is high time I participated in. I have been blessed in so many areas of my life and truly am grateful for the abundant blessings I have - so here is my first contribution to what I hope will be many Gratituesdays to come ;-)

This morning Wonder Boy is at VBS, it is very quiet here now, but before he left he wanted to read to me......he read 2 books to me , Mama Loves You by Carloine Stutson and Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. I have read both of these to him many many times since he was a wee thing, but now he's a big boy and reading to me - needless to say I slobbered all over myself as he read Love You Forever - that book made me cry before I had a son - now - well - forget it resistance is futile!!

I am so grateful and my heart is filled to overflowing today for all the precious treasures that my Heavenly Father gave me when He blessed me with a son ;-)

Mama most surely does Love You Wonder Boy -
Bushels and Bunches XOXOXOXOX

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Getting in the Swag.......

Bloggy friends - I have come across something too wonderful to keep to myself.......Have you heard of Swagbucks? Not to be confused with Starbucks, although you can buy Starbucks with Swagbucks ;-) It is a search engine that lets you earn while you search and if you are a seeker of things like I tend to be - this is big news!! You can earn Swagbucks to purchase gift cards for Amazon.com, Starbucks, Target, Barnes & Noble and iTunes just to name a few. There are many other Swagbuck spending options and it is all f-r-e-e ;-) This is the coolest!! I have checked it out before posting here and from every source I have come across this is one of those things that is as good as it sounds.....maybe even better ;-) They really won me over when I came across the Go Green options to earn Swagbucks by recycling old cellphone and video games and game systems!! I signed up last night and have not had much time to do anything yet as I have been cleaning house all day and I have already earned 10 Swagbucks by doing a few quick searches - there are plenty of other ways to earn Swagbucks as well so by all means take a look and see what you can start earning your Swagbucks to save up for !!
If you choose to sign up (and why wouldn't you??) to start earning as you search please do so by following one of the links you find here and send a little Swagbuck love back my way - I am planning on earning curriculum for free!! Maybe even a Kindle....sigh.......so go - what are you waiting for - get Swagbucking!!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Becoming What We Pursue

Our Pastor did a series a while back on becoming what we behold and though I have looked for my notes - I cannot locate the notebook with the "meat" from that series - it will surface at some point and I will share it with you then ;-) (If you have notes and you know where they are - Buffi?Lisa? - please feel free to help me out with the details I am missing). Anyway........one of the main points he made was essentially that what we "behold" we "become". In thinking about that as I was preparing to start the Pursuing Wellness 12 Week Bible Study at Extravagant Grace I was struck by the thought that what we pursue we become as well. When we pursue laziness and excuses, things of this world, when we put our physical and spiritual needs on the back burner continually to take care of things that are more important we reap the results of those choices and we are ultimately pursuing a life of failure, stress, disappointment and misery. We must seek Him first in all we do and become who He has called us and knit us in our mother's wombs to become !!

I know that my Savior lives and loves me and wants what's best for me - I also know that if I seek Him and His ways that I will find the peace and wholeness that I seek. So the big question for me then becomes why is it so hard to do that consistently for any period of time ? You know what I'm talking about - we start out great and lose our foot hold somewhere along the journey.

I will be posting each Friday about that journey that I am embarking on and keeping myself accountable to you my sweet readers as well as to the other women who are taking the journey with me. I would love for you to join us if you feel led - you can start at any time and jump in as you are ready. If you choose to just observe for now I would ask one thing - I need your encouragement and prayers so if you take the time to read the posts - please please please take the time to leave a comment - it will help tremendously ;-)

I am not ready to publicly post the nasty number on the scale, but I suspect I will be at some point.....just not there yet ;-) I know you understand!!!

It is my prayer that these 12 weeks that lay before me hold some keys that I have been missing (along with my notebook) that will unlock some long unanswered questions about self defeating behaviors and feelings of not being deserving in many areas of my life.

I will warn you now - this may get raw and at times perhaps even a little raunchy - but God can't clean up what is already clean now can He?? So I hope you will hang in there with me and hold my hand a little here and there as I jump into an adventure that I pray takes me to a new level of relationship with the One who made me and a new level of health and vibrancy that I have been missing for too long now.

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

I want to be His delight and make Him smile because I finally "get it".

IT IS TIME.

Learning as I go,

Leisha

It's Crackers at Our House

Our dinners lately have been light and easy as it has been getting hot and we have been enjoying what I would call "Summer Buffet Meals" - they are mainly an assortment of goodies - nothing too filling and everyone helps themselves. I made some salmon spread and tabbouleh (with parsley, fresh mint and lemon balm from our garden...yum!!!) this week and we had watermelon, strawberries, olives, hoop cheese from a trip to Tennessee's Amish area recently and assorted veggies with homemade Ranch Dip. Add in some pita bread and tortilla chips and you have a feast fit for any appetite. Last night I still had plenty of tabbouleh and salmon spread and I had some twice baked potatoes in the freezer that I made a big batch of a few weeks ago but I had no more pita bread and was not in the mood for tortilla chips so I took a trip over to visit Laura at Heavenly Homemakers as I remembered seeing some kind of cracker recipe on her blog a while back. I found this recipe for Crispy Cheese Crackers and Wonder Boy and I set about our mission.........
I love using cookie cutters to make things more fun ;-) These were very easy to make - the hardest part was doing it with the cookies cutters rather than cutting the crackers in squares from a rolled out sheet of dough as the recipes instructs (I have a hard time ever following a recipe exactly) - in other words not hard at all ;-) They were quite good, for our tastes I would add more cheese next time - we are pretty cheesy folks in this house. They were healthy and easy and not over time consuming - win, win and win.

Learning as I go,

Leisha