Big News

I got the job...

I got the job...
I got the job...
I got the job...
I got the job...!

More info later!!!

Also, I lost three pounds, finally!

Forgetful, ain't I?

I forgot to post yesterday's stuff:
122 calories; .78 miles and 25 minutes. It had me going 1.9 mph most of the time. My heartrate must have been up yesterday for some reason.

Between an oil change, baking cupcakes, an interview, and dinner with Beth for her birthday, I was not able to work out today. Back at it tomorrow!

It's a new day!

So, yesterday I decided to a) go to the gym before church, and b) check what the treadmill had to say about how fast I should walk and my heartrate and all that. Turns out I was walking too fast! Didn't quite make it to church, though. Someone wanted to see the condo, and then didn't show up on time, and it all turned into a big hassle. Maybe they'll buy it and that'll make it all okay!

So yesterday's stats are: 128 calories; .88 miles; and 25 minutes, walking at an average of 2.3 mph.

This is, of course at "fat burning" speed, whatever that means. I figure when I can get up to 3.0 mph and still keep my heartrate within range, maybe I can move up to some exercise. For now, this is it! I am, however, going to follow Beth's suggestion and speak with one of the trainers about it to see if my calculations are sound. Mostly because I know absolutely nothing about it and am not qualified to make calculations, sound or otherwise!

I was going to go to the gym today, but didn't make it. It's okay, I'll go tomorrow. I refuse to beat myself up until I miss two days in a row.

I must admit that I did have one Pepsi. But only one in the last 10 days. This is a much better record than any other time I've tried to quit, except for when I was pregnant. Again, this shows my willingness to do something for someone else that I won't do for myself. Well, I say times have changed!!! I have already started treating myself better than ever before in my life, so watch out world! Or whatever...

My oldest girls have just turned or are about to turn 27. (One's natural, one's adopted at 23) I'm not sure how I feel about that. I remember so clearly the year I was 27 and it really doesn't seem that long ago. I was so young and pretty and confident then. That's okay, I'm more confident now than I was then.

Well I'm sure you have had enough of reading about me and my isssues for now, so I'll just close with this thought: How are you making a difference?

See ya later...!

Walk the Walk

135 calories; 1.03 miles; 25 minutes.
A little slower today, but I did find the perfect song to "tread" to: "Trashin' the Camp" Phil Collins and N*Sync! (Don't judge me.)

Today's title, which I chose to be cute, got me thinking:

"If you're going to talk the talk, walk the walk." This is a phrase I first learned in 1986 in a seminar series I attended. It means, in case you can't figure it out for yourself, to practice what you preach or put your money where your mouth is! If I'm going to claim that I believe something, I need to put it into action in my daily life, too. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of nonsense I'm spouting.

If I claim to believe that I need to exercise and eat right in order to be healthy and prolong my life, I need to...that's right! Eat healthy and exercise!

If I claim that God is love, and the only representation of God some people see is my life, I'd better be as loving as I possibly can! All the disclaimers in the world (I'm just a broken, faulty human being) won't change the impression of God I have made on them.

Sure, we all make mistakes; none of us is perfect. But hadn't I better be conscious as much of the time as possible of my speech and actions and how they are affecting those around me?

Just something to think about...

Now We're Walkin'!

Walked 1.11 miles @ 3 mph for 25 minutes and burned 168 calories. I know it's not a lot, but the idea at this point is to get my body used to moving. It may be working faster than I thought it would!

Starting A New Thing...

I've been feeling unmotivated and sleeping 11 hours a night. Staying at home a lot and not socializing much. LOOKING FOR A JOB. Got a lot of crocheting done...I made three prayer shawls last week.
Mentally and spiritually I think I'm okay, but physically I'm just not moving. Who knew there was such a thing as physiological depression, which is what I think this is?
So I got off the Pepsi, replaced it with - wait for it! - WATER, and got on the treadmill. Okay, once so far, but it's something! And as for the dreaded headache? Nope. Only a hint of a hovering threat yesterday, and then it was gone! Thank you, Jesus! I sincerely appreciate that favor.
Oh! And I've also been avoiding my allergen foods. (DUH!) That's made me feel a whole lot better already. I have good, healthy food in the fridge and am actually eating it!

Day 4 @ Caffeine-Free
Day 1 @ Workout: 20 minutes walking on the treadmill (Also, Beth and I took the boys to the zoo yesterday. Does that count?)
Physical Goals: lose 85 lbs overall, lose 5+ dress sizes, become healthy and fit!
Workout Goals: At least 5 times a week, 20 minutes a day for now. Will change it when I get used to exercising.

How you can pray for me:

1. That I would stay motivated to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE and go exercise.
2. That I would continue to stay off the caffeine. They say it takes three weeks to break the habit.
3. That I would make good food choices, especially when eating out.

I'll keep you posted with my successes and failures, and we'll see where I am this time next year. Hopefully I'll be most of the way to my goal!

In the Waiting Time

My church, Mountain View Community Church in Snohomish WA (a.k.a. MVCC), has just completed a pastor search. Our new pastor and his family will arrive in late August to begin the process of us all getting used to each other.

In the meantime, we have had an awesome interim pastor, Craig Sturm, who has been called to a church in the Chicago area, leaving us without a physically-present pastor to lead us. So the elder board has asked several different people to fill in until our new pastor, Tim Young, arrives.

One of the people who has filled in is a gentleman named Dan Laurenzo. Wow. He is challenging us not to just wait and see what our new pastor will do with us, but to prepare ourselves for his arrival. He wants us to figure out what our assignments might be during the waiting period.

Dan has asked us five questions to make clear what is our individual calling and challenged us to ask our friends what they think our calling is. 

The five questions are:

1. What opportunities keep emerging?
2. What do others see in you?
3. What is your passion? For what conversation will you let me wake you up in the middle of the night?
4. Where do I have an appetite to be trained?
5. What is your next step?

Here are my answers to the questions:

1) The opportunities that keep emerging in my life are to provide people a safe, comfortable place to live and to help them to prepare to move on - whether that is physically helping them move, or spiritually and/or emotionally helping them to heal and move on.

2) What do others see in me? You tell me!

3) My passions:

• One of my passions is for single women over 40 - helping them to find where God wants them to be in their lives. I want to help them cope with the busy-ness of life. I want to help them figure out what they can do with their life as it is now to move toward the life they want, as opposed to whining and complaining because life is not the way they wish it was.
• Another passion is retreats. I'd love to run a retreat center, providing people all the support they need so that they can get some alone time with God and hear from Him where He wants them to go next or what He wants them to work on next in their lives.
• A third passion is music. If you absolutely cannot think of that song lyric, call me up any time and I'll either think of it for you, or stay awake with you until one of us gets it! (Really.) But seriously, music is my passion. I love to sing and I especially love to sing in harmony. If I could work that into my ministry, I would be one happy camper!!

4) I want to be trained in retreat ministry, whatever that is! Not only running the business, but providing a safe, warm, comfortable, and restorative place for the human soul.

5) I have several "next steps":

• Find a job: still searching and praying for open doors to the job that fits God's perfect will for my life.
• Go to school: Set up an appointment with a counselorat Northwest University
• Volunteer at a retreat center: need to research this

In the meantime, I continue to open my home to whoever needs it. I have two spare bedrooms and am willing to share my space. We jokingly call this my "internship", but it's not really a joke.

Thank you, Dan, for the challenge. I can't wait to see where God takes me in this and where He leads MVCC in the future. If only 10% of our people accepted this challenge, just think of the difference we could make!!!

So now I extend to you the same challenge, dear readers! How will you answer these questions? Please feel free to provide your answers and/or input to my answers! I can't wait to hear from you!

Independence

My Grandma's birthday was the 4th of July. I thought she was the luckiest person ever! She got fireworks on her birthday! Wow! And yet she hated it, for that very same reason. It's funny how different our perspectives can be.
Independence Day is our nation's most important holiday. It celebrates our forefathers' declaration that they would not submit to unfair practices by their government, and that they preferred to live in a nation in which the government was controlled by all citizens, not just one or a few. And that the government would be selected by the people to work for the people in bringing about laws that were voted on by all the people. The holiday celebrates that they fought for and won that freedom.
I wonder how many people have forgotten. How many think that we are celebrating "Legal Fireworks Day" instead? How many remember that it is the USA's birthday, but have forgotten what that means?
Just wondering...
And having gained my freedom, why would I willingly submit to slavery? Unless, of course, that slavery gave me even more freedom than independence ever could. When I gave my heart to Jesus, I submitted to His Mastery. I became His property - heart, mind, body, and soul.
What did I get out of it? Salvation for my soul, of course. And I get to spend eternity with Him. But I also received freedom: the freedom to do anything I want, knowing that His Spirit is guiding me. I retain my free will, so that if I choose to I can make the wrong choices, but I have Jesus' Spirit living in me to guide me into the right choices. It's actually more of an effort to do the wrong thing. And I can't help but be aware that I am doing wrong, because I've made a conscious choice.
Oh sweet liberty! I am free to do anything I want to do, and yet I choose the way of righteousness, because I love the Lord.
And what does He - Jesus, God - get out of it? Not much, that's for sure! He gets me, a broken sinner, made new by His saving grace. He gets one problem after another brought to Him in humble submission, like a child brings a broken toy to her Father to fix. He gets to hear the cries of my pain more often than the expression of my love for Him. 
And really, the point is that He doesn't NEED to get anything out of it. He doesn't need anything. But He wants my love and adoration, thanksgiving and praise. And I will give it to Him willingly.

Day 30: Letter To My Reflection In The Mirror

Dear Sharon,
You've done it! Congratulations on finishing this challenge; what an amazing thing! And only one day over the thirty days, too! Good job! I knew you could do it! And wasn't it just a kick in the pants? Made you think and everything!
I want to tell you that I'm very proud of the way you have handled this unemployment business. Every time it's started to get scary or frustrating, you've turned it over to God and ceased worrying. Way to put into practice the things you've been learning!
I know you're feeling sad over the necessity of selling the condo, but I also know that you realize that you don't need anything this big any more. Not to mention that the cost is not helping with the budget right now. You're doing the right thing. You're making yourself ready and able to go wherever God takes you, and that's the best thing you could do.
I'd talk to you about the whole Pepsi thing, but I really don't think I could say anything that would make a difference - let alone sounding like a hypocrite! Someday you'll find the motivation to start taking care of yourself, in addition to everyone around you, and that habit will just fall by the wayside. Maybe you'll even fall into the habit of exercising. Who knows? Stranger things have happened! I've noticed that the commandment to you is more appropriately "Love yourself as your neighbor", rather than the reverse. You seem to love everyone well except yourself. And that's all I'm going to say about that. Apparently I'm not ready to get fully into that with you yet.
Keep learning; keep growing; keep growing closer to the One Who made you.
I do love you, although I may not show it.
Sharon

Day 29: Letter To Someone I Should 'Fess Up Something To

Dear Colie,
I have to confess, I didn't think we'd ever get here. But here we are: you all grown up and mature and married and everything. And me worn out from the battle, but happy to have won!
We really won it together, though. I must say that it's probably rare that both sides win when the fighting's finally over, but I feel that it's true in this case.
Raising you was the toughest thing I ever did and there were times that I thought your sheer bull-headedness was going to make me just break down. And I'm sure there were times you thought I was completely crazy in what I asked of you. But I couldn't give up; you were too important.
I always knew that if we could make it through you would turn out to be an amazing woman. All of the qualities that made it so hard to parent you have turned out, in their mellowed, mature form, to be the qualities that make you a strong, confident and wonderful adult.
It was cheating for you to bring Ken in on your side, but he helped turn the tide in both our favor, so I guess I'll overlook it this time!
Congratulations, sweetie pie! I love you and cherish our new and improved relationship.
Love,
Mom

Note to readers: As any mother knows, you love your children differently but equally. There is an infinite amount of space in your heart to love your children, so it doesn't have to get divided up between them, it just spreads to all of them. Each time you add a new child to your heart, your capacity to love grows that much more.
I love my three girls so much and I am so very proud of them. They are in the process of becoming the finest young women I can imagine.
I am thankful, too, that God has provided me with other children to mother - so many I can't even mention. From sons-in-law, to friends to nieces and nephews to my friends' kids, it's a wonderful thing to me to have the privilege to be in the lives of so many and to love them all so much.
Sharon