Seeds of Spring: A Woman's 40-Day Journey: day 15

That's the name of the devotion I'm doing on my Bible app. You can also find it here.

Today, I am on day 15. Earlier today I went for a walk on the 3/4 mile path around the path behind my office building. I was feeling a little discouraged because last year I started running. I lost 10 lbs. and was up to running for 25 minutes straight (almost 2.5 miles). I never made it to running a 5k (3.1 miles). I had completed a Couch to 5K program on my iPod. Over the winter, I didn't keep up with the running, so I gained that 10 lbs. back.

It's been a real struggle getting back on track with walking/running. It didn't help that I started out today's walk a little too fast and so my legs started hurting sooner than would be expected.

I've started setting my alarm clock earlier, I just need to get up and do the work.

Back to today's devotion. The verse that hit me was 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

The devotion continued as follows:

"We may not be in prison literally, but we are bondservents of Christ Jesus (Romans 6:15-23). As you go about your day today meditating on the scripture above, continue to keep your 'flesh' in chains and the Spirit free to do its will."

The verse in Romans reminded me of a book I read over five years ago, "Love to Eat, Hate to Eat." In the book, Elyse Fitzpatrick talks about how if my husband is eating something and I want/crave it, that's sin, it's coveting something he has that I don't have. 

Anyway, Romans 6:16, says "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?" 

As I read this verse, it makes me think that if I give into my food cravings and not wanting to exercise, I am a slave to that. My weight loss efforts aren't just for me...they are for God because I am His temple. Jesus paid the price for me, so the least I can do is get up early and exercise. I don't want to be a slave to laziness or my food "desires". Maybe it's time to bring out the book and give it a read again.

crafty goodness - heidi swapp workshop

This past weekend I went to Archiver's and made this really cute album and file folder.

I love the concept of the file folder. If you have kids, you can easily turn this into one school year and then add the file folder to a binder of sorts. You don't have to spend the money on the fancy file folders, just take a regular file folder, cover it in paper you like and decorate it. The one in the class I took had transparency's with writing and decorations on them. There were frames included, which I left the top open on and then slid clear transparency under, so later, I can add a photo and keep it protected.

Maybe in the near future, while the class is fresh in my mind, I'll do this exact thing and put together a how-to. Guess that means I have to clean my craft table. :)

5/5/2013
Here's a link to the video how-to on Heidi Swapp's blog.

March 2013 - update

I've not done much running so far this year. We picked up a jogging trampoline in January, since a treadmill is not practical for our house...no idea where I'd put one. I've used it a couple of times and will probably use it a lot this coming week (we are expecting a rainy week and it's not fun running/walking in the rain).

There is a really nice walking path behind my work, it's approximately 3/4 mile. I was able to get out there one day so far. I did one lap because I didn't have my walking/running shoes. I'll need to bring my unofficial walking shoes to work so I can easily do two laps. Terry and I have gone on a couple of walks so far this month, but nothing regular. I post my run/walks on Runkeeper, which I connect to Facebook, so if you want to track my progress, look me up on either one of those social pages.

I'm starting to set my alarm clock for earlier so I can, hopefully, get up earlier and get back into the running thing. There is no excuse for not doing it. The weather is getting nicer, I just need to choose exercise over sitting on my rear or sleeping later. :)

once again, I have been lax in journaling my food this year. I've recorded a couple of half days, but I've not been serious about it. Really need to get back into this, as I say every year, when I do it, I lose weight. And since I've lost 10 lbs. since starting to run, and gained it all back over the winter, I really need to keep track of my food to help in the weight loss area.