New Blog

o why did I start a new blog when my old one fizzled out and why am I starting one called Audience of one?

These answers are really tied together. Well I was thinking about the old one and why I didn’t keep it going and the idea came to my mind that it was because although I like losing weight it is not where my passion lie.

And I believe that is you are gonna spend your time blogging about something it has to be about something you are passionate about or you will get bored. And as anyone who has ADD knows if you get bored it is hard to keep going.

So as I pondered that, I began to think of what I was passionate about, what I thought about for most of my day.

Then I remembered an article that I read about ten years ago. It said that in whatever we do we are “supposed to do it as if we are playing for an audience of one”. That stuck with me and I have lived that way since.

It changed the way I looked at life. I went from looking outward as I walked to looking upward. In other words I got it that no matter what I did in my day to day life, I was to learn to do if in faith.

So what I am passionate about if FAITH. This is what gets me going. This is what I spend the majority of my time thinking about. And not only thinking about but also trying to live out (although I have much room to grow).

 I know that this world would be an amazing place if we would all just simply live by faith. I love God and I just want to trust him a go where he leads, with no discussion on my part, but that is not always the case.

In this blog I hope to discuss faith, share stories about faith, lives of great men and women of faith, as well as quotes, scriptures, and my humble thoughts on the subject.

Thanks for reading along. If it is a topic you are interested in please feel free to sign up!

 Please follow me at http://aofone.blogspot.com/

fit and fabulous (ya I said it )

Well it has been awhile since I had an entry. That is not because I haven’t been exercising but because I have been so busy between exercising and homework (finals coming) that I haven’t had much of a chance to write.


So I defiantly found my exercise niche with the DVD that is a total Body Makeover.

It works all of your muscles in 55 minutes. I am at a point where I am starting to gain muscle so the weight is not coming off so fast. This is of course discouraging because there is nothing better than seeing those numbers drop, but I consol myself in the fact that sooner or later they will drop.

Proverbs 23:11 says …The desire of the Righteous ends only in good. And it is my desire to look fit and fabulous (ya I said it ) and as a daughter of the King I know that my desire to be fit will end well.

I know that I have to do more than just desire…I have to act. This is where I am so glad to be a Christian because every day I have the Holy Spirit to assist me in making the right choices as far as weight goes. It is wonderful how He will nudge or encourage or challenge me at just the right time.

I am blessed!!!

Oh ya...15 and 1/2 pounds lost so far!!!

I'm comeing along

Loveing my exercising routine, losing the weight. Very busy but loveing life! I am excited at the prospect of being not only just "back to my old self" but better than my old self. 


Watch out World!!!!!

Gluttony

So as much as I love the wiifit I realized that it was just not working out for me. I am “all or nothing” sort of person and I needed something that was gonna kick my butt.



I remember that back about two years ago I had bought “The Firm” It promised results in ten workouts. Back then I thought it was tough and that it why I had only used it a few times before putting it away.


That right there was my problem. That is the main reason why I am here. My not wanting to do the hard things. The bible says the flesh is weak and I admit when it comes to my “flesh” I have been a weak willed whinny apathetic Christian.


I have not thought of my body as a temple. No I have thought of it more as my own person garbage dump. I really didn’t care what I was doing to it.


You know it is amazing but the sin that you never hear most preachers mention is the sin of gluttony. What an ugly word that is. It is something I did not want to face until I heard a pastor speak on it. He said that many pastors who will scream and shout about sins like adultery, and gossiping will never mention gluttony. He said they will never do it because they themselves are guilty of it and it shows.


That statement really drove home for me that I really had a problem. His next statement caused me to really think. He said it is a sin because we are destroying our bodies. That God wants us on top of our game so that we will live long lives. He said that there have been many great preachers who died young due to just this sin.


I am not saying that every person is overweight due to gluttony. No I know there are various reasons. But it I personally want to do everything that I have been called to do by God (and be around for my kids) I need to do everything I can to keep the body God gave me in the best shape possible.


So I made a choice to put healthy things in and have picked up my copy of “They Firm” dusted it off and am working hard. I am three exercises in. I am excited to see if it is really true that you get visible results in 10 workouts.

Tired of being the fat chick!

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms!


Ephesians 6:12

And boy have I been struggling. Talk about wishy washy! One minute I am gonna “get er don” and the next moment “I’m done”.

But you know how in every group photo or just group in general there is always mostly skinny people and the one fat chick?

Well I just came to the realization that I am tired of being the fat chick!

Yes I have fallen of my horse, and stayed down for quite awhile but I am getting back on and this time I am super-gluing my seat to the saddle!

Wahooo!!!! It feels good to be back!!!

Home is Heaven

So I am listening to my newly discovered Pandora Radio (which rocks by the way) and doing my homework when a song by the name of Home came on.

Some of the lyrics are

Home is heaven

One day Lord, I will live

In Your courts, you’ll find me

In worship at Your feet

And of course I instantly thought of Sarah whose beloved husband is home now. And while at first my mind filled with thoughts of sadness for her…it soon began to do what it does altogether to often…it wandered.

I began to think of our real home… Heaven. Then my mind drifted again and I pictured the two of them on a picnic in the woods and they are having a wonderful time. The Sun is shining the air is crisp it is a lovely day. But then the storms clouds start to form. They grab their belongs and make a break for it. Racing each other home and laughing all the while.

Hide me now

In the shadow of Your wings

Where I will be

Where I will be

Sarah, her stride not as long, lags far behind (as girls are oft to do when racing long legged boys) She loses sight of him and suddenly realizes that the storm clouds have caught up with her and it begins to pour. Soaking her to her very core. And to top it off, day is turning to night.

Your love is all I need

So desperately I have sought Your face

I know You hear my every cry

And petition that I make

She is at first distressed but quickly realizes that she is not alone. Her Lord and savior is with her, He has covered her, lit her path and has promised her safety in her storm.

HOME

I did not know Jonathan (and sorely regret it) but in all of the pictures floating around there is one thing that seems ever present about him and that is his wonderful smile.

In my little mind wanderings I imagine him smiling big as he gets to his destination. And then sets about making the place warm and comfy for Sarah’s return.

Heaven is a permanent residence …

a place where we unpack our bags

and stay forever. … What a glorious

 thought to wake up in Heaven and realize

it is home! ----C.L. Allen

Sarah I do not know you well but you seem to be an amazingly strong woman of God! My thoughts and prayers are with you and his family.

I know how disorienting it can be too lose physical sight of those we love dearly, but we know that we do not cry because we are in distress about never seeing our best friends, partners, beloved, again but because we don’t like the separation.

I want to spend my days

In Your presence, Lord

Bowed before Your throne

In the house of God

Is where I find my peace

It's where I find my Home

May you rest in the knowledge that Jonathan is in a place where he will never again know sorrow or pain and where he is …..Home

The Lord Jesus said in John 14:2-3,
"I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Please join me in praying for Sarah and the Glyer family!

Math Day Take 2 ~ Part one

Well a few days ago I announced on face book that I would be spending the day doing nothing but math. So no Bible study, no exercise…we ya…that didn’t go so well. I was feeling tired and run down and spent from around 7 am to 10 pm working on (really hard for me to understand) math and only getting about 1/3 done. After multiple days I have ½ done (some weren’t correct but with the math online it is three strikes and your out).


I now have 22 problems left to do and I choose to start my morning with exercise, a good breakfast and God. I will post the result of how it goes at the end of the day…but lets just say I think it’s gonna be amazing!

Back in the Saddle again

So yesterday I blew it. Yesterday I figured that I was better off if I ignored my routine during the morning that consisted of Bible reading, exercise and blogging.


Ya…yesterday sucked. I felt like I was spinning my wheels why? It was probably because I had no energy. Not only was my body dragging but my mind was as well.

Yesterday I hardly got any math done and now have double the work load… Its funny how we can talk ourselves out of anything if we want to…

So today I am back on track. I have to remember that I am fighting not only a battle of the bulge but of the mind as well.

It is like it says in the Bible

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”- Ephesians 6:12-13

I am standing my ground…how about you?

The Strangest Secret

So this morning I happened upon a recording titled “The Strangest Secret “- Earl Nightingale. After watching it for a second I realized two things..that this man was a strong Christian and that he had a lot to say...

I think his TV show was from the 60’s but his truths are timeless. I thought I would share. Enjoy!!!

He talked about how only people in general are only reaching 5% of their potential for success.

And he defined Success as “The progressive realization of a worthy ideal” Therefore to be a success you must only be working toward a goal.

Surveys said that 95% of people do not do that.

How to be part of the 5% Keep the following list posted...

1. GOAL - A person without a Goal is like a ship without a rudder.

2. Attitude – People will react to us according to our attitude

3. Think – Think deliberately and with a purpose. Get a piece of paper and write goal at the top and then fill it out. Come up with many ways of achieving it.

4. Law of Laws (cosmic bank) – Our rewards will allways be in direct purporting to our service to others.

5. TRUTH – Unless what we are doing is built on truth...it cannot stand.

6. R&D – Research and Development – How much of our take home pay are we investing in materials that are designed to get us closer to our goal or make us a better human being.

We become what we think about most of the time!

Don’t go along with the crowd, love, help, and serve the big crowd buy DO NOT follow it.

We are only given one life...make a plan, make sure it is solid, invest time and money into it and you will be a success.

I will be a success at lossing this weight. What will you suceed in?

Moments

Today I had a victory! Today was the first day that I put on my cloths that were previously about to burst at the seems and noticed that they went on easily and felt great.

That is huge for me!

It doesn’t matter that the finish line is not yet site , I have achevied success in this as I will achieve sccess in many other ways in my journey! for as Ralph Waldo Emerson said

To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom”.

May each of us learn to be wise and live in each moment and finish well!

Bricks without straw

    


     Sometimes I have to wonder chuckle because
every single time in my life when I am trying to

make a change for the better it seems as if

everything that can go wrong does go wrong so

that I am left in a huddle on the floor saying in

exhaustion "I give up!" and "You win" to the imaginary forces that conspire against me.


     It is like when Moses was being used by God to make a huge change in the lives of the Hebrews in
Egypt. He wanted to bring them into a new and better way of living. But of course it would not be easy…

Then the slave drivers and the foremen went out and said to the people, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I will not give you any more straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.' " 12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, "Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw." 14 The Israelite foremen appointed by Pharaoh's slave drivers were beaten and were asked, "Why didn't you meet your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?"

15 Then the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: "Why have you treated your servants this way? 16 Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, 'Make bricks!' Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."


17 Pharaoh said, "Lazy, that's what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.' 18 Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks."


     When I was reading this I was struck by the words “Pharaoh said, "Lazy, that's what you are—lazy!”

Wow… Isn’t that what I tell myself all the time. Isn’t that what “the adversary” whispers in my ear night and
day. But what he whispers to me in the dark does not compare to what My God tells me in the Light!!


     The Bible says that " Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1) and “The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with
peace" (Psalm 29:11).


     It is important to believe that because as
     Karl Graustein says "Our beliefs shape our values, and our values shape our actions" .

     What do I believe? I need to ask myself every morning? Do I believe the lies of the enemy? Or Do I believe that God has given me strength and peace to face ever challenge before me?


     If I do believe that than what will I value today? Will I value foods that are healthy vs. foods that are not? Will I value exercise?


    Because if I do my actions will fall into place.


    So it doesn’t matter if I am faced with making “Bricks without straw” I have all I need to do it well!!!

One Step at a Time

You know that old saying "Early to bed, early to rise..." Well I seem to be living it out these days. It amazes me how I have been waking up early ready to "grab hold of the day". I have so much energy and therefore exercising seems like a good thing.

So I turned on the TV, stuck my Wiifitplus in the Wii and choose my mode of fat burning for the day.

Today I chose to do a 30 minute step aerobics that is set up so that you can set your pace and then turn regular TV and watch a show while you do it.

The wii remote has a speaker with the "instructor" who will tell you when to change steps.

Instead of watching a TV program though I turned on Music and fed my insides as well as my outside.

Anyways as I was doing the exercise it made the following observations.

1. Starting is easy

At the beginning I had all kinds of energy and enthusiasm. My arms were moving, my feet were flying. I felt great. Well after 15 minutes of that I started to get tired. The thought occurred to me to quit.

But I felt Gods nudge reminding me to stay the course. Sure it is easy to start with enthusiasm but it is the people who do not quit who are successful at what they lay their hands too.

So I stayed the course and finished strong. Just like I will do in my journey!

2. Sometimes things get in the way

The little kitten I have seemed to want to trip me up while I was exercising. He kept running behind me and I had to keep an eye on him at all times to make sure that I wouldn’t fall and hit myself on the coffee table of something.

I know that when someone is making a lifestyle change there are always going to be plenty of things that want to trip them up.

It is very important to watch out for them and to remember that if something should cause you to stumble that it is important to keep going.

Yesterday instead of my usual salad for lunch I had some of those barbeque chicken wings. You know the kind m the greasy not good for your diet ones.

Well after I ate it the thought occurred …well you blew today. You might as well eat whatever you want. But I knew that that thinking got me where I was today. That even though I may have tripped myself up a little it was important to know that it was far better for me to get up right away when tripped up than to stay down and add on the pounds.

3. One Step at a time

While I was exercising I sometimes did not keep pace with the instructor. I speed up a little. And I soon realized that the Wii was not counting my steps properly.

It is so ease to get ahead of the plan, so much so that we lose count of where we are going.

I realize that if I want to be successful in this quest I have to not get ahead of myself.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Fringe Benifits

Well this is day five of my quest to lose weight and I am beginning to see a pattern emerge.

For a very long time I prayed to God to help me lose this weight. I see now that He arranged things for me so that I would

1. Begin to think about what I was thinking about. The things that made me want to eat.

And

2. Start to change my physical behavior patterns so that I would be up for the challenge.

Lets face it losing weight is hard and when you are tired and feel like garbage because you have been eating garbage it is almost impossible to change.

For the longest time God has been telling me to eat oatmeal for breakfast and salad for lunch. It is something I resisted because I thought Yuck! But now that I am doing that (and exercising) I cannot believe the energy that I have. It is better than energy drink or pill that you can take.

I feel like a teenager.

I know that change is hard but man it is worth it. And while my Journey to health is just beginning I am already reaping the results.

Move that Mountain

So I am in college (trying to one day get a Masters in Theology) and the one and only math class that I have to take I happen to be taking it now. It is called Math for Liberal arts.

Is it just me, or does the name imply that it would be something like "Math for Dummies"?

I fully intended that this course would just go over some basic skills such as what is 2+2...or if Johnny had five hoho's and he tripped and smashed four of them would he have any left? Or would he just be left with a ho? (which is not a good thing at all on a lot of levels).

Anyways, the point it the math is not fluffy and cuddly at all..it is…well Hard. I can tell that my brain is a few questions away from getting up and leaving.

But what doesn't kill you will make you stronger ..right...right..uh how come no one is answering?

What I am studying right now is Probabilities...or as I like to call it ...the Bain of my existence. The definition of the word probabilities is "The likelihood that a given event will occur". Seems simple right...well the math is a lot more complicated than the definition.

So hard for me in fact that I will “probably" forget how to do this kind of math after the class is over.

But at present there is still much to figure out. And while I was doing so I began to wonder what odds I would get on my being successful in this quest.

I wondered if I could give some mathematician some of my stats like…positive attitude, past hurts, views on food, determination,…would the odd be in my favor to finish the quest that I have started to shed myself of the excess baggage.

Then I began to think..It doesn’t matter the odds. I can succeed no matter the odds because I have faith and that is something no amount of statistics can measure.

Jesus said “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

And I believe him!

To be honest sometimes when I look in the mirror I feel as if I have grown as big as a mountain, yet I realize that is distorting the truth.

What I know to be true is that weight has been a mountain of a problem for me for quite some while now. But if Jesus said it I believe it! After much prayer and contemplation I have told this mountain of fat to leave and it is…I have lost 2 and ½ pounds in the last week.

And you know what ..while it will “probably” not be easy…this mountain of mine will be moved!

I Want it NOW!!! or Learning that NO isn't a four letter word!

Right now I am on day three of this life change. I am excited about it but let’s face it I also know that at times it is going to be absolutely no fun whatsoever. But that is ok.


I think as Americans we are so conditioned to believe that we should "Have it All! And Have it Now!!" that if we find that we can't "Have it all Right now" we start to panic.

A lot of the times when I was eating when I shouldn't of, I would say to myself "It's ok because I want to!" Wow! What a load of crap that was!! Remember Veruca salt "I WANT IT NOW DADDY!!!" Remember what happened to her! Not to pretty! Well neither is my state!

Since when did anything ever become ok just because we wanted it? With that thinking I guess it would be OK when Murders killed innocent people or rapists raped innocent people...Hey they wanted to so it must be ok right?...right?...WRONG!

In order to beat this demon I call "gluttony" I have got to teach myself to really "know" that "NO" is not a four letter word (figuratively speaking).

As a matter of fact NO is a great word when speaking sentences such as "No, I will not push you off this cliff." or "No, I will not kick the dog just because you dared me." and then of course, the music to every parents ears, is to hear that our child said "NO! I am waiting until I am married!"

So in this journey of learning to let go of what harms me to hold on too, I am also going to earn to embrace all things put in place for my success ...such as NO. Yes it is positively negative but if used right it can be positively life changing as well.

So if you happen to run into me these days, don't be surprised if in answer to your questions I respond with "NO! NO! NO!" I am just flexing my "I may want it, but it is not good for me, therefore, I don't need it, Muscle!"

How did I get here...

A lot of undisciplined living…that is how I got here. I have spent the last few years saying ..I'll start eating right on Monday...but until then.... Yes the loss of my husband added some pounds but truth be told I have been struggling with my weight on and off for awhile now.


It is time for me to get "super real"... And the reality is that I have viewed food as a place of resting or rewarding myself. I think my key to beating this thing is to change my thinking habits. If I can change the way I think about food I will have won most of the battle.

A few days ago I woke up and the first thing in my mind was to start viewing my food in the following way If it is healthy as It goes down a picture it scraping the fat off . If it is unhealthy I picture it, like a big glob of yuck, being added to the fat.

That picture has made me stop and think about what I am putting in my mouth.

I also am starting to exercise again. I know what I need to do to get to a better place..now I just have to do it...here goes!

It Begins

     Well there I am and there it is! The person in the picture is apparently supposed to be me.

      I couldn't believe it when I saw it. It shocked me to my very core. I thought this...this...could not possibly be me.

     Not possibly be "little piglet" (as I was called at one time because I was so time). 
 
     The worst thing about this photo is that it does not do justice to the person that I am inside.

     The funny thing is that this used to represent what I looked like on the inside. For most of my life I was a mess internally yet on the outside looked wonderful.

     Then about ten years ago, I started doing the work that it took to change from an angry, bitter, negative person who really did not want to live.... to a happy peaceful person who loves life.

     I just turned 43 and I want this to get this weight off by the time I turn 44. Thus begins my campaign to lose 100 pounds in 1 year!!!

     No more excuses. I know that doing this might expose me to some cruel jokes and I realize that I may be writing this only to myself but whatever the case I don't care all!

     I only care about becoming the best me that I can be..the me that I was designed to be! Lisa