Well, the 12 week challenge at Gold's is over and I am proud of myself for setting out on a life long journey of a healthier lifestyle. Initially I signed up because Trey asked me to and I wanted to support him. But then I realized that I needed to take advantage of the opportunity and put forth 100% effort in all that I did--for ME.
So, I did it. I completed the challenge and saw some incredible results. I'm not done. There are still a few pounds to be shed, some toning that needs to take place and a little more muscle to be built in some areas...but overall I am proud to have seen the results at the end of the 12 weeks!
I lost 10lbs., 3" in my waist, 3" in my hips, 4% body fat, and a total of 6.6% of body weight lost!!! As a result, I have dropped 2 pants/short sizes & have reached a healthy BMI. Since Bear, I have lost a total of 55lbs (I only gained 35lbs with him) and I am just 5lbs shy from being at my PRE-Trey weight!!
Oh and I can't forget to mention that Trey and I ran a 5K last weekend and I finished in 31:55!!! Not bad for a girl who never consistently runs and never completed the C25K app.
None of it was easy but the truth is life isn't. Anything that you want in life takes work...IF you want it to last. If you want to be healthy-- it takes work, if you want your marriage to last till death do us part-- it takes work, if you want to draw closer to the Lord-- it takes work, if you want your children to be mindful and respectful--it takes work, if you want to be successful--it takes work, if you want a clean home--it takes work. Get me?
Work is good! If you don't like to work (and I don't just mean the kind of work where you clock in and out to get a paycheck) then you are just merely existing and I believe that we have a greater calling then to just exist. There are people around us who need to hear our success stories, who need to know that with work your marriage can survive, with work you can lose that 25lbs, 50lbs, or even 100lbs.
More importantly, I want that for my family. I don't want Bear to ever know what it is to struggle with his weight a day in his life. Trey and I know what it is like and we don't want that for our son. So we are choosing to raise him in a way where we hope and pray he doesn't ever experience a weight issue.
I want people to look at my marriage and think, "WOW, they have been through hell and back but yet they still stand side by side in love."
Financially there was a time in our life where it was a struggle but we were faithful with our "little" tithe and as a result the Lord has blessed us beyond measure.
I want people to look at our son and see his "little" ears and closed ear canals and hear us say, "the Lord is faithful and good our son can hear unaided!"
At the end of the day, I want the Lord's blessing over my health, my marriage, my child(ren), my work, my home, and my friendships. I want HIM to bless the WORK of our hands because we do it to bring honor and glory to his name.
Through this 12 week transformation I am that much more convinced that through Christ I can do ALL things!
My prayer for you is that you would be determined to set out to work hard and as a result you will be able to sit back and see the goodness of the Lord shining down on you!
Have a wonderful weekend!
~Jenni~
Friday, April 27, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Good Friday!
I can honestly say in my 28 years of life this Easter has more meaning to me then any other. That probably may sound really pathetic, but now that I am a parent my world operates differently. I see things through the eyes of a parent; naturally, of course.
Bear has not been feeling good and has been running a low grade fever since early Friday morning. As a result, he is extra cuddly and whiny but who wouldn't be?
As I held him very close, in his nursery, while we rocked I couldn't help but think about how great, how deep, how wide the Father's love is for us. I know the love I have for my son and, well, there are no words that were ever written to express or show the love I have for him...the crazy thing is that the Lord's love surpasses my ability to love. How absolutely crazy is that? It's hard at times to wrap my mind around, but it's true. There technically are no words to express his love for us either but through action only as He sent his one and only son to hang on that old rugged cross to carry our shame, our sin, and our sorrows.
So, the next time you feel ashamed, unworthy, unloved you better think again. The God I know sacrificially sent his Son to take on all of that so you didn't have to. The God I serve, his love surpasses that of an earthly parent's love and a spouse's love. Lord knows I need to be reminded of this and maybe you do too!
Enjoy the weekend with your family and if you want have an Easter egg hunt for your kids, but first instill in them what Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday (actually Monday) are really all about. Explain to them that there's a God that loves them more then you do and as a result He sent his son that we would have life and have it more abundantly. That through Jesus' obedience we are no longer condemned to hell but are able to spend eternity with the One who loves us most. That's the real meaning behind Easter...make sure they know it!
He has Risen!
~Jenni~
Bear has not been feeling good and has been running a low grade fever since early Friday morning. As a result, he is extra cuddly and whiny but who wouldn't be?
As I held him very close, in his nursery, while we rocked I couldn't help but think about how great, how deep, how wide the Father's love is for us. I know the love I have for my son and, well, there are no words that were ever written to express or show the love I have for him...the crazy thing is that the Lord's love surpasses my ability to love. How absolutely crazy is that? It's hard at times to wrap my mind around, but it's true. There technically are no words to express his love for us either but through action only as He sent his one and only son to hang on that old rugged cross to carry our shame, our sin, and our sorrows.
So, the next time you feel ashamed, unworthy, unloved you better think again. The God I know sacrificially sent his Son to take on all of that so you didn't have to. The God I serve, his love surpasses that of an earthly parent's love and a spouse's love. Lord knows I need to be reminded of this and maybe you do too!
Enjoy the weekend with your family and if you want have an Easter egg hunt for your kids, but first instill in them what Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday (actually Monday) are really all about. Explain to them that there's a God that loves them more then you do and as a result He sent his son that we would have life and have it more abundantly. That through Jesus' obedience we are no longer condemned to hell but are able to spend eternity with the One who loves us most. That's the real meaning behind Easter...make sure they know it!
He has Risen!
~Jenni~
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Moved to tears...
It's been an emotional last few weeks for me. Not because I am sad but because I'm blown away by God's constant faithfulness in my life. Last Wednesday Bear had his EEG and the night before I laid in bed and was looking through pictures of me carrying Bear all the way till now and the flood gates opened. Trey was next to me and asked me if I was ok and I was, just extremely grateful.
Have you ever been there? Where your heart is so full from seeing God move mightily in your life that you just can't help but cry...weep? If you have then I'm sure you are totally relating to me right now.
Yesterday I met a little boy who had Cerebral Palsy. As he laid across me I couldn't help but want to lay hands on him and pray but I was so overcome with emotion that I couldn't get words out. I could barely say 'Jesus.' I was trying to fight back the tears but the harder I tried the more they came out. My heart was heavy and I just really needed God's healing hand to be upon this boy. I can't imagine what his parents face or deal with on a daily basis but I do know that God still heals and in that moment there was nothing I wanted more then to see that boy healed.totally.by the blood of Jesus.
I was that much more moved when Bear came over and placed his head against the little boy's head for a good 15 seconds. I didn't ask him to he just did it.
In that moment, I was reminded of when we were in the NICU with Bear still waiting on news about his ears and tests etc...when our Pastor's wife and friend texted us and told us that she had all the little children in the kids room praying for Bear. The amazing part of this story was that they all had their hands placed over their ears praying for him. Chills. And yet here I was, trying to pray and my son came over and in his own way reached out to this little boy. Talk about fighting back tears. Whew.
If there is anything I desire for Bear it is that he understands, at a very young age, who the Spirit is and what He is capable of doing when we allow ourselves to become open to his moving. I'm thankful that we are part of a church body who instills this in our children at a very young age. There is something about the acts of a child that touch the heart of God.
Matthew 18:1-2
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
Just think on this, why would God call us to become like little children in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven?
Acts 2:17‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams...'
Have you ever been there? Where your heart is so full from seeing God move mightily in your life that you just can't help but cry...weep? If you have then I'm sure you are totally relating to me right now.
Yesterday I met a little boy who had Cerebral Palsy. As he laid across me I couldn't help but want to lay hands on him and pray but I was so overcome with emotion that I couldn't get words out. I could barely say 'Jesus.' I was trying to fight back the tears but the harder I tried the more they came out. My heart was heavy and I just really needed God's healing hand to be upon this boy. I can't imagine what his parents face or deal with on a daily basis but I do know that God still heals and in that moment there was nothing I wanted more then to see that boy healed.totally.by the blood of Jesus.
I was that much more moved when Bear came over and placed his head against the little boy's head for a good 15 seconds. I didn't ask him to he just did it.
In that moment, I was reminded of when we were in the NICU with Bear still waiting on news about his ears and tests etc...when our Pastor's wife and friend texted us and told us that she had all the little children in the kids room praying for Bear. The amazing part of this story was that they all had their hands placed over their ears praying for him. Chills. And yet here I was, trying to pray and my son came over and in his own way reached out to this little boy. Talk about fighting back tears. Whew.
If there is anything I desire for Bear it is that he understands, at a very young age, who the Spirit is and what He is capable of doing when we allow ourselves to become open to his moving. I'm thankful that we are part of a church body who instills this in our children at a very young age. There is something about the acts of a child that touch the heart of God.
Matthew 18:1-2
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
Just think on this, why would God call us to become like little children in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven?
Acts 2:17‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams...'
If we ever needed a move of the Spirit we need it now; in our families, on our jobs, and in this country. However, it won't happen if we shy away from who the Spirit is and what He has come to do in us and through us. We are here to be vessels of his light. So shine BRIGHT!
~Jenni~
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