Inspiration

Where do you find inspiration to change your habits?  Who do you look to as examples of jobs well done?  I have begun to take notice of a few people around me who are changing their lives for different reasons.  I am impressed at their ability to be consistent with what they have set out to do.  These people have seen dramatic results in their lives because they are stubborn and desperate for change.

ELIZABETH
Elizabeth is my sister.  She has MS.  A little over a year ago she decided that if she was going to tackle her disease, she needed to make changes.  She went all out on a lifestyle change, including using a primarily whole food plant based diet, and doing zumba regularly.  In less than a year she lost more than 60 pounds.  Her MS is still a problem, but she is strong and able to care for her family.  Becoming a healthier person has helped her to gain the strength she needs each day to keep going.  

THAT OTHER LADY
I'm sorry.  I can't remember her name.  I know where she works and what town she lives in.  I sat by this lady at a seminar on Wednesday and as we talked, she shared that since July of this year, she has lost 23 pounds through diet change and exercise.  She is significantly older than me (old enough to have multiple grand children and 3 grown sons).  After a scare with some heart issues early in the year, she decided it was time to change.  She bikes nearly 20 miles a day through country roads (if you know what country roads are like in Indiana, you can guess there are likely a lot of hills).  She keeps track of her diet using My Fitness Pal.  I've never used this, actually, I only learned about it this week - we don't have smart phones.  This lady is doing a great job and reducing the risk of future heart difficulties!

Read about 2 more people who are inspiring me on my Win, Lose, or Blog journal.

Thank you Elizabeth, Children's Pastor Lady, Tina, and Carmen for being an inspiration in my journey toward heatlh.

Share about an inspirational person in your life in the comments below.

Setting the tone

Do you ever stop and think about how the music you're listening to effects your mood?  What songs come to mind when you are angry, upset, happy, excited...?  Our lives, more than ever before, are flooded with music all the time.  Pay attention at the grocery or the mall - music in the background.  Listen when you're out to eat - music.  We have even learned that we just cannot be alone in our homes without noise.  I remember what it was like when I lived alone - I had the television on all the time.  

I love music.  I love the way my kids light up when a favorite song comes on the radio.  I love that my 2 year old recognizes some music as "worship".  It plays a huge part in our family life.  Sometimes, however, I forget just how powerful music can be.  I even forget that sometimes positive, happy music can bring me down.  

See, I've discovered that for myself, when I am listening to praise music, worship music - God music - I am in a better state mentally and emotionally than when I am listening to other music (even happy kid music).  I need that external influence at times to keep me balanced.  I see so many messages all around me that I need a way to help me focus on truth.

So we set the tone.  I have discovered in my home that when we play music, my children behave differently than when we don't.  When we play music with a positive message, they behave differently than when we play popular music.  If I turn the radio on t accomplish a lot more around the house than when the radio is off.  

Isn't it neat that I get to set the tone in my home.  I can change my mood, my kid's behaviors, their moods, my behaviors... everything about the way our house functions, simply by choosing the right music.

You know what else?  Music sticks with us for a long time.  Randy laughs at me a lot because of the strange songs I pull out of my head from when I was a child - they stuck with me.  They helped form who I am.  Even the kids at camp know that I was formed in part by a song about tooth brushing.  The music I choose for my children to listen to today will effect their behaviors next week, next year - 20 years from now.  

What a big responsibility!

How do you set the tone at your house?  Do you have a favorite CD that you go to again and again?  What music sticks with you from childhood?

Invasion of the Strangers

As I sit on my couch with my feet propped neatly on my coffee table and a bowl of nachoes to my side.  I smell kerosene.  Yep, like the stuff you burn in an oil lamp.  Why?  "Maybe it was a stranger".  (Or maybe it was a curious 4 year old).

Yes, friends, strangers seem to have invaded our household.  They cause all sorts of mischief and try to make it look like my sweet, innocent boys are at fault.  Oh, the baby is part of the scheming too.
"Why is there baby food on your bed?"
"Um, Maybe it was Azariah".
"I don't think that's how it got there."
"Um, maybe you were feeding him on my bed."
(I promise, I have fed him on the bed - but only "mama milk", never baby food).
"I don't feed him upstairs."
"Or, maybe it was Cassius".

He probably IS plotting against his brothers.

Have I mentioned that my sweet Manasseh turned 4 yesterday?  Some time recently, in the process of getting ready to be 4, he figured out that he does not like to get in trouble.  He also figured out that if he blames someone else, maybe he won't get in trouble.

We value truth.  We are careful to practice teaching our children the truth.  Maybe I'm a little overboard sometimes- they know that Santa isn't a jolly fat man bringing them presents, we are very careful about teasing them with false information (you know, things that parents tell their kids - if you don't eat your spinach you'll never get taller... silly things we use to encourage our children to behave the way we want them to... that aren't really fully truth).  I want my boys to be full grounded in truth as they grow.  We don't shun imagination, in fact - we encourage it.  A box can be a pirate ship (yes, pirates are real and they really steal things and God doesn't like stealing).  We love to pretend to be different things, but I want to make sure my kids know what is real and what is not.  We want to be sure that they recognize there IS a difference between truth and untruth, and that there IS absolute truth.

So, how do we deal with the strangers that keep breaking into our home to make my honest little boys look like criminals?

Calmly.  With expectations up front.  Promise of a better consequence for telling the truth.  Explanation about "why".  (Why we tell the truth, why the problem IS a problem, etc).

So tonight's conversation about the kerosene lamp.  (By the way I realize that I am at fault for leaving the lamp on the end table with full knowledge that my boys have a hard time staying off the arms of the couch once in a while).
Me: Manasseh, what happened to the lamp?

Nas: Um, Maybe it was strangers that did knock it over.

Me: Manasseh, what happened to the lamp?

Nas: Um, Maybe it was Cassius.

Me: Manasseh, what happened to the lamp? (See, I knew he knew what happened, whether it had been him or not he could tell me the truth about what happened).

Nas: I don't know.

Me: Manasseh, I expect you to tell me the truth.  When you tell the truth you don't get in as much trouble and you feel better after you tell the truth.

Nas: It was me that did knock it over.

Me:  Thank you.  I proceeded to clean up the spilled oil and moved the lamp to a safer place while explaining that it is not safe to play with the oil lamp.

Nas: Why it not safe?

He stood in front of me and looked me in the eyes to talk about oil lamp safety.  I could have been angry, but honestly a good part of the problem was the fact that I left the lamp where the kids could knock it over.  I could have been upset about the lie (we're dealing with them somewhat regularly right now and have been talking about why God likes truth).  I don't want him to fear me, but learn to come to me with his needs and problems.

As I think about the strangers invading my house, I am reminded of my own relationship with God.  Sometimes I want to hide things.  I know, it's sillier than my son hiding the fact that he knocked over the lamp.  Still, I shove things deep inside and ignore them until the smell gets so big that EVERYONE notices.  Much like the smell of the kerosene told me there was a problem.

I don't want that.

God, help me be clean and holy.  Bring truth to my lips.  Help me share your truth with those around me.