A Quick Workout for Busy Days

Travel days are always busy- even when the “traveling” is only 2 hours worth from Starkville to Memphis.

Wednesday was a busy day that involved finishing all my classes for the semester (woohooo!), completing a project, babysitting, and driving home!  Knowing all that the day held, I pulled myself out of bed and headed downstairs even though it was the perfect stormy morning for sleeping in!

I planned on having eggs like I have the last couple days (trying to get more protein), but I just wasn’t feeling it. My belly wanted carbs… in the form of cinnamon cereal. So I went with it. Alongside my cereal, my new mug I got for my birthday filled with coffee from the keurig, 2% milk, and stevia. Thanks Mom!

The almonds and strawberries were a pre workout snack

Even in this busy day, I wanted to get a good workout in (without taking too much of the day) and make use of my new running hat 🙂 Thanks M!

I hit the Sanderson Center after class for this:

And let me tell you, my heart was pumping! It felt a lot better to ride in the car knowing I had 3 miles done.

Can you find 40 minutes to get your heart pumping? It’s not so bad if you take the Lifetime app with Army Wives on demand 😉

PS: Have you heard of She Reads Truth?! It is daily devotional for women.. I highly suggest you grab a cup of coffee and head on over there today. A new portion is beginning, with the focus on Hosea. It’s too good to miss. I posted a link on my Facebook this morning- I promise it’s so good.

Thorns.

I have totally enjoyed the devotional book “Streams in the Desert” this year. (and I highly recommend it to all of you!) It was a gift from my mom as I left for my first semester and it has been marvelous. 

As I read a page in late December, only days after my favorite girl Phoebe passed away, I stopped when I read “I have never thanked thee for my thorn“… my thoughts went exactly like this, “Really? Of course I haven’t thanked God for my thorn. Why would I?! I thank Him for the good things…” 

But… I am supposed to be thankful for the “bad” things in my life, too. I’m supposed to be thankful for a broken heart and empty place on the couch where my baby always laid.. for disordered eating.. for loneliness… This quiet time brought me back to Earth. What we see as bad, the Lord sees as blessings. He is forcing us to lean on Him.

I am never promised another day. I am never promised anything at all. But my Rock and my Redeemer provides. When I am at my lowest, He only draws nearer. -What a marvelous truth!!

The Bible says, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).” For some reason, I have read this verse over and over yet it never sunk in until I read it in my devotion…

The literal translation of this verse gives a startling emphasis to it, and makes it speak for itself with an intense force that we have probably never realized. (I know I hadn’t!!) “Therefore I take pleasure in being without strength, in insults, in being pinched, in being chased about, in being cooped up in a corner for Christ’s sake; for when I am without strength, then am I dynamite.” –Streams in the Desert

George Matheson, the well-known blind preacher of Scotland, said: 

“My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn. 

I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, 

but not once for my thorn. 

I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross; but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory.

Teach me the glory of my cross; 

teach me the value of my thorn. “

Can we all dare to pray genuinely, “Thank you, oh Lord, for the things that trouble me.. Thank you for the things I feel are bringing me down. Just, thank you.” ??

It’s hard. Really hard… but also mind changing and maybe life changing.


Think about it one more way… The Sidewalk Prophets sing in “You Love Me Anyway,”
“I am the thorn in Your crown, but you love me anyway.” Jesus Christ LOVED the things that caused him dire pain as he hung on a cross for us.


Thankful He cares to refine me,

What is trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise? -“Blessings” Laura Story

Oh to have the mind of a child…

Bad moods can lead to pretty bad days, at least in my life.


Let me set the scene for you… Early December, freezing, constant rain, Monday morning, early… get the picture? Avoiding Bad Moods 101: DO NOT participate in any activities including the above!!!
I even saw a Facebook status stating, “When it rains, it pours.” Amen, right?


As my morning began today, I was not nearly as bright as sunshine. In fact, pretty gray!! (and not fun to deal with!!) But I began to see some hope in the way it laid itself out:


1) K-Love playing Laura Story’s “Blessings”
The line “What if your blessings come through raindrops? What if healing comes through tears..” really hit home. Can it be that these days we see as terrible and no good are the best of all? That is a beautiful thing!! I am always waiting for the right moment, the best moment, for life to really hit the high point! But maybe the highest point (where God is working the most) is in the lowest point of all..


2) A children’s book.

Obviously, it is a verse paraphrased.. but it came to me by way of a work of literature made for ages 4 and under. Sometimes that is exactly what we need- simplicity 🙂
God is in control!!


Maybe in all areas of life the Lord of all lords is closest when we are the furthest away, or the most down. Wow.


Think about it.
Thanks so much for reading!