I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!

Exercise and living a healthy lifestyle are great but they can be so hard. Our society tells us you must be skinny to be socially accepted. You must look a certain way to be accepted. But that is a load of junk! Exercise because it is good for you and will help you live a longer happier life. Look the way you want because you feel beautiful not because that is what society deems as beautiful. 

In the last week my roommate Keri and I started going to the gym. I know it is the first week high but I am loving it. It gives me a place to let my frustration out as well as a way to get my body in shape without having to do it on my own. We are going not because we are chasing society dreams of being a size 00 and being culturally beautiful but because we want to be in shape so we can live to the best of our ability. 

From working out off and on for the last few years here is a few things I have learned. 

1) It is easier when you go with someone who has similar goals. It is great to go with someone but if your goal is to get into good shape and theirs is to be super small chances are it isn't going to work out well because of the different regiments because of the different goals. 

2) Eat healthy. So when you do go to they gym it doesn't hurt. Some days you randomly decide you need to add in a extra trip to the gym so if you are eating healthy it won't kill you. As well as eating healthy helps improve weight loss. 

3) Don't be afraid to take a day off. If you aren't feeling well that day take it off. If you don't want to be there your work out it will end up being a bad work out. But you really have to go the next day or you might fall into a habit of not going. 

4) It is not a competition! Yes the person next to you might be burning calories or going faster. Chances are they have been going longer. Do what you can do and don't over exert yourself because when it stops being fun you will stop going. 

5) Challenge yourself. I know I said it is not a competition but if you are not pushing yourself you will never improved. Don't compete with other but compete with yourself. You can go much farther than your brain tells you, you can. 

It will start out hard but it gets easier and when you look back it will be amazing to see how far you have come. It says that our bodies are a temple and that we should treat them as such. Does a temple look better when it is taken care of and maintained? Or when it is ignored and filled with junk? Of course the former. Our bodies are the same way when we take care of them and go the extra mile to take care of it we feel so much better. 

Challenges ahead will frequently bring pain, but pain is temporary while growth is permanent. -Honor Academy GI treaties. 

No Longer Will I Be Timid

Of all the things in life that I don't want to be. Of all the things I won't be; I refuse to be timid. I have stood in the shadows too long. I have been one of life's grand followers, always allowing fear to hold me back. Fear of rocking the boat, of being rejected, hurting people's feelings, being abandoned, of failing, etc. I have tiptoed for too long. I have let other people's dreams guide me for too long. I have been the people pleaser for too long. I want to love people. I want to bring peace and unity. I'm not out to run over people or hurt people to get my way. But, I am done being fearful. I am done being a door mat. I am done being silent. I have a dream. I have a voice. I have something to say. I will be a voice for the voiceless. I will not apologize for truth. I will not back down just because you don't appreciate what I have to say. I have a purpose and calling on my life. I have a purpose far greater than my feelings and my doubts. There is a world that needs me to tell my story. There are broken hearts that need me to be bold. No longer will I tip toe through life for fear of being rejected or hurt or failing. I will run, hop, skip, and dance. I will fly through life. I will run my race with endurance and I will bring people with me. No long am I timid and afraid. I am bold. I have strength. When my life is over I will cross the finish line with a shout of victory and not a whimper and exhaustion. I will finish with my head held high and my arms raised skyward because I am victorious. I am strong. I am a warrior.

~ Carrots

"The Future is yet an untrodden path full of wonderful possibilities." - L.M. Montgomery Anne Of Avonlea

Here

Isn't life crazy? Grand? Hard? And Amazing? Looking back five years what did you imagine life looking like? Is it anything like you thought it would? Chances are no. Because life changes, plans, goals, dreams change. Not always in a bad way but because experiences and new views change what you once thought was important. 

My move to Canada has been that unexpected change. It has been crazy and insane, with so many chances and possibilities. Who will I meet in this new life. Maybe I should change who I am to someone I like better. I can't wait to find out what is going to happen. 

I have been in Canada now for three weeks. In these three weeks I have gotten a job, gone to a concert, seen three movies, and have gotten to know my new roommates as well as reconnect with my sister whom I have not lived with in years. 

Looking back five years I would not have planned this for my life. If I had done what I had planned I would either be in college or just finished college with a nursing degree. Or some weeks I was planning on going to hair school and learning to cut hair professionally. Nothing about Canada was in my plans. But you know what God had bigger plans, I may not know all of what that entails yet but he has me here for a reason. 

What has God asked of you? What has he laid on your heart for the future?  The crazy amazing thing about God is he makes little changes in your heart now so when the time is right you will be ready. 

If you keep quiet at this time, someone else will help and save the Jewish people, but you and your father’s family will all die. And who knows, you may have been chosen queen for just such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14 NCV)