Does God care what I weigh??

I've been up and down on the whole weight loss thing.

On one hand, my doctor would like me to lose about 15 pounds. And since my BMI is slightly on the overweight side (depending on which BMI chart you look at), I have been trying off and on to lose the pounds. On the other hand, it's hard, and when I try to lose weight, I often end up either a.) gaining weight or b.) so cranky that I don't even like myself.

And I go back and forth on the body image issue. I'll admit, I don't like the way I look when I'm on the heavier side of the scale. Even when people tell me I look fine, I don't feel fine, and it really bugs me. But then I start debating with myself about body image and learning to like and accept the body I have. But then I get worried that since my doctor says it's a health issue, and my family has weight issues, then I really should worry more about my weight.

Then today I read this great article about God's view of our weight and how Rick Warren's church is using the idea to lose weight. I've always agreed with the idea that our body is the temple of God and we should take care of it, but for whatever reason, until I read this article, I never thought about that connection to what we weigh. Don't get me wrong here... I think that God still loves us whether we weigh 300 pounds or 120. But I wonder if sometimes He looks at us and is sad because we could be so much more and do so much more with our bodies if only we took better care of ourselves.

Has anyone tried The Daniel Plan? Have you thought about what God thinks of your weight?

Does God care what I weigh??

I've been up and down on the whole weight loss thing.

On one hand, my doctor would like me to lose about 15 pounds. And since my BMI is slightly on the overweight side (depending on which BMI chart you look at), I have been trying off and on to lose the pounds. On the other hand, it's hard, and when I try to lose weight, I often end up either a.) gaining weight or b.) so cranky that I don't even like myself.

And I go back and forth on the body image issue. I'll admit, I don't like the way I look when I'm on the heavier side of the scale. Even when people tell me I look fine, I don't feel fine, and it really bugs me. But then I start debating with myself about body image and learning to like and accept the body I have. But then I get worried that since my doctor says it's a health issue, and my family has weight issues, then I really should worry more about my weight.

Then today I read this great article about God's view of our weight and how Rick Warren's church is using the idea to lose weight. I've always agreed with the idea that our body is the temple of God and we should take care of it, but for whatever reason, until I read this article, I never thought about that connection to what we weigh. Don't get me wrong here... I think that God still loves us whether we weigh 300 pounds or 120. But I wonder if sometimes He looks at us and is sad because we could be so much more and do so much more with our bodies if only we took better care of ourselves.

Has anyone tried The Daniel Plan? Have you thought about what God thinks of your weight?

Post-storm thanksgiving

The one photo I dared take early in the storm

Last night we had a series of really bad thunderstorms. For the second time in almost 20 years, I heard tornado sirens. We were in bed and had just been woken up by the sound of hail pelting our windows. And then I heard the sirens. I got up and checked the weather report and sure enough, we were under a tornado warning. Now, you have to understand, I have a very irrational fear of tornadoes. Even though we were under a warning, our house is so close to the mountains that it's almost impossible for one to touch down by us. We are several miles west (closer to the mountains, which disrupt the tornado airflow) of the easternmost tornado touchdown our area has historically seen. My irrational fear of tornadoes is one of the reasons we live so far west. I used to have nightmares about tornadoes as a child (and we didn't live in a tornado area), and it's stuck with me.

They had to plow our grocery store

The morning after. She thinks it's cool

So I did what any mom freaked out about tornadoes would do. I woke up my family (except the sleeping little one, who I carried) and we all went down to the basement to wait out the storm. Fortunately, we have a finished basement, and we spent the night sleeping on the couches. We woke up to birds singing and piles of hail in the yard, but no real damage. Unless you count my poor shredded garden, which wasn't as bad as we'd feared.


As we've talked to friends and neighbors in the area, I'm so thankful we didn't have worse. Some of my neighbors also spent the night in the basement, but they didn't have a nice finished area, so they hung out on the cement. Other friends and neighbors had to deal with flooded basements. I've seen pictures on Facebook of friends who got way more hail than we did. I thought of my friends who live in tornado alley and how they don't all have basements, and who deal with tornado sirens on a more regular basis. Two sirens in twenty years. Not bad, considering.

My poor tomatoes.

Shredded lettuce, anyone?

Tonight we're due for more storms. I'll probably go out and cover what's left of my garden, and maybe we'll make a fun night of it by starting off in the basement. I pray my friends and neighbors will stay safe, and I'll remember to remain thankful for how lucky our family is to have a comfortable and safe place to be.

Post-storm thanksgiving

The one photo I dared take early in the storm

Last night we had a series of really bad thunderstorms. For the second time in almost 20 years, I heard tornado sirens. We were in bed and had just been woken up by the sound of hail pelting our windows. And then I heard the sirens. I got up and checked the weather report and sure enough, we were under a tornado warning. Now, you have to understand, I have a very irrational fear of tornadoes. Even though we were under a warning, our house is so close to the mountains that it's almost impossible for one to touch down by us. We are several miles west (closer to the mountains, which disrupt the tornado airflow) of the easternmost tornado touchdown our area has historically seen. My irrational fear of tornadoes is one of the reasons we live so far west. I used to have nightmares about tornadoes as a child (and we didn't live in a tornado area), and it's stuck with me.

They had to plow our grocery store

The morning after. She thinks it's cool

So I did what any mom freaked out about tornadoes would do. I woke up my family (except the sleeping little one, who I carried) and we all went down to the basement to wait out the storm. Fortunately, we have a finished basement, and we spent the night sleeping on the couches. We woke up to birds singing and piles of hail in the yard, but no real damage. Unless you count my poor shredded garden, which wasn't as bad as we'd feared.


As we've talked to friends and neighbors in the area, I'm so thankful we didn't have worse. Some of my neighbors also spent the night in the basement, but they didn't have a nice finished area, so they hung out on the cement. Other friends and neighbors had to deal with flooded basements. I've seen pictures on Facebook of friends who got way more hail than we did. I thought of my friends who live in tornado alley and how they don't all have basements, and who deal with tornado sirens on a more regular basis. Two sirens in twenty years. Not bad, considering.

My poor tomatoes.

Shredded lettuce, anyone?

Tonight we're due for more storms. I'll probably go out and cover what's left of my garden, and maybe we'll make a fun night of it by starting off in the basement. I pray my friends and neighbors will stay safe, and I'll remember to remain thankful for how lucky our family is to have a comfortable and safe place to be.

Lucky 13!!

Happy Anniversary to my hubby!!

Thirteen years ago today, I said, "I do." Some days, I wish I'd said, "I don't." But most days, I'm really glad I did!

And, in celebration, here are thirteen things I love about my hubby:

1. He's been there through my ups and downs, even at times I don't want to be around me.
2. He acknowledges that The Dog is the Supreme Ruler and holds #1 in my life.
3. He laughs at all of my jokes, especially when I threaten him with death.
4. He still lets me have life insurance on him, despite my many death threats.
5. He's a good dad and very active in our kids' lives.
6. He likes adventure, and someday our adventures will be someplace really cool.
7. He gives me the freedom to roam the country with my friends. (Even though the dog misses me terribly)
8. He works hard to have me home with the kids. And with the Dog.
9. He understands my need for personal space.
10. He believes in me, even when I don't believe in myself.
11. He understands that when I tell him he stinks, it's nothing personal, and goes and takes a shower.
12. He thinks I'm the sexiest woman alive.
13. After all this time, he's still glad he married me.

Lucky 13!!

Happy Anniversary to my hubby!!

Thirteen years ago today, I said, "I do." Some days, I wish I'd said, "I don't." But most days, I'm really glad I did!

And, in celebration, here are thirteen things I love about my hubby:

1. He's been there through my ups and downs, even at times I don't want to be around me.
2. He acknowledges that The Dog is the Supreme Ruler and holds #1 in my life.
3. He laughs at all of my jokes, especially when I threaten him with death.
4. He still lets me have life insurance on him, despite my many death threats.
5. He's a good dad and very active in our kids' lives.
6. He likes adventure, and someday our adventures will be someplace really cool.
7. He gives me the freedom to roam the country with my friends. (Even though the dog misses me terribly)
8. He works hard to have me home with the kids. And with the Dog.
9. He understands my need for personal space.
10. He believes in me, even when I don't believe in myself.
11. He understands that when I tell him he stinks, it's nothing personal, and goes and takes a shower.
12. He thinks I'm the sexiest woman alive.
13. After all this time, he's still glad he married me.

Rediscovering my creativity

I've spent the past few months in a bit of a funk... maybe slightly depressed, but mostly discouraged. Over a lot of things, one of which being my writing, but there's also a lot of life stuff mixed in there. With summer upon us, my kids are home and there's a part of me that things, "great... one more thing on my plate." Which is a bad attitude to have, I admit. But the thing that inspires me is that my girls are creative creatures like me. One is an aspiring author who's working on her first book. The other is an aspiring singer, who, despite her failure to understand that the notes go with words, writes a new song every day. In their creativity, I've realized that I can rediscover my own. I thought it would be fun to do some of the exercises from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.

About ten years ago, I joined a group of writers who spent a summer working through the book. It was hard for me to get through, mostly because I had a little one, and finding child care was hard. I had to drive an hour each way to drop my daughter off at a sitter's, and the group met about 30 minutes away from the sitter. It was a lot of driving and a lot of early mornings. But I learned a lot and really enjoyed learning from those gals.

Working through the book, I unlocked a lot of the creativity that had been stifled over the years. It brought back some of the childlike joy and wonder that happens when you take away your creative boundaries. And the stress of life that had been driving me crazy felt a little more manageable. So here I am again, deciding to feed that part of my soul that makes me smile inside even when the outside is a mess. 

When I brought out the book to see how to structure exercises to do with the girls, I realized that it would also be fun (and valuable!) to invite some friends along for the journey. So... here is my invitation. If you're in the Denver area, and would be interested in joining others who want to explore their creative side, we'd love to have you join us. I haven't set a date or time, but here is the one thing set in stone... kids are welcome. I remember how hard it was to drive an hour out of my way to drop the kid off, drive another 1/2 hour to group, 1/2 hour to get my kid, then another hour home. Even now, finding babysitters is a huge challenge for me. So I want to encourage other moms in need of a creative jumpstart by welcoming their children. Will it be chaos? Probably. But I'm also going to get my kids involved, and maybe we can also encourage creativity in our children.

If you want to rediscover your creativity, join us! And if you want to come over and hang out, we'd love to have you. If you're too far away, you're invited to be a part of the journey online, and I'll post about what we've done each week.

Rediscovering my creativity

I've spent the past few months in a bit of a funk... maybe slightly depressed, but mostly discouraged. Over a lot of things, one of which being my writing, but there's also a lot of life stuff mixed in there. With summer upon us, my kids are home and there's a part of me that things, "great... one more thing on my plate." Which is a bad attitude to have, I admit. But the thing that inspires me is that my girls are creative creatures like me. One is an aspiring author who's working on her first book. The other is an aspiring singer, who, despite her failure to understand that the notes go with words, writes a new song every day. In their creativity, I've realized that I can rediscover my own. I thought it would be fun to do some of the exercises from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.

About ten years ago, I joined a group of writers who spent a summer working through the book. It was hard for me to get through, mostly because I had a little one, and finding child care was hard. I had to drive an hour each way to drop my daughter off at a sitter's, and the group met about 30 minutes away from the sitter. It was a lot of driving and a lot of early mornings. But I learned a lot and really enjoyed learning from those gals.

Working through the book, I unlocked a lot of the creativity that had been stifled over the years. It brought back some of the childlike joy and wonder that happens when you take away your creative boundaries. And the stress of life that had been driving me crazy felt a little more manageable. So here I am again, deciding to feed that part of my soul that makes me smile inside even when the outside is a mess. 

When I brought out the book to see how to structure exercises to do with the girls, I realized that it would also be fun (and valuable!) to invite some friends along for the journey. So... here is my invitation. If you're in the Denver area, and would be interested in joining others who want to explore their creative side, we'd love to have you join us. I haven't set a date or time, but here is the one thing set in stone... kids are welcome. I remember how hard it was to drive an hour out of my way to drop the kid off, drive another 1/2 hour to group, 1/2 hour to get my kid, then another hour home. Even now, finding babysitters is a huge challenge for me. So I want to encourage other moms in need of a creative jumpstart by welcoming their children. Will it be chaos? Probably. But I'm also going to get my kids involved, and maybe we can also encourage creativity in our children.

If you want to rediscover your creativity, join us! And if you want to come over and hang out, we'd love to have you. If you're too far away, you're invited to be a part of the journey online, and I'll post about what we've done each week.