Ultimate Blog Challenge Wrap Up

Today I have done something that I was not sure I was going to be able to do.  I have had a new entry on my blog every day for the past 31 days.  It was because I took part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  It is amazing to think I found things to write about every single day.  I have enjoyed sharing, remembering, feeling and writing about so many things our family has experienced over the years.  

I want to be able to continue this journey.  I know I have many more words, stories and posts to share.  I have more pictures, recipes and homeschooling posts to share.  I love getting the opportunity to record my thoughts to where years down the road, my children will be able to read them and gain insight into their mother.  So even though the Ultimate Blog Challenge ends today.  Tomorrow, I am starting a new challenge.  I am beginning the NaBloMoPo November Challenge.  Plus I am beginning the NaNoWriMo challenge.  

The NaBloMoPo challenge will involve blogging every day during the month of November.  So stayed tuned to see what topics come up.  The NaNoWriMo challenge involves me trying to write a novel.  I have tons of material to share thanks to my husband and family.  So my goal will be to write 50,000 words by the end of the month.  I have some ideas of what I want to write about, but we will have to wait and see what develops.

As my children grow up, I really enjoy sharing memories and stories with them. But more importantly I enjoy making memories with them.  Every day is a blessing given to us by God.  Each day deserves us giving our best

Today is not just the ending of the Ultimate Blog Challenge, it is also the final day of the Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Study for "The Best Yes" by Lysa Terkeurst.  I have learned so much from this book.  I don't want to focus on "people pleasing" instead I want to focus on pleasing and honoring God.  I want to spend time in His Word and in prayer.  I want to draw closer to God.  After all, He is God the Father.  He is a father who willingly sent His Only Begotten Son to die on a cross for our sins.  He was the perfect sacrifice.  I need to give Him my best yes.  This means I need to give my best yes in everything I do, say or think.  I know I will never be perfect.  As Romans 3:23 - 24 says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus".  

I want to strive to honor God, even if it means I give "small no's", so I save time to give my "Best Yes".  It means I need to take time to listen to the sometimes small, still voice of God - even when it is not the answer I want to hear.  I pray you strive to give your "Best Yes" as well.  I pray you have enjoyed the journey this month.  I would love to hear from you. 

So today I say good bye to this past month and this past study.  But I say hello to new challenges and around the middle of the month I will be saying hello to a new Bible study as we begin Max Lucado's book Before Amen and I invite you to come along with us for the journey.  This study is all about prayer.  And what better time to begin a study on prayer than in the month before we celebrate Jesus' birth.  The best part about this study is that the conference calls are FREE!  That is right for this study the conference calls cost NOTHING!  So I hope you will join us.

Creative Attempts

I know I promised you yesterday that I would share pictures from our birthday dinner feast.  Unfortunately, I got so busy cooking that I forgot to snap some pictures.  So I will try again at our next meal.  Tomorrow I will be sharing some pictures from our Spaghetti Dinner we fixed on Saturday night though.  In the meantime, I hope you will appreciate my post on my creative attempts.

So I have never claimed to be an artist.  Math I can do.  History I love.  Reading I love.  English or Language Arts (whichever you prefer) I can even handle.  Science is okay.  Music (such as High School Band, chorus, and such) I loved.  But Art was a subject I dreaded going to class for every time.  Even when I became a substitute teacher and subbed at the Elementary School level, I was not thrilled by having to substitute for an Art teacher.  

So over the past few weeks, I have become involved in quite a few different groups on Facebook that are forcing me to embrace my creative side.  I decided I wanted to embark on a journey to journal about my Bible study - both personal and for my Online Bible Studies that I participate in.  Part of this came from a lot of talk about Verse Mapping for our Online Bible Studies.  As a result I did a search on Google and Pinterest to see what I could discover.  From these searches, I ended up coming across a group that did "Bible Journaling".  I thought it was going to be dealing with using words to convey thoughts about the Bible.  However, it ended up being something somewhat different.

Instead of just using words, many individuals draw these amazing, incredible, and detailed drawings.  I am in awe of what I am seeing.  Throughout the years of homeschooling,  I have had to come up with Artistic courses/activities for my children to do.  Fortunately, I have been blessed to find tons of dvds and books to help.  But now I am going to take the plunge and study some of them myself.  This way I can create some of these artistic masterpieces.  So stay tuned, I will be sharing about my journey.

MY FAVORITE THINGS

I have quite a few favorite things in my life.  One of my most favorite things is my family.  My husband, three sons and one daughter bring a lot of blessings, love, joy and fun into my life.  I can not say growing up I expected to have four children.  Nor can I say I pictured my life looking as it does.  But I can not imagine any other life that would suit.  

My husband is truly the love of my life.  He is such a blessing to me and the answers to my prayers.   We have been married for 22 years and while they haven't always been perfect, we are still together and more in love than ever.  I can't imagine spending my life with any other.  When your parents separate when you are in your last year of college and then wind up divorcing the following year, it can't help but color your perspective.  However, having a personal Savior, Jesus Christ, sustained me.

We have four children - three sons ages 18, 16, and 14 plus a 12 year old daughter.  They are a blessing.  They are enthusiastic, active, funny and amazing.  God truly blessed my husband and I when He allowed us to be their parents.  These children mean my house is never quiet, dull or unimaginative.  Homeschooling them means I get to see these amazing children grow in their faith and in their interests.  I am truly thankful for them.

My second favorite thing is my collections of Bibles and Christian resources.  I love being able to spend time in God's Word and in prayer.  The resources help me to develop as a Christian.

Another favorite thing in my life is my teddy bear that I recently blogged about.  This bear was a wonderful gift from my husband for our anniversary.

Another favorite thing is reading.  There is nothing like a good book on a rainy or cold or snowy day.  Books can take me wherever I could imagine.  They also mean I am never bored.  I love discussing books with family and friends.  In the last several years, I became part of an Online Bible Study ministry through Proverbs 31 Ministries and I love the way the books challenge and touch my soul.

I love snow.  I love watching it fall softly and quietly.  I enjoy watching my children play in it.  I love seeing their snow creations including snowmen and snow forts.

Another favorite thing is attending homeschool conventions.  These conventions allow my family to connect and have fun while learning so many things.  Plus we get to see neat places and acquire more books.

These are just a few of my favorite things.  What are some of your favorite things?

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS

So this is day 21 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge and I am still going strong.  We are also in the midst of Week 5 of the Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Studies of Lysa Terkeurst"s book The Best Yes:  Making Wise Decisions in the Midst of Endless Demands.  This book is an amazing book and the Bible study has been incredible.  As I was reading in the book to prepare for my role as a Facebook Small Group Leader, I read a section regarding decisions.

You know decisions can be one of the hardest things in the world to make.  I know personally I always want to make the best decision.  I want to be sure I am doing what is right for me personally as well as for my family.  However, I often leave the most important person and part out of my decision making process out.  The person is God and the part I may leave out is to pray.  

God wants to be part of our decisions.  We just need to pray and ask for guidance.  But more importantly we need to be willing to the answer.  Sometimes the answer comes in the form of someone telling us something.  For example, not getting a job or interview.   We may receive an answer of not right now.  Sometimes we get the answer from friends or family.  We may have not even told them what we are thinking about, but they come out with something that clearly comes from God.  Answers may come from Bible passages we read.  If we see the same passage in multiple places (especially in the same day), God is evidently trying to get our attention so we need to listen.  Or perhaps a sermon on Sunday speaks directly about a subject we are thinking about.  So we just need to remember to stop and listen to God and what He is trying to tell us.  

If we take time to listen to God, we can make good decisions.  When we make Godly decisions, we will give our "Best Yes".  This means we do what is right for our family, our lives at the time and that ultimately brings honor to God.  So know I am praying for us all to make good decisions and say our "Best Yes", even if that means sometimes saying no or not right now.

What Happened to Sunday?

Well it is day 12 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge and I am still going strong.  Today I want to talk about Sacred Sunday.  I can remember growing up as a child and there being blue laws, where most businesses did not open on Sunday or holidays.  Those were days to spend with God and with family.  You typically went to church, came home, ate and spent time with your family or friends.

After I met my husband, I spent most Sundays at my in-laws' house.  We would get up Sunday morning, go to church and then come back to their house to eat and spend the day together.  As we had children the tradition continued.  It was so nice to know exactly what we were doing.  But over the years, we have moved twice thanks to the military.  We now live in North Central PA while my in-laws live in southeastern NC.  So we don't get to spend many Sundays with them.  While living in PA (and we have lived here for almost 6 years - 4 years in the western part of the state and 2 years where we are now), we don't always succeed at keeping the Sabbath as I would like us to do.  

However, I want to get back to it.  It makes for such a better week to take one day and devote the day to God and what He has given us.  All too soon my children will be gone.  There is no telling if they will live close by or live far away.  Which means, I don't know how often I will get to see them.  So I want to instill in them a sense right now of spending Sundays with God.  Oh I am not saying we should just spend Sundays with God and forget about Him the rest of the week.  We need to focus on God all the time, but Sundays should be a day of rest.  After all if God took the seventh day to rest, why should we be different.  Also in the Bible, it continually points out how Jesus went and took time for himself in prayer.  We need that time to focus solely on God so that we can focus and understand what He would have us to do.  

So I pray you take time on whatever day your Sunday is to focus on God and your family.  Focus on what really is important.  I realize everyone may not have Sunday off, but devote one of the days you do have off to God and family.  See if you don't have a better week for it.  Share your thoughts and results with me.

WHAT WE USE FOR OUR HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM

So yesterday I talked about what a day in our life looks like.  Today I want to talk about what we actually use for our homeschool curriculum.  Then tomorrow I will be talking about how I actually choose curriculum.

We have four children:  three sons and a daughter and they are all individuals and are all different.  What works for one child doesn't always work for another child.  Or even sometimes, what works one year for one child doesn't work the following year.

Our oldest son is 18.  This son has had numerous health issues for the past 9 years.  It affected every area of his life and especially his ability to complete schoolwork.  So this summer we evaluated where he was and where he wanted to go.  We agreed that it was best for him to complete another year of homeschool.  So this year all of his curriculum is online.  He is the only child that is using one curriculum for all subjects.  For him, we are using Alpha Omega's Monarch Online curriculum.  I love the flexibility of this program in scheduling assignments.  Also, it is almost completely self grading.  It calculates grades, keep track of days school is completed and such.  While no curriculum is perfect, it does work well at the point we are right now.

Our second son would be considered 10th grade if he was in public school.  This year, he is doing Bible, Math, English, Science, History, Latin and electives.

Our third son would be considered 9th grade in public school.  He does Bible, Math, English, Science, History, Latin and Electives.

Our daughter would be considered a 7th grader by public school standards.  She is doing Bible, English, Math, Science, History, and Electives.

So now to get into more specifics starting with our 2nd son:

Bible:  He uses a variety of items including some of his Dad's resources from his Ministry.

English:  180 Daily Grammar Lessons by Easy Grammar, IEW's Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course; Excellence in Literature's Introduction to Literature; English from the Roots Up; Phonetic Zoo for Spelling

History:  He began the year doing Notgrass' Exploring Government and has now competed that and moved into HSLDA's Generation Joshua's ICitizen course for Civics

Science:  Friendly Chemistry

First Form Latin

Music activities - he pretty much works on what he chooses for this including practicing singing, practicing instruments and working on music theory

Introduction to Criminal Justice

Forensic Science course with Lab

and some electives on Monarch

Son numer 3:
Bible:  He is basically expected to keep up with daily Bible reading.  We are getting ready to jump back into our Advanced Training Institute Wisdom Books, which will help give this more structure.  And the whole family does this.

Math:  Videotext Interactive Online for Algebra

History:  Completed Mystery of History Volume I and now is getting ready to probably start Mystery of History Volume III, but I have to decide what I want him to do.

Science:  Apologia's Exploring Creation with Biology

English:  Daily Grams by Easy Grammar, IEW's Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course; Excellence in Literature's Introduction to Literature; English from the Roots Up; Phonetic Zoo for Spelling

First Form Latin

Practices keyboard

Does Electives through Monarch Online.  He is doing 2 now and will do 2 more in the spring.  

Daughter:

Bible:  Does daily Bible reading and will be resuming the ATI Wisdom Books

Math:  Life of Fred:  Currently has completed Pre-Algebra I and is working on Pre-Algebra II and then will move into Beginning Algebra

English:  Daily Grams, IEW's Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course;  English from the Roots Up; Phonetic Zoo for Spelling

History:  Completed Mystery of History Volume 1 and is now doing History on Monarch Online.

Science:  Doing Science on Monarch Online

Latin: Latina Christiana 

Electives:  On Monarch including American Literature and a couple of others. 

All of the children are expected to do some activities related to art throughout the year.

So that is what we are using this year.  If you homeschool, let us know what you are using this year.  We welcome your comments.

How I Choose Our Homeschool Curriculum - Part 2

So we are back for day 6 of the Ultimate Blog challenge and day 2 of my discussion about how I choose our homeschool curriculum.

If you read the blog yesterday, these were the last things I had to say:

      "We have the lists of what we need, so we know what we are looking for and      possibly what vendors will have those items.  Then we go back to our hotel room that evening and have a frank discussion of what we saw."  

We discuss the merits of the choices.  We look at any literature we may have collected from the vendors.  Sometimes we look online at the vendor's website or possibly Cathy Duffy's site to confirm our thoughts about the curriculum.  Then we start making new lists.  This time we typically pick 3 to 5 choices per subject that we want to investigate further.  We have a good idea of what will work for our family.  Day 2 of the convention is spent examining in depth curriculum.  This is where things get really serious.  If a vendor does not have time or interest in talking to us, most likely we will eliminate that selection.  I understand that vendors are busy and we go to conventions that have a ton of people.  But if I stand in a booth watching new people walk in and be helped, it turns me off to that vendor.  

Of course, if the vendor acknowledges me and indicates they will be with me when they finish with the current customer, I can understand that and will wait patiently.  So typically on day 2, my husband and I spend time looking and comparing together.  Other parts of the day, he has a list of items he is responsible for looking at while I have my list of items.  This is where we break our initial lists down further.  We look at the materials closely and with our children and our lifestyle in mind.  then that night we go back to our hotel room and again evaluate what we saw and learned that day.  Sometimes, we bring a child or some of the children into the discussion since our children are older.  It helps to have their opinions occasionally.  Other times, we just make executive decisions.  Finally day 3 comes around (if there are 3 days in the convention) and purchases have to be made.  If there are only 2 days for the convention (like the one for CHAP in Pennsylvania), then day 2 changes to the day purchases are made.  Usually by the time the CHAP convention rolls around we have already attended at least one other convention, so we have already looked at a lot of the material and are really just trying to fill in gaps.

Day 3 we have carts and items to place materials in.  This is also the day that everyone is called to action.  If we have a lot of material to buy, my husband and I may split the list and make purchases accordingly.  Other times, we find it faster to stay together - that way we can make runs to the van or hotel room if necessary to unload things.  With 4 children we can acquire quite a bit.  Plus we usually end up adding in some extra items for my husband's Ministry collection or for my personal library.

I love when I can purchase books or materials and actually bring them home with me.  However, that doesn't always happen.  Sometime we have to order the materials and wait for them to arrive.  But when the boxes start being delivered, it is a fantastic day.  I hope you enjoyed reading a little about how we pick our homeschool curriculum.

We begin 

Why I love my Online Bible Study

So instead of talking about homeschooling or my family today, I want to take a minute to invite you to join in the next Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Study.  You can visit the Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Study page to sign up.  The study begins on September 22nd and the book is fantastic!  While real life might be crazy, this Bible Study won't be.  You can follow along on the blog for daily posts or if you prefer you can participate in a Facebook Study Live for a different kind of experience.

I have been involved with Proverbs 31 Ministries OBS (Online Bible Study) for about a year and a half now.  I started off just doing the study and being in a Facebook Small group for Let.It.Go.  by Karen Ehman.  I absolutely fell in love with the study.  I love that I don't have to be at a certain place at a certain time every week.  In my Facebook small group or with the Study Blog, I can interact on my time around my schedule.  But every time I visit the study page or the Facebook Small group I am tremendously blessed.

Back in the spring, I took a leap and decided to volunteer as a Facebook Small group leader.  I helped lead our group for the study for the Limitless Life by Derwin Gray.  It was one of the best experiences of my life.  I can't wait for this study to begin.  Over the next few weeks, you can expect to see more posts from me regarding #TheBestYes!

So if you are looking for a Bible Study that gives you flexibility I invite you to take a look and to join us for #TheBestYes!

FROM CONSUMER TO CONTRIBUTOR LIMITLESS LIFE BLOG HOP

We are in week 4 of  the Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Study of "Limitless Life" by Derwin Gray.  In the book he talks about going from consumer to contributor.  We are a military family.  Six years ago, we moved from eastern NC to western PA courtesy of the military.  We knew no one in our new community, which meant we had to find a new church.

We started our search at the church that was directly beside our new home.  My husband immediately became a contributor by helping with shoveling snow from the sidewalks.  Then he started preaching when necessary - he is an ordained minister.  The people were fantastic and we loved the church, but there were no other children for ours to interact with.  At the time, my sons had activities they were involved in, but my daughter did not really have any.

So I started investigating programs for her and found out about Missionettes.  So we visited our local Assembly of God church so she could see if she liked the program.  At first just our daughter, my husband and I went, but we were told they had activities the same night for our sons, while my husband and I attended their Bible study.  Soon we were attending the church and consuming the things they had to offer.  But we are not ones who like to sit on the sidelines at church, so we began to find ways to help out.  Dennis, my husband, helped with ushering and doing things he could.  I began to help where I could as well.  Before we knew what was happening, we were teaching a Sunday School class for the teens.  All of my sons and husband were helping with ushering.  Our family that sings a capella sang songs at various times.  We also assisted with Vacation Bible School and various other festivals.  I eventually became a Sunday School officer for a short time.  On occasion, my husband filled in for the preacher.  I became the leader for the Missionettes.  We also assisted with services at Weatherwood Manor - a place for Seniors to reside.  At this church, I saw my husband baptize our two oldest sons with our pastor's blessing.  The church became our family and we were meaningful participants.  We went from consuming what the church had to offer to contributors.  It feels right to use the gifts and talents God has given us for His glory and honor.

FROM ORPHAN TO ADOPTED - PROVERBS 31 OBS MINISTRIES BLOG HOP LIMITLESS LIFE WEEK 2

Well we are in week 2 of our Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Study for Derwin L. Gray's book Limitless Life.  This book is so powerful and has so much to say.  This week I want to discuss going from orphan to adopted.  Oh I am not literally an orphan.  I have a wonderful mother who lives with me and has been one of my best friends for quite a few years.  Over 23 years ago, my parents separated and eventually divorced.  My father choose to basically drop out of my life.  He completely missed my wedding.   He has only seen my oldest son several times (probably 3 or 4 at the most).  He has seen my second son probably a total of 3 times at the most.  He has seen our youngest son only about once.  While he has never in his life set eyes on my beautiful, wonderful daughter.  

As I look back on my life, at the time I thought my parents had a good marriage, although my father tended to raise his voice and could cause fear to come into my heart.  Now I would call what he displayed as verbal abuse.  But I still had a fairly good relationship with him (or so I thought).  I was the good child - the one who did what was she was told and got good grades in school.  I went to college and was in my senior year of college when my parents separated.  I was torn between my mother and my father.  At the same time,  I met my future husband.  He is a wonderful man who has a wonderful father and grandfathers.  For the first few months, my father and I seemed to continue as we had been in the past.  He had left my mother for another woman and that really hurt.  He took a job out of state and my future husband and I saw him one time.

Over the next year or so, my father got angry at me over something and basically cut off all communication.  I invited him to our wedding, but he did not come.  He claimed he got lost, but I don't necessarily believe that.  We really did not see or talk with one another.  When we had our first son, my father and my sister came to to his dedication.  It was one of very few times he ever saw any of my children.  Then he saw my oldest two one time.  The next time he saw any of my children was at my grandmother's funeral.  He saw my middle two sons.  Since then, he really has not seen any of my children or spoken to me.  We invited him to come to see my oldest two get baptized approximately 3 years ago.  Then two years ago, my oldest two sons achieved the level of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts.  We planned a huge party and my mother called to invite him to the party.  He told her not to contact him again and he wanted nothing to do with any of us.  It broke my heart. 

But I AM NOT AN ORPHAN!  I have a heavenly Father who loves me and was willing for His Only Begotten Son to die for my sins.  I redeemed by the blood of the Lamb called Jesus Christ.  I am a beloved daughter of the most high God.  Until I get to heaven, God has provided a wonderful earthly husband for me along with a wonderful father in law along with countless other men who have served as Godly examples of what a father should be and how he should act.  Granddaddy Pierce, Pastor Koss, Elder JM Horne are among some of these men.  My own sons and one daughter have a wonderful group of men to look up to and they know they are loved.    Sorry this is so long.  But I needed to get this out.

I choose today to forgive my earthly father.  I refuse to be held captive any more.  I have no way of knowing if he is still alive or not, but I plan on writing a letter saying so and sending to the last known address.  Even if he never receives the letter on Earth, I know my Heavenly daddy will know what I have done and for me right now that is enough.

A small update

Here is a small update on our family.  Life has been really busy around our house since the beginning of February.  In February, Dennis, Jacob and I attended the Candidates Seminar weekend for the Salvation Army in New York.  That Friday night, we attended services at the temple in Manhattan.  It was an incredible evening.  It is amazing to see what God is doing in our oldest son's life.

Then in March, Dennis, Jacob and I attended the Soldiers Retreat for the Salvation Army at Camp Ladore.  Again, it was an incredible weekend.  Joseph was supposed to come up for the day on Saturday with some of our other Youth, but it didn't happen unfortunately.

Then on the last Saturday of March, Dennis, me, and a couple of other adults from our corps took some of our youth to a Divisional Youth Music festival on the outskirts of Philadelphia.  It was a really long day because we got up at 4:00 AM and didn't get back until 9:30 at night.  But it was incredible to see the talent in our division.  It also was great to get to see our Training College cadets at work that day.  They did a devotional time that was incredible.

Then at the beginning of this month, we took a group of youth (including all four of our children) to our Divisional Youth Council.  It was also an incredible time of worship, praise,  and decisions being made for Christ.  Our oldest son joined Dennis and I onstage during the call to officership.  What was incredible about this was our Corps officer along with those in attendance joined us on stage (the same went for all those who responded to the call from other corps) and there was a time of prayer for us.  It was truly incredible.

Now we are winding down the school year and working toward cleaning up and decluttering our home.  For one never knows when we might get our next orders to move.  We have some children who are experiencing growing pains and we have others who are growing incredible amounts but not having the pains.

#MadetoCrave - Emotional Triggers

So we are in week 5 of our Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Studies, and here we go with another blog hop.  I know I am made for more, but boy do my emotions get in my way!  If I am celebrating something, I want a treat!  If I am sad, I want the comfort of food and crave items I should not have.  I eat for tons of emotional reasons, and it is wrong.  

I need to go to God when I have those cravings.  I need to seek after His Word and pray to Him for guidance, direction and strength.  God promises He will never give us more than we can handle.  However, there is nothing in that promise that states we can do it alone.  We need to rely on God's strength and guidance to reach the other side.  When I spend time in prayer and in God's Word, things go smoother in my life.  When I try to rely only on myself, I get chaos.

Of course, it also helps when my husband and I are on the same page and praying for and reaching for the same goals that God wants for us.  I know that God only wants the best for us.  But sometimes, we need to stretch and grow, which causes me to focus on emotional eating.  But when I chose to put my trust, hope and faith in God, I avoid temptation and chose to dive into God's Word, prayer or spending time exercising.  After all, I am#madetocrave God!

#peace Blog Hop Post for Week 3 of Made to Crave

Peace....oh how I love that word and long for it.  We are in week 3 of Proverbs 31 Online Bible Studies for the book "Made to Crave" by Lysa Terkeurst.   One of the definitions of the word peace according to the Merriam Webster dictionary is, "a state of tranquility or quiet" and I like that definition.  Tranquility brings to mind quiet times with no fuss, muss or bother.  It brings to mind a sense of satisfaction and that all is right in the world (or at least my part of it).  God will give us that sense of contentment and tranquility, if we will just ask Him for it.  Of course, we also have to accept His gift.


Now peace is not necessarily is not always something I associate with my weight or how I look.  Growing up, I never had a problem with my weight.  I even made it through college without any real problems.  Then I got married...dom dom dommmm (cue the loud creepy music)...and within 3 years had a weight problem.  I also wound up with a diagnosis of Chronic High Blood pressure...but with my family history of it, that was probably eventually going to happen anyhow.  

Well I married into a wonderful family, so the ladies of the family went to Weight Watchers together.  We ate together, weighed together, and supported one another.  I also had the support of my husband.  Lo and behold within a year, I was within 10 pounds of my goal weight.  I had peace...especially when I was told I could come off my blood pressure medicine and a month later (on October 31 no less) found out we were expecting our first child.  I was blessed with a fairly easy pregnancy...although within a few months, I had to go back on the blood pressure medicine.  After I delivered my son, I lost all but 10 pounds of what I gained.  For the next several years, I repeated the yo-yo effect of losing weight, getting pregnant and then trying to lose that weight.  Now 11 years after having our last daughter, I am nowhere near where I want to be weight wise, but I am working towards it with the support of my family, especially my husband.  I am also tremendously blessed with peace.  I don't feel judged or condemned by those closest to me....and especially my Heavenly Father.  

I won't say it is always easy and I won't say it is perfect all the time.  I want to lose the weight - not to try to measure up to what someone else here on Earth wants me to be, but because I know that God has made me for so much more.  I love my Proverbs Online Bible Study Sisters (and especially my Facebook Small Group).  We can support each other virtually across the miles.  I know I am one of over 43,000 women across the world who struggles with something, but recognizes that God truly has made me for so much more!