Thinking Healthy Thursdays

Most of you have probably seen those commercials that say, "I'm thiking Arbys"...well, this is a little different, and hopefuly not as annoying as those commercials are! Some of you may know that I started a Weight Loss Wednesdays on my homeschool blog. To supplement that, I will be passing along a Healthy Tip on Thursdays on this blog. I have a couple different sources that I receive health tips from on a daily or weekly basis. I will be passing some of those along, as well as anything else that I have learned over the years about health and fitness! These will not neccessarily be simply eating healthy tips, but also anything that involves our health. Health is important, although we should never let wanting to be healthy take the place of God in our lives. Even our desire to be healthy, can sometimes become an unhealthy obsession. If anyone wants to join me in talking about our health of Thursdays that would be great! If not, than just enjoy the tips that I pass along, and hopefully they will help everyone take one more step forward to being healthy!

My first tip is one of the most simple. Drink lots of water. Most people know this, but knowing and doing are two different things. Drinking water does a lot of different things for our bodies. It keeps us hydrated, it gives us energy, it helps us lose weight, it nourishes our skin, it keeps our bowels regular, it helps fight infections, it keeps us from feeling thirsty. There are so many benefits to drinking water on a regular basis. Water is better for us then pop, juice, coffee, tea, or even milk. Without it, we can't live. I have heard that we should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. What I have done in the past to help me get my water drinking in, is to fill up a 4 quart container of water, and put it in my fridge. I commit myself to drinking all of it by the end of the day. This way I don't have to count how many glasses of it I've had, I just know that when that container is empty, I have had at least an adequate amount of water for the day. So very important for us. I personally know that drinking water can help with weight loss, and help you stay energized during the day. Try going a few days drinking the amount of water that you should, and see what kind of difference it will make in how you feel!

If you are joining me in losing weight, I also drink extra water before and after a workout, or any strenuous exercise. This is in addition to my 4 quart container! And, if you are a nursing mama right now......this is essential to helping you keep up a good quality milk supply. So, as the Wiggles would say...."gulp, gulp, drink some water, it's so good for you!"

If you have any other thoughts on water, please share them, and join me next week for my next Thinking Healthy tips! God Bless!

Thousand Words Thursday

I had to use two pics this week. I wanted to use the picture of Elias with the baby bird, but I also just had to put in the close up the bird. We think this may be a baby hawk. My boys spent an afternoon babysitting this baby. We didn't realize that they had found it, until it was too late to tell them that they probably shouldn't mess with it. Our fear is that the mother would reject it, with human smell all over it. We hope he/she is still alive. They took him/her back into the woods and left it (with much tears from Ethan). We have so many animal adventures at our house!! Go here for more Thousand Words Thursday.

Weight Loss Wendesdays-Intro

Ok all, I'm starting something new on my Living, Learning and Organizing blog called Weight Loss Wednesdays. I would love for anyone who is wanting to also start losing weight and getting healthier to join me, or if you just want to give some encouragement that would be great too. There is a better explanation in my introduction post. Let's encourage one another! Click this link to read the intro, and follow me on Wednesdays for this journey over there.

Thanks all! I hope to hear from some other moms out there who are wanting to get healthier, and thinner!

In His Word Wednesday- Partiality

James 2:1-9 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or "Sit here at my footstool," have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well: but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

I read these verses this morning, and I couldn't help but think of what is going on in this country in recent weeks. It made me think of Jon and Kate. It reminded me of what we watched last night about Michael Jackson. Celebrity is a powerful thing in this world. If you can act, or sing or play a sport well, you become a celebrity, and you make LOTS of money. I would say that the world most definitely shows partiality to celebrities. To the point where they completely ignore the negative things that the person has done, and will fill the streets in anguish over the death of that person, even though they never met them! Partiality to the rich, wealthy, and talented is definitely prevalent in our country (and all over the World). But, we as Christians are called to be set apart from this World...do we show the same partiality? Do we show preference for someone who is on TV, or the richer, or more well known members of our church congregation? We can see from the verses above, that this is not pleasing to God. God wants us to treat all people with love and concern, and to give the poor the same attention ( and perhaps more attention) then the rich! This obviously goes against what our World teaches us in our example!

My thoughts go back to Jon and Kate. Jon and Kate are a good example to me of the fact that Jesus told us that the love of money is the root of all evil. No, not money itself, but the love of money. I don't believe that when Jon and Kate started out, it was all about the money. But, it does seem to me that at some point, they crossed over. The love of fame and money took over.

I had only seen the show a couple of times (we don't have cable), but everyone I know would talk about the show, especially Christian women. So many people watched them religiously, and would never miss an episode. They became stars, and they were becoming very rich. It was this partiality, that, I believe, destroyed their marriage. This modest, Christian family, couldn't handle the stardom, and everything that went along with it. Now, am I saying that it was our showing partiality to them, that caused their downfall...not exactly. They still made their choices, and I believe that could have recognized that they were sinking, long before they sank, and pulled the plug. However, the fact that so many brothers and sisters in Christ chose to follow their every move, and give them some kind of extra grace in their downfallls, that may have contributed to their pride, and inability to handle their fame. Just a thought.

So, lets propose together, to not show partiality. Let's love all men the same, rich or poor, "celebrity", or common man. Everyone needs our love and compassion. We need to spend more time serving the poor man, than worshiping the wealthy, and popular. If there is a wealthy, or popular Christian, than it is still our job to admonish them in the sin we see in their lives, in love. As much as we would the average person sitting in our church congregation.

God doesn't like partiality, and as we are called to be set apart from the world, maybe we should think about how we can keep from displeasing God in this way. If you have any further thoughts about this, I would love to hear them, and please join Megan today for more In His Word Wednesday.

Child Training Tuesdays- Chore Edition- GIve me your ideas

Hey all. I have a busy day today, but today I want to hear about other households, and chores. What kind of chores do your kids do, and how do you handle payments, or do you pay? If you do pay, how do you help them manage their money, or do you just let them spend at will?

If you have a good system, that works for your family....please share it with me. We are in the process of reevaluating our chore/payment system. I would also love to know what you do to keep your kids motivated to do the chores that you have for them!

Blog about this for me...and come back to leave me your link! If you don't want to blog about it, leave me a comment. We need your help, so help us to be encouraged as we work to develop the best chore/payment system that we can for our kids! Thanks all, and God Bless!

4th of July Picture!

I said in my Friend Makin' Monday post that I would put up some of my favorite pictures of 4th of July's. This one is a family classic, of my son (the cool blond on the right) and my nephew, hanging out waiting for the fireworks to start!!

Friend Makin' Monday- Fourth of July!

Hi all! It's time for a friend making Monday! The theme today is 4th of July! Oooh fun, I thought. I love the 4th of July for many different reasons. First of all, I love our country, and so I really love celebrating it. I also love fireworks, and food, which is the annual crux of Independence Day celebrations for us. Then there are the memories associated with the 4th. The many childhood memories, and the memory of the first full day/date that my hubby and I spent together. It just happened to be the 4th of July! So, needless to say, it's my favorite summer holiday. I also love patriotic music.....The Anthem, Battle Hymn, God Bless America etc... so many of our countries songs are such a great reminder of how God was at the forefront of the minds of the founders of our country (sorry for the runon sentence there). All I can say is God Bless America..land that I love!!! Now here are the questions that are given to answer.....

What are you doing this July 4th?

Well, we don't have any definitive plans yet, but we will definitely hang out with family, eat, and go to the fireworks nearby!! We live the simple life!

What is your favorite dish to pass when attending a 4th of July party or summer barbecue?

My hubby makes awesome grilled chicken, and I personally cannot have a cookout without potato salad, and brownies!

Do you have any July 4th traditions?

That was covered in the previous question. Our traditions include listening to patriotic music as loudly as possible, eating good food, spending time with family, and we always have to go to the fireworks no matter how late the kids stay up!!

Share your favorite July 4th picture.

I will look for my favorite 4th pics, and put them into a seperate post later!!

Finally, here is a fun quiz to test your 4th of July knowlege. Bring your kids around and see how many of them you all can get right. Tell me all about how you all did.

1. How many stars are on the American Flag?

2. What do they stand for?

3. How many stripes are on the flag?

4. What do they stand for?

5. How many stripes are red?

6. The first stripe is which color?

7. Who sewed the American flag?

This quiz was from Shawn, who is hosting Friend Making Monday this week. Hop on over to her place, and join in, and again, God Bless America!