Inside Out

'we are to live in such a way that demands a gospel explanation' this is a quote I read from facebook the other day from @aaronivey. I thought is was really cool and it made me think. Does your life and the things you do in it require the presentation of the gospel just to be understood? I wish I could say mine does. But I know that would be far from the case. I mean, I am sure it does sometimes, to some people. But on the whole, I could use some major overhaul of attitude, thoughts, self-control, speech, actions, etc. Then today at church in our study on the book of James. @kylegoen preached an awesome message on taming the tongue. (which you should totally go watch at www.lifepoint.org) It fit so well with that little nugget from Aaron. First off, during the worship, one of the songs we sang:
Inside Out by Hillsong United:
A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out.

Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love You from the inside out.

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out

I love that line. "Consume me from the inside out". Man how I want to be consumed by him. So on fire for Him and the things that He loves! Oh to feel like that again. It has been a while. Not just to have that feeling for a few hours or days. But I mean to really be immersed in it every day where my life spills out Jesus everywhere I go and in everything I do. If I am on fire for God, that fire should be catching on. As Kyle said this morning, fire (when it is free) can duplicate itself and will consume whatever is in its path. My life should be causing others to be consumed as well. The things I do, say, laugh at, get frustrated with, spend my time on, how I respond to things, etc all should be proclaiming His name in some way. To make people think and notice that something is different.

So anyway, I just want to say that I am proclaiming today that this week is going to be different. I can't say exactly what that looks like in entirety but I will be changing up some things a bit from what I have been doing lately. Starting with getting back to quiet times of course! And hitting the gym and laying off the unnecessary extra sweets. And watching my tongue extra carefully in the anger, negativity, complaining department, hehe. And doing a better job of what I am "putting in" so that what "comes out" is what I want to shine and not something I don't want. Among so much more, but you get what I mean. Only through the Lord's strength! Anyway, enough for now. Good night!

not ready?

Ok, I so want to do the triathlon, been waiting so long to do one now. But I think it is too soon to do one, especially one a little bigger than I had wanted to do for a first timer. I am so out of shape and my joints are having issues. I think my body is still getting back to normal after having the baby. I don't remember it taking this long to recuperate in the past with my other two kids. The running not only gets me winded but it is a little hard on my knees so I think I should stick to the eliptical, bike, swimming type stuff for now. So that means now running 3 miles in a triathlon, lol. I hate to back down after just agreeing to do this event, but I think I was just eager to do it. I am already passing up a smaller triathlon at our YMCA next weekend because I knew that would be too soon, and that one would have been a great one to do. Hopefully I can do the one I was going to do last summer, it is at the end of July. So we will see. For now I will stick to my 6 day workout fat loss routine and work my way up to triathlon training from there. I could still use the prayers and support though, thanks.

Chrissy

Steppin it up

Ok, I have been working out again for about 2 wks now... well, last night I was contacted by a friend who is a trainer and she asked me if I wanted to join her and some friends in a mini triathlon on April 26th. I said i would do it and so now with my workout today I have started gearing myself to prepare for it. Yes, I know I am crazy! I just had a baby 8 wks ago and i still have weight to lose from that and I have never done a tri before. But I have been wanting to do one for a long time. I actually was supposed to do my first one last July right before I turned 30, but I got preggo, lol. So, I am going to need a lot of wisdom, energy, stamina, prayers, and support. I do not want to overdo it in anyway or push myself too hard. But I do need to be able to finish the thing. That's the goal, just finish it! It is an indoor triathlon consisting of 1 mile swim, 15 mile bike, and 3 mile treadmill run. I am going to need to go shopping for a new swimsuit, blah.

I was training for fat loss, but now I need to focus my training more on the event, so that means steppin it up and doin some major sweating and breathing. Today as part of my workout, I first decided to jog a mile straight through just to see if I could do it and see how long it took me (since I haven't really jogged in like 11 months. Well, right into it I was already tired and wanted to stop but i pressed on. I did it without stopping but it was a horrible time, 12:38 at a speed of 4.7-5.0 and my heart rate stayed in the mid to high 170's. Man am I out of shape.

I will keep you updated on how the training goes. I am looking fwd to getting in shape!

Chrissy