Saturday, September 15, 2012


Sometimes, You Cannot Do It Alone…
 I am excited.  For a gift to me, Ian has hired a trainer to work with me on my daily lifestyle.  I don’t want to say diet, because I don’t want to diet.  I want to be healthy not live according to a diet plan and I want to do this every day for the rest of my life, not just during a season of dieting.
While I want to lose weight, what I really want more is to be lean and healthy in all ways…physically, mentally and spiritually.  I have the “want to”.  I have the growing discipline.  What I don’t have is the full discipline and the full know how.  Thus, the trainer.
In my initial meeting, I told one of the trainers, “I don’t want to become some fitness beast who is so obsessed with their own physical fitness that all else in their live takes a back seat.  What I want is common sense fitness to grow my body into a healthy form so that I am better able to serve others and to be my best self.”
I believe that our bodies are vessels given to us by God and  the better we care for them, the better able we are to do the work we are called to do.  Thus, having a healthy one, is vital to our lives.
There are obstacles I have in my path to fitness.  Some are very clear to me.  Some are just ideals.  Some are not yet known but will become known as I work toward the direction of better  health.  Ultimately, all of it will require work.
And, truth.
To make a change in any facet of our lives, you have to begin with a foundation of truth. 
As I told my trainer….the image I see in my mirror does not match the image in my heart.  How can we reconcile those two?
She laughed….and, then was serious.
“Sometimes, you cannot.”
I cannot??  Then, why am I here??
Very kindly but very definitively, she said, “sometimes…..you have to let go of the old image and paint a new one.”
She explained, “sometimes in life, when you base your future on what you have seen or done in the past, the image is skewed….and, no matter how hard you try to erase or change the old image, you cannot do it.”  “Sometimes, it is better to paint a new one.  Truly laying down past thoughts and ideas about yourself and growing new, different thoughts.”
It’s like being “re-drawn”.
So, I looked hard at my trainer and said, “please explain yourself.”
And, so she did.  And, it made sense.
And, I saw truth in what she said mainly because she said true change begins with truth with yourself.  That is a “truth” on which both she and I can agree.
She said those who do the best on becoming healthy are those who learn to be firmly honest with themselves.  Honest about where they are currently and honest about how hard they are willing to work to get to where they need to be for a healthy body.
She said “all health begins with full truth”.
But, that is the easiest part.  She said most people can admit that they are unhealthy, unfit, undisciplined.  Some, in fact, brag that they know they are this way and that they will just have to live with themselves because there is nothing they can do to change it.  In the name of “self-acceptance”, they will just have to accept their unhealthy bodies and minds and so will others around them.
They would be wrong.
She said a certain few get past their surface truth, and to the core truth in their lives and make changes which forever impact their lives in a healthy and positive way.
They paint a new picture of themselves.
I am a pretty down-to-earth kind of girl, but this makes sense to me. 
So, part of my goal in working with a trainer is having them assist me in painting a new picture.
Of myself.
One which is truthful in where I am, honest in where I want to be and can be and one which is committed…moment by moment…to being the best self I can be.
And, maybe in doing so, I will get more fit….in all ways.
Bring on the “trainer”…..not just with my physical health but in all aspects of my life.
Oh wait....HE's been there all along.....bring on a better "student" in me!
Blessings,
Lesa

 

 

 

Friday, September 14, 2012


If It Is Friday, It is Monday plus four days….

Okay, so this has been a crazy, busy time at our home these past few weeks.  Thus, the lateness of this week’s “letter” to you.  Ladder and I have been discussing my weekly note to you and he would like to join me on occasion, if that is permissible….
This week, Ladder wanted to bless you with scripture….from Him:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  Galatians 6:9
“Madison, I believe this verse has many applications.  Spiritually, if we keep doing what God asks us, we will reap eternal life and will lead others to Him.  If applied personally, this verse means if we do good and work hard in school, we reap good grades, an education and a secure and productive career.  In dating, if you keep yourself pure and good and God-centered and moral and look for Godly men, you will reap a husband who will love you as Christ loves the church.  You do not ever want another type of love…for all others will be hollow and empty in comparison.  If you do this, you will find a mate who will truly “love you more than all the sunrises in the East and sunsets in the West.  And, this is my prayer for you.
As you make friends, always treat them as you want them to treat you, and as God calls us to treat one another, and, you will reap true and real lifelong friendships.  So whatever you do in life, when times are tough, or you are tempted, remember…always do good and never give up because in that, you will find God and His promises.
Look not to your mother or me or any human for your example to follow….for following a human, even those who love you deeply and securely as your Mama and I do, will lead you to disappointment.  Follow God in how you live your life….and you do that by knowing HIM through His word…..
Always look at your Bible as a true “love letter” to you from God…because it is.
I could not love you more if you were my own flesh and blood daughter and want you to know that I will always stand before you, behind you and beside you as you walk through this world.  But, God is your true Father and He is the one who will lead you to the beautiful life He has in store for you.
I love you, Snicklebritches,
I am blessed to be your Ladder…it is an unexpected but much beloved gift.”
Ian