Motivation Monday: Weight loss- before and after!

Some of y'all may or may not know this.. but I used to be a bit heavier than I am now. In 2011, I was at my heaviest... 186 pounds.

Long story short, I got sick and really decided to get serious about my health. I started running and doing weight watchers. About a year later, I was healed, healthy, and 34 pounds lighter.

My lowest weight was 152. Weight doesn't really make sense to me..I'm 5'7" and according to the BMI scale, weighing 152 puts me in the higher end of 'normal', particularly close to being overweight. But I knew I didn't look or feel 'close to overweight'. I've generally always just weighed a little more. I don't know if it has something to do with muscle mass or bone structure or what.

So, now to Monday, August 18, 2014. I gained back 14 pounds since being my lightest. When I stepped back on the scale on August 9th and saw that, I almost died (#dramatic). Granted, I haven't been eating real healthy, BUTTTT I have been working out and lifting weights 6 days a week for the last 2.5 months. I know for sure I have gained muscle and am more defined than I have been since I was 15 years old.

Since August 9, I decided to really get serious (again) about what food I was putting in my body. I am putting weight watchers on the shelf (although, it's an amazing program!) and have started counting calories so that I can really crack down on exactly what I'm eating. I lost 2 pounds last week. I am down to 164.6.

Soo, all that to say, CHEERS TO ACCOUNTABILITY. I'll be posting updates on my progress.

Who wants to join?!?

Love, Meg

Thought-full Thursday: Live what you believe?

I wasn't raised in church. I got saved a little later on in life. But, I've been in the church now for a few years. Long enough to know what is acceptable, what is frowned upon, and how a Christian is supposed to look.
Because I was older when I became a Christian, I remember what it was like to try and really live out what I believed. I wanted my life to mirror my new beliefs. I was getting to know God. I believed He was real and I wanted others to see that in my walk.
The longer I've been a Christian, serving in the church, the easier it has gotten. The things I struggled with in the beginning, aren't the same things I struggle with now. In the beginning, it was the 'petty' stuff.. judging, cussing, being mean. As time goes on, I've appeared to master those 'silly' things I once struggled with as a mere baby Christian.
I was really thinking about this today.. Just remembering the beginning steps of my relationship with God and comparing them to where I'm at now. I was just innocently having this nice reminiscing session when God pulled the rug out from under me.
I really had such a passion and zeal for God when I was first saved. I knew that He was real. You couldn't convince me any different. My heart and spirit knew it to be true. My behavior was what took a little bit longer to get the memo. I look at my life and the lives of so many people around me and I believe we've now got it backwards.
We went from striving to live what we believed to simply trying to believe what we live.
For me, I really had a hard time swallowing this concept today. Sometimes, I go through the motions. I know what I'm supposed to be doing as a Christian, so I do just that. I look the part, but do I still believe in God the same way I did in the beginning? Do I really believe prayer works? That God can heal? That He hears us when we pray? Has my knowledge of who He is deepened? Or has it been overtaken with the tedious religious actions I know that I am supposed to be doing?

If we were all honest, I wonder how many of us are in this boat? Do you really and truly believe everything your life may portray that you believe? This world needs real Christians.
Not just Christians that look like 'Christians'. But people who really, to the core of their being, believe God is who He says He is. That He is sovereign and holy. That He loves, and heals, and forgives. That He's righteous and fair. That He is real. That He wants you and me.

PLEASE.. instead of just living what we believe, lets really believe what we live.


Love, Meg

Motivation Monday

 

Happy Monday, y'all!

This week is what you make it.

Choose joy.

Love, Meg

Thought-full Thursday

DO WHAT YOU LOVE, LOVE WHAT YOU DO.


It's the age old question that seems to continually plague almost everyone.. "What the heck am I doing with my life?'
It's hard not to ask that question, given the comparison generation we live in today.
I know for me, more often than not, I find myself asking this question quite regularly. It seems as if I don't have much to show for the amount of years I've been on this earth. I look around at the other people my age, all the accomplishments they have, and the direction they are headed in.. It's really easy to get discouraged.
As a Christian, God constantly has to remind me that His timeline isn't the world's timeline. I need to stop comparing my life to the lives of those around me, and start comparing my life to the life that God has written in His book for me.
About a week ago, I was having yet another pity party, and God really convicted me. I was feeling really unsatisfied with my life and was asking Him why. He showed me, through a series of events, that there's passions and gifts that He has put in me that I'm neglecting.
When choosing a job or career, most of us, look at the income factor. It's less about passion and more about money. We think that if we get a job that pays well, we can make ourselves enjoy it.
What if God wanted us to do what we love to do? What if we feel unsatisfied with life because we do what we think we 'have' to do, instead of what we have a passion for?
For those who know me, I LOVE to shop.. and I mean LOVE. I really enjoy it.. all aspect of it. Even if it's for someone else.
I really felt that God was pressing on my heart saying "pursue it".
I tend to enjoy my comfort zone. I stick to what I know and what I am good at. It leaves little room for failure.
So when I know that God is telling me to pursue a brand new avenue, my doubts begin to surface. What if no one hires me? What if it's a bust? What if people don't think I'm qualified? Oh, the what if's..
Where's my faith? If God calls you to do something, He is ALWAYS faithful. ALWAYS.

So as of last night, full of faith, I officially started a business.
Meg & Lou
Personal Shopper
I ordered business cards that will be arriving next week.

I want to challenge each of you to search your heart. What are you good at? What gifts do you have that you may think aren't all that important? Those very talents and gifts could be the keys to unlocking the door that leads you into the life that God has intended for you. The life of fulfillment that you've been desiring.

Be brave. Be bold. Have faith.
God is beyond faithful. Always.



Love, Meg