Plateau

My weight has fluctuated more in the past 4 years than ever before in my life. My husband and I each put on the "freshman 15" during our first couple years of marriage. Looking back, we simply stopped going to the gym, started taking afternoon naps, and I went through every cookbook I had, feeding my man and not counting the calories. Then we found out baby #1 was on the way, and here comes another 35 pounds. I managed to take that off in 10 months and get within 15 pounds of my goal when, surprise, baby #2 and 30 more pounds. All totally worth it, but now it is back to work, well, working out, that is!

My girls are accustomed to going to the gym in our community at a certain time each day when their favorite TV show is on. Since we do not have cable, it is a real treat for them to watch new episodes. This gives me 30 minutes which I must use wisely, because when those ending credits role, Selah loudly announces to everyone- "bye-bye gym!" It hasn't been easy, and sacrifices must be made in order to keep exercise in my daily routine, but anything worth doing usually requires alot of hard work and sacrifice.

I am blessed that both my girls learned from a very young age that this is what we do, and they know to cooperate while Mommy works out. I love that my little Susie (11 mos) mimics my breathing while I am weight training. And, of course, I love seeing the numbers go down on the scale and being able to fit back into my skinny jeans again.

Recently, however, I hit a plateau. Just 2 pounds shy of the 120s, (the 120s!!!) and I got stuck. Ever since I stopped nursing a few weeks back (Susie started biting- hard) I began a low calorie diet to kick things up. But once I hit this plateau, it seemed that even keeping my calorie count very low would not do the trick. After a week of no change I started researching ways to get this thing going again. I found out that varying your calorie count from day to day for calorie confusion and introducing more weights into the routine should do the trick. So far, so good.

With my diet back on track, I thought about how this lesson tied into my spiritual life. Perhaps you can relate. Have I hit a spiritual plateau? My love for the Lord has not changed, and I am making the necessary sacrifices in order to faithfully set aside time with Him each day. I pray for others when I tell them I will. I listen to service each week with an open heart, but could my spiritual life use a reboot? Am I at a place where I am not growing, I am just maintaining? How can I kick it up a notch?



With my exercise, I still only have 30 minutes, but I have introduced a more intense routine. In my diet, I mix it up in how many calories I get each day, just to keep my body burning them, and, boy, do I look forward to those higher calorie days!

Perhaps this week we can challenge ourselves to take a look at how we can kick up our spiritual lives. Can that time you set aside be mixed up for optimum growth, perhaps doing a devotion one day followed by a chapter in Psalms or another section of Scripture the next day and maybe even adding in a book for personal growth and encouragement another day? How about setting aside one day to just praise God in your prayer time - no requests. We have Thankful Thursdays where all of our prayers are praise centered with the exception of illness or injury or something that needs immediate prayer. You can also set aside a day where all of your prayers are others-centered as well.

As busy mommies, our personal time is limited, but what we do with it is our choice. It is at this time of the year when we are celebrating one of the 2 greatest moments in history that we should be drawing especially close to our Lord and Savior. Not to mention that we will be setting our goals for the coming year in just a few short weeks. Your allotment for time in prayer and study may stay the same, but you can mix things up a bit and see that time maximized and your spiritual growth take off again. I encourage you to do that this week and move from the proverbial plateau back to the top of the mountain!

Prayer- God of my heart, I lift up my soul to You at this moment. Please draw me close to You as I seek Your wisdom in my life. I pray, Father, that You will reveal ways to grow in intimacy with You in my prayer and study time. Please help me to keep my focus on You in all areas of my life and be in a constant state of prayer and praise. Oh Lord, that I may never be complacent in my relationship with You. May I strive to keep my heart and soul on fire for You. Please renew that pure and holy passion that once burned in me. I am yours Lord. Please speak to my heart, guide and direct, use me as You desire to. Lead me in the way everlasting. I love you Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

**This will be my last post for this year. I have asked 3 mommy friends to guest blog for me in the coming weeks. I pray that you will be as blessed by their stories and hearts as I have been. From my family to yours, Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday Jesus, and Health and Blessings in the coming New Year!
Love,
Tammy and family