My Christianity & Finding Quiet Time

In the past few months, my relationship with the Lord has taken a turn.

A turn for the better.

Before, you could say, I was a "Sunday Morning" Christian. I went to Church and sometimes opened my Bible to read throughout the week because I thought it was what you were supposed to do.

Now, I'm constantly striving for time to read more of His word and grow in Godly wisdom. I yearn for it.

I accredit our new preacher for a lot of this growing in my faith. He's a great teacher and encouraged me to start reading the Bible in a year. My urge to delve further into the Word just snowballed from there. I needed to know more, I wanted to pray more, I wanted to quit some of my bad habits, overall I wanted to be more Godly.

 

Currently, I'm a little over 3 months away from having the Bible read cover to cover.

I started a Joyce Meyers Daily Devotional a month ago.

And yesterday I started my first She Reads Truth study.

 

I'm so excited to learn and to grow - beyond words excited.

But I have a slight predicament. I'm having a hard time finding my quiet/peaceful time. 

I'm not a morning person by any means. I couldn't find a quiet time at work to lock my windowed office (people always know I'm in there and they would interrupt me) to save my soul. I work out or run immediately after work. Sometimes I go see Nate after work. When I get home I get distracted (either by my own doing or someone else's doing).

 

What does this mean? My quiet times are limited to the early wee hours of the morning when I more closely resemble a bear...or late at night (honestly, it's like 9 - I'm an old lady) and I'm so tired I drift in and out of consciousness and don't comprehend what I'm reading (and to me, why even try if I'm not getting anything out of my study?).

 

Yesterday, I was lucky. I've been on a running break due to a foot injury so I went home after work and immediately got my Bible, iPad, and notebook and sat on the front porch swing and had a good hour of study. It was glorious.

 

So, what do I do in terms of finding my quiet time? I'm really considering waking up 30 minutes earlier than usual, making myself a cup of coffee, and delving into the Word before going to work. It seems that will be the only way I get my time in til' Nate and I get married. After we get married I can go to my office and do my study in peace - without interruptions and a TV going in the background.

How did you find your quiet time? Is it during the morning, afternoon, evening? I'd love to know!

Monday Accountability #8, An Injury, And Our Weekend

My accountability post this week is going to be short and sweet. 

Monday: Couch 2 5K Week 6, Day 3
Tuesday: 30 Minutes Spinning

Unfortunately when I woke up Tuesday morning I had some heel/arch pain that only got progressively worse throughout the day and worse on Wednesday. It's been getting better throughout the week but I still have some slight pain when I wake up and start walking. I've also been wearing shoes in the house (yuck) to keep my arch supported and it's really helped. I also took a few days off from working out to hopefully help. So this week I'm hoping to get back in my routine and maybe I get a run in by the end of the week.

You never really know how much you enjoy something until you can't do it anymore. With my foot being hurt...I've been itching for a run. It's been really hard to let my foot heal when all I want to do is put on my new running shoes and hit the pavement.

Also, I forgot to say - my foot pain was all my fault. I've been getting some inner leg shin splints and I knew it was from my worn out running shoes. I've known for a while that I needed to buy new shoes and just didn't. Lesson learned. Buy running shoes when you need them!

As for our weekend, it went a little something like this.

Friday

- I made Amber's Healthy Chicken Fried Rice recipe and it was absolutely delicious. I'll definitely be keeping it for the future!

- Watched This is 40 and it was hilarious...a little long, but still funny!

Saturday

- Cleaned house for my mama for a little Mother's Day treat.

- Got some Church projects completed that have been on my DIY list for a while.

 - Picked up some pizza and watched a few episodes of season three of Downton Abbey.

Sunday

- Went to dinner with the family for Mother's Day.

- I finished up Beautiful Creatures and now I'm really excited to see the movie.

- Worked on a few wedding to-do's.

- Got caught up on a few episodes of Justified (my DVR is so backed up it's unbelievable).

Now for a new week - where I can hopefully get a few workouts in with zero foot pain :).

Monday Accountability #7

errrr....on a Tuesday!!!

It was a crazy, fun, busy weekend and Sunday when I sat down to write this post it just wasn't happening. So I walked away and decided I'd get to it at some point this week. 

This past week was much better to me in the workout department. I got in 5 workouts! That's a vast improvement from my 2 the week before. I'm actually starting to see results now. No more muffin top over my compression pants anymore. All is great in the world again. I'm still working on over all tone, but as long as my "bat wings" are gone by September 28th I'll be happy...hello chair dips!

Here are my workouts from last week:

Sunday: Rest

Monday: Couch to 5K Week 5, Day 3

Tuesday: Treadmill Hill Hike + Legs (Sexy Leg Workout)

Wednesday: Couch to 5K Week 6, Day 1 + Arms (Chair Dips, Tricep Press)

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Couch to 5K Week 6, Day 2 + Arms (same as Tuesday + Tone You Arms in 7 Days)

Saturday: Jillian Michael's The Shred Workout 2

Saturday I did my first try on  Workout 2 of The Shred and hello intensity! I'll be honest I couldn't finish most of the reps, I'll just have to work myself into it. She's a beast...and knows how to work you out hard! Now I've got to keep up the intensity for this week!

Never Ever Ever

Hey y'all! Today, for a little fun, I thought I would link up with Neely for her one time Never Ever Ever linkup! I've not been one for link-ups here lately, because I don't even have the time to churn out a post I really want to write. But this one looked easy enough, so hey...why not?!

So here are a few things you'll Never Ever Ever hear me say:

No, that's okay, I don't need that cup of coffee this morning.

I'd much rather clean than lay in my comfy bed and lounge.

The whole wedding planning process isn't freaking me out, I have it all under control!

I have nothing to read at the moment.

No, I think I'll skip Church this Sunday...I just don't feel like going.

I'll go ahead and erase these 15 episode's of Live with Kelly & Michael that I don't have time to watch.

Who needs Twitter or Instagram, I'm just going to delete them.

Please, Nathan, go to work...I don't miss you when you're gone.

I don't need that bottle of nail polish.

YAY! I get to set my alarm on a Saturday morning.

What are some things that you would Never Ever Say or Do?!

Monday Accountability #6

I have one word to describe myself for this past week: slacker.

I got in two (yes, you read that right) workouts in this week. Horrible, just horrible. 

It was just an off week for me (excuses) and honestly, I don't even feel bad about it. I mostly sat around and felt sorry for myself because Nathan was gone. Plus it rained all weekend so I never got my run in because I refuse to drive the 35 minutes to work to get on a treadmill...PASS.

So today is my post of shame...

Sunday: REST

Monday: Couch to 5K Week 5, Day 1 + Arms

Tuesday: REST

Wednesday: LAZY

Thursday: Couch to 5K Week 5, Day 2 + Abs

Friday: LAZY

Saturday: EXTRA LAZY

This week, No excuses. I've got to get my behind back into my regular running and gym routine, my sanity needs it, especially with Nathan being gone. It helps me cope, because if not I'd just sit around and mope.

Seven Years with the One I Love!

7 Years...

Somehow it's only felt like a year.

Whenever I really sit and think about these 7 years, I can't believe they've passed in such a blur. It seems just like yesterday I was going to Prom and thought about Nathan the entire night.

Looking back, I should've taken him up on his offer to take me to my Prom. I think it would've made our anniversary each year more memorable knowing that our first real date was to my Prom.

But in the grand scheme of things, that little aspect doesn't matter. 

What does matter is that each day from April 28, 2006 on...I've loved him more and more.

 

 With his new business venture, I've had a lot of time alone to sit and think. These past two weeks have been a major learning curve for the both of us. We are both having to deal with not being 30 minutes from each other all hours of the day. I can't just go be with him whenever I want. But somehow I think that it will make us stronger in the end and I for sure don't take the time we have together now for granted. The moments we have together I soak up, because now he can be gone for weeks at a time.  

And this is the first anniversary I've not seen him the day of, but life moves on and sometimes adulthood sucks.

But I won't let that little detail put a damper on this day, because we'll get to celebrate one day this week and that's all that matters. 

And in a mere 5 months I become his wife! What could be better than that?!

Nathan,

Words cannot express what you will forever mean to me. I love you more than you could ever know!

Love, ME :).

Monday Accoutability #5

Okay, I'm starting to feel like a blogging failure. It seems the only consistent post I can write is my weekly workout accountability posts. I really hate that, but somehow I can't motivate myself to write a post during the week. I want to blog, but after working, working out, letting out/walking Bo, driving back home, showering, eating...I'm just done for the night. Also, it doesn't seem my hectic pace is going to ease up anytime soon, especially with wedding planning and keeping up with my Bible reading and studies (and let's face it, Bible knowledge is more important than any of the above!). Hopefully life will slow down and I'll be able to breathe again after our wedding, I'm sure I'll have more time on my hands then!

On an exciting note, I've had a small victory this week. As you all know, I'm having to keep myself motivated with these accountability posts because I tried on my wedding dress a few months ago and it didn't fit. Well...yesterday I tried on that baby again, and it fit like a glove and was actually a little loose! All I need to do now is maintain my weight and do some more toning on the upper body and this gal will be set to looking hot in her wedding dress!

And now to tell y'all how I worked out this week!

Sunday: Rest

Monday: Couch 2 5K Week 4, Day 1

Tuesday: Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred + 35 minutes Spinning

Wednesday: Couch 2 5K Week 4, Day 2

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Couch 2 5K Week 4, Day 2

Saturday: Rest

I'd also like to clarify, my rest days this week weren't really what I'd classify as "rest". Sunday I cleaned house, Thursday house cleaning at Nate's, and Saturday I painted at a Habitat for Humanity house. So, not much rest going on since I was still being active...but that's a good thing!

This week I'm excited to increase my running on the training plan and I'm ready to get these arms toned up!

Have a great week!