Day 1

Day 1 of my challenge. Super Bowl Sunday.

I've thought a lot this week about how to start off this challenge with a bang. How to get the most likes, comments, and visits to my blog. I want to entertain and shock and deeply touch lives all at the same time. So naturally I have been burdened with the pressure of the first day.

I had a small list of challenges that I was sure would be winners, I just had to pick one, do it, and that was that. But then my older brother called me Friday night. He called just to say "hi", but as always, we talked for a while about the meaning of life and true purpose and facing things without fear. He told me that If I wasn't writing for myself, what was I doing?

His words stuck with me as they always do. What kind of writer do I want to be? Do I want to encourage and inspire by writing what I think will most interest others, or by what will most soothe this aching world? The answer was at once very obvious to me, which is why on day 1, I am challenging myself to talk about something that selfishly, I pretend is not happening all around me.


The Super Bowl is fun. It's a great excuse to hang out with good people, eat good food, and yell a lot at the TV. But I don't think much about it outside of what it means for me. A few years ago I read an article about sex trafficking during the Super Bowl. I read it, saddened and disgusted and dutifully shared it to my facebook page so others could read it too. I wasn't bothered by the truth again until the next year when again articles about sex trafficking were everywhere and again I read them and shared them, overwhelmed by the brokenness of the world.

This year I again read the articles, but one gripped me in a way the others hadn't. You can read it here.

One of the things Annie says, hit me right in my gut:

So instead of jumping on an “awareness campaign" during the Super Bowl let’s all be pro-active and learn more about the trafficking going on right now—in and around our cities. While awareness campaigns to “stop trafficking” are great, they don’t solve the issue. There is so much more work to be done. 

As I read this I knew that I was one of those people that jumped on the "awareness campaign" during the Super Bowl. I was one of those people who stood up for injustice when I couldn't ignore it, but as soon as the hype disappeared, so did I. I was the person who was so overwhelmed with the brokenness of the world that I went about my life pretending that broken things weren't happening.

I don't want to be that person.

This isn't an article about the big bad Super Bowl. It's not an article telling people everywhere to quit their jobs and end sex trafficking once and for all. And ultimately, this isn't even an article about sex trafficking. This is an article where I am begging my readers not to ignore the world around us. Don't be so tightly snuggled into your own world that you miss the things happening to others right under your nose.

It is so easy to go about our days without once thinking about something that doesn't directly affect us. I know that this can be true for me, and that sickens me. Life is so much more than my little world. There is a battle going on all around us between good and evil. We can step into it and fight, or we can ignore it and live in our own little bubble.

I want to fight. I don't want to live in the comfort of my own ignorance anymore.

So as we go about our days doing whatever it is that we do, let's open our minds and our hearts to what's going on around us. Let's be aware and proactive in the ways God leads us. Let's not ignore anymore.

my 3 month challenge-pushing my limits

50% of me doesn't like change, but the other 50% is an adventurer to the core. Super conflicting combo... So I decided to challenge myself this winter to try some new things that are out of my comfort zone. Starting February 1st I will actively feed my sense of adventure and push myself beyond the limits of comfortability by trying a new thing every day!

But this is where I need help from you guys...I need some challenges. Comment on this post with any ideas you might have. I've already come up with a few things to try and Eric is excited to make me eat some weird nasty foods that I would never touch normally, but 3 months is a lot of new stuff.  So get creative people! The more awesome ideas you have the more fun this will be for you to watch and the more enlightening it will be for me to engage in. 

Again, just so we're clear, my challenge will start on February 1st and will go to May 1st. Every day I will try something new and then blog about my experiences, feelings, blah blah blah. SO if there's something you've been dying to try, but aren't motivated enough to actually do, I'm you're girl!

Here I come winter boredom,  get outa the way!

how to survive winter

http://www.weighitup.com.au/fitness/977/guide-to-surviving-winter

Something about Christmas delays the feeling of sorrow that accompanies the winter months. But as soon as the holiday season is over “winter” is upon us, stealing Joy, and warmth, and adding inches to our waistline by the second.

And as trivial as it all may seem, winter is tough for everyone. As someone who has struggled to function from November to April since they were very small, I have developed a few tips that may make things a little more bearable.

1. BUY A HEATED BLANKET. I tell you the truth, I did not live until I had one of these. I actually carry it around with me to every room of the house, plugging it in as I go. Everything is better when you are toasty warm under a blanket. A word of caution, however: Once you are under the blanket, you will lose all motivation to complete obligations.
2. START DRINKING TEA. I honestly don’t know why anyone wouldn’t love tea. It’s like a heated blanket for your insides. I know a lot of people don’t. But here’s the thing, not only does it keep you healthy, but it keeps you happy. Try not to add extra sugar and junk, stick to honey if you absolutely can’t drink it plain. Tea has tons of benefits for your body and can help relieve stress, digestive issues, cold symptoms and much more. Seriously, give it a shot.
3. GET MOVIN’. Okay, so I totally have no authority on this one because although I consider myself to be a lover of running, I really struggle to stay active when even my bones are shivering and it’s dark before dinner. So how do you stay moving? Well, If you have the money buy a treadmill and the Total Gym and call it a day. For the rest of us, getting to the gym can be pricey and inconvenient. If you have cable, check out the channels that offer a variety of workout videos in the am. It may be different for different areas, but a lot of major networks are programming workouts for viewers. Thanks to good ole’ Google, you can basically type in any kind of workout and find someone out in cyberspace to lead you through a body busting workout for free. My personal favorite workout routine for the winter months is to do handstands and other gymnastics moves in the living room while watching my favorite TV shows. So pick one and give it a whirl! You’ll have more energy and be happier with your self for getting off the couch (and out from under your heated blanket).
4. DRINK WATER. This isn’t just good advice for the winter months, but the colder it gets, the harder it is to remember to hydrate. I keep a water bottle with me at all times. It holds 32 ounces of water, so If I make sure to drink about 3 a day I’m good. Once you get into a routine, drinking water just becomes a part of your everyday life (as it should). Do not underestimate the power of H2O, it helps hydrate your skin and keeps your organs working as they should. Water also helps keep off the lbs. and speed metabolism.
5. EVERYTHING IN MODERATION. Let’s not go crazy with the “after Holiday dieting”…ok? I understand that you may have put on a few extra pounds and are desperate to lose them, but try not to focus too much on controlling everything that’s going into your body. Try to think of food as nourishment. Make adjustments to your diet as needed, but do not forbid yourself to eat certain foods every once in a while. 

I leave you, beautiful people, with this verse. To me, it is a verse of hope in a season that brings a heaviness I cannot lift on my own.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. ~John 14:27~

how Maslows steps lead to Jesus: according to Lizz

Well here I am, back in the writing game. Writing, like most things in my life, is something that I phase in and out of. I absolutely love everything about it, but somehow, at times, it gets left behind.

I am sure most of you have heard of Maslow's hierarchy of need. I studied it in college and somehow, 3 years later I am finally using it! For those of you who have never heard of this let me fill you in. It's a psychology thing introduced by this dude named Abraham Maslow in 1943. Basically he presented this pyramid...

The bottom of the pyramid represents a human's basic needs and then it works its way up. These needs can occur at the same time, but basically his argument was that when a person fulfills a need at the bottom of the pyramid they go to the next one and so on and so forth.

When I started thinking of Maslow's theory a few days ago I was thinking about it in terms of faith. I spend a lot of my time at my church and with my husband and closest friends, all of whom encourage my relationship with Jesus Christ on a deep spiritual level. But I have begun thinking about what happens to our faith when we are missing the first few things on the pyramid, or if we never had them.

Of course the gift of God's love and peace is that we can find His joy in every situation, but let's be honest, it isn't always that easy. And what about the people Who have never been able to get above the two lowest levels on the pyramid or even the first three. Those people who are starving, homeless, jobless, alone.

Just like so many things in life, the transition from empty to full is one of many steps. Those steps are so incredibly important. It's not the talking about Jesus that brings people to Him, it's being Him with skin on, showing people love by leading them through the steps of the pyramid, not expecting them to launch themselves from the bottom to the top.

Do not underestimate the power of being God's hands and feet. Loving the least of these should not be taken lightly. Feed the hungry, house the homeless, tend to the sick. You don't need to go to another country to do it. There are people in your life right now who need to see Jesus living and breathing through you.

Going the Distance: becoming a runner

People have been telling me a lot recently how they wish they loved to run like I do. And it would be so easy for them if they just loved it.

Hmm...

Well, the truth is this:

I haven't always been a runner. When I was 10, my 8-year-old sister could beat me anytime, anywhere, in any race easily. So embarrassing. In my 6 years playing soccer I avoided running as much as possible and was always last in drills. In middle school and high school I finally landed on swimming and karate as my sports of choice primarily because no running was involved (plus I could hit people on purpose in Karate and get points for it).

It wasn't like I woke up one morning, and just ran 10 miles screaming "I love running" the entire time. Not even close.

When I first started running in college, I ran one mile maximum at a time, very very slowly. I pretty much hated it. But being a college girl who didn't like to go to the gym and was terrified of having love handles, I needed a way to get exercise during my swimming off season.

Gradually I started to like running, pushing myself to better my times, further my distances. Very very gradually. And finally, after 5 years and an ankle surgery, I ran my first half marathon.

Even when I take a break from running for a few months and then come back to it,  it takes a few agonizing weeks to get back to where I was before. But I'll let you in on a little secret...that thing that has led me to love running:::

I suck it up.

That's right folks. When I'm off on a run and within 1/4 of a mile want to walk all the way home and eat a candy bar instead, I keep going.

I push myself when I hate it, I don't give up. And that is how I get to the good part of running. The part where you feel like you're leaving all of your problems behind, and feel awesome about yourself, and get in shape.

So if you're sitting there thinking you could never be a runner, that is not true. You may never love to run, not everyone does. But if you can push past the starting point and get to the good stuff, it's really very rewarding.

Enough.

http://www.alighthouse.com/godslove.htm

I think I may have written a similar post a while back, but I feel that it is so applicable to my life and the lives of the people I interact with closely, that I just have to share my thoughts on it once again.

I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe that He should be my hope and my life and my portion.

But He isn’t.

23 years later and I am still running my own life (or trying to anyway). Yes, I experiences beautiful moments of fully relying on God’s grace and love, but I would be lying if I told you that is my all day, everyday.

As I go through my days, I feel captive to that all to familiar feeling of “not-enough-ness”. That feeling of doing and doing and doing and still feeling like you are never measuring up.  The feeling that nothing is quite enough. No relationship, no job, no act of service, no amount of weight loss, no talent.

My Jesus may have saved me from this, but I in my sinfulness cling to to control of my own life.

I am reminded of this verse: Romans 7:15

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

Can I get an AMEN?!!!!

This SOOOOO describes my life. I am desperate for Jesus. Desperate for his peace in every moment; Desperate to be more like him. And yet often go running in the opposite direction. I fall short…

Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

Such a blessing to be reminded of this right smack in the middle of God’s word!

Now back to the hard part…ACCEPTANCE. You’d think it would be easy for us to accept this kind of Truth. This is our freedom! Why can’t we grasp it?

I came to the realization the other day that usually I don’t serve others out of joy in the Lord, I serve out of feeling obligated and out of “not-enough-ness”. Now don’t get me wrong, I often find joy in serving, regardless of my initial selfish intentions (praise Jesus for that), but I don’t want to operate out of that feeling. I want to operate out of His grace and His peace and His love.

Sometimes the hardest part is not knowing how to let go. I am so used to operating on my own, so used to earning love in this fallen world that I cannot even grasp the kind of love that asks for nothing in return.

I want to drink in that voice that says:

“You are mine.

 I created every part of you for a purpose.

Every second I am right beside you.

I will never leave you.

Nothing you do shocks me.

 Nothing you do even disappoints me.

 My love is perfect.

It is forever.

It is unbreakable.

I love you sweet child of mine.”

Every moment is His.

http://heikkialanen.net/?page=photos&cat=oz

I just finished reading the most inspirational, Jesus filled story I have ever read. I literally couldn’t put it down. I read it in 24 hours.

It’s called “Kisses from Katie”. It’s a true story about a girl names Katie Davis who follows Jesus into Uganda right out of high school. She starts a nonprofit organization and has devoted her life to loving the Orphans and other broken people around her.

Shortly after I finished the book my initial inspiration turned into complete and utter despair concerning my own life. This beautiful, amazing, woman of God has devoted her life completely to Him in the most amazing way.

But what about me? What about the rest of us?

Here I am in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania, spending my days driving around on nicely paved roads, showering daily with hot water, reading before bed by the light of electricity, and eating what I want when I want it. I don’t feel “called” anywhere else.

 All I know is that I am desperate to feel Jesus so closely; Desperate to be his hands and feet in this world.

So I began to think about what that means. What that means for us every day.

The simplest answer is this: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” ~ John 3:30

Notice that I said simplest, not easiest.

Sometimes it is not easy to pick up your bible instead of watching your favorite reality TV show, but it’s the simple solution to the stresses of the day.

As I’ve begun to think more about this, I have come to quite a few realizations. The first is that God gives me opportunities to be his hands and feet in every moment of every day. Today I had the opportunity to either take a nap, or to write a long letter to my beautiful sponsor child. Every morning I have the option of sleeping in for 15 more minutes or starting my day talking to my Savior. All day long I am surrounded by my 7 little students, who I have the choice to love with everything that I have in every moment.

I have a tendency to look at things in extremes. For instance, “I’m not literally saving children’s lives every day, so really what’s the point.” But who am I to say that my life and every moment isn’t being used by Jesus?

Last night I opened my bible to Romans 9:20-21, which reads:

“But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?”

My theologically educated father may have some incredible and different thoughts on what this passage is about, but to me it read like this:

“Who are you, Elizabeth, to tell me how to run the world? I created you to be exactly who you are and you are here in boring old Mechanicsburg for a very specific reason. You are not in charge. Just because it seems like others have been called to something greater, doesn’t mean that you’re calling is less. Live every moment for me, my sweet girl. Love the least of these. That is what I ask of you”

So my friends, for all of you who have ever felt left out of God’s great plan. Do not underestimate him constantly as I do. Give every moment to Him. Stay close by His side so that you are ready, in every moment, to be His hands and feet.

I will leave you three things.

First, a verse that is constantly on my heart and my lips:

2 Corinthians 12:9-But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Secondly, here’s a link to Katie Davis’ blog. The Lord is doing amazing things through this woman!

http://katiedavis.amazima.org

Thirdly, this is a link to the Amazima ministries website. This is the nonprofit organization that Katie founded. Check it out! Our Lord is doing amazing things!

http://www.amazima.org/