Project 52 | Week 1

I am so thankful to my dear friend, Angela over at Selfless Ambition! She is always challenging me and holding me accountable. This year is no different. She challenge me to read the Bible every day in order to read the entire Bible this year. So, she has mapped out a reading plan that can be found here! I accepted the challenge, and to my surprise, have read the Bible every day for the first week...no missing one day and catching up the next, but actually reading small bits every single day. I've found myself enjoying the reading so much that I went into the next day's reading on accident.

If I'm completely honest, I have to admit that I haven't really mastered how to study the Bible. I read and if something jumps out at me or God speaks to me through His Word, I take heed and I keep reading. I think next week, I'll take notes as I read. I hope also to spend a little more time in prayer and meditating on God's Word.

But for this week, after reading Genesis 1-24, here are my take-aways:

1. God makes all things new! Even though this wasn't in the reading, I was constantly reminded of this verse as I read the creation story. I was reminded of this verse when I was down and out on New Year's Day. God has the power not only to make all things as He did in Genesis 1, but He also has the power to make all things new. I've committed this as my memory verse for the first two weeks of 2013.

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  ~ Revelation 21:5 (ESV)

2.  God answers prayers! I was amazed at how Abraham interceded for the city of Sodom (Genesis 18:22-32). He asked if God would indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked. After pleading with God to not destroy Sodom if He found 50 righteous. He went on to push that number to 45 righteous, then 40, then 20, and finally 10. God remembered Abraham's prayers and rescued Lot.

So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.  ~ Genesis 19:29 (ESV)

3. Good keeps His promises! God promised Abraham he would be a great nation in Genisis 12:2.  God clarifies this promising Abraham a son of his own in Genesis 15:4. Abraham and Sarai, his wife, were up in age, and Sarai took this promise into her own hands, giving Abraham her maid, Hagar, to which a child was born. This son, Ishmael, was not the son God promised Abraham and clarifies some more when He promises a son by Abraham's wife Sarai in Genesis 16:17 and again in Genesis 17:16. Well, that promise is held even though it was not in Abraham's timing.

The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.  ~ Genesis 21:1-2 (ESV)

There are several promises throughout the Bible for those who believe. I am encouraged by the life of Abraham to believe those promises for myself as well.

I am so thankful for the time I've spent in God's Word this week! I am looking forward to what treasures are buried in His Word for me next week and what I can share with others.

I'm linking up with Angela @ Selfless Ambition and I hope you'll hop over there to see what God is doing in the lives of others or to share what God is revealing to you!

My New Workout Buddies

I'm sure I'm not the only person who has a gym membership, but has no idea what I should be doing at when I get there. The easy route is to jump on the treadmill, elliptical, or a bike and do some cardio. If I can make it on time, maybe I join in on a group fitness class. But all those machines and weights are intimidating. I know I should take the step and cross into that part of the gym. When I invested time and money into a personal trainer, many of our sessions only included a treadmill as a warm-up, but no cardio. My heart rate was good and sky high with strength training alone. Up until this week, I rarely crossed that line that separated the cardio equipment from the weights.

This week I got some confidence from Jamie Eason and my JEFIT app. I came across Jamie Eason in a Fitness RX magazine that I bought after seeing her perfect 10 routine. It was listed with detailed instructions and pictures.

Doesn't she look amazing?! So, I planned to put this workout into my phone and try it out for myself the next day. Well, I then started doing some online searching and ran across a blog post by Amy at Write This Down that referred to Jamie Eason's Live Fit Training Program. It's a 12 week transformation program complete with workouts for each day, meal plans, and supplements. I was interested in the workout plan. Here's a glimpse at the first day:

Each day tells you exactly what to do and links to a video to demonstrate proper form. The only guess work is the amount of weight you use for each exercise.

So, of course I'm not taking my laptop into the gym with me to follow the workout routine. There is a printable sheet with each workout for you to log it, but I don't plan on carrying around a piece of paper and pen in the gym either. I have a hard enough time carrying my keys, water, phone, and a jacket. Maybe I should invest in a locker...

Anyway, I then started to add all the workout information into a note, but thought "there's got to be an app for that" and there is...it's called JEFIT.

So, I added each exercise along with the number of reps and rest time. The database has a ridiculous amount of exercises categorized by muscle group. So, you pick your muscle group, then find the exercise to add to your workout routine. Here's a picture of my routine based on the Jamie Eason workout above.

It took a while, but when I got in the gym I was so glad I did. With the pictures and videos provided of each exercise in the app, I knew exactly which machine to look for and the proper form for the exercise. In addition, the app will time my sets and record my workouts along with the amount of weight I used.

Want to see how my first week of workouts went with my two new workout buddies? I plan to give you all the details of my week of workouts on {Fitness} Friday!

Until then, let's chat...how do you determine your routine for the gym? Do you cross that great divide between the cardio equipment and the weights?

Solemn Assembly + Fasting

The first full week of every year, my church participates in a Solemn Assembly, and this year is no different. Economic disaster was imminent when Joel prophesied to the nation of Judah. Locusts had come through and had wiped out the crops. Our nation is in decline morally, economically, and culturally. There is divide in families and communities and the church. One has to see a parallel between the times of Joel and our current times. The answer prescribed by God was a solemn assembly.

Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.  ~Joel 1:14 (ESV)

This call is repeated in Joel 2:15.

What is a Solemn Assembly? It is a call to the whole church, the people of God as one, to gather in repentance in the house of their God...a time for people to fast and pray; and seek the face of God.

Usually the solemn assembly was accompanied by fasting because throughout the Old Testament, fasting was a sign of self-humiliation, mourning and repentance. It is significant that historically the singular sign of a repentant spirit was the willingness to mourn through fasting.

What is fasting? It is giving up a need of the flesh for a greater need of the spirit.

There are several reason for fasting...to repent and seek forgiveness of sins (1 John 1:9), to seek direction from God (Jeremiah 29:11-14), to bring freedom in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), but the main reasons I'm fasting are:

To draw closer to God.

But he answered, “It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'.”  ~ Matthew 4:4 (ESV)

To help keep balance in life.

Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not allow anything to control me.  ~ 1 Corinthians 6:12

If you recall my 2013 resolutions, my focus for the year is spiritual and physical fitness. This time of fasting directly relates to my personal goals for the year.

There are several types of fasts. My church chooses to fast from food and entertainment after 3:00 pm for the week of our Solemn Assembly. Food is normally not the area that challenges me during a fast. I concentrate on what I'm giving up rather than what I'm seeking to gain and then I just bury myself in the TV, internet, music, work, etc. When those things are taken away, I am more likely to spend my time with God.

So, after 3:00 pm this week, I will spend my time reading God's Word (Hebrews 4:12), confessing my sins (Psalm 51), praying (Matthew 17:21), and investing in family and friends (Matthew 25:35-36)...not blogging.

Have a great week! I hope yours will be as fruitful as I know mine will be!

#TBT and Eggrolls

So, Throwback Thursday and Eggrolls may not really go together, but since I did pair them, I figured I'd focus on some throwback pictures that involved food!

August 2008: Me and the hubby weren't even dating yet, but wouldn't this picture make you want to marry him?!

August 2009: Street tacos in Puerto Vallarta with my girls, Daenna and Cynthia!

And our stop at a tequila factory...with my girl, Jill! (I guess tequila doesn't count as food, but I like this picture.) Do you see those huge agave roots in the background? That's where tequila comes from!

April 2010: Crawfish with my line sisters when we went back to our alma mater for the University of Lousiana at Monroe vs. Grambling football game! Love these girls and we love us some crawfish! I know it's a Louisiana thing!

And speaking of my line sisters, shout out to all my sorors of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated as we prepare for an awesome Centennial celebration! Oo-oop! If you've been following me on instagram, you may have noticed the #DST100Challenge photos!

Okay, on to the eggrolls... I pinned a recipe for Bacon Cheeseburger Eggrolls. The recipe intrigued me and I had all the ingredients except for Eggroll wrappers. My local Kroger has an entire aisle dedicated to international cuisine, so I was sure I'd find it there.

But, nope...they were no where to be found. So, I asked the chef at the sushi counter and she directed me to produce. So, I learned that eggroll wrappers have to be refrigerated and if you want to try this recipe, check the produce section first!

Here is a link to the recipe and some of my tips and changes are as follows:

• To make it a bit healthier, I used ground turkey, turkey bacon, and fat free cheese.
• I'm sure the fried ones were better, but again for health, I baked mine instead. That made it more like a spring roll than an eggroll.
• If baking, make sure to coat the pan with non-stick cooking spray. I had to scrape mine from the pan.

The hubby enjoyed the eggrolls and so did I. Now that I know making these is so easy and where to find the eggroll wrappers, I hope to experiment and make different variations of eggrolls/spring rolls more often!

Linking up: