Resolution Update: 5 Months

If you recall my 2013 resolutions, there were only two...spiritual and physical fitness.

As with most resolutions, I started out strong...I was posting instagram pics everyday from the gym and updating weekly with Fitness Friday posts...but there hasn't been one of those since February 24th. Likewise, I was going through the scriptures and posting Project 52 posts every Tuesday...but there hasn't been one of those since January 29th. I feel like such a failure writing those dates.

So, what does that mean for me? Where do I stand with my resolutions?

Well, I am happy with my weight right now. I can fit clothes comfortably that I haven't worn in a while. Currently, I am down 12 pounds from January 1. The goal I set for myself was 25 pounds in 5 months. The goal was very doable considering that I was down to 159 in April. I've eaten healthy and worked out sporadically since April, but I'm going to get back consistent...Going to the grocery store this weekend and committing to working out four days next week like when I started. I think that goal of 25 pounds is still attainable, but just on a different timeline now.

As for my Bible reading...I have a hard time just picking up and not trying to backtrack to where I left off in my daily plan of reading through the entire Bible. But, trying to start from where I stopped will only overwhelm me more. I have to remember that my general goal was to spend time with God daily. So, I will just jump back in. I can say that I have been praying more consistently even though my time in the Word has not been consistent. Hopefully, I can get both on point at the same time. I was recently encouraged by a post from Lanesha @ We Are the Tabbs. She created a prayer journal that was inspired by the book A Woman after God's Own Heart. I have to admit that this book has been on my bookshelf for years, and I'm just now picking it up. I was so encouraged by the first chapter and haven't put it down. I'm looking forward to finishing this book and structuring my quite time according to the principles I'm learning.

Well, that's where I am...I know it's been a while. The end of the school year is always crazy...wrapping up the school year and brainstorming how to make next year better. Looking forward to the changes I'll be taking on next year as I go back to the classroom teaching 6th grade math!

And I can't stand a pictureless post, so I'll share a couple from today. Today, our students had exams and it was an early release day. Students are known for doing foolish things the last days of school, but not here. The Dallas Police Department Mounted Patrol was an excellent deterrent of bad behavior at the end of the day.

And of course, we had to get a picture with them. On the left is Gus and on the right is Zeus. Thanks, Mikayla & Elaine for entertaining me and posing for a pic with the horses!

One more day of school! WOOHOO!!!!

BTW, thanks Raytosha and Donna for asking me for an update...it's way over due!

Project 52 | Week 4

This week was even worst than last in terms of my consistency in the Bible. I still did all my reading, but in one or two days as opposed to a small bit every day. I've got to do better. There weren't any large themes that came to mind this week, but I will share with you some verses that got me thinking.

The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”  ~Exodus 14:14 (ESV)

 This verse is so familiar to me. Some versions say "be still" rather than "be silent." I've had to take this position a lot lately...at work, in my marriage, in relationships with friends. I hate to say that I like to win. Granted, I'm not a poor loser, I can take an "L," but I have to work hard at not competing and/fighting in all things. I'm not talking physical fights here, but just issues where I disagree or I want to prove my point. I don't have to. God will take care of it.

And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,  ~ Exodus 15:25 (ESV)

See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”  ~ Exodus 16:29 (ESV)

The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.  ~ Exodus 16:35 (ESV)

The Lord will provide. I am amazed how after all the grumbling, that God consistently provided for the Israelites as they journeyed from Egypt. He did just provide for a few days, or weeks, but for forty years, they sojourned and God provided food and water. I know I am all to often worried about finances and how next month will go. When I read Exodus and am reassured that if I am in the will of God, He will provide.

So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.  ~ Exodus 17:11-13 (ESV)

We can't fight the Christian fight on our own. I love this story of when Amalek fights Israel. I can picture the fight change for a different side's advantage each time Moses hands are down or raised. When Aaron and Hur step in, I am reminded that the Christian life is not one to be lived in isolation. God made us for community. The sacrifice of His son is all about a relationship with His people. Community is essential to live Christian life.

Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. “You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. ~ Exodus 18:17-18 (ESV)

So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. They judged the people at all times; the difficult dispute they would bring to Moses, but every minor dispute they themselves would judge.  ~ Exodus 18:24-26 (ESV)

My church has some guiding principles that drive everything we do. One of them is reproducing leaders and I see it straight from the word of God. Moses' father-in-law was wise to tell him to share the responsibility of leading the Israelites. In leadership at work and in ministry, I often try to take on more than I have to. God has put people in place with the same passions and I have to learn how to share responsibility.

And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”  ~ Exodus 24:8 (ESV)

Now, some versons say that Moses "sprinkled" and others say "threw." Either way, I'm not to fond of being splattered with blood in order to acknowledge a covenant. I am so thankful that Jesus has served as the ultimate sacrifice and I don't have to find an offering to God other than my time and talents. Thank you Jesus for the blood of the perfect lamb of God.

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!

Project 52 | Week 3 - God is Sovereign

I have to admit that I got off a bit in my reading this past week. I had to take Sunday morning to catch up on a couple of missed days and again today to catch up from yesterday. There is no excuse for any of the days that I chose not to spend time in God's Word. I can't even say that I forgot because I remember in the evenings thinking, "I should spend some time with God." And I chose to do other things or go to sleep. Here's to a new day, which God provides mercies that are new every morning; great is His faithfulness (Lamentations 2:23).

This week, one thing constantly reoccurred for me and that is that God is sovereign. 

In Week 2 of Project 52, I left off admiring the life of Joseph. I am amazed how he was sold by his brothers, made the head of Pharaoh's home, imprisoned by Pharaoh, put back in Pharaoh's good graces by interpreting a dream, put in charge of Egypt, and finally reunited with his brothers. Joseph certainly could have blamed his brothers for all that happened to him and held a grudge, but instead embraced them and acknowledged God's sovereignty.

And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.  ~ Genesis 45:7-8 (ESV)

After Joseph's death, a new Pharaoh is in charge, one who does not know of Joseph and his family. For fear of the Hebrews being too numerous and rising up in war against the Egyptians. He give the order to his people "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live." (Exodus 1:22) A young Hebrew boy is born, and his mother chooses to hide him in the reeds to protect him from being killed, and what do ya know, God is there!

Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 
Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 
“Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”  ~ Exodus 2:5-8 (ESV)

Can you imagine the mother who has set her son to float down a river thinking she'd never see her son again? He is alive and is going to be raised by Pharaoh's daughter.

God is amazing in how He orchestrates our lives. My prayer is that I will trust His sovereignty and His plan for my life!

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!

Project 52 | Week 2

Wow! This blog is really keeping me accountable on not just reading God's Word, but really meditating on it and doing my best to hear what God is saying to me through His Word. All to often, I want a sign from God...not thinking about the fact that He has already said so much in His Word.

So, this week, I read Genesis 25-42, and here are my take-aways:

1. Children are a Blessing. I know the Bible says to 'be fruitful and multiply' several times, but I am amazed by how God chooses to make one sister fruitful and the other barren. I mean, have you read Genesis 29-30 and just amazed how Leah has kid after kid after kid, and six of them are boys.

When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.  ~ Genesis 30:19-21 (ESV)

After the experiences of some of my friends with infertility and miscarriages, it makes me wonder if I will be the fruitful or the barren sister. I have to believe though that God has a plan for me and my life...even as it relates to childbearing. And that He has a plan for each of the ladies that He chooses to experience infertility or miscarriages.

2. Names are Significant. As I kept reading of all the child birth, the names of each child of each place, of each alter...they all had significance and meaning. Again, in Genesis 29-30, each child's name has significance.

And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.  ~ Genesis 30:19-21 (ESV)

It made me look into the meaning of my own name. Kimberly is originally an English surname/name of a place, a meadow near a royal fortress. Kimberly does sound like  hebrew name though: Kinneret meaning harp, and also translated to mean 'Sea of Galilee' probably of its harp-like shape.

3. The LORD is with me. In Genesis 39 alone, the phrase 'the LORD was with Joseph' is mentioned three times. I have to believe that for myself.

The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.  ~ Genesis 39:2 (ESV)

I love seeing the story of Joseph play out and am looking forward to reading more about him next week.

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!

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!