"Let it be said of me..." and My new reason for blogging.

"let it be said of us that we lived to be a blessing for life...
let it be said of us by the fruit we leave behind...
let it be said of us that our hearts belonged to Jesus
let it be said of us that we spoke the words of life
let it be said of us that our heritage is blessing for life"
John Waller - "The Blessing"

I've heard it said "You can't be everything to everyone." That is so true.

I can't be the wife that others might want me to be, or the mother that others might want me to be. I can only be the best wife and mother that I know to be, and show my husband and my daughter the incredible love I have for them.

In the end, I cannot let other's criticism (whether outright or hidden) discourage me. I know who I answer to. Instead, I should examine my own life...

Jesus said, "Why do you look at the small piece of dust that is in your brother's eye, but you do not give attention to the large piece of wood in your eye? You are a hypocrite! Take out the large piece of wood from your eye first. Then you will see clearly to take out the small piece of dust from your brother's eye." These are good words for all of us.

Here's another worthy quote... something I aspire to do and be more and more every day... "She did not try to set others right; she only listened to and loved and understood her fellow creatures." (Eliza Keary)

I am only responsible to grow in Christ, give the glory to God, and "live to be a blessing for life..." and in the end... hopefully one day it will be said of me that my heritage was a blessing for life.

-------------------

It has been on my heart for some time now that, in the realm of health, I needed to change the way I live. Like many, this journey has been full of starts and stops. Two things, however, have not been present... I have not relied on God and his strength to keep me going, and I have not allowed others to be a part of this journey with me.

So here we are. I'm going to be taking measures over the course of the next week or so to change the way I live. Why?

Because...

~"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

~I want to be healthy. Not necessarily thin (just a bonus!) but healthy. And at the rate I'm going, I'll have not only weight problems, but diabetes and cholesterol problems. How do I know this? Ask my dad. He's told me to get my life straight, or have the problems he's having now. It's about time I listen to dad. :)

~When I'm thirty, forty, fifty, and so on, I still want to be able to play with my daughter. The type of play will change, from running in the yard, to walking through the mall, to who knows what - but I want to be ready for it all.

So here we go! I would love your comments and feedback. I'll be greatly reducing my computer usage, but will be checking e-mail and updating my blog frequently (maybe daily?) with updates on how things are going. If you're reading this, it's probably because I've sent out an e-mail and invited you to be a part of this journey with me. I hope you will!

I've started by including some "before" pictures. This is me at 210lbs - April 14, 2008.