Last week, I wrote about the specific areas that I was going
to work on for 2015. My hope through
this short series was just to show you my way of trying to be intentional in my
life. God has His plans for my life, and
I know that I usually uncover them as I walk with Him. However, that does not mean that I can’t have
a plan for my life to help me follow what He wants. And I am always ready for all of my plans to
go out the window, if He so chooses to change my course. Actually, by not thinking that these plans
are set in stone and coming back many times throughout the year to re-evaluate,
I make sure that I am first seeking what He wants and then setting my goals to
do what He wants in my life.
And that brings me to my last category, which is
health. For me, this is a big one. As Mark loves to say, I “play disorder bingo
where no one is the winner.” For years,
I have been trying to find ways to either eliminate or improve health
issues. This has been hard, since most
medications make me much sicker than the actual disorder. I have been left to find natural ways or just
deal. I choose to try to improve my
health.
One area that I want to talk about in my health area is
about weight. I would say that the
number one New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight for women. Now, I am not saying that it is wrong. On the contrary, I am one of those people
that would like to see the healthy choices that I am trying to make result in
weight loss. However, losing weight has
become an idol, even within Christian circles.
What happens is that women are trying to find their value and worth in
looking acceptable in other peoples’ eyes, instead in their Creator’s
eyes. They spend tons of money on
clothes, make-up, weight loss items, etc. only to find the same emptiness that
needs to be filled with something else once they achieve what they thought
would bring them happiness.
It is one area that I had to work on in my life for many
years and is still an ongoing process.
And that doesn’t mean that I don’t still want to dress nice or wear
make-up or lose weight, but I now do it within the view of my Creator. I practice good stewardship of money by not
just constantly changing things to fit what is in fashion. Instead, I buy items that will last for many
years, and I will want to keep wearing.
I don’t need to wear make-up every day.
I understand that my beauty is not dependent on how many chemicals I can
slather on my face. I don’t need these
things to make me feel better about myself, make me feel confident, or make me
feel like I am someone worth noticing.
Think of all the money women spend on anti-aging items; it has become
the fastest growing and most profitable market for women’s facial care. Not that one or two items are bad, but many
spend $100’s each month to try not to grow older. You know what? You can’t stop it and most of these products
barely do anything or nothing at all.
Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life… The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair. (Proverbs 16:31, 20:29)
That is how God views growing older. Our current culture is the exact
opposite. We already know that if you
try to go after its standard of beauty it is absolutely impossible, without
spending all of your time working out, spending all of your money on beauty
procedures and adornments, spending all of your willpower starving yourself,
and having an entire team of beauty specialists, makeup artists, stylists, and Photoshop
artists to make you what would be acceptable.
I don’t think that leaves any room for God. Even focusing on one of those areas will
seriously limit your usefulness in God’s plans, if you even think about God at
all.
Then there are people that try all sorts of diets, diet
products, or dangerous workout routines trying to lose weight, while
jeopardizing their health and not actually trying to change their lifestyle,
just so they can lose weight. God gave
us one body to live with until He returns to do His work in. We must care for our body. Doing things that can put our health in
jeopardy (just like being overweight) is just as wrong as doing nothing. And losing weight should not be our end
goal. A healthy body should be. And yes, one (and only one) indicator of a
healthy body is weight. Take the
obsession off of losing weight. Put on
the right mindset of eating healthy, exercising, and finding healthy
supplements to help support your body.
Be thoughtful as to what medications and other products you put on and
in your body. Do your research and be
knowledgeable. Don’t just read the
latest article in the magazine, on a blog, or in the news and believe it
without looking into it. And most of all
remember that all of this is not about self-worth or attention from others, but
about taking stewardship of your body to use it in the best way for what God
has planned for you in this earthly life.
It should not be an idol in our life.
We can’t always control what happens to our body or what our body does,
but we can control the choices we make to honor God with our bodies.
So with all of that in mind, let me tell you about a few
goals that I have specifically for our health.
I have put specific limits on sugary drinks and foods. As I make my first goal a part of my
lifestyle, I will then make a goal to cut back a little bit more. This is one area that I need a very specific
goal for.
Remember last week when I talked about my garden and cooking
more with real food? That’s part of it
too. Feeding my body healthy fuel is
important. I have made several goals to
be more conscious about what is specifically in our “real” food. We hope to join a local CSA this summer, who
grows organic and pesticide-free produce.
We want to frequent a local farmers market as well throughout the
summer. I have a goal to also preserve
much of these health vegetables and fruit to last us through to the next
summer. We also will be purchasing a
quarter grass-feed, corn-finished local cow and pig without added hormones or
antibiotics. You might think that the
CSA, cow, and pig are way more expensive than purchasing through a grocery
store. Yes and no. It is actually cheaper buying these types of
food locally from the source than buying it in a store. If you buy the worst possible food to feed
your family, then yes, it is more expensive.
Coupon clipping for free boxes of Mac ‘n’ Cheese, buying hormone and
antibiotic-laced meats, and pesticide-full fruits and veggies are cheaper. But there is a reason and a different
price. Now, if you don’t have the money
and must make those choices to feed your family that kind of diet, then by all
means! There is no judgment here if that
is the case, but I do want to encourage you to find ways to make better choices. You might have to be creative, but there are
ways. Now, if you are also that same
family that has cable, a way bigger house than you need, an expensive cell
phone plan, or spend money on other items that you don’t need, then I’d say you
need to start thinking about cutting out some of those things and slowly phase
in eating better. In the long run, you
will cut out health costs later in life when that type of eating causes major
or life-threatening health problems.
Some day I hope to write up a post about all the knowledge that I have
gained from years of research, but I want to first truly live it before I share
it. Right now, we only have our foot in
the water, but are planning to be much deeper in by the end of this year.
Now that we have covered the cornerstone of good health, I
want to talk about the other goals that I have set for myself to support my
health. One of the goals I have is to
exercise more. This is one of those check-the-boxes-off
type of thing. Since I don’t get much
real exercise in my daily life most days, I need to supplement with intentional
exercise. This includes more walks with
the dogs and my husband (ah! two goals with one stone!), using a pedometer to
make sure I am moving throughout the day, and other activities that will
strengthen my muscles and improve other health functions.
And that leads me to one other health goal I would like to
share with you. Remember when I
mentioned that with some of my health problems I either get to live with it or
find other ways to help? Well, this year
I’m going to be very intentional about that as well. For years, I have looked into alternative
medicine and more specifically the use of essential oils. Several years ago, I began trying essential
oils but was not really serious about it.
A few months ago (even though I had seriously looked in to joining last
year around this time), I finally joined an essential oil company. It takes time in research and money to invest
in. However, I have already seen
benefits in clearing up a 1½ month ear infection that I had prior to starting
oils and some improvement with another disorder I have. My husband, while completely supportive and
only a little skeptical, has now experienced help with the flu and mental clarity
with using essential oils. So my goal
this year is to find more ways to improve our health with essential oils and to
actually use the things I buy consistently to see that impact. Sometime this year I want to write a blog
post about why I made the choice to use essential oils, the misconceptions
about people who use oils (I don’t shun modern medicine!), and how they have
helped me, but that is for another time.
One last note: I
realized that I never mentioned starting this process in prayer or figuring out
what I want to be doing by reading my Bible and prayer. The thing is that this is always a prayer of
mine throughout the year. When I read
the Bible, one of the things that I look for is ways to be a better Christian. God is working through my life the entire
year. I guess you could say that writing
these goals down are pretty pointless since I already know them before I sit
down, but it helps me have a physical thing to be able to guide and check-in
on. This does not replace what God will
be showing me as I progress through the year, which is why I revisit these any
time I feel there needs to be a change.
I just wanted to clarify this point, since my writing might seem more
about what I want and less about what God wants from me.
I hope you enjoyed this three-part survey on my 2015 goals
and I hope that they inspire you to live more intentionally for what God is
calling you to do in your life and to prepare for what He wants for you in the
future. If you have any questions, feel
free to comment or contact me privately, and I’ll be glad to talk to you about
anything that I covered more in-depth.
And remember, these are not all my goals and some I am more specific on
than what I wrote on here, but since I don’t believe in sharing every little
detail of my life on the internet, I tried to give you a good glimpse and guide
to how I try to structure my life on a more month-to-month, year-to-year basis. Thanks for joining me!
through His grace alone!
Sarah
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