Today my baby is 10 years old...

Time has whooshed by at an astonishing speed.  He's in double digits now! (he's so happy, too.)

photo by my sis-in-law, Carla Jennings

As you can imagine, the week has been filled with the discussion of birthday gifts.  His recurrent theme is anything St. Louis Cardinals related, and was thrilled to find his uncles, Gary & Lance, and Aunt Lisa had sent Amazon gift codes…which he promptly redeemed for St Louis Cardinals memorabilia and a Matt Holliday (Cardinals left fielder & Logan's favorite player) bobble-head.  

Maybe I'm just feeling old, or tired, or just….blah.  But on my way home from the in-service (where I spent my day learning how to integrate Common Core into the Art classroom) today, I was thinking about the best gift I could give him….me.

I've spent so much time thinking of the things he would love most for his birthday,  but what joy would he get without me?  (yes, he's a mamma's boy, deal with it).  

For some time I've been saying I need to get off my rear and get back into better health.  This week I've really been hard on myself.  I don't want to be the fat mom…the one who has no energy because she's too heavy to move.  There was a time when I was in pretty good shape.  I was somewhat athletic and really enjoyed physical activities.  

Now I can't hang.  

It's time to stop talking and start doing.  (sounds suspiciously like a Lowe's or Home Depot commercial)  

It's time to get the extra weight off and get back to a more active life.  I'm 47… and I'm not getting any younger!

So here's the plan.  I ordered this little gizmo.  The FitBit.  It's supposed to help me track my fitness (or lack thereof), and give some encouragement to stay on track. (trust me, I need all the help I can get!)  It's also supposed to track sleep (or lack thereof), and maybe, just maybe, my sleep patterns will improve.  I'm willing to try.

FitBit is not assisting or providing any compensation whatsoever.  In fact, the FitBit people know I exist only because I created a free profile to set up this little gadget.  All opinions will be my own…and if I'm nursing sore muscles,  my opinion may be less rosy than other times.

So, I'm off again on another fitness plan.  I have changed our diet and I do try to incorporate more fresh produce and lean protein….and less sweet and gooey stuff.  (okay, confessions are good for the soul…I just polished off a bowl of ice cream with caramel sauce, but it was kind of like the last hurrah before I really get serious)

Pray for me.  I'm going to need it.  It is my desire to be a better, more involved mom…a healthy mom.  Someone who isn't tired all the time and has energy to work in the church, and give of myself.  (more on that later)

My alarm is set for early in the morning.  I'm planning to get up and walk, just to get moving.  Morning is the most beautiful time of day here on the farm, and it's always amazing to see God's handiwork bathed in warm, yellow light.  

I would try to jog a little, but I'm afraid this would be me…..I'm not kidding.  I'm about as fast as the little slug dude from Monsters University…..you've got to watch this little clip Running Slug, I really think I look like this when I try to run….at least he doesn't give up.

When you're feeling like you aren't important….

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  -Luke 12:27

All 3 of these photos I took in our yard.  I love lilies, and have several plants that have yet to bloom.  

I love lilies, so much so, they were one of the flowers we used in our wedding. I don't know what draws me to them. They aren't fussy, the color is so vibrant, and they open themselves completely to soak in the sun and rain.  Maybe we should strive to be more like lilies, don't fuss about adding adornments, live life so vibrant that we shine from within, and open ourselves so that we may soak in the living water and light of Jesus.  

Each time I look at lilies I smile because I remember His words in the New Testament, both in Luke and in Matthew, and am reminded that God gives us something as beautiful as lilies, yet we are so much more beautiful and important to him.  Thank you, Lord, for such beautiful reminders.

 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;  and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? - Matthew 6:28-30