Be Praised!

I started this post on Wednesday, and had some time this afternoon to come back finish...enjoy!

All praises to the One

From whom it all began

The One who formed the stars

And who gave life to man

You set the world in motion

Created sky and ocean

And here I stand, beloved

And called by name.

The lyrics from this awesome worship song have been stuck on repeat in my head today. Yes, we should always give praise and thanks to the Father, and quite honestly I think that is one of my stronger suits given the trials we have gone though - please know I'm not saying I'm SuperChristian (now there's a comic book character!). Today is a day of celebration and praise. For the first time in longer than I can remember, we are not financially struggling. Yes I know, money isn't everything, but when you're piecing together money from both sets of parents to pay rent, not knowing on the 5th of the month if you'll have enough for rent and it was due 4 days ago, having your parents pay for your medical insurance, your husband works 9 days in one month, and your scrounging up change to get gas so he can even get to work one of those days, you realize just how hard it is to do things when you don't have a steady income.

This past year has broken my heart for people that struggle financially. I don't mean the people that can't afford an extra Starbucks that week, I mean the people who legitimately can't find work, can't feed their kids, the ones who can scrape just enough to stay above water and not sink but definitely not enough to ever get ahead.

God blesses us with those circumstances and regardless of how difficult, frustrating and stressful they may be, it's our duty to give him praise.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with a year full of trials and countless moments of uncertainty. Although at times I cried out wondering if you cared, your love was shown tenfold through the actions and helpfulness of those that we love. Lord, help me to be a person of generosity, don't let lessons and experiences we had be for naught. Allow us to be in a position of blessing others without expecting anything in return. Allow us to be able to surprise those that need, in your perfect timing, and allow us to never

take credit for those gifts. It always comes from you.

Be Praised!

Bromance

Yesterday was our friend Bobby's last day at CLC (he and his awesome wife Rachel are planting a church in Santa Cruz).

Coincidentally, the sermon that morning was entitled "Bromance" and on the friendship of Jonathan and David. To enhance the sermon, Bobby put together a "mash up" of different songs relating to friendship including "Guy Love" from Scrubs.

Haven't heard it before? Check out the original:

And Bobby's version:

It was hilarious and a great way to bring pop culture into the church in a totally appropriate way.

awwwwww

If this doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy, you might want to check your pulse.

YouTube Link

The Times, They Are A Changin'

I'm gonna take the easy way out today and share a post from my husband, Randy's blog. Enjoy.

Level 2

Day 10, end of level 1 of the 30 day shred has passed and I am officially on level 2 now. A few things I've completed from level 1:

• I can now do 30 jumping jacks (you do a lot more in the course of 30 minutes, but 3o is about the amount you do during one 30 second cardio segment)
• I can do push ups. Yeah, they are girly ones...but I can do push ups!
• I can do the whole 30 minutes of level 1 without stopping. I know some of you super in shape people are thinking "big deal" but at the start of the 10 days, I couldn't even claim that.
• I've lost 5 pounds. I really wish I had measured myself at the beginning because there has been a change in inches as well, but I have no way to record what the difference was.

Level 2 started yesterday and it's a whole new set of craziness. Squat thrusts (sounds nasty, but it isn't), plank jacks, and other fun strength & cardio psychosis.

My immediate goal is to get over this faux cold. It's at the point where it keeps feeling like it's going to turn into something major, but then doesn't. I want it to either go away, or just full on get sick...obviously the first is the preferred one!

Valentine's day - Bah Humbug

frus⋅tra⋅tion

–noun

1.	act of frustrating; state of being frustrated: the frustration of the president's efforts.

2.	an instance of being frustrated: to experience a series of frustrations before completing a project.

3.	something that frustrates, as an unresolved problem.

4.	a feeling of dissatisfaction, often accompanied by anxiety or depression, resulting from unfulfilled needs or unresolved problems.

Frustration pretty much sums up the way I'm feeling right now. We have been struggling financially for well over a year and are so close to being "okay" that it's palpable. R had planned an amazing night to celebrate Valentine's Day tonight since we won't be able to celebrate on the actual day due to our roles at Elevation. However, once again financially it wasn't possible.

It got me thinking, why am I frustrated that we can't celebrate Valentine's Day? Why is this even such a special day that there's a need to show off what a significant other does for the other for just one day? Check out the 4th line of the frustration definition....where do we get the idea that Valentine's Day needs to be full of chocolates, flowers, cards, diamonds and other worldly things or else we are "unfulfilled." When did it become okay to rate our self worth based on our status (facebook, social, relationship or any other)?

Don't get me wrong, it's great to show your special someone outward signs of love or give gifts, but why do I think I deserve to be showered with these things to equate my husband's love? I should just be thankful that I have a life partner. Someone who has been with me through my highs and my deepest, darkest lows (and wow have there been some crazy lows the past couple of years).

Is it okay to be frustrated at our situation? I think s,o but I shouldn't let that ruin the rest of the weekend. I am so thankful for my amazing husband. I truly love him more than he'll ever realize and am thankful for every second I get to spend with him. God has truly blessed me.

Day 10....

Day 10 of the 30 day shred is tomorrow and I can't believe the difference that I'm already seeing in the way my clothes fit, my muscle tone, my attitude towards exercising, and my stamina for doing this crazy workout!

R is a super straight shooter (read: he won't tell ya something just to make you happy) so I was especially stoked when he noticed a difference in the muscle tone of my legs just 6 days in!

I do wish I had taken my measurements at the beginning to record the actual changes, but I'm so excited to keep sticking with this and see even more results. God is definitely providing me with the strength to keep on going with it.

Mind purge

I spiffied up the place last night, and I really like how it looks!

On day 3 of the 30 day Shred and boy am I feeling it. Every single muscle in my body is screamin' - more so than doing hours on the treadmill. I look forward to doing it, as each day it becomes a wee bit easier. This morning I was going to kick it into overdrive and do 2 per day, but after a horrible night's sleep, it just wasn't happening. Tomorrow is a new day and I'll try again then!

Looking forward to life group tonight. We have a great group of ladies that are really starting to bond and become like family. It's especially good to see as one of the pseudo-leaders that started the group.

Andrew has been home from school all week. His temperature disappeared Sunday, and while he's not contagious anymore he's still not 100% back to healthy. He actually takes breaks from playing to rest and if you know Andrew, that's just not his normal self!

I'm loving my Jordana Paige bag that my mom-in-law got me as a late birthday surprise. I'm so not a huge purse girl, but it was nice for our E staff meeting today to be able to carry files, notebooks, etc and remain hands free.

Kidney biopsy news is everything was all good. Absolutely no signs of rejection and the kidney still looks super healthy. Looking forward to celebrating a year in July!

Alrighty, Jillian is calling me to get my booty downstairs to get my sweat on. Peace!

30 Day Shred

I first heard about the 30 Day Shred from Mominatrix (as the name implies this isn't a family friendly blog, so you've been warned) who used the 30 day Shred and has the Shredhead part of her blog devoted to it.

I was jonesing to get ahold of this DVD. I mean, Jillian Michaels is a wicked crazy trainer on The Biggest Loser and a home workout would have to be amazing, right? With no extra dinero in sight it didn't look like Jillian would be coming home with me anytime soon; that is until I remembered one of my good friends gave me a Best Buy gift card for my birthday. Score!

Went in today and bought the DVD and did my first level 1 work out- oh-em-gee. Jillian is a workout witch sent from hades, and I mean that in a good way! It is a tough workout done with interval training for cardio, abs and strength. I know after a couple weeks at level 1 it'll become easier and I'll be able to add on level 2 and even more exciting to see results!

uh oh

It's been nearly a month since I blogged, how in the world did that happen?!?! Since the last time I blogged:

1. Elevation launched as a church! (www.elevationsc.org)
2. I had my 6 month kidney biopsy - everything looked great and I'll find out more details tomorrow
3. Randy and I had our 15 year anniversary of our first date (1/14/95)
4. I celebrated 6 months with my "like new" kidney (1/17/10)
5. I had my birthday and turned 33
6. I totally sucked at blogging

So I guess it's been pretty busy? That's still a weak sauce excuse for not blogging. New year's resolution? To lose the weight I gained after the kidney transplant AND to be better about blogging!