No Sweets? No Sweat.

Hello.  My name is Whitney and I am a sweet-a-holic.  That is probably not a word, but you get what I’m saying.  I didn’t used to be so bad… or maybe it never affected my body as much.  I did always enjoy the candy bars at my mom and dad’s station.  To this day, when I go in there I feel like I have to get something sweet to eat.  Then when Nate and I got married, I just ate when he ate.  And Nate likes a little bite of something sweet after every meal.  Then when we moved and I went through a year of depression and ate everything in sight… that wasn’t too good either.

My weight has been up and down and this year I am ready to make a major change and stick with it.  I don’t need to be super skinny, but I need to fill good about myself.  So… I have taken a few steps, and have a few more in mind to get to my goal.

Step One:  Since our house in Rogers is finally out of our hands, we can really focus on living here and being here.  It is like my mind has been in two different places for 2 1/2 years, so having it gone will completely change my life here.  And the number on my bathroom scale :)

Step Two:  My friend is going through a book called “The Fasting of the Sevens” by Jen Hatmaker.  Every month there is something to focus on and fast from… showing us how much we live in excess.  Last month Hollie decided to go without sweets.  I took the challenge with her.  We did it for completely different reasons, but were there to keep each other accountable.  Man, is it sooo much easier to do any kind of diet with someone doing it with you. 

It was definitely hard for me.  Especially when Nate would leave an open pack of gummy worms out on the counter, or when we got two boxes of Russell Stover’s chocolates for Valentine’s Day… but I did it!  And I didn’t die!  This was a great accomplishment for me and I proved to myself that it is possible to live without a bite of chocolate everyday.

Of course when March 1 got here I went crazy at Sam’s and bought a double-layered cookie cake (I dreamed about it, okay).  And Hollie and I met up at Freddy’s for some much deserved custard to celebrate… Notice mine is the chocolatiest one I could get (I know another made up word).

Step Three: Do a seven day cleanse.  I have tried some “Jillian Michael” cleansing pills before and nothing happened to me.  So this time, I am going to start my healthy eating life with the seven day GM diet.  It is pretty extreme, but it will be a great jump start to shred some lb’s.  I am currently on day two and it’s looking good.  Nate is doing it with me, so that is a huge support.  Yesterday we ate nothing but fruit.  Today we are eating nothing but veggies.  I’ll keep you updated on how the rest of the week goes.  Nate will probably lose like 20 lbs. and I’ll lose 5, but that’s ok.  I’m keeping my eyes on the end prize… which may not be here until November (or later).

Step Four:  Run a 5K.  I am signed up… even paid good money to go run this race.  The date is April 21 so after we get back from Nicaragua, I will be a training machine.  This is another thing that I never in a million years thought I would be doing… So I can just imagine how it’s going to feel when I really do it next month.

Step Five:  Go back to weight watchers and exercise regularly until I get to my goal weight.

That’s it… I am on step three.  We will see what happens from here.  Wish me luck!

“The Day a Weight was Lifted”

I strongly believe that one of the reasons God allows “storms” in our life is so we can help others that go through the same thing.  So we can learn about ourselves, and have a lasting testimony of our Lord and Saviors providential timing and see how He sustains us.

Last night in Nate’s talk to the youth he said that God wants to show His greatness to others through your storm.  The point of pain in our lives isn’t to suck it up or walk it off… It’s to show the beauty and grace of our Savior.

I have found that I am a becoming a writer.  I have kept journals since I can remember, but lately it has gone to a whole different level… I have to write to get things off my chest.  I have to write to vent my feelings.  I just have to write.

This is what I wrote in my journal yesterday…

Ah!  Sweet relief!  After being in Yukon and having our house in Rogers for sale for 2 1/2 years… It finally sold today!  Closing was at 2pm and we got a call around 3:30 with the good news.  That was 1,080 days of waiting on the Lord.  This was the 4th or 5th offer we got and I was so scared that they were going to back out too.  Praise the Lord they didn’t. 

Getting our papers signed and sending them off!

I feel like a different person without this over my head.  Many times I have felt sorry for myself… calling this “storm” in my life a nightmare.  Things couldn’t have gone worse.  At least that’s how I felt.  Nate and I were on our knees about this situation everyday.  Our minds, hearts, and money has been in two different towns.  We would go through “what if?” situations, like:  What if our first realtor would have priced it right back in October 2009?  What if our second realtor would have done a better job with the rent-to-own option?  What if we wouldn’t have let a bum live there for 10 months?

Now, being finished with the whole ordeal, I am saying “what if?” in a different way… What if we didn’t have the love and provision of our Almighty God to put all our hope and faith in?  What if our families didn’t support us and continually offer help and support?  What if I didn’t have such wonderful friends that prayed everyday for me when I couldn’t?  What if our church family didn’t love and support us?  What if God hadn’t provided the money we needed to live or places to live (like my brother’s barn or our church’s mission house)?  Seriously, what if?

I am blessed beyond what I can even believe.  There is no reason that I deserve so much.  There is no explanation as to why Nate and I are not in debt up to our eyeballs, in foreclosure, or homeless and hungry… Besides the wonderful provision of our awesome Lord and Savior, and the faithful prayers of His children.  I am so thankful for so much right now in this moment.

Celebratory Italian nachos!

I always say that we learn a lot from these “unforeseen storms” of life, and Nate and I aren’t to sure if we learned anything of great importance BUT I do know of some things.  We learned patience… with God, others, each other and money.  We learned that God will provide!  And that we are horrible landlords and should never own another rental property.  We learned how to look for a good realtor.  And what depression feels like.  We learned what it was like to face a huge crisis, and how to support each other in the midst of it.  We learned about short sales.  I learned I was a really good letter writer (there was no way they were saying no).  I learned the feeling of genuine community and dependence on the two best friends that I’ve ever had in my life.  I learned that Nate and I have a deep, un-shattering love for each other… even deeper than I thought.

Celebratory dinner with friends!

I’m sure more gratefulness and more things I learned will come to me in the following days, but today I will just relish the love of my Heavenly Father, my wonderful husband, my best friends, my family, and my church.  This leap year 2012 will forever be a memory in my life.  “The day a weight was lifted” I like to say.  A day that will live in infamy… just joking ;)

It is good to feel more like myself and hear Nate genuinely laugh.  It’s been a while and we are ready to make this whole “owning one house instead of two” thing the new normal.  Oh, what a life we get to lead.

So, if you are in the midst of a storm, and need some encouragment… know that this storm is not the end of your story.  Know that it will end some day.  Don’t allow it to take you over.  Allow it to shape you into a more faithful follower of Christ.

Goodbye darling house.  We will always love and cherish our time with you!

August 2005 – November 2009

3600 West Beechwood Drive. Rogers, AR 72756

DNow 2012 ~ Zipline!

If there are times in your life that you want to go back and watch over and over…. this would be one of them.

I have been to New Life Ranch around ten times now, and I was always terrified of the zipline.  I wasn’t necessarily scared of the zipping… I was afraid of the climbing.  I didn’t think I was strong enough… I was too fat… I wanted to let everyone else go… and the excuses continued.

BUT this year, I decided I was going to try no matter what.  I also had my great friend, Hollie, there with me.  We were determined to do it together. Maybe we wouldn’t make it up the whole way… Maybe we would pass out or pee our pants… Maybe we would die… but by-golly we were going to try.

Paige, Hollie, and I after the great zip.

Just like a lot of other things in my life, I don’t think I would have made it without her.  We laughed our way to the top… slowly but surely.  I wasn’t gonna back out because she was doing it, and she wasn’t gonna back out because I was doing it.

Eventually we made it (applause) and even jumped off the 60’ high platform to zip our way into the history books.  Okay, maybe not the history books, but definitely our “I can’t believe I did that,” autobiographies.  It was a great feeling…. conquering a fear… surprising yourself… seeing that you are stronger than you thought you were.

That is us up there.

And then zipping.  Me, Nate, Hollie, and Paige.

 

We are talking with the youth about the “storms of their lives,” and I can’t help but see a great lesson in my zipline experience.  I was terrified of climbing up the pole.  I let fear keep me from a feeling of accomplishment, freedom, and self-worth.  I never thought that the day would come, where I could actually climb the thing.  But, when you resolve to make the best of a situation, stay positive, and put it all in God’s hands, eventually things will work out.

  Sometimes it is scary.  Sometimes it is shaky.  Sometimes you have to laugh at your fears.  No matter how you make it through… You make it through.  And lately, I have been so blessed to see that God doesn’t expect you to go through those storms alone.  He puts people in your life to get you through… To help encourage and push you… To pray for you… To just be a listening ear…To love you through the storms.

”Hope in the LORD! Be strong! Let your heart take courage! Hope in the LORD!”

Psalm 27:14

All you who wait for the LORD, be strong and let your heart take courage.”

Psalm 31:24

Cast your cares on the LORD, and he will sustain you;
   he will never let the righteous fall.

Psalm 55:22

If you are in the middle of a storm, can see a storm coming, or just getting over one… know that God is in control.  Know that someday it will end.  Know that God will put great friends in your life to help get you through.

Valentine’s Day 2012

I love love!  It is truly the best thing on this earth.  I am constantly blown away by the great love Nate and I share.  We are blessed to love so deeply and I wouldn’t want to do life with anyone else.  We are together basically all day every day working together and I love that too!

With each passing year Nate and I can look back on big things that happened in our life, and see God’s providence.  He used to say that there isn’t just one person in the world that any one person can be happily married to, but now he agrees that God had us planned for each other from the beginning.  So sweet and so true.  We have been married for 6 1/2 years now, after dating for 5 1/2 years, and we have made it through things most couples will never have to go through.  And, we can make it through because of each other.

Nate was especially stressed this Valentine’s Day 2012 with the sell of our house in Rogers, so I decided to surprise him with a little scavenger hunt.

It was funny to watch him go to every room in our house… I may have made it a little long. ha

In the end this is what he found…

New Kurig Coffee Machine. Yay!  Every time he would see one in a store, he would stop and stare at it for like 20 min. so I knew he really wanted it.

It was worth every penny to see him smile like that :)

  We finished the day with some good ol heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy’s.  It was delish.

Sushi…is Good-si! Who knew?

Mark another one off the list!  I ate sushi!  I was pretty nervous about the whole thing but we went with an expert, my good friend Cassie, and she ordered some stuff I liked.  I have never liked fish, and I am a freak about food textures so I was afraid after taking the first bite… I would spew raw sea creatures all over the place.  But, it was actually really good!  I was so delightfully surprised and felt very cultured and grown up. ha

  My first bite. Ever.

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Our spread.

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It was Kaylie’s first time to try sushi too.

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And, Nate’s fist time also.  He probably liked it the best out of us three newbies.  He ate like 20 pieces or something. And he wants to find a place here to eat some more!

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I have learned lately that it is really liberating and fun to do things that I never thought I would do.  Making this “27 Things before 27” has been pretty great for me.  Once I make a list, I have to mark everything off.  I have found through this experiment (already), that I am becoming a tad spontaneous.  Nate will enjoy this new side of me…. and so will I!

I can’t wait to try something else new, and mark things off my list!

“Let go. And Let God.”

Have you ever prayed for something so much… over and over… every day… until you didn’t even believe that prayer was helping???

I recently got to that point.  I realized, that again, my prayers were completely selfish and I didn’t feel right about begging God for two certain things I wanted to happen in my life.  I completely let these two requests take over my entire prayer life.  It was completely ridiculous.  My heart was full of doubt and fear, as I would be on my knees begging and pleading with God to answer these petitions, and at the same time in my head I was thinking they are never going to happen.

This is my story of letting go and letting God.

Last Monday, during my quiet time I was having a fight with myself about praying for things too much.  It turned into a complete melt down within myself and I decided…. “I can’t do it.  I can’t pray about these things anymore.”  I read this passage out of James chapter 4 that further proved my point:

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

"You wouldn't think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you'd be asking for what you have no right to. You're spoiled children, each wanting your own way…"

It was true… The Bible is always true, but this passage hit me between the eyes.  I was asking with doubt in my heart because I had prayed about the same two things for over a year.  I am a spoiled child of God and it was sobering to realize I simply just needed to LET GO! AND LET GOD!

I know this.  I have known this.  I just got to consumed with begging God for things I thought I had to have.  So I enacted a plan right away to not pray for myself about these things and call on three of my good friends to do it for me.  I got a true feeling of genuine community as I completely trusted that God would come through because I knew my friends would be praying.

Side Note:  If you don’t have close friends like this…. find some.  God doesn’t expect you to go through things alone and genuine friends that truly care are there “for such a time as this” to help lighten your load.

Anyway, that was on a Monday.  By Tuesday afternoon I felt an amazing since of peace and freedom.  By Thursday God had answered one of the prayer requests!  This had been like a ball-and-chain around my ankle for the last two and a half years, and God had finally answered!  It has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with the powerful prayers of wonderful friends and God’s providential wisdom, timing, and healing!

I have clung and will continue to cling to Psalm 55:22 until the second prayer is answered.

“Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you.  He will never let the righteous fall.”

In the mean time, let me encourage you with this… Let go. And let God.  He can handle it.  If you find yourself praying passionately for something for a long period of time, and it becomes too much… Let go.  And let God come through for you.

Pallet Bench

I am making some great progress with my “27 Things.”  Why is it so exciting to mark things off a list?  I don’t know, but it is.  Especially for a big planner like me.  I am also in a huge “get things done” mood so this list better watch out.

#13… Build a piece of furniture out of pallets. Check.

Monday night… after I cleaned the whole house and whipped up some pasta and chicken salad…Nate and I made this awesome pallet bench!

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Here's a little of the journey...

 Our materials.
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 The Carpenter.
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 The Bottom.

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 The Back.

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 Putting the two pieces together.

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Trying it out in the back yard.
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We plan on making one more and putting them under our pergula… on the corner of our cement slab in an L with a table in the middle.  We are also thinking about making some other pieces out of pallets and trying to sell them.  What do you think?  Pallets are kinda in right now, so I'm thinking why not?