Adding another hat ...

Well, kind of.  It's so much already a part of my everyday life and has been for over 15 years, that I don't feel like I am adding anything else to my plate.  Instead of adding a new hat, it is more like trading up from a 5 gallon cowgirl hat to a 10 gallon.  This is actually something that is on my bucket list.  It is something that I have always wanted to step out and do.  For those of you that know me, you know how important eating right and being healthy is to me.  Well now I can "officially" help others.  I am getting certified as a health coach.  Whoohoo.  This is not something I am doing to replace photography.  No oh no.  That is also a great joy of mine.  A deep joy.  The Lord has blessed my business and laid so much of all of that right out in front of me that until He says my season is up on photography, I will continue to pursue that passion.  Being a health coach or personal trainer is something that has also been a big dream of mine.  And it is amazing how the Lord laid all of this in my path as well;  all right there for my steps to just follow His path.  (Proverbs 16:9)  I can even do these very well together - they can go hand in hand.  Like peas and carrots, or running and tennis shoes for that matter.

I have always tried to share healthy habits and ways of life with my family and friends.  If you have been a reader of mine for any period of time you know that.  Now I will have the tools in place to share even more and even better, credible information, tips, and lifestyle changes for others to achieve optimal health in their lives.  I will be able to coach a handful of people at a time to show them how they too can achieve health and live a more energized, on purpose life.  Christ calls us to take care of His temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and I will be able to help so many fulfill this command.  I have loved being a part of the program as a client.  I have regained so much energy and zeal back in my life that it is hard to put into words.  I sleep better at night.  I wake up better in the morning.  I truly feel like a new person.  As you read in a post awhile back, I have never had a healthy relationship with food.  Go here to read the original post from a few weeks ago.  I did not have much weight to loose on the program, but I had so much to gain in terms of understanding health.  Things I never "got".  All while being supported fully by a free health coach, who is there any time I need her.  I couldn't stand just being a client; I had to pay it forward and become a certified health coach as soon as possible.  My prayer through this is that if I can even help just one person gain health in their life, then I have done my mission.  One person at a time we will help get America fit!

If you are scared of change, I have this to say to you ....it sits smack in front of me above my computer and I see it everyday right after my time alone with God:

If you know someone who is looking for health in their life, please share my page and information with them.  Or let me know and I can get in touch with them.  I look forward to meeting new people and helping them achieve the lifestyle they have always wanted, but thought too hard to get there on their own.   You don't have to do it alone!  I would love to help you or someone you know begin a whole new journey in your life.

Here is my website ... I would love for you to check it out and please let me know you did.

Lauren's Site

"For you were bought with a price, so glorify God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:20

Patton is 6 months

Gosh, I have been meaning to get a chance to write this post since, well, Patton was actually 6 months old!  Life has been busy keeping up with potty training Kirby, CR in the field 14 hours a day, and Patton growing like a weed.  And my photography business.  I wouldn't change a single thing about it though.  It is all such a blessing and my heart is literally over flowing with JOY everyday when I lay down at night.  And I sleep like a champ.

At 6 months Patton:
Weighs: 18.12 lbs
Height: 26 1/2"
Clothes: mainly 6 months, starting to do 9 months
Teeth: at 6 months on the dot none ... 3 weeks later 2 have broken through finally
Sleeps: Through the night.  12-13 hours through the night.  What?  Did you hear that?  Yup, that was a "hallelujah" from the choir loft of angels.
Loves: His sister, mom, and his dad's beard, laughing, being tickled, tummy time, scooting, playing with toys, chewing on anything, started gnawing on and slightly sucking his thumb, everything about life.
Dislikes: teething, loud noises and being spooked (who doesn't hate that)

"You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Deut. 6:7

Submission

I might lose some followers or friends for this one, but it is truth that comes straight from The word.  If this pierces your heart or tugs at your strings of conviction, then maybe you need to take some time to evaluate where your loyalty stands; or rather I should say with what your loyalty stands.  

For those of you who have followed me for any period of time know that when something is placed on my heart to write, it is more than likely coming from a personal stand point of encounter.  Whether it be something I am going through or is an issue I see played out in front of my very eyes all too often.  This is both.  Don't worry, I have pulled the "log out of my own eye" in this area, so by no means am I avoiding my splinters to get to yours.

I have (and I must be very careful as I write this because I can totally see the devil getting on his moped, full throttle ready to come after me to challenge this) on most days no problem submitting to the Lord.  I have, on most occasions, no problem submitting to my husband.  Looking back I did not have much of an issue submitting to my parents.  I am a people pleaser so I guess that comes along with it.  I am thankful that the Lord has blessed me with the heart to submit, because I know it is hard.  Very hard.  

We must first submit everything to the Lord.  I mean everything.  He does not want us to hold back anything.  Every area of our lives must be His when we are His.  Where my conviction lies in submission is my time.  There are times when I like to be in control of my schedule, but He wants even that.  My time on this earth is His, not my own.   

When we hold back from submitting to the Lord, we are being prideful.  We are saying to Christ, "No, I know a better plan.  I have a better way."  Um, been there done that and it was not pretty.  I never uttered those words, however, when I was not following the direction of Christ, that was what I was inadvertently saying to my Maker.  I was never happy, life itself was a struggle, and I drifted further and further away from the One who knows every strand on my head.  (Luke 12:7)

John 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up."  

Once you submit every room in the house of your heart to Christ, the other areas of submission will be easier.  I said easier, not easy.  As wives we are called to submit to our husbands.  Ephesians 5:22-23 says, " Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything."  In everything.  If husband says no, then you need to seriously consider that no.  And just like with our prayers, it may not be "forever no", but more so a "not at this time".  Some examples in my life to help you get some perspective of where I am coming from: moving 300 miles away from where I wanted to live and I wanted to teach and where I wanted to raise kids, staying home after having children and working from the house instead of pursuing a position as a principal, staying home during a time of harvest instead of following my own agenda of things I want to get done, using money to pay off debt instead of the latest trends or activities for my children or myself, living on the farm instead of the city where it is more convenient .... these are just things that come to mind right now.  I am sure that daily you have a list of ways that you submit as well.  Being a wife and mommy is definitely a calling of humbling yourself to submission in ways you never thought you would or could before.  But if you have first submitted to Christ, then submitting to your husband will come much more naturally.  I know some women may be rolling their eyes and saying, "how old fashion ...".  No, my dearest friends, it is straight from God's word, and His word is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  The only line of not submitting to your husband is if he calls you to sin.  Other than that, whipash ...

I could go on and on about submission and what His word says about it.  The root of this post is that, thank you to social media and it's trends, I felt compelled to share this part of my heart and mind.  More and more I see Christians not submitting to Christ first of all, and very much so not submitting to husbands.  Let me end with this thought: When you do not submit, you are withholding Christ's plan for your life.  He has something so much better planned.  SO. MUCH. BETTER.  And if you have family, you are not only depriving yourself from God's amazing blessings, but you are depriving your family from His path. I promise, He knows the next step (Proverbs 16:9) and it is so much better paved in gold, than in the muddy, murky waters we dredge ourselves through.  I am not saying God's way will be easy, but His path will not burden your life; it will point to Him, and to God be the glory for that.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Today I challenge you to pray for the Lord to reveal an area in your life that needs more discipline with submission.  It is a scary, but oh so very rewarding prayer.  It can be money, time, husband, food, alcohol, children .... research every area of your heart, and come back and share with me in a few weeks how this has ended up blessing not only you, but your family as well.  I can not wait to see how God uses this revelation for you and His glory.

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."  Psalm 51:10

The farming side of farming

in pictures ....

 This was about the extent of our harvest this year.  Typically, harvest lasts between 2 and 3 weeks.  This year it was 2 days.  We need rain in a desperate way, folks.  By rain I mean a gully-washer.  I daily wake up singing, "Bring on the Rain".

Even though harvest was short, that does not mean that the work is sparse.  Farming is a 24/7, 365 days a year job.  Something has to be done every day.  Besides taking care of the animals daily, there is constant field prep and recovery going on.  I thought for sure CR would be able to come home for lunch, though, so Kirby and I whipped him up his favorite desert.  Then he called and said he would not be able to come home, that Daddy Ray would just go pick up Dairy Queen for him since they were near there.  Then I sent him this tempting picture .....

 I know, I am so mean.  I told him not to have his dad go get him lunch.  We surprised him with a picnic.  When we got there, all we saw was dust blowing ...

 Here they are running what is called a rolling cutter.  It goes through and does exactly that.  The blades roll through the field and cut.  They cut stalks.  They cut dead grain that never produced.  They cut whithered sticks of depressed crop.  And the dust blows for miles.

As you can see, Patton is very impressed with his dad's job.  And Kirby likes to eat her daddy's lunch instead of her own:

 CR needed me to run him over to another field about 5 miles away, so Kirby stayed to hold up the tailgate on "Daddy Ray's junky truck" as she likes to refer to it.

 As we were driving, I noticed a storm to the north and south of us.  I stopped and prayed that the 2 would join, and as CR added "make the perfect storm".  Oh his whit.

 Not 3 minutes later, the sky was falling.  And the temperature.  It went from 97 to 75 in about 5 minutes.

When I returned to get Kirby she was having a melt down with Daddy Ray.  She did not know what this foreign object was that was getting her wet.  She thought she would melt.  

CR had to take the combine to the farm after unloading the header, so with the rain I decided to follow him for other's safety.  You would be surprised how many tractor/car accidents there are in the country. Also, the other day someone asked me what FM stood for on our road.  I explained to them it was farm-to-market.  I got the blankest stare ever.  This is why; the road leads you from your farm to the market.  

"Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."  Matthew 9:7

God is in Everything ...

even the things we may find silly to pray about.  I love how God is involved in every single aspect of our lives if we are His.  And come to find out, this matter is not so silly to Him anyway.  I wonder how often I have overlooked praying for something because of the thought that He may find it minute, when it really is a big deal to Him.  We must remember everything in our lives is a big deal to Him.  I mean, He is kind of a big deal, you know?  He is the way.

If you know me much at all, you know I have battled insecurities with weight for most of my life.  When I was 15 I started taking action to deal with those issues and things got out of control.  It started small by doing the right things (eating better, smaller portions, working out), but then as I saw results, it became my life.  Loosing weight literally took over every aspect of my being.  I took being healthy to a unhealthy level.  Looking back I would say it ruined my life, but God is so merciful and look at all He has blessed me with today, so not sure I would go that far.   I was a busy teen on the golf team, raising heifers, being active in the church and youth group, and also trying to be a smart enough kid to get in to my college of choice, Texas A&M.  As I entered the spring of my sophomore year, the weight was really coming off and it changed my golf swing.  Overnight I literally lost my swing.  No where to be found.  My elbow started flying, I started slicing the ball way left, and I started looping at the top like Jim Furyk.  I spent countless hours at the range, with my coach, and even with a pro from our golf shop to try to fix things.  Nope.  Nothing.  I truly believe that my change in weight and stature had everything to do with it.  I could do nothing to fix it, so I quit.  I quit something that had been a love of mine since I was about 7 years old, going to golf camp every summer when we visited the lake house.

I was so busy in life that the only time I could fit in my jog was first thing in the morning.  What happens first thing on Sunday mornings, though?  Church.  What did I do?  I started missing church or at least Sunday school so I could fit in my job.  Figuring out what I was going to eat when I went out with friends consumed my life too, so I started not doing that as much either.  If I couldn't control it, basically, I just decided not to do it.

I found myself at school having a hard time focusing and being very tired (lack of calorie intake I am sure).  My body started taking a toll, too.  At 17.  My body and how it was to function as a girl completely stopped.  Nothing was working right, but when I went to my pediatrician, everything checked out fine so they were none the wiser.  Don't get me wrong, I didn't want anything to change.  I liked the way I looked.  Or at least I thought I did.  My family was always concerned but knew to dare not say anything or I would blow up.  Defense is a key factor in an eating disorder by the way.  I do remember clearly stepping on the scale one day while on the phone with my sister who was away at college.  I remember telling her, "Uh oh, I think I need to eat more ... I am down to 88 pounds."  She blew up on the other end.

To make a long story just a bit shorter for you, I tried to put weight back on, but it was an emotional tie for me.  Once I tried that, I had an unhealthy relationship with food from then on.  Through college I battled anorexia bulimia.  It was not pretty.  Ask my friends.  I was swollen.  I would gain weight even though I really was not keeping much.  Finally I hit rock bottom and asked the Lord to help me.  And He, of course, did.  When I truly turned it over to Him (through prayer and actions), He did.  It was not easy breaking unhealthy habits, but with Christ as my provider I did.  I also got checked at my doctor for thyroid issues, which came back that I had a slow thyroid, got on medicine for that, and things became very well balanced.  I learned to be healthfully healthy.

When I got pregnant with Kirby, I gained a healthy amount of weight and was active as much as I could be throughout the pregnancy.  After having her, the weight came off  without any extra efforts.  I did nothing different than before, just my healthy habits.  With my pregnancy with Patton, I gained the same amount of weight, but was not able to move as much as I did with Kirby.  I was sick to my tummy throughout most of my first 20 weeks, then I started to move some and contractions started early, so I relaxed that.  Then by 32 weeks when I could not control them, I completely stopped any extra moving.  I snacked a lot, too.  The weight stayed off but unhealthy habits creeped in.  Snacking too late at night, wrong kind of snacking (carbs, carbs, carbs ... processed carbs at that!!) and not moving.  These habits did not leave once he was born.  I seemed so hungry all the time and I know it was because I was eating the wrong things for fuel.  I was getting quick energy, but nothing substantial for my life.  The weight had all come off as soon as I was home from the hospital, but over the next 5 months I had gained 15 pounds back.  Whattt?  Within that time I had started Weight Watchers to make sure I was getting enough intake to nurse Patton.  I think I am the only person on this planet who gains weight on Weight Watchers.

Finally, I called up an acquaintance who is a life coach through Take Shape for Life.  It is no coincidence that the week I started this program, my Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be devotional is titled, Healthy Eating.  I wish I could quote everything she has said, but here are just a few points that have really stuck out to me and my past journey with food:

• The very first recorded sin involved a woman being tempted by food that looked too good to pass up.
• Children take eating cues from the adults in their lives.  
• The Proverbs 31 woman brought food from afar (fields ... it was of the earth)
• Overeating is truly one of the most destructive things you can do to your body, right behind living a stressful life ( refusing to trust God).
• At it's core, gluttony proves we value flesh more than the spirit.  
• Feed yourself and your family healthy food, not convenient food.

Each of those bullets are pulled directly from the book and coincide with scripture.  This book is amazing.  And the fact that all of it is from The word amazes me even more.  These are truths that I have needed to hear for years.  Truths that I need to apply to my life and my children's lives.  Truths that tie in to the healthy habits that I am learning to reincorporate into my life through the Take Shape for Life Program.  I am on day 4 and I feel so amazing.  My body is energized.  High fructose no longer controls me system (its addictive I have learned).  I know it is because so much of the junk in my life is being purged; food and spiritual.  If you need a step in the right direction, I highly suggest you check out the program, or if you are good enough then just take steps in the right direction alone with the Lord.  Check out Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be also.  It is good for so many reasons.    It has helped me to realize that although my children do come before me, I need to be healthy for them.   By taking the time and making the right decisions in my life, I am indirectly putting them as priority and laying foundations for them to have a healthy relationship with God, food, and exercise.  

"Is life not more important than food?"  Matthew 6:25

"God satisfies your desires with good things." Psalm 103:5