No Slayed Gluten and Sugar Dragons...Let's Talk Crucifixion...

Umm...today started that I was going to write about slaying gluten and sugar dragons to go along with my gluten and sugarfreeness of life, but got sidetracked.  Life happens.

And when it does, because it will, somehow I find myself writing about crucifixions, shame, and humiliation.   No easy to digest homilies...but, stay with me, please, because there is good stuff to share at the end. 

The cross today is a simple symbol that represents hope and renewal to Christians today. 
In Christ's time, the cross was a symbol of shame and fear.   It represented crucifixion which was the ultimate, humiliating punishment to the person being punished and the family, if they were still willing to claim that family member.

I am a Christian.  I believe Christ was crucified and endured the indignity gracefully so everyone in the world who believed in Him could have a relationship with Him and God - not the thundering voice reigning down on you as you cower under the bed type of relationship, but the type to join you under the bed and say that things are going to work out ok. 

He didn't come to shame the world.  He rose above what the world defined as shameful to be an example to give us courage to withstand the shame of the crosses from the world.    I feel the crosses of the world.  You know the feeling, too.
 
That feeling when... you don't have the right kind of car...your dress is a 'classic'  - kind of like your car...your spouse has been having an affair and wants a newer model instead of the 'classic' he has...you've lost your job and are worried about bills...your kid is failing in school...your long kept secret

Yeah, this stuff happens, but this connection to God, that was bridged through scorning the shame of the cross, can fill you up with hope, joy, and peace.  It doesn't matter if your connection to God is hanging by a piece of lint or a tree planted by streams of water.    It all starts with a simple conversation under the bed, in the bathroom, in your car...anywhere is fine.  "Hi, God."

God will give lavishly to you hope, joy, and peace.    

What would you say to encourage someone's LIFE?

When I was in my 20's, I thought 40+ was sooo old.    My plan for life would be a good one to make it easy.   My friends had similar plans, too.  The plan looked like:  go to school, get good grades so I could get a good job, work hard to climb up the ladder of good job, get married, have kids, have a great marriage and a great career.   This is life on Easy Street. 

Today, I'm in my 40's and just living.   I'm still looking for Easy Street, but I think it got washed away into a ditch.    So, I'm on this road called LIFE.   There have been pit stops and 'learning opportunities.'  Often times, I've said, "I didn't go to school for THIS!"   LIFE doesn't like to follow textbooks. 

I have a friend whose LIFE isn't going according to plan.   She lives with obstacles and sometimes limited choices.  Her LIFE is truly just living it one day at a time.    I have run out of encouraging words for her and simply just listen to her story and circumstances that move at glacial speed.    My prayers seem to have hit a rut.

So you ladies who have LIVED and discovered that LIFE can be a challenge whether through your own experiences or just walking it with your mom, sister, or friend, what are words of encouragement would you give or were given to you?   Was it a Bible verse, a quote, or a saying?   Please leave a comment so that I can share with my friend so she knows she's not alone on this road:  LIFE.  

Gratefully,
MooWoo


  


 

Gym-der Land: Forever Young

The gym can be an intimidating place.  Some of the weight machines look like medieval torture devices. People wear the emperor's clothes - practically naked in designer sportswear with holes all over them.   The economy is different.   It's measured in the weight of barbells or plate weights heaved, pushed, or pulled.   You have just landed on foreign soil with a different language and customs.  You either proceed cautiously or decide to return to your own borders.

Let's stop.  There is another choice. 

EMBRACE IT!!

You have just found the fountain of youth!

Scary machines?  They are just strangers waiting to be your friend.   Ask someone how to use them.   

Still not sure about the machines?   Go to a class with an instructor and play Simon Says. Just copy what she's doing.  

Not comfortable in clothes that even a homeless person wouldn't wear?  That's ok because everyone is too entranced with their own reflection in the mirror to pay attention to the fact you are wearing actual clothing.   

Not sure how to throw your weight around?   Just choose the weights that are comfortable to you.   Different muscle groups require amounts and size of weights.   It's not the size.  It's how you use it.    ;)

Here is where you find your non-scale victories - victories that aren't measured by a needle moving to smaller numbers.    Victories are more energy, strength, and inner confidence!

Hardly ever will you regret going.  (How many other activities could you say that about?)

Don't expect perfection - give yourself some grace and drink from the fountain.

I'm a Church Fly

"See?  It WAS fun!!" my friend laughed at me when I gave her my positive conclusion of tonight's evening.

 

The previous day I asked her to pray for my bad attitude stemming from pressure and panic of folding a hundred pieces of paper into origami flowers for a church dinner the next day.   "Are paper cuts and glue gun burns really a God assignment?"  I texted her.

 

Inspite of my injuries, the evening was fun and a great time to hang out with girlfriends. My friend and I talked underneath the parking lot light afterwards to catch up and laughed about how 24 hours could change someone's attitude from bad to good.

 

Months had gone by without a good chat with each other - different kids' schedules, church schedules, and life, in general, just interrupting.    So there we were in the parking lot and talked and talked.

 

But, it was here that I realized that if you step up with your sisters in Christ to God's table, He doubles the portion of grace in your life that comes from fellowship with these women.   What was sour is now sweet.   What seemed horrible is now pretty funny.   Paper transforms into flowers.  The black night is brightened by light-hearted conversation.

 

The hour was getting late and sleep time was slipping away before it would blur into a day full of activities and errands and carpools.  We left with the hope to meet up next week.   

 

I pulled out and rounded the corner to the darkened front of the church.   No lights were on inside.  No cars in the front parking lot.   The pastor's wife, women's ministry director, and all the other guests had left long ago.

 

That's when I realized with a chuckle that I had closed down a church, but never had closed down a bar.     

 

And that is a wonderful gift that comes from Table Grace.

My Best Trick or Treat

It wasn't a compliment from a guy about how I looked.   It was a compliment from Stacey Keith saying that my legs looked really awesome.     She is my instructor who loves muscles and who I stalk around town because I really enjoy her class torture.   (i.e. 100 reps of tricep curls & 600 reps of a variety of squats - and that's in one class.)  

 

Lest you think I'm going to launch into a leg modeling career, mine are not the type to appear in a magazine - long and tapered thin.   Mine are more like the sturdy, short, tree trunk brand.  

 

Stacey's compliment was really a great treat, but the trick behind it has taken me 780 days of one baby step after another.  It's called hard work to get blubbery muscle to tone and tighten up.   It's going to class when I don't want to.   It's ignoring the flames when my muscles are BURNing.   It's adding on that little bit of extra weight to the bar to push myself even though I won't finish the set.   It's taking off some of the weight to finish the set.  

 

The older ladies were right.   After a certain age, women's bodies have a mind of their own about where south really is.     Photographic aesthetics isn't what motivates me now.  It's being strong that gives me the lift to keep reaching higher. 

 

Just keep swimming!

Moowoo