Back To Basics.

Hello Cyberland!!! Miss me? ;) well I have shamefully been hiding from this very blog because let me tell ya, I let myself go Hog wild over the holidays. And when I say hog wild, I kinda mean because I pigged out. The holidays were rough and kinda spent some of my food money budget on christmas presents. Which I think is an okay way to go :) I just love buying gifts for people! Its seriously the best!

But I am happy to report that through my 3 month break, with Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and an 8 day vacation, I only managed to gain back 10 lbs. I really was thinking there would be a TON more than that but it doesn't seem to be that much weight seeing as the first time I did Paleo, I lost 8lbs in the first week. 

Really excited to report that I also have another much needed motivator! One of my best friends on this entire planet got engaged in December right before Christmas!

it was a most joyful occasion:) they have a beautiful love story let me tell ya!!! Definitely a fairy tale! I'm so excited for these two to be wed in holy matrimony:D

AND as if I wasn't excited enough about this fairy tale come to life, she asked me to be a Bridesmaid! I'm such a lucky, incredibly honored girl ;)

So now with that 5 and 1/2 months on the horizon I've got to get some discipline going! I lost about 30lbs before Nicole's wedding from about Jan-June last year and I think I can do about the same from now till August!

I would love ANY support or encouragement you guys and gals are willing to put out there! This ultimately isn't just about my dress size, it's about my life and getting healthy! I know I can't do it on my own strength and would much appreciate prayer for the Holy Spirit's strength to get me to persevere and press on towards the goal. This is huge!!! I am so excited to begin this second leg of my Paleo journey.

Thanks for tuning in friends! Sorry for the long pause in between blog posts. Hope ya'll will stick with me:)

 Here's to going back to the gym!

What a pair of jeans can do

I am less than pleased with myself and my current eating and lack of working out lately. That darn Thanksgiving with all its delicious carbs! I really have been feeling the weight of my eating decision these past few weeks. iterally going back to eating more carbs really has made me feel physically so much bigger. I definitely know they hate me now. Its been really interesting, because of the fact that although I have chosen to be more "balanced" in my diet these past few weeks I have been able to maintain my weight loss and teeter between 2-3 lbs. but it feels more like 8-10 because of the heaviness and processing of my foods. However, I'm not complaining! This is a huge success for me. Although, I do fear I will regress.

Every diet I have ever tried, every attempt to lose weight, I have seen small chunks of success and then gain all of it back and then some. I become comfortable with where I am at and just give up and quickly forget all the hard work I put in to get to that point. I do not want that to happen this time. My biggest fear at this point is getting comfortable with the success I have seen(which is weird because numbers don't like, but I feel like the mirror does[more on that in a sec]), and just regress back to my old self.

Whenever I get on the scale I am in constant shock of the fact of God's grace in allowing me to be able to keep this weight off! It may seem insignificant to say that it is a grace of God that I havemaintained the weight, but trust me when I say it is honest grace because I know with my eating and laziness to not go to the gym, I deserve some serious weight gain! I don't know how or why, but in each of my decisions, both good and bad, of what to fill my stomach with, some how God is good to continue to give me hope. The weirdest thing is you guys, I don't see my weight loss!! Like I literally look in the mirror and can tell a little bit in my face an neck, but other than that, I'm stumped! I don't look in the mirror and see a new person yet. Granted I am down a jean size, which is insane!!  I finally have been able to wear a pair of designer jeans! This is big news and if you are a dude reading this, you may not understand this at any level but thats okay, have a lady friend, girlfriend or wife attempt to explain the complexity of our brains and why stuff like this is a big deal. ;)

I get my passion for fashion from my amazing momma who exposed me to the wonder that is shopping at an early age ;) As silly and as completely meaningless as it is, I grew up never really being able to fit into the nice jeans I saw friends wearing. So 2 weeks ago when I tried some on, I was convinced they wouldn't fit because jeans like that never have before even though the size is correct. But what a surprise! THEY FIT! I know that this is probably the stupidest thing you have ever read, a girl getting excited about a pair of jeans, but it really represents so much more than just losing weight.

I have really been struggling in my heart with continuing my weight loss because I haven't noticed it for myself. My biggest worry is that I will accomplish my goals, God willing, but still feel fat on the inside. A dear friend of mine lost a TON of weight, but she sadly revealed that her heart had not been in the right place and she had gained a lot of it back. I am praying so desperately that God would make things clear to me so that I might not be discouraged by the lack of obvious success. I know it is silly to think that God used a pair of jeans to help me with this, but I can't help but feel like He did. Let's be honest, this is not a deep theological revelation, but the fact that(and I admit this a little sheepishly) I was brought practically to tears in the dressing room because of God's goodness to me to help me get healthy and honor him through this was waaay overwhelming. And really exciting to say the least!

God has given me much hope to maintain my current weight throughout this holiday season and have much hope to hit Paleo and the gym hard in the New Year. Still praying for discipline to get to the gym and just make smart decisions but I have really yet to go hog wild and pig out since not eating paleo.

Please pray for me in this you guys. I need me some mondo amounts of encouragement and I am hopeful for what this next section of my journey brings me. I don't look at this as a stopping point at all. I don't look at this as throwing in the towel either. Maybe more of a pitstop or a potty break on my long journey. =)

Here's to that one pair of jeans!

Guilt-free Eating??

I feel like I start every blog out with, "well, It's been a few weeks.." I am so bad at this blogging thing! I am very inconsistent and I am sorry to the 3 of you out there who read this. lol

Well, last week(the 12th) I lost no weight! I stayed the same. Which for me is fine. I didn't work out and I definitely strayed from Paleo a bit. So I'd rather stay the same weight than gain!

This morning I weighed myself to find I was down another 2 lbs!! Now here is the miracle of Jesus: I worked out Monday. That is it. One day. Doesn't seem like enough to have me lose weight! Granted, I did a phase 3 which included a whole 60 minutes on the cybex, which is like a stair stepper sort of machine. For more of an illustration, what the ellyptical is to the treadmill, this thing is to a stair stepper.

I have been having an incredibly hard time these last 2 weeks wanting to stick to Paleo you guys. But let me say this first!! I really REALLY love this way of eating!! I truly love how I feel on it and love what seems to be happening to my body, even though most times in the mirror I don't always see it, I still love it! So this last week, I had definitely had my cheat moments. I had many thins that are not paleo approved, but still are incredibly healthy well balanced choices. I also came to a really hard place where I was feeling incredibly guilty for eating so "poorly in my mind. I am incredibly quick to forget how extreme paleo eating is and it was revealed that I am being way to hard on myself.

We had a fun ladies night last wednesday, had dinner and my friend Amy's house(she just had her precious little girl Kenzie on saturday!) and she was the best hostess!! She as so kind to ask me what foods I can have, as she and another lady friend are vegetarians, and made a meal catering to all our specific diets! What an incredible lady!! Then we, of course with the premiere of the last installment, watched Breaking Dawn Part 1. It was the most splendid of nights with some great gal pals. As we were all talking about diets, eating, ways of dieting, weight loss, health and what not, I was asked about my diet and my fight against food and how I have lost some weight and what not. I got an opportunity, seriously given by the Holy Spirit, to be honest about my guilt and struggle and how even though I did NOT want to make this a diet where I would feel guilty for my slip-ups, that is exactly what it turned into. And with the holidays coming up and me actually wanting to enjoy them and eat some good food for one day ya know?

One of the wonderful ladies there gave me some exceptional advice for the upcoming holiday season of which I will for sure be using for holidays with fam and special occasions. and not everyday is a special occasion! I have to remind myself of that ;) She told me to make a sort of mental contract with myself. Tell myself before hand what I will allow myself to eat, like one piece of pie, not 3, or a small portion of mashed potatoes(because man I love carbs!) not half a plate full. This was , I know what I am allowing myself to have and i can actually enjoy it without guilt. 

This may be something that some of you readers have done before and have known about for a long time, but this is a very new concept to me. Cheating willfully on a strict eating plan and being able to enjoy it? An incredibly foreign concept for his lady. But my life is not my diet. Nor do I want my life to revolve around it or be consumed by it. By life is meant to revolve around Christ. My life is meant to be one of obedience to him, not a slave to the food I consume as a means to renovate my pathetic and uncared for temple of a body.

I hope that you all have had a wonderful weekend and look forward to writing a blog about my thankfulness and it is the ultimate week of thankfulness in this week of Thanksgiving =) 

Here's to eating guilt free!

Feeling a bit like Bon Jovi

So today marks the completion of 6 weeks total of being on Paleo. Weighed in today and holy crap, lost another 5 lbs!! Brings me to 24 lbs down on Paleo and 50 lbs for the year! I am in complete disbelief you guys! A huge reason is because I made some not so paleo friendly treat for a ladies hang out time but which I also ate of because they were delish!! Breakfast, Lasagna and taco cups! I should have taken a picture! Here is pretty much what they looked like though =)

 They were so good! but they had cheese, I forgot how much I love cheese. =)

I pretty much am halfway there...aaaand then the Bon Jovi song comes into my brain ev-er-y time! You know the one:

"WOOAA We're half way there! WOA-OOH Livin on a prayer!" 

Your Welcome. =D

Okay, back on track after that musical break, I am halfway to one of my short term goals which is to give Paleo a solid 12 week go at it. And this picture kind of gave me some motivation

This kind of holds true for me. I haven't really noticed too much of a difference in the mirror but I have in my clothes. Well, at least in the way that things from last fall were a lot tighter to get zipped up than they are this season! They are baggier than I would have ever thought, it is super bizarre because I still feel the same size. It is such a weirdo feeling.

I also saw this on pinterest and realized that summer 2013 is going to be here sooner than I think and thought this was rather motivating too!

And the other "halfway there" thing is that I have lost 50 lbs, and I am really aiming to lose 100 within the next year. I would love to lose it by summer, but it took me almost 11 months to lose get this far, that I don't think I will be discouraged if I can't get that 50 lbs off in 8 months. I think it is crazy that for the first time in my life I have actually lost this much in one go. I have said this before, but my usual yo-yo weight loss routine is, I lose 30 lbs, feel like I've done a great job and then gain back 40. So this is a huge record for me. I'm not going to lie, there is a little frustration with me not being able to tell a visible difference for myself. like in the mirror or in my jeans. That is where I want to see a difference. I have to keep telling myself that it is not important. the number on the scale is not important. the number on the tags of my clothes are not important. This is about health and wellness. But I would be a big liar if I said I never thought about it, longed for it, hoped or dreamed about it. So I'm just gonna throw it out there and say I do deal with it, I do struggle with it, but I do not want let it define or become the reason why I continue on this journey.

Now, the last motivating picture I am going to post will be because  I am the biggest of procrastinators! I seriously am always telling myself, "Tomorrow I will go to the gym." Or "tomorrow will be the day when I ___insert almost anything I am to lazy to do here___" I know that I will fail in this area. Undoubtedly, I will make this same habitual mistake again and again. But it is the times that I am given the strength to get off my butt and do something active that I am very thankful for. Those are the ones where I want to remember taht amazing feeling of accomplishing something goodfor my body, my temple, the one body I was given to steward well, made by my Creator, that if I wear it out, what the heck am I going to do with it? As far as staying active and pushing myself at the gym I thought this was  very true because there is always a little, or a lot, of regret when I do not do something active.

Well thats all for now folks. I really hope you all had a wonderful and safe halloween and don't go to crazy on eating the Halloween candy! I am sure it is peak season if you are in the dentistry field.

Here's to the next 6 weeks!!

Let's do this! It's never too late to start =)

A Case of the Mondays

Today is Monday, in case you didn't know that =) I have officially been on Paleo one month ya'll!! I also lost another 2 lbs last week!! I found some dark chocolate and I kind of went a bit Norman Bates on it since I feel like its been ages since I have had something that sweet. But I did work out 4 times last week which I am very proud of! I feel like 4 lbs a weeks is a good healthy amount to lose every week, so I am satisfied. :)

For some reason today, things just felt weird. I can't put my finger on what or why though. I had a fairly normal pre-work morning. Even though it was an abnormal freezing 37 degrees this morning! Got to work and seemed to be very easily irritated and overwhelmed. Even though I have only 3 babies today instead of my usual 5; as far as I am concerned I might as well have had 9! Then a wonderful co-worker made a starbucks run so I was able to get some delicious venti Vanilla Rooibis tea w/ 4 sweet N Low... yuuummmmmmmm.

I CONFESS: Sweet N Low is NOT paleo approved. But, it is one of my "big cheats" that I tend to consume with my tea or americano. That and having salads which I do not make and dressing which I do not make. Thats about the most cheating I do so I feel pretty okay about it ;)

Back to the rooibs: I love this tea! It is just so wonderful and smells amazing! If Starbucks made it into a candle I would surely buy it. Well, this wonderful tea only had a few sips of it before one of our bigger moose tots decided to charge me for a big snuggly hug(which I normally always welcome) spilling my tea on me and a bit on himself. It was just a little bit, but was still just annoying to me. As much of an blonde, idiot or clutz as I can be with the simple task of conversation or even walking for that matter, I am not one to normally waste, or drop or be clumsy when it comes to drinks. So this was really irritating even though it was a complete accident I found myself getting probably more upset than I should have.

With that being said, my break could not have come sooner!! I was beyond ready to take a breather. So then as I get settled in with my computer, tea, chicken and carrots to eat during said break I moved my computer back an inch or so forgetting that I set my tea behind it. yep. All over the floor. I normally don't have these kinds of mornings where everything just irks me and rubs me the wrong way. Sure I get annoyed and irritated when things don't go my way just any normal human being but today has just seemed to be going the straight opposite of how I'd want my monday to go! What is the deal?!?!

It is now nap time. My 3 little ones are sleepy soundly and it is just blissful to hear the rain pitter patter outside. I love me some rainy days =) I have done the one thing, that is not always the FIRST thing I know I should do: pray. I am not always so quick to pray when I know I should. When I know God wants me to not worry because He's got His plans all laid out for me. I need to take comfort in that and not try to be so flustered when my day isnt going the way I intend for it to go. As cheesy as this is.... and I may get teased for this later because of its cheesiness, but it is so good in its truth, "I may not know what my future holds, but I know who holds my future." His ways are better, who am I to tell not only MY creator, but the creator of the Universe how things should go? Its like clay telling the potter what to make it into. He has reasons for what appears to be a weird and crummy day to teach me something and to be joyful. But in all realities, I am beyond blessed. I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, more than one pair of shoes, a car to drive, food to eat, family that loves me, a church family that points me to Jesus and a savior who died for me and took on my sin. Why complain? Well, it all to simple; sin. Im human. These things happen. But I am so grateful for the conviction, repentance and forgiveness I can be granted. All I suppose I can say is that its a case of the mondays.

Here's to Mondays!

Start of Paleo Week 4

Well friends here I am starting Week 4 on Paleo. I must say, I LOVE IT! I feel so good, I have energy and don't need an americano in the morning to function. Maybe that is also because I am going to bed earlier and getting more sleep. And I love sleep so this is a wonderful thing! I admit, to my shame, I did not work out once last week =/ So when I went to go weigh myself on the scale this morning I was indeed a bit nervous. But stepped on and sure enough, down 2 more lbs. I don't think I blogged last week but I lost 4 more lbs the week before this one.

THAT IS CRAZY!

That makes a total of 14 lbs since starting paleo and a total of 40 lbs for 2012. This really is the hardest physical thing I have ever done or worked for. I am finding that there really is a lot of temptation around me, but I am really lucky to have the support of my room mates, friends, family and church family that have all been very encouraging and helpful! I am blessed.

I finally took some cooking risks this last week and tried out some little ways to make my veggies taste better. I cannot lie, I am not too risky when it comes to cooking. I think it stems from the fact that I would be so disappointed in myself if I ruined something due to an experiment and had to throw it away. But, lucky for me, my room mate, friend who happens to be a wife and Momma to 3 kiddos, Morgan, offered to help me and see if we could figure out some ways to make my boring food taste yummy. SUCCESS! We did! She was such a help and so nice to offer her knowledge in cooking to help this intimidated Dino-chow eater out a bit =D Now I feel like I can take a few more risks with what I cook and not have to eat plain veggies.

--Notice that I have been talking mostly about making the veggies taste good. HUGE fruit fan, but plain veggies without some dressing, not my cup of tea. That is still a tough one for Tay. And speaking of tea, tea without sugar, sweetener or milk is not my cup of tea either I've found out.

The other hard thing for me has been budgeting and planning like I had predicted. But thankfully I think I am onto a budget plan that will help me to not go without paleo food for a few days. Not gonna lie, I live a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle like a lot of people I know, and I've always had a hard time saving money, so I almost had to go back to eating top ramen and microwave foods. Which is okay. but not ideal for my current goals in getting healthy. However, I did receive the, "It's okay to do that." from a fellow Paleo-ian? ite?... from another person who eats paleo, and she said it was okay. Not the normal response when following a strict type of eating! this blew my mind and has taken some pressure that I tend to put on myself to not screw up. Phew!

For me, I fall off the wagon so easy when it comes to junk food because I love it so! So when I allow myself a little, I have found I don't have a lot of self discipline to stop after just one meal, or one day even. I've been learning a huge lesson in self motivation and self discipline these past few weeks. Such a  challenge, but it just goes to show that you're never too old to change your ways!

Here's to the next weigh in!

Paleo Week 1- done and done!

That's right, one week down! Okay so this week has been a week of trial and error for sure! But, very shortly after what turned out to be somewhat of a starvation post, a very lovely lady name Marna, whose children I adore(both have been/are currently at SLC:D) and who has been an incredible help in the beginning of my Paleo journey. She has a great blog if you are at all interested in hearing her journey or getting meal plans I recommend you check out her blog here. Well, She came to my rescue with a Larabar and told me it was my new snack best friend and I'm not kidding you guys, it was delish!! Who knew this type of food could be so good and super healthy for you too? I had a hard time trying to figure out how to make food taste yummy, especially veggies without that good old friend of mine ranch dressing. and have just been to scared to try to make anything so far this week without getting the basics down first. Thankfully, I have another incredible friend, Amanda who wanted to start this lifestyle change as well and she went to town! She made like 5 different dressings, peach butter, paleo mayo, which I affectionately call, Paleonaise =) and this incredible chocolate granola that satisfies my sweet tooth ever so wonderfully!! So from the bottom of my heart Amanda : THANK YOU!!!!

Man, this is such an incredible journey I feel like God is allowing me to go on. I know I do not have the strength on my own, and I am so thankful for the strength to continue to turn from the tempting cupcakes, McDonald's, chips, fries, and many many other scrumptious temptations I find myself faced with every week! 

So as far as my weight loss goes, I lost 8 lbs in 7 days! As my room mate Morgan said this morning, "That is like Biggest Loser week 3 weight loss." I must admit, that also may or may not add to my excitement in this new way of eating. But as I have one with the many many attempts in dieting before this, the first week is always a pretty big loss because of the shock to the body. But I am hoping that it may be making my metabolism faster because I feel like I am eating all the time. Which is also why I kind of like this diet. I eat more often, but really good for me without that heavy, just-ate-thanksgiving-feast feeling that I used to love. 

That feeling was like a drug. I was totally addicted to it. I fully enjoyed my gluttony in those moments, where I would just eat and eat till that food baby was fully grown and just sit and enjoy that pain that was like a high almost. That, or nap. People would ask me if I wanted food, and even though I had just consumed something of a normal meal, I wouldn't turn it down for the taste morsels that were being freely offered to me. It was a serious problem. I just know that in the last month God made it very apparent to me my sin, and relationship with food, and how I let it totally overcome me in every way because the pleasure and joy I got from food was way better to me in those moments than Jesus was. Or because I felt bad about myself, or low in certain moments and food seemed to make the pain a little easier rather than talk it out in community or turn to Jesus. I  would guess it is because food was so much more appeasing to my flesh than to my soul, and that is a scary place to be. Especially when I was in that place, and didn't want to admit it, just wanted to embrace it and shovel down more food or drink. 

What a beautiful Savior I get to serve! How thankful am I for His grace? I'd like to say I am thankful beyond words, but the truth of it is, I constantly take for granted His grace. Even in the midst of this incredible journey He has me on. and in knowing that, it continues to make more and more grateful for His forgiveness and grace. =) 

Here's to Paleonaise and vegan chocolate! 

Paleo Day 2

This is craziest of all the crazies. I feel like I have eaten more volume wise than I normally do, yet I am still hungry!! It is quite an incredible thing that eating fruits, veggies and meat can make me feel this way you guys! I feel like I have been constantly eating these 2 days. Never feeling that heavy full feeling that I have always secretly loved. See ya later food babies! I can't wait to se how my body is going to be reacting once I have done this a full week! Although I am still currently hungry. lol

Side Note: i was reading some of my old blogs and realized that they all seem to be like novels! I really had no idea that I was writing so much! For those of you who have stuck with me, thanks =)

Day 2 going pretty well but I am at work and almost out of food. I really need to go get me some almonds and some olive oil. Not to mix together. That sounds weird with just those two ingredients. Oh and, AND I woke up in the 5 am hour to get up and go to the gym!! I have had an early start and with Community Group tonight, which I always love, there is no stopping me today! Full day!! Man, sleep is going to be great tonight =D Also because I am getting to have a sleep over with two of my favorite girls and bring them to school tomorrow.

Here's to food babies, RIP little guys.

Paleolithic what?

So with it almost being October and that being the 10th month of this year that I so badly wanted to change my life, I feel like I am a bit behind on the whole life change thing. When I say "life change" I am meaning getting healthy, losing the weight I have carried for so long and most importantly, with Jesus' help, that I would better fight my sin and temptation of gluttony and low self worth. Side note: I feel like I may or may not be pre-diabetic upon researching recently. But then again when you research health related things on the internet,  you end up feeling like you could have cancer and possibly 3 other diseases that only Dr. House himself could diagnose. Because let's face it. He is the smartest physician ever:)

So here it is folks: Tomorrow I start the Paleo, or the "caveman" diet. For those of you who haven't heard of Paleo, check out this website for a basic overview of what it is. I am also in the midst of reading Robb Wolf's book called "The Paleo Solution" and I am finding it incredibly informational and helpful!

I am indeed scared for this. I have heard so many great things about it. How great people feel and how much energy they have. It seems like such a basic concept for eating, yet I am overwhelmed at the thought of this as I live such an "on-the-go" lifestyle. So for me, prepping meals is going to be the hardest thing to remember to do for my lunch everyday. Or the night before because I get pretty lazy in the mornings...

If any of you out there reading this could keep me in your prayers for this new change I would be so grateful! I have no doubts the first few days, if not weeks, will be incredibly hard as my body gets acclimated to not eating processed foods, sugars and carbs. It is for sure an extreme way of eating but I have been giving it a ton of thought and prayer and feel like it is going to be a great option and that God can be most glorified by me getting rid of the things that I am often easily tempted by. I know I can't do this on my own. I know that my flesh is incredibly weak to all the temptations around me. I know that there is no way that without Jesus giving me strength to fight, not only to honor God with my body, but also give me the strength to fight temptation and no longer make food one of my gods that I so often put before the love and grace of Jesus. I don't want to be dogmatic about this diet as I can already tell from previous attempts is that my natural reactions to things are to take it to extremes and I don't want to be that crazy lady preaching about this and how great it is necessarily because of the diet. I want to honor Christ through this experience and give Him all glory for it. Like I said, I am incredibly weak in my flesh. There is no way that without the great people around me that I would consider doing this. I have had some great Jesus loving folks who have seen so much success and life change with this and am excited for what lies ahead.

I pray that God would grant me strength each day to be excited about this! I pray that God would grant me the fight to not give into the easiness of eating all the fast convenient foods around me. If any of you have ever struggled with eating better, not eating the foods that you know you shouldn't or that your body is addicted to, you know the detox period is such a struggle. Excited to share the results, difficulties, process and success' with you friends.

Here's to Christ's strength and the grace it is that we receive it!

A Car Wash on an Overcast Day

Yesterday our church had a car wash at the local Les Schwab in the Renton Highlands. It was such a great time spent with one another as we got to wash cars. Huge thanks to Corianne who did a great job organizing it! I mostly stood near the street with Corianne and Ashley waving signs and yelling to people we were having a free car wash. Which we thought was funny after, realizing that it was girls out on the corner telling people to get their car washed, then to have a group of 6 fellas there to actually wash the cars. If any dirt bag guys thought it was some sort of bikini car wash they were quickly corrected. haha! I did help wash a few cars and I got the chance to talk to a lady who could not believe we didn't want her money and that we just wanted to serve the community of Renton. This reaction seemed to be common among our recipients yesterday. Shock. That a group of people would actually gather resources and spend their saturday morning washing cars for strangers in order to serve the community. As well as hand out cookies and awesome strawberry lemonade! As God would have it, the most fruitful response was from two ladies who were met that didn't even get a car wash, they were on a walk!

Pastor Brian spoke a great message today out of Mark 8 in continuing our "Leaving His Mark" series as He and Elder Ryan Strieby are preaching through the book of Mark. In His message, Brian also referenced Isaiah 55 and verses 8 and 9 stood out to me so much today in thinking not only about my life but made for an impact in our outreach event yesterday.

Isaiah 55:8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than yours thoughts."

HOW CRAY CRAY IS THIS?!?! Our Way: An outreach in wanting to wash cars and tell people about our church from getting their car washed. His Way: Two ladies out for a walk who we found out happened to be looking for a new church! Then bring their whole family(totaling 8!) to come to not only a Doxa service but to come out to lunch with us today! And we found out one of the girls who came with the family just had a birthday so we got to sing to her today in our long standing tradition of singing "Happy Birthday" after service and before cupcakes=)

God is SO good!! I just think it is funny that the means by which we thought we would meet people, God truly showed us His ways are better and are more fruitful in any efforts we put forth and the means by which we think we will people and be able to tell then about the gospel. I am so thankful to have been saved by a God that is continually showing me just how great He is!!

Here's to His plans being greater than any we could ever conjure up!