COM 101 - Intro to Prayer

Isn't it absolutely insane that the God of the universe actually cares enough about you that He specifically told you to bring your needs to Him? Sometimes it blows my mind and other times I think, "Well, of course that makes sense." As a mom, the one who gave birth to my children, I could only hope that they would come to me in times of need. Just the same, the One who created you desires that you bring your little and big concerns before Him, so that they can shrink in His powerful presence.

 It's not so much an attitude of "Don't worry, be happy". 

But instead, God says, "Don't worry, talk to Me about it."

Phillippians 4:6 says plain and simply, "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything." 

EVERYTHING. Nothing is too little or too big for Him to handle. He WANTS you to bring it to Him. 

The verse goes on to say, "Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." 

When you thank God and ask God, He will bring you peace. This peace comes from relationship with Him and a relationship requires communication. When it comes to prayer, it is not selfish to put yourself first sometimes. He wants you to get insanely honest with Him, run to Him to celebrate your highs, and fall in complete desperation at His knees. He wants intimate conversation with and about you. If I remember anything from my COM degree it's the following definition that got pounded into our brains: communication is when a sender gives a message and a receiver hears the message and provides feedback. I drew a version of this model, much like the one below, on many exams (if not every flippin one!). But if we want relationship with our Creator there has to be communication (*medium = PRAYER).

Even though God knows your heart before you speak a word out of your mouth, He wants you to talk with Him about yourself, not just to be heard, but because He knows it will bring you peace. And also because He just wants to chat with you... you're His child and He wants to know what's up. Again, much like typical a parent. When we know something is wrong with our child's heart and maybe we may even already know the exact reason why, we still desire that they talk to us about it because 1) we care! 2) they'll feel better if they admit it out loud, and 3) we can most likely help them with it.

Likewise... God definitely cares enough, He told us prayer gives us peace beyond understanding, and God (unlike us) is most definitely equipped to do something about it! So go ahead... He already gave you His Message, now give Him some feedback. Chat it up. He's waiting for your call.

YUMMO

A couple weeks ago, I went to NYC to see a taping of the Rachael Ray Show with a friend and our mothers. My friend put in for tickets almost a year ago and thought of me, a food-lover, to go with her. So after going back and forth awhile about whether I could still pull off a spontaneous day in the city as a mom of two, I decided to go for it. Of course I had to pump like a cow for a couple days to make this happen, but I'm glad I did. Every now and then it's nice to reward yourself with something you normally would say "no way" to.

Well, we managed to get front row, VIP status on the show; I think the producers knew the back of our heads would look good on camera lol. In the kitchen that day Rachael made a breakfast tower of gooey, goodness. First, toasted garlic bread soaked in ripe, tomato juice. Then a layer of cheesy, mashed potatoes on the bread. A fried egg laid over the potatoes. And that was topped with some ribbons of fancy ham. Don't worry though... she put a grapefruit on the plate too. haha  In the front row, I was practically drooling waiting for Rachael to offer her free laborers, I mean studio audience, a taste. She didn't.

The next week, the show aired while I was working at the gym. I put my client on the treadmill in front of the flatscreen so we could try to spot me in the audience. When Rach started compiling her breakfast of champions, the guy on the treadmill next to us yelled, "Heart attack!" at the TV.  Sure, he had a point... but I like I said before - every now and then it's nice to reward yourself with something you would normally say "no way" to. After all, your kids will survive one day without you and your heart will not stop with an occasional splurge.

As you know, hot fudge sundaes are among my favorite things.  But since I'm not pregnant anymore, my guilty pleasure is reduced to a small, not large dish and more like bi-weekly instead of multiple times a week  :) But I still can see the upside in treating yourself. I shared a "Guilty Pleasure Recipe" called 14 Layer Bars in the Discussion tab. It's just what it sounds like - 14 sweet layers stacked on top of each other and baked together.

Add a recipe you would 9 times out of 10 say no way to! Let's see how guilty this can get.  Lol

Love = You > Me

1 Corinthians 13... "The Love Poem" we've all heard at least in a romantic comedy, if not at 9 out of 10 church weddings. I have to admit we used it at ours too, but first I went to our pastor and said, "Do you think 1 Corinthians 13 is too overdone?" Like it was a once-catchy, now-dreaded song on the radio or something (i.e. - my daughter's favorite "I Gotta Feeling") But he simply said, "I don't think scripture can ever be overdone."

And just this week I heard the chapter once again, but heard it in a much more personal, practical, and applicable way. The first line says, "If I speak in the languages of men or of angels, but do not have LOVE, I am only a resounding gong or clanging symbol." In other words, even if I am able to make a clear, articulate message, but am not combining it with love, it's just a bunch of noise! I quickly thought of this blog. Amazingly, my little informal blog that I started to keep my long-distance family in the loop has been read by people across the world!? People in places like Russia, Germany, and even Cambodia have come across this page, but even more amazingly God's message has reached old classmates, fellow moms, and doubting family members and friends. I've somehow managed to articulate myself in a way that is clear enough for people to understand... and that is GOOD, but where is the love? (oh no, not more Black Eyed Peas  lol)

Paul said it... without LOVE this blog (and anything else) is a bunch of noisy nothing. And according to Jesus, sincere love, God-like love, is putting YOU before ME or choosing to put others needs ahead of your own. But how can a dinky blog do that? How can I add a LOVE button? "Take time to pray for and listen to those reading what you have to say," is what came to me. How simple! But how do I do that with a medium that is usually used to talk about me, Me, ME. Thankfully, I have a tech-savy hubby who actually made this happen!

So... you'll notice there is a Prayer/Discussion tab and a Chat tab at the top of the site now. You can add prayer requests (general, specific, little, big, anonymous, etc) that I pledge to put serious time aside for. And other readers can also pray for you and your need or praise with you in your victory. We can also have open discussions about faith, fitness, and food (my favs). Or, if you'd like to personally talk to me with a request, comment, question, encouraging word :)  then you can do that with the Chat with Mumby tab, which only I can see. So hopefully this can be not only an outlet for me and my thoughts, but also a personal place of encouragement and LOVE for you!

No excuses

So tomorrow puts me at 6 weeks postpartum, which all moms know really just means no more excuses in bed or at the gym! ;) At this point, your body is recovered enough to start returning to your regular activities. I got back to the gym a little earlier though with the intentions of just training a client, but I ended up feeling a little guilty leaving the gym without a single drop of sweat on me, so naturally I started exercising a bit again - VERY SLOWLY.

I'm very proud to say that I happen to have a good friend with an Olympic Gold Medal in weightlifting. I'd mention her name, but she is extremely modest.  

Tara Cunningham (Nott)-check out YouTube video SYDNEY 2000

Oooops! :)   Anyway, Tara offered to give me a technique tutorial on power lifting 5 weeks after I had a baby and still about 20 lbs over my pre-prego weight. I was pretty excited and felt fairly confident. I mean I do teach fitness classes and have been exercising (under the orders of my mother) for as long as I can remember. Yet it turns out doing reps with 10 lb dumbbells is NOT the same as squatting to the floor with a 50 lb bar on your chest (haven't even gotten to the actual lifting stage yet! lol) So after showing me a few basic techniques, she had me flip the bar while squatting as low as I could to the floor.

Well I made it down there... but then stayed down there! With the bar on my chest in an owl-like perch, I got stuck and then slowly fell backwards onto my butt with my legs up in the air and the bar on top of me. It probably looked like a mix between humpty-dumpty and a dead bird falling out of a tree. My core seems to be nonexistent at the moment and I am by no means good at this. But hopefully the doctor will give me the go-ahead this week and I'll be all in, back at the gym with no excuse but to try, try again.