People cope with their hard times in all sorts of different ways. The way I deal with mine I’m sure looks a lot different than the way you deal with yours. There’s no one right way to deal with them. You just keep pushing and moving forward. I’ve never really been comfortable sharing my personal life but I feel like I have a story to tell. Let me start by telling you how hard life can be.
Hard is when your mom passes away from a tragic accident and you’re only 15.
Hard is seeing your family fall apart because of this loss.
Hard is moving forward in life when all you want is one more hug from her.
Hard is living without my mom.
Hard is receiving a special needs diagnosis when you thought everything was okay.
Hard is watching your husband cry because of the unknowns.
Hard is watching your baby be flown off to another hospital, hoping he will still be alive by the time you get there.
Hard is being taken back to the ICU and looking at your child’s chest with so many tubes and wires hooked to him and feeling so helpless.
Hard is wanting to have another baby but being hesitant because of the “what if’s”.
Hard is moving forward when all you want is a breather.
Through all of these hard times there has also been so much beauty. My grandparents are my saviors, they’ve been by my side through everything. My oldest sister graduated from graduate school this year and my middle sister runs her own successful boutique. I’ve recently rekindled a relationship with my brother. I have an incredible and supportive husband who always rescues me. My mother and father in-law love me like their own and my two babies are even better than I could have imagined.
Hard times don’t have to control you, instead they have the potential to shape you. I would be a completely different person and have a completely different life if I had let these hard times control me. I am so grateful for the people in my life that helped me move forward. I have hope in spite of the hard times. Like I said in the beginning – I didn’t stop pushing through and moving forward. You can too.
I’ll never forget the first night back at our new apartment after our honeymoon. We went to bed and as I laid my head down I felt something under my husband’s pillow. It was a picture of his dad. A picture that he had been sleeping with for years.
Now, I don’t mean to jump right into a deep conversation about tragedy but the ugly truth is life can be cruel. Sometimes we get hit so hard that our hearts feel like they will never recover.
I also want to preface this by saying that I have my husband’s full permission to write this today. He has read this blog and placed his stamp of approval on it. I would never share it otherwise.
My husband is my hero. He is a true general in the army of God, a walking testimony of a life that won’t give up.
But sometimes he hurts so desperately.
Sometimes he wants to quit and run and hide and not come out for a very long time and to be quite honest I don’t blame him. I have been there and I’m sure you have too.
So with all that said- let’s talk about the reality of life, the situations that we didn’t see coming and the path to healing that seems so far away.
I’ll start by telling you a piece of his story.
When my husband was just 15 years old he received a call that no one would ever want to receive. His biological father had just attempted suicide. My husband’s world spun out of control.
Photo Via Pixabay
I don’t think there is anything worse than sitting by a hospital bed wondering why and searching for answers as you hold the hand of someone who is slipping away.
The answers will never come.
As my husband reeled from the loss, questioned his own worth, wondered if there was anything that he could have done, his little teenage heart filled with regret for not being enough to make his dad want to live.
As adults we know in our heads that it wasn’t about Ryan at all. We know that there were other things that plagued his dad, that he had lost hope and couldn’t see a road out of the troubles that overwhelmed him.
Our hearts don’t always get the memo from our heads though. Our hearts just plain break.
To be at such an integral age, barely a teen, no longer a child, definitely not an adult, but dealing with a situation beyond all imagination- Ryan began to withdraw inside.
He learned to cut off his emotions.
Photo Via Pixabay
Trama often causes our bodies to go into a protective mode. He didn’t talk about what happened, he acted like he was fine, went along with his life like all was good in the world, but that picture remained hidden under his pillow. A desperate attempt at holding on to a life that was no longer.
The night that I discovered that picture under the pillow (I knew nothing about it before that). He tentatively took it from my hands and set it on the dresser. He told me that he guessed it could stay there for now. I tried to press for more information but it was clear that there would be no conversation to follow. In fact, it would be many years before any real conversation would occur.
Ryan turned away from God during that time. (understatement of the century)
He told me that he couldn’t believe that a God (any God) could exist in the midst of all the chaos and tragedy in the world because any real God would not allow all this.
Before I married my husband I didn’t know any of this. I didn’t know about his dad, I didn’t know about his pain, I had no idea what was hidden behind all those closed doors because I didn’t know the doors existed.
I prayed. I didn’t know what else to do.
I want to tell you that God just healed every hurt, that he took all the pain away and that Ryan never has to feel all of that again but the truth is he still deals with that loss and will for the rest of his life. I’d be lying if I said otherwise and you would know it.
What I can tell you is this- God helped Ryan to recover. He came in and opened Ryan’s heart. He allowed the grieving and in the process he caused Ryan to have a compassion for others that I’ve never seen before. He showed Ryan how much he is truly loved, how it wasn’t his fault and how incredibly good Jesus is- even in the midst of the worst. He showed Ryan that a loving God does exist and although terrible things do happen, God has a plan for it all.
Ryan has a new perspective these days. He has come full circle.
So how do you deal with your deepest hurts? How did he?
One single second at a time and one simple prayer- “Jesus I don’t understand this, I can’t breath, I can’t do this, I need help, I need hope, I need something to hang on to, I think I need you.”
Ryan says that he has learned that God does not ever bring these things into our lives, instead he is the one that walks us through them. He tells me that God sees a big picture that we can’t even begin to comprehend and that God will not for even a second leave us or forsake us.
Talk about coming full circle.
As Ryan has walked through this life he has learned that what he goes through today someone may need to hear about tomorrow and that his own personal tragedies can be the very thing that saves someone else’s life.
None of us would ever choose to go through these situations but we don’t have to get stuck in them either. We can overcome. Jesus can heal, your life can have meaning, you can recover, you can be whole again, and your life most definitely has purpose.
Ryan has healed because of Jesus and in spite of the situation. If you are desperate for hope today, trust a very loving God who can help you through the very unloving world we live in. My husband is living proof that you can make it.
If you want to overcome the heartbreak and the pain there is only one place that you will find the healing you need. The Bible says to ask and you shall receive… so ask Jesus today. The road may be long but if he can walk my husband down that dusty old path of recovery then I believe with my whole heart that he can walk you down it too.
You don’t have to do anything by yourself. You have Jesus, you have us, and you can have hope- receive it today.
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” (Margaret Thatcher) Isn’t that the truth? How many times have I decided that I was going to conquer the mountain before me only to be beat down by the first peak?
I have taken the successes and failures of others to heart and compared my own life to theirs.
Through it all I have learned a few things and they’ve stuck with me:
No battle worth fighting is easy and in my experience once it is won (whatever the battle may be- health and nutrition, weight loss, addiction…)
We have to continue the fight to keep it in the winners bracket.
The minute I let my guard down is the minute I begin to slip back into my old ways. Now I don’t mean that the battle is always difficult, but it is always before me. Things I have thought I conquered years ago suddenly rear their ugly heads and I find myself having to make a conscious effort to put them back in their place.
I used to think that I was a failure because of those times. Now I realize that it’s just part of the process.
Then quit beating yourself up when you have to fight a battle over and over. It’s the battle that makes us strong, it gives us the ability to persevere, and ultimately be changed.
I love gold, but until you heat it up it contains all kinds of impurities. It’s the heat that allows those impurities to be removed and the beauty of the gold can then shine through.
You and I- we are like gold being refined. The fire that we hate, the battle that is long and tiresome- all of it is bringing us to a place where we can look back and see the beauty in it all.
The beauty in ourselves.
The kind of beauty that is so much deeper than what the mirror portrays.
We may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.
True.
We may have to fight for months or years, but in the end I’ve never regretted the fight. I’ve always been glad I took on the challenge. Win or lose each and every battle has brought something out of me that I didn’t know existed. I’ve learned, I’ve grown, I’ve lost and I’ve won, and looking back I’m glad for all of it.
I’m not excited for the battle today (are we ever really?) but I am ready to fight. There is so much more to be accomplished than just a single goal and I am surrendering the battle before me to God. With him all things are possible and I know that I don’t have to fight alone. It’s a win win. I make progress and he changes me. So, here I am welcoming so many battles I really don’t want to fight and I’m completely confident that it will be worth it.
How about joining me today? Pick your battle, lace up your gloves and let’s fight together. Gold takes time to be perfectly refined and so do you and I and ya know what? Both are beautifully worth it.
Last year I put a sign on my fridge at work that says- “Do something that scares you every day”. I needed the reminder to get out of the box I’d created for myself, to reach for new stars, and try new things.
The old saying that “if you want something new you have to stop doing something old” is such a solid truth. If we want something to change in our lives we have to change something in our lives.
It’s a simple concept that both my body and mind fight tooth and nail.
I love staying right inside the box. I like my warm house, my comfort food and my baggy jeans. I’m a fan of surrounding myself with people who build me up and tell me that I’m perfect just the way I am. I need those people in my life. They are like a soft blanket that makes me feel safe and secure.
But what if I surround myself with another layer of people too? What if I begin to surround myself with people who challenge me? Who don’t let me stay in the box or on the couch? My daughter -in -law is one of these people. She is all the kindness of the soft blanket but often manages to kick me in the fanny just when I need it. (She can remind me that this is a good thing someday) She will often ask- have you written “this” yet? Have you started that challenging project yet?
To be honest, I need the push. If given to my own devices I might choose the couch over the project. I might choose comfort over the uncertainty of a new goal.
My son and daughter -in -law are not afraid to take on a challenge. They are what I call “get out of the boat” kind of people. Where I often want to tiptoe in until the water feels nice, they jump straight out of the boat into the turbulence and they swim. Do they hit every goal the way they thought they would? Do they have to make changes and re-directions often? The answer to both is yes. BUT the point is they live their lives outside of their comfort zones and their lives tell a story that challenges me to rewrite mine.
I am a believer that we should never stop learning, never stop putting ourselves out there- even and especially if we are unsure of ourselves. I recently told my son Zach that when we go through hard times in our lives we should pray that God changes us the way he knows we need it. I told him that we never really change or grow when things are easy and good. I gave him the unsolicited advice that he should embrace the tough times and just trust the process.
I felt like mom of the year when I sent the message- until God pressed upon my own heart that I need to do this as well. Giving that advice was great, but am I living it?
Ouch.
So as this next decade begins my goal is to do just that. It’s time I turn up the heat, launch the boat, and dip my feet into the water. (notice that I did not say jump right in… I am still a work in progress here.)(I am thinking “outside the box” though so that’s good right?) I hope and pray that by the end of the decade I will have jumped right into that ocean of possibilities- but for now I’ve decided to just step out of my little box and look for new opportunities and challenges. I’m uncomfortable, I don’t like the uncertainty one bit, but there is something inside that is loving this.
I’m fully planning to surround myself with more people who will kick my fanny just when I need it and I can’t wait to write to you all in the next 10 years and see who God has made me to be at the end of it.Want to get out of the boat with me? Come on in the water is- freezing and scary and crazy and I don’t know exactly what it means… but this is going to be a ton of fun.
I remember a number of years ago, I had been asked to be in a wedding. My hair was done, I had put the bridesmaid dress on and Ryan walked into the room. He took one look at me and his eyes lit up and he said “Wow, you look amazing”.
I can’t tell you how great that moment made me feel.
My day to day routine doesn’t usually lend itself to him
noticing me the way he did that day. My ripped up sweat pants, t-shirts, and
pony tail certainly don’t match a really cute dress and a great hair stylist
but I still think there are opportunities to show our spouse how much we like
them.
Seriously LIKE them.
By finding opportunities to really build each other up, we also begin to build confidence in our spouse and our relationship. When you see your spouse doing something you appreciate, tell them. It seems that the longer couples are together the less they feel the need to express those little moments to each other.
But notice the scripture reference for this one. “How
handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.”
A few good compliments and then a description of their bed
being “verdant”. I couldn’t resist- so I looked up the meaning and found that
it means- green, fresh, and flourishing. (and people say the bible is boring…)
Doesn’t sound too bad now does it? Listen, we all need to feel wanted, desired, and appreciated. We want to know that we matter and are not taken for granted. After we get married we get into a routine and routines often lead to complacency. It’s not intentional, sometimes it’s just survival. Today let’s start to build each other up and hopefully we can have that green, fresh, and flourishing relationship that deep down we all wish for.
Scripture reference:
Song of Songs 1:16 “How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving me a spouse that is unique and wonderful. Help us both to see and appreciate all that they do and to remember not to take any of these things for granted. Let us look with new eyes today and always remember how important it is to express our appreciation for the many things that they do for us. Open our hearts to each other and renew our love to the point that it spills out into our words. In Jesus name, Amen.
I may have gotten a bit behind on the house chores this week and in the spirit of making you feel better about your own crazy life I’ve decided to share mine.
This laundry may kill me.
Now if you are one of those ladies that lives without dust bunnies and piles of laundry then bless your heart…
I on the other hand took one look at this tremendous pile of laundry and decided that just moving to a new house might be a better plan. I’m not even sure how it happened- a couple of nights of meetings and other events and it’s like I haven’t done anything in months.
And by the way- I really do think dust bunnies reproduce.
Listen, I’m going to make this short and sweet. We are in this together, we all fall behind, then catch up just to fall behind again. And let me assure you that no one will stop to visit during those rare times when you’re actually caught up. No way.
So, I’ve decided that all of that really doesn’t matter in the scheme of life. Dust will always be there, the dog will always pee on the kitchen floor right after you mop it, and someone will always stop by when it looks like a tornado has just made its way through the inside of your house. Those are just the rules of the game.
Buried in laundry and dirty dishes we might as well laugh. Ha. Ha. Ha.
I did that today. I looked passed all the laundry baskets and saw some pretty cool things. My boys were laughing in the kitchen. There was warm soup in the crock pot, a good movie on TV, and here I was wrapped in a cozy blanket on the couch while my husband shared funny memes he was finding on the internet. We giggled and giggled. In spite of the mess, in spite of the chores that needed some attention, this is right where I want to be.
Even in the middle of my mess, there is joy.
I know that for some it’s hard to snuggle up on the couch with so many jobs left undone, and to be totally honest I used to be that way as well. But life has gone by so fast that I’ve learned that these moments are the ones I want to hang on to most. All the rest will fall into place. I’ll get caught up and usually I stay caught up. Other times I drown in piles of laundry.
As a side note I also have a solution to my laundry problem. In our house when things get “piled up” we have what we call “fun family folds”. The boys do not find these family events fun in any way but at this point they don’t argue either. (teenagers like to have clean underwear and if you don’t help when mom asks…) So together we will fold this laundry, they will accuse me of putting the wrong clothes in the wrong pile, and no one will want to fold my underwear (except my husband who will make embarrassing comments that the boys will grumble and then laugh about.) But it will get done.
And tomorrow will come, hopefully with more laughter and less laundry but either way I’m thankful for it all.
And like I said- if you can’t relate to my chaos, bless your heart.
How sad it is when the world has lost it’s ability to love.
Looking at social media these days, I think we can all agree that people are far from loving. (Understatement of the century.) There are so many opinions out there these days that are less opinions and more targeted attacks on anyone that may see things differently. I find this incredibly sad. It used to be that we could have a point of view that differs from someone else and still treat each other with respect and love.
Not today.
Today if my opinion differs from yours then there must be something wrong with me.
Listen, I fully realize that many of us have strong feelings about various topics and I personally think that’s awesome. The world would be an incredibly boring place if we all thought and felt the same things.
I love the diversity.
I hate the nastiness.
When my opinion or belief suddenly allows me permission to physically or emotionally abuse another person, then we have a problem that far surpasses the topic at hand. This week alone I have read numerous articles from some incredibly gifted and scholarly people who openly give allowances to uncalled-for behavior simply because others don’t agree with them.
Honestly, I don’t think it matters what side you are on. I think it matters more, who you are on the inside. Who are you when no one is looking? Who are you when everyone is looking? What matters more is the person that you are when you are faced with opposing views. Who are you then?
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying you have to bend to someone else’s opinion. I’m certainly not going to. I’m going to stand on my own beliefs and views even if you don’t agree with them. What I’m not going to do is call you names, start cruel and unkind dialogue on social media, and beat you down for being of a different mind than me.
Believe it or not, we can totally disagree about anything and everything, and I can still get the door for you, I can still have a cup of coffee with you, and I can still be kind to you. In fact, I may not get my way in certain situations, we can have a heated discussion that is open and honest and fueled by our own differing viewpoints and I can still show you respect and love. You see, your opinions, beliefs, and actions should never be an excuse for me to be cruel.
So many people are fighting for change in society but true change starts in the hearts of the individual. What kind of change do we really want? Acceptance? We will never have any kind of acceptance through browbeating and harsh judgement. We will never have a society that works well together if we are constantly passing blame on the other side.
Listen, I know that no one wants to back down, but my question is this; Who said you have to?
Forgive me for repeating myself here- but like I said before, I’m not going to. And that does not, in any situation, give you permission to be cruel to me or my family. It does however give you complete permission to disagree, discuss, and move forward.
I’m beyond exhausted with our ability to lie, cheat, and steal to get what we want and to openly try and persuade others that this is okay because I believe my side to be so completely right that I should get my way anyway that I can.
If I am so right, I don’t need to do those things.
Period.
Today, I’m asking that before you speak, you check your heart. You ask yourself the same questions we tell kids to ask themselves- Is it kind, Is it true, and is it necessary? Will it lift people up and change society for the better or are you speaking out of anger and aggression? Are you building up or tearing down?
Maybe this post will not change anyone but me, and maybe that’s ok. True change starts with each individual cleaning out their own hearts and lives. It’s when people start pointing inward instead of outward that we see real growth. Until we take an honest look inside ourselves and start truly loving others no real change will ever happen. I’ve never changed anyone by brute force, nor have I ever been personally changed by it either. I have however been changed drastically when someone has treated me with kindness I didn’t deserve. And when I am honest with myself, there is a lot inside of me to be changed.
Real change starts right here, right now, and in the right place- our own heart.
1st Corinthians 13
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails…
Up until the 1960’s it wasn’t uncommon to still see public schools using Bible verses as part of the school curriculum. The 10 commandments were posted in most public buildings and church was a place that not only met the needs of the individual, but the community as well.
My how things have just changed.
Nearly everywhere in society today, the church has been pushed out and the government has stepped in. Secular programs have been designed so that people no longer have any “Church Guilt” tied to them. (Photo Via Pixabay)
This rapid change in culture has caused many churches to go down one of two paths:
On path one, churches have begun to change what they believe in order to better reflect what they think the culture wants. They’ve begun to water down the gospel, and sermons preached are to tickle the ears but often don’t cause real conviction or change.
On Path two, we see many churches out of fear of these culture changes begin trying to protect what they have. They isolate themselves, dig their heals in, and start drawing lines in the sand.
There is a problem with both of these paths.
We see in Matthew 28:16-20 that Jesus has given us the great commission. He has told us to go out into the world and to make disciples of all nations. Isn’t this what it’s all about? Going out into the world and giving hope, help and ultimately changing people’s lives for the better?
If we look back to scripture again we see Matthew 22:36-40. Here Jesus explains that the most important commandment in the law is to LOVE. In fact, he says that we are to love the Lord with all our hearts AND to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Photo Via Pixabay)
I genuinely believe that in order for us to stay relevant in our communities and continue to have a positive influence over this next generation, we can’t change what we believe and we certainly can’t isolate ourselves either.
It’s time we flip the script.
It’s not love when we only see people through their sin. Every time the church draws a line in the sand, we are effectively telling a group of people that we have either given up on them or have decided that they’re an acceptable loss.
If we truly believe that we have what the world needs, then how can we justify closing those doors to anyone?
There is something incredibly wrong when people in our community hit rock bottom, and come to the conclusion that they have nowhere to turn because the church has made it clear that it does not approve of how they are living their life. Instead of feeling hope, they feel the pressure of judgment. (Photo Via Pixabay)
The truth is – none of us are equipped to change someone’s heart. We just don’t have the right tools. The only tools I have available to me are guilt, disapproval and condemnation.
We forget that when we were struggling with that same sin it was God who convicted us out of LOVE and in turn, that is what changed our hearts so that we could have victory. As a church, we have to stop portraying ourselves in a way that makes people feel like the sin in their lives somehow disqualifies them from having the peace and hope that Jesus offers.
We have to scream from the rooftops that there is no guilt, disapproval or condemnation inside these walls. Instead, we need to offer healing, encouragement, hope and fellowship. It is our job to disciple our brothers and sisters, not to discipline them. It’s our job to tell them about this man named Jesus who lovingly died on a cross for them. If we will do this, God will take care of the sin in their lives and He will do it in a way that creates lasting changes without the association of guilt or condemnation.
If we want to be relevant as a Church then we have to make sure our community knows that our doors are always open and no matter what they will find love and compassion here.
We need to show people our hearts, let them know that we have been where they are and that they too can overcome anything the world throws at them. Revelation 12:11 says, “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony…” Jesus offers life to those who need it and He is telling us to let down our walls and let people in. How about instead of telling people how to live, we tell them what we have overcome. Our testimony brings healing- our rules do not. (Photo Via Pixabay)
Let’s open the doors and tear down our walls. Let’s let the gospel be the gospel and our lives tell a tale of hope. Let’s quit hiding from a changing culture and instead introduce that culture to a man named Jesus who loves them with all His heart. If we do this, we won’t have to worry about being relevant.
Sitting here, thinking (probably) way too deeply about a patch of grass.
Right in front of me, something sat in one place for too long. A tarp. It caused stagnant grass. It caused death. I didn’t even know this was happening, until I moved the tarp. It didn’t take long. In fact, given the “right” conditions, it only took 1 day to do the damage.
Now, the funny thing about that patch is that if choose to look outside of it, I will see something very different. I see a lot to be thankful for. Coincidentally, if I am so busy looking at the growth and beauty around it, by the time I look back, that death is going to look a lot like new life. It will look like a spot that experienced growth. (Author’s Photo)
My newsfeed has been overflowing lately with everything that is going wrong in everybody’s lives.
I know struggles are real. But so is hope.
And what we set our focus on, we will achieve.
Are you focusing on all of your hardships, or are you choosing to see everything that is going RIGHT in your life? Got any tarps you need to move? I know I do! (Photo Via Pixabay)
All I was doing was looking for a recipe. Just a simple chicken something for dinner, but when I logged into my computer I was faced with a dilemma- lose 10lbs in 6 days sitting right next to a link to a pretty delightful looking cinnamon bun cake dripping in icing.
Forget the chicken, it’s summer and losing 10 pounds sounds amazing… right after I try that cake.
Why is it that we fight so hard to do what’s right and so often feel slapped in the face with every temptation and desire? I don’t know about you but I’m sick of it. (Photo via Pixabay)
So how do we resist temptation?
The bible says that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (see Philippians 4) I could use a bit more of that strength. And although I do know I need to rely on Christ for the strength He promises me, I’m also realizing that I have a part to play. I can’t just sit back in my recliner and let God do the work. There are things that are required of me in all this. If I want permanent change in my life then I have to do some permanent work. A body builder doesn’t become strong by sitting back and trusting God to build those muscles- instead he or she goes to the gym and puts the time in. A farmer doesn’t sit at his breakfast table and believe in faith for a great crop if he has never sown a seed. (Photo via Pixabay)
We also have to put the work in if we want to see results in our own lives. God will do His part- will we do ours?
1 Corinthians 10:13 says this about temptation- 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (Photo via Pixabay)
We can handle temptation. It’s awesome to know that God has already made sure of it. Besides not letting us be tempted beyond what we can handle- He is also going to show us a way out so that we can make it through. And although I’m using food as my example today- we all know that it goes much deeper than that. Temptations have ruined families, destroyed careers, and caused good people to do things they never intended.
Resisting temptation is far from easy, but it is doable. The question for us today is will we do what it takes? Will we build our muscles to a point where temptation has no hope? Will we sow the seeds of God’s word so deep in the soil of our lives that when we are faced with temptation it will have nowhere to grow because God’s word will already be taking up the space? (Photo via Pixabay)
God has already done His part. He’s given us every tool. Will we do ours? The work is hard, but the results are worth it.
As for me- I went back to the chicken. Not happily back, but back. I didn’t want chicken anymore, I wanted to lose 10 pounds while eating the cinnamon bun cake extra icing please. Temptation offers us the world, but never delivers on it’s promises. God offers us the tools, but asks us to be a part of the process. Today- I chose the chicken instead of the cake. Hey, small victories are still victories, and even though the muscles may be small today, tomorrow the results will be unbeatable.