30 Day Challenge - Day 1

Do you ever get to the point where you are just tired of your own lack of commitment to your own goals? This is kind of where I am right now. I have talked consistently of wanting to be my own boss and do my own things, but when it comes down to it I have lacked the consistency I need on an every day basis to make any type of business work.

So here I am with a plan to commit to three things in my life for the next thirty days. They are:
1. Blog about one thing I'm thankful for and my thirty day commitment journey.
2. 20-30 minutes of devotions/journaling/prayer
3. 20-30 minute workout of some kind
So, I'll start off with day one right here. 

Action #1 - Be Thankful

I will forever be thankful for my husband. I probably complain about him more than I praise him and that is something that I have been working on. My husband is a hard worker. Whenever it is possible, he will sign up for overtime at work so that I have the opportunity to stay home with our son and so that we do not have to put him in daycare.

He also is a pretty amazing dad. Our son loves him. When he wakes up in the mornings, one of the first things he will ask me is "Is dad asleep?" or "Is dad at work?" Joe lives and breaths to be with his daddy and play with him. It helps that the two of them are like two peas in a pod. Not a whole lot of serious in either of them and they love to play pranks on me.

My husband is also a protector. This is one that I actually struggle with. Dan and I met when we were in our 30's. So I had spent quite a bit of time being an independent person. It is hard for me to grasp that someone wants me to be my protector and even harder to fall under the protection. It has taken me quite a few years to realize that sometimes I don't always have to do it my way and that sometimes (sometimes is all I can admit out loud) he is right and I need to follow his leading, especially when it comes to protecting my time, my emotions and my heart.

Action #2 - Devotions, Journaling & Prayer

I've started the Lisa TerKeurst devotional "Embraced". Just the first day made me cry, so I believe that I'll be crying at least once a day for the next thirty days. I want to pretend that is a joke, but it probably isn't. Here are just a couple of my takeaways from today's devotion.
1. I want it to be evident that I'm a girl who spend time with Jesus and that He's working on me.
2. His perspective on what troubles me overshadows my anxiety. (when discussing the impact of daily devotions, reading God's Word and prayer)
Honestly, these two things are what I need. I need to spend more time with God at the beginning of my day. I need to know that I have taken just a moment to rest in His embrace. I need to know that I'm on the same page with Him. When people see me, I want them to know I'm His!

Another book that I am reading in addition to this, is "Girl Be Brave" and whoowee, it got me in the feels right away because it reprimanded me on not letting my emotions be my dictator. It isn't really a devotional book, but more of an inspirational book. It did deliver a message I needed to hear though so I think I'm going to count it as a devotional. The big takeaway from today's "lesson":

• We need to learn to own our feelings and to not let our feelings own us. OUCH!

Friends, more often than I care to admit, I let my feelings dictate my mood and what comes out of my mouth. In fact, I think Day 1 of both books has a very clear message for me to get back in to God's Word and to spend some dedicated time with Him so that I am so filled with Him that my emotions do not have any room to be in charge.

To wrap my devotion time up I am going to follow a friend and do something called "Inscribe The Word". Today's scripture was Romans 5:1-2.​​

• Romans 5:1 (ESV) Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
• Romans 5:2 (ESV) Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

So, God took my devotion time today and managed to wrap up three difference sources and tie them all together for me. Because I have God. Because I have been justified by faith, I have peace. When I spend time with Him and His Word, that peace will help me through my day so that when others look at me, they see Him all through my life.

Action #3 - Exercise

Friends! I am a fat girl that loves to eat. I do not like to exercise. It is not in my genetics. I typically start sweating within the first thirty seconds of a workout and am steady panting and fearing I will pass out by the first minute, but I CAN DO THIS and I did do it today. Yes, I had to even stop the video for a minute to have a serious conversation with my three year old about giving mama ten more minutes. I also threatened to hug him with my sweaty body. This seemed to be the real moment of understanding for him. Whatever works right?

I have the Beachbody on Demand subscription. If you want to know more about it I can hook you up with one of the sweetest souls you will every meet. However, it isn't necessary. If you have Amazon, there are workout video's there. If you have a gym membership, go use it. If you have Youtube, then search out some workouts. If you have none of that, then get yourself somewhere you can walk or exercise in your home. Ask a friend to print out some exercise drills for you to follow, but get up and move your body with me. Hey... that's something else you can do... just turn on some music and DANCE!

Please don't let me be the only fatty in the next thirty days that is intentionally getting up and moving my body. Somebody join me. Let's shake up this planet. Ha ha... see what I did there?

Note: Anything I have italicized is not my own words, but are directly from a book. I try to make it clear from which book the writing is from, but if you are unsure, please ask. Also, if you click on any links that lead you to Amazon from this page and you then purchase the product that you clicked on I may or may not earn money from your purchase.