Healthy New Year!

Time to make a New Year’s resolution? What will it be? Usually, I don’t bother. But I’m hoping you will keep be accountable. I need help!

• Lose weight—about 15 pounds would be good.

• Exercise more—anything would be better than what I’m currently involved in.

• Get more sleep—but there’s so much to do.

• Stress reduction—no time for that either, although, I enjoy this one the most.

To combine these four healthy habits and be successful, I must change my mindset. Instead of trying to lose 15 pounds in three months, walk at least 10,000 steps per day, get seven hours of sleep a night, and eliminate all stress from my life on January 1, I plan to take baby steps.

If I strive to lose two pounds per month, that’s better than gaining!

At one time 10,000 steps per day was no big deal, but in recent months I have taken on a more sedentary life. I average around 5,000 steps. Time to increase that to 6,500 and work my way back up to 10,000 in a few months.

The average of 6¼ hours of sleep per night, according to my Fitbit, needs to stop. I require more to survive. Baby step will be to consistently get 6½ hours and work my way up to 7.

For stress reduction, the increased walking and extra sleep will help. Listening to music, a cup of tea in the evenings, a good book, spending time with family, or laughing with friends are additional ways to decrease the stress in my life. And as always, studying and reading my Bible along with praying for others also bring benefits.

These are ways I hope to improve my overall health and well-being. Care to join me? Let’s share our progress in a few months.

May your year be healthy and blessed!

If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution, please share in the comments below.

A Lonely Christmas

Christmas—the most wonderful time of the year! But what if it’s not?

A loved one’s passing, divorce, end of a relationship, military deployment—these are difficult circumstances to deal with. Difficult anytime but even more so during a holiday when we are supposed to be of good cheer.

Holidays often remind us of what we’ve lost. I miss my mom and dad and would love to spend time with them again. Memories are wonderful, but they don’t come close to the face-to-face encounters we once knew. We long to hear his voice, see her smile, or hold our loved one close. Our loneliness and heartbreak often seem too much to bear.

Several people I know lost a spouse or parent this year. If I am aware of your loved ones passing, please know I am praying for you this Christmas season. May you be filled with comfort and strength; receive healing for your broken heart; be consumed with peaceful thoughts; sense the Lord’s presence; and experience His joy.

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year when we consider who we are celebrating. The birth of our Lord and Savior. The one whose compassion for us never fails. He is with us now offering peace and hope. May we sense His loving arms wrapped firmly around us.

II Corinthians 5:14 says, “For Christ’s love compels us….” This means His love holds us tightly. Allow Him the opportunity to bring comfort to your hurting heart this Christmas season and always.

Please contact me through my website’s Contact page if you would like me to pray for you during this holiday season.

Favorite Christmas Songs

My youngest daughter has a favorite saying—music is life. She sings, and plays the guitar, drums, and piano. She’s also a songwriter. God has blessed her with many talents.

My husband and I love music too. There’s no other time of the year we enjoy singing together as much as we do during the Christmas season. One of my favorites is Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Christmas Kiss.” But it’s only my favorite when my husband sings it to me.

Songs I enjoy that declare the reason for this season include, “O Holy Night,” “Joy to the World,” although I prefer the contemporary version made popular by Chris Tomlin, and a song I recently discovered—Michael W. Smith’s “All is Well.” Whether Carrie Underwood and Michael sing together or Jordan Smith sings alone, the song is amazing and becoming one of my favorites. These songs depict the glory of our Savior’s birth—that holy night when joy entered the world through a baby and brought the message that all is well if we make Him our Lord.

Other Christmas favs include the classics with a swing band feel. I listened to these songs growing up. My dad loved big band music and passed his enjoyment along to me. Songs like “Winter Wonderland,” “Let it Snow,” “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” bring fond memories to my heart. I’m a little partial to “Tennessee Christmas” by Amy Grant too, because my two older children and three grandchildren live in Tennessee.

What are your favorite Christmas songs?

The Whole Package

A Facebook friend (I’ll call her Monique) posted about an experience of being snubbed by another woman (let’s call her Jackie). Monique cited she couldn’t understand why because she’d never done anything to Jackie to cause this reaction. To make matters even more difficult to understand, this incident occurred at her church.

Made me think. When have I slighted others and why? Jealousy? Envy? I know resentment is wrong and have struggled with it in my own life. Why do we wander into this plight? What may have caused Jackie to snub Monique? Possibly comparisons?

Monique has a lovely singing voice. A successful husband and marriage. Two beautiful children.

Perhaps Jackie envied her. Would love to sing. Had a troubled marriage or husband without a job. No children but always desired to be a mom. Any of Monique’s blessings may have caused Jackie’s resentment.

Have you considered this perspective? A friend of mine at work shared a truth she learned from her mom with our Bible study group. We tend to look at someone else and envy one part of her life. Instead we need to consider the whole package—her entire life. We can’t just want one of her blessings. We need to consider all she’s experienced. Do we want everything in order to gain that one part?

What if we desire a friend’s seemingly perfect marriage? Do we want the torment she endured when her husband nearly committed suicide? Do we envy her large home and new car enough to bear her pain and suffering resulting from a son on drugs?

When I think about the people I’ve envied and look at their entire life, I realize my need to be content with what I have and to be thankful for God’s bountiful goodness.

Proverbs 14:30 says, “A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones” (NLT). A peaceful heart is a much better alternative to cancer in the bones.