Celery

Just for the record, I don’t like celery.  I know it’s a great food for weight loss because it burns more calories eating it than it has in it!  But, I just can’t bring myself to eat it!  Yes, even with peanut butter and raisins!

Last week during VBS I saw celery from a whole new perspective.  One of our youth was in the teacher’s lounge grabbing a bite to eat.  He was being teased about eating some of the raw vegetables, the teasers making the assumption that a teenage boy would go straight for the junk food.  Although he enjoyed the sweets and chips quite well, he was also digging right in to that veggie tray!  So, the teasing shifted to specifically being about the celery, which he managed to avoid.

“Why eat celery?” he asked innocently.  “It takes more energy than it gives you!”

I don’t think I’ve ever thought of it that way because I am always looking for ways to burn off those extra calories!  But, to a muscular, growing young man who doesn’t have an inch of fat on him, eating something that doesn’t provide energy seems downright ridiculous!

Have you ever stopped to think about how our children just don’t see things the way we do sometimes?  Just like Clint and his perspective on celery, our kids just might view a lot of things differently.  They might not have a clue that there is a different perspective!  And, to be honest, they shouldn’t be expected to, at least not without our guidance!

We as parents, on the other hand, should.  We should be expected to think outside the box every now and then.  We should be expected to be open to new perspectives.  And, we should be aware that sometimes our kids just don’t see things the same way we do!  Sometimes they need to be trained to see things our way because we’re right!  But, in order to train them, we might need to acknowledge their viewpoint first.   And sometimes, we might need to be willing to acknowledge that there just might be something to their perspective!

My Faith Strategy

More often than I can count, I am asked one of a few questions.  One is “How do you do everything that you do?” or Another might be “How do you do it all?” Or sometimes they phrase it, “I don’t see how you do everything that you do.” More of a statement, rather than a question really.

No matter how they say it, most often I don’t know how to react to whatever way they choose to phrase it.  Honestly, I don’t know how I do it “all”.  And quite simply I don’t believe that I ever do it all.  I am a person who has high hopes, big dreams, and many goals.  My daddy taught me to be that way and my Heavenly Father gifted me with a few traits that help me to “make it happen.”

I have determined just this morning that the act of “getting it all done” really boils down to a few simple steps.  I have dubbed this my faith strategy.  You see, being a big dreamer and a goal setter I tend to do just that, “dream and set goals”.  This makes for a person who is always creating something to do.  I create many things for myself to do.

As a Christian, I seek God’s guidance on just what it is he’d have me to do at any given time and I wait for answers.  So the first step in what I am calling my “faith strategy” is this:

Pray. Before I do anything else, make even one step in the project or even choose a given project I pray.  God leads me then in the direction He’d like me to go.  And I move on to step number two.  Prayer however is a basic building block of the whole process, I return to prayer daily as a part of the strategy, so don’t ever believe that you can pray once and be done.   The next step is necessary and one of my favorite parts of the strategy.

Set goals. I believe in setting goals.  I have always been a goal setter and at times my goals were loftier than others.  At times I have set myself up for disappointment by outdoing myself with my own goals, but I learned to “revamp” and start again.  However, I believe in the old saying, “if you don’t aim for something you’ll miss it every time.”  You have to have a goal to aim for, or you’ll wander around aimlessly for a long time.  After setting the goals you move on to the next, important step.

Seek accountability. For a long time, I wondered why my goals were so unreachable, why I felt I was “spinning my wheels”, and even why I couldn’t, “get anything done”.  I was day after day attempting to do too much too soon, or put my “cart before my horse”.  I didn’t see how much I was really doing, I felt that I was going nowhere when I was actually getting somewhere I just couldn’t see it.  That’s when I decided to seek accountability. Having someone in my life to point out where I was successful, to encourage me and to help me prioritize has been a huge blessing and has definitely been a vital step in my strategy.  With this step accomplished you’ll be well on your way to the final step.

Just do it! It seems cliché, and it may be a little intimidating, but if you’re going to get anywhere you are going to have to take that step, you’re going to have to just do it.  This will vary from project to project, sometimes this will be easier than other times, while some times, it will be “easier said than done.”  But the fact is for any project to be finished, for any goal to become a reality, for any dream to come true, you must take action.  That is what the final step is all about and it is how my strategy works.

If you need that extra boost of encouragement, a hand to hold or more information about these steps.  Check out Faith Leaps.com a membership training site for taking “leaps of faith”, which after all is what my “faith strategy” is all about.

Alyssa Avant is a Christian writer, speaker, and business owner. Alyssa ghostwrites for several WAHM websites and blogs. Alyssa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and is completing her Master’s Degree in Christian Education from Liberty University. She makes her home in Carrollton, MS, where she is wife to husband Greg and mother to three precious children (Baker, Lily and Brady) all under the age of five.

Through Another’s Eyes

It’s Vacation Bible School season here in south Arkansas!  It’s that time of year when churches see the culmination of months of planning, preparation, recruiting, and decorating to provide a few days of fun biblical teaching for the children of the community.

In rural Arkansas – and I would assume in many other parts of the country – there are many small churches that don’t quite have the resources to put together a full-blown VBS experience.  Our church has always been blessed to be able to invest in a great VBS week, but this year we’ve had the extra blessing and privilege of being able to bring a couple of smaller churches alongside us to do a joint VBS.  We have two nights under our belts so far, and it’s going great!

It is interesting sometimes to bring strangers into a situation that is totally familiar to us.  It opens our eyes to things.  It makes us a little more aware of our faults and shortcomings, but it also reminds us of our blessings.  It allows us to look a little more openly at both our shortcomings and our blessings and maybe approach them from a new perspective.

Last night, the perspective of two strangers made me look at my eight-year-old in a new light.  As I’ve mentioned before, Olivia loves to be a helper.  Last night was no exception.  For VBS, I am running the “teacher’s lounge,” a place where teachers can come to get something to eat and be in a relaxed environment away from the heat, kids, and decorations for just a few minutes before digging back in again.  Olivia wanted so badly to help me set it all up yesterday.  I gave her a few assignments, but I also had to watch her closely to make sure she wasn’t digging in her nose before rearranging the forks (holding them by the tines, of course) or rubbing the insides of  the cups with her less than clean fingers.  I was trying hard to give her tasks and clear instructions while fighting against her tendency to dive in with reckless abandon and sometimes do more harm than good.

In the room with us were two ladies, one from each of the two partnering churches.  One was my partner, helping me make sure the room was set up properly.  The other was an elderly lady working in the craft room.  Both of them commented over and over about what an incredible helper Olivia was and how she must be such a blessing at home!  (All the while Olivia was digging in her nose yet again before reaching for the forks to make sure they were just so!)  I commented that, yes, she was a good helper, but we were still having to teach her some things that she just couldn’t seem to grasp.

That’s when the elderly lady said, “But she’s just a child!  She’ll learn in time.”

I needed to be reminded of that.  I need to be reminded that Olivia is such an incredible child.  Even at her worst moments, she’s really pretty well behaved.  She is smart.  She is passionate.  She is caring.  She is happy.  She is a blessing.  I love her so deeply, but sometimes I get caught up in the training of her and miss the progress.

Sometimes it just takes stopping and looking through someone else’s eyes.

Day Twelve: I’m Clean

I’ve been quiet here on the blog for a few days and that makes some people nervous.  They wonder if I’ve fallen off the wagon.

In this case, no news is good news – I’m clean and sober.  Sticking with the WW program day by day.

Have shed off the three pounds I put back on when the fast was over.  That’s nice to see.

Just wanted to let you know.

May I Help You?

I have a friend who is, in my opinion, one of the most awesome mothers I know.  If she were to read this, she would probably laugh her sweet laugh and remind me of all of her shortcomings.  But since she is currently on an island in the Pacific without internet connection, I am free to brag on her to my heart’s content!

What is it that sets her in such high esteem in my mind?  She knows how to involve her kids in everything.  And, it shows!  Her kids absorb and learn new techniques with ease.  And, it’s a good thing, too, since God has lead them as a family to serve as missionaries on that Pacific island.  Her entire family has had to do a lot of learning over the past year!

Lately my freshly-turned eight-year-old has been begging to help.  She has always loved being a helper, but prior to this past year she has been content with the jobs I assigned to her.  The things I felt were age-appropriate.  The things I felt wouldn’t hinder my attempts to complete a task efficiently.  (Yes, I admit it – that’s the real issue here!  My efficiency.)

But lately she has not been satisfied with those tasks.  She is ready to cook a full meal all by herself.  She’s ready to vacuum the pool that we are taking care of for friends this summer.  She wants to do the big jobs.  She wants to conquer the grown-up tasks.  As the oldest of our three sweethearts, she is breaking out of certain childish things and is ready to start growing up.  She doesn’t want the plastic bowl and Tigger spoon for her breakfast anymore.  She wants grown-up dishes and silverware.  She wants to grow up.

I have to remind her continually that there are certain things she isn’t big enough for yet.  She is dreaming big dreams, but she still has some growing up to do.  She isn’t quite big enough physically to manuever the pool vacuum without falling into the pool.

On the other hand, I have to continually remind myself that she is, in fact, growing up.  There are certain things that she is grown up enough to do! Somehow I, as her mother, have to wisely guide her through these growing pains – the frustrations of wanting to do more but not being big enough; the frustrations of wanting to do more while trying to be patient in the learning; the frustrations of a mom who sometimes just doesn’t show enough patience to walk her through each new task or activity.

How thankful I am that I don’t have to find all of that wisdom within myself alone.  Not only does the Lord Himself guide me in parenting, but He has also granted me the blessing of other parents.  Parents who are better at some things than I am.  Parents I can watch – from whom I can learn.  Parents like my friend who, even from the Pacific, graciously allows me to learn from her.  Parents who somehow claim to be learning from me as well!

I hope this week to be a better teacher to my sweet daughter.  I hope to see her conquer a new skill.  And I hope to put aside just a bit more of my need to be efficient long enough to realize that there’s more to parenting than getting it all done quickly and properly.  Besides, is my goal to just get it all done?  Or is my goal to somehow prepare my daughter for that day when she’ll be doing it herself – and teaching her own child?

My awesome friend on that Pacific island learned that a long time ago…and I’m blessed to be learning now from her.

It Isn’t About Losing Weight

A thought came to me today and I looked forward to my sixth day of being ’sober’.

I stepped on the scale and saw a three pound weight gain.  It was no unexpected.  I knew the ten pounds I lost on my water fast was partly water that would come back when I started to eat again.

Still, I had thought that I might feel sad about the numbers.  The good news is that I did not.  I accepted them with peace in my heart.

This is no longer about losing weight.   It’s about facing a day without overeating.

Like an alcoholic has to face a day without drinking.

Like a crack addict has to face a day without crack.

The Fast is Over and the Battle Begins

I finished off my fast with some fruit late last night and this morning I settled back into Weight Watchers.  Funny how rich and delicious everything tastes after a few days without anything. (A contrast to the depression I usually feel when I have to eat ‘diet food’.)

I’m thinking of myself as being sober.  Like an alcoholic is sober when he isn’t drinking, I shall consider myself sober when I am not overeating.

This is a different way of looking at things – a more serious way really.

So right this minute, I am five days sober.

And it feels good.