On Being Content - Philippians 4:11

This morning, I posted this scripture as my status update on Facebook, "Philippians 4:11 (KJV) Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." 

When I did a search on "content" to find the scripture I wanted, the scriptures with the words "contentious" and "contention" showed up in my results. I thought about how these words are spelled with the word "content" yet how far apart their meanings are. If I am content in my life, then I am not contentious. 

Ironically, when my husband went out to go to school, the transmission went out on the Tracker.  It is our primary mode of transportation.  We were planning on having the brakes repaired on Jack's truck while he is on fall break from school, and have been saving up for that.  Now that money will have to go toward the transmission, as well as the money I have been putting aside for a new laptop.

Now, I am not going to say that I didn't get upset.  But I did spend my 30 minutes of pushing around the exercise equipment talking to God about it.  I counted my blessings. By the end of my half hour workout, I felt better.  

I have to ask myself, as I sit here writing this, if this was the devil's attempt at making a mockery of my post.  Was he trying to get me to lose that contentment I felt this morning when I got up? Was that wily wolf in sheep's clothing trying to make me contentious?  He didn't succeed.  Yes, I was upset.  However, I didn't blow things out of proportion.  Instead, I took a deep breath, called the mechanic and made arrangements to have it towed.

I have found that the more time I spend meditating on God's word and praying, the more content I become.  The more content I become the less I am devastated by the catastrophes that are thrown at me.  As long as contentment does not turn into complacency, I think I will be okay.

Today, I am taking back the contentment that I almost lost this morning. 

Have a great day everyone!

Step 1: Diet (Eat Less, Move More)

It seems I have hit that magical age where my metabolism has slowed down.  Mom always said it would happen, but I didn't  believe it.  Of course my lack of activity for the last couple of years has not helped with that. So now I am going to work at reversing the effects of my sedentary lifestyle. For me, the scales are not the telling factor in my weight gain, but my clothes are.  In the last 2 years, I have gone up two pant sizes, and my "fat" pants are getting uncomfortably tight.  I have no desire to pick up another size.

Before my last pregnancy, I was very active.  I carried my son so low, that he put a lot of pressure on my pelvic bone, so I slowed down a lot.  Moving in general was extremely uncomfortable. He will be 2 in November, and I am still not moving enough. TIME TO TAKE IT BACK!

My husband and I talk about all the fad diets on the market that people pay big bucks for.  Our philosophy for weight loss is Eat Less; Move More.  It's simple.  If I want to lose weight and get in shape, then I have to burn more calories than I eat. So for 3 days this week, I have been working on that.  We are on a pretty tight budget, so I had to find a cheap workout.  I have 3 children during the day, so I need something that I can do while watching them (I tried yoga in the past, but it is difficult to do while the children are "helping" with the workout).  So I came up with a solution to kick start my change.  Here is a picture of my exercise equipment.

 Yep, it's a reel mower and I have had this about 10 years. It still works well, but could use a sharpening. It takes a little longer than a gas mower (okay, a lot longer).  That's okay, because the purpose isn't to do the whole yard, but to get up and get moving. I am trimming the back yard in 30 minute increments each day to get back in shape. I can watch and hear the children while they play.  I  like that it doesn't propel objects and dirt like the gas mower, so I don't have to worry about hitting the children with debris and injuring them .  Does this mean my husband no longer has to mow...NOPE. We live in Florida where it rains almost every day, and the grass grows very fast.  So I may cut down on how much he has to mow. I am only working in the back yard for now, so he still gets the front and side yards.

I actually started this on Tuesday. Let me tell you, I didn't think my timer for 30 minutes would EVER go off.  I keep taking my phone out of my pocket to see if the timer was still running. I think there may be a wocket in my pocket that is playing with the buttons.  Today the last 3 minutes were the longest ever.  When  I stopped, my heart rate was elevated, and I was feeling pretty good about getting moving. And overall, that is the point of the activity.  

Believe it or not, getting moving actually helps a lot with Taking Back my mental and spiritual health.   Something about physical activity helps clear the mind.  Something about increased endorphin levels and what not.  It's been a while since my college days of physical fitness and my memory is a little foggy on the subject. Walking briskly back and forth across the yard also gives lots of time for personal introspection.

So, let's see if we can keep up this part of  Taking It Back.  I am hoping to see results (my "fat" pants fitting) in a couple of weeks or so.  I have actually been working on the spiritual changes over the last few months just by opening the Good Book on a daily basis.  More on that at a later date.

A Little History

In January, 2011, I closed my business and started a new life as a full time SAHM. Although I now enjoy most days as a SAHM,  I didn't close my business because I wanted to be a SAHM, but because with the changes in the economy, it was costing me more to keep my business open than I was making, and I was quickly sinking into debt.

I wish I could say I took this transition well, but I didn't.  I  became a depressed, overweight, out of shape, and spiritual mess of a person.

In January, 2008, I gave birth to my youngest daughter.  I loved being able to take her to work with me and watching as she grew and developed into such an interesting little person. She enjoyed helping me apply vinyl to vehicles.

 I had given birth to my son in November, 2010 and I just was not bouncing back very quickly. Business was slow to nonexistent. I would give out anywhere from zero to eight quotes a week on orders, and never hear back from anyone.  Most of my old clientele said they could not afford to get business shirts and promo items any longer because of the increased cost of fuel.  I could not reduce my cost because my cost of materials had increased anywhere from 20% to 100% with the increased fuel charges.    I hated closing my screen printing business and it made me feel like a failure.

Fast forward to today, and the purpose of this blog. I am pushing 200 pounds, and I am in just about the worst physical condition that I have every been in.  I am tired, depressed and more than just a little annoyed with myself.

I am vowing to TAKE IT BACK!  Control of my life that is. I want to be back in shape physically, mentally and spiritually. Follow along on my journey to becoming a better person. Pray with me as I strive to make changes in my life that will make me a better wife, a better mother, a better person, and a better child of God. It is time to overcome the negative thoughts, and become the positive person I know I can be and want to be.