Ahhh, it feels really good to have such a productive day. I'm not sure which feels better, having a productive day where lots of house projects get done or have a relationally productive day. Obviously, the relationally productive day has more eternal value. And that's the type of day today was. We started our day going to church, which is something we have each begun to really long for each week. Even the kids are thrilled to go to their classes! What a blessing for us. This week, Eric and I were both gripped by the Spirit during the message. The challenge was to discover or rediscover your identity in Christ. He referenced the scene from Genesis where Adam and Eve hide from God after they've done wrong in his eyes. God asks the question, "Where are you?", which is obviously much deeper than the physical location of their presence. The question that we were left with is this: "What trees are we hiding behind?" What are the things that stealing our identity in Christ? It's a fabulous question and extremely relevant in our lives now.
When we returned home we made lunch and helped the kids engage in some playtime together as Eric and I spent some much needed talk time together. It was one of those moments that is almost worth memorializing. And so we did.
We spent time setting goals and planning. Something we aspire to do regularly, but rarely follow through with faithfully. To remember this day as a day of new beginnings, we each got a rock from our garden outside and we will use it to remember this day. We take this from the passage of scripture in Joshua 4 & 5 where the Israelites finally reach Gilgal...their promised land. Gilgal, in Hebrew actually means "circle or wheel." As if to suggest that Gilgal was the coming full circle for these people who had wandered in the desert for 40 years. I have read that it is believed that the monument that God commanded they set up to memorialize this spot was placed in a circle. It is worth mentioning that the book from which I have drawn this particular inspiration (Believing God by Beth Moore) is also the book that inspired me to begin praying that God would redirect our lives. The same book that prompted me to believe God for bigger things, for my Promised Land. The prayers that led us to this geographic location. It is not a coincidence!
Among the goal that we set today were goals that were long overdue. It is rather shameful to admit that we have once again let our health fall by the wayside. We have let ourselves go and we are both feeling the effects of poor eating and rapid weight gain. It is not good!
But the silver lining is that we are more ready than ever to make a life change. And we are excited about it. I have always said that I'd rather be married to someone who struggles the same as me cause at least we can tackle this thing together. We have both decided to rejoin Weight Watchers. We have been successful together with the WW plan before and we are confident that we can finally be "lifers" together, once and for all.
Besides the tremendous prayer time and talk time that Eric and I had together, we also made the kids a priority by taking them to the zoo. The zoo closes for the fall and winter in another week and we had only visited the zoo one time. It was a lovely day to be outside and to enjoy God's creation so that what we did. It is priceless to experience the zoo with kids. Alissa spent most of the time saying, "Waaaaaaaow!" Andrew and Anna were of course taken with the fish and the sharks. We got to experience a close encounter with some kangaroos who literally hopped in a line about 5 feet from us. It was very exciting! It's so fun to build into the kids and watch them love life! We had a lot of fun too!
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