Weight check in

Here is my monthly check in for weight. I am at 149 1/2 lbs with a BMI of 22.29. I am just 4 lbs from my goal weight that I had originally set. I may reset that goal. My clothes are fitting better and I actually like what I am seeing in the mirror. It is not perfect but I am working at getting thinner and healthier. I lost almost 4 lbs this month. I added weights to my running and walking and really stepped it up, pushing myself just a little farther each time. I am hoping to be at my goal weight by the time we chat next month. I am the smallest I have been since Ella Raye was conceived. She is almost 5! I can't tell you how excited I am! I, also, have been praying a lot about it. I know that God has bigger problems than my big ol' bottom, but He does say He'll give us the desires of our hearts. It is my desire to get my temple in order. I am kicking out the bad stuff from my temple! Watch out fat!! You're gone!!

Trail

Yesterday, we took all of our kids hiking. We had a 17 month old in the hiking backpack, a 3 YO, a 4 1/2 YO, and a 7 YO walking. We get up at 6:15 and go up to Dupont Forest. Our plan was to hike up to High Falls and then back down to Hooker Falls, where we parked and go swimming. The day was great! Everyone was enjoying the outing, even AJay who didn't hardly peep on Michael's back. He did, however, almost break his neck trying to watch the horses go off. He was fascinated! I was so impressed by all the kids' stamina and, of course, mine and Michael's. We have never done anything like this. As a matter of fact, we hardly go out to eat because too much work is involved! Michael and I are usually exhausted by it!
We saw some people from church and met some people from Savannah. We met a family with more kids than we have. God bless them! We saw the largest grasshopper ever. It's wings were like leaves! Amazing! The falls were so beautiful! We got to tell the kids about how creative God is. When He made the earth, His finger carved out those rocks and His mind created all those colors and sounds. What a great learning experience!
At the end, we were heading down to go swimming and Michael says that he wanted to take a different way down. So, we follow him. The trail starts off great and there are so many things to see. As we head down the trail, it gets narrower and a little more dicey. Then, it gets steeper and more treacherous. The kids begin to whine(and so does Mommy). AJay is getting slapped in the face by branches and is crying. Finally, the path becomes very steep and almost impassible but we can't turn back and we must go forward. Turning back would require too much work and too much time. We finally get to the end with just a few scratches and a few bruised bums.
Michael and I got to talking. He was so sorry for getting us on the wrong trail but what an adventure. Then, we began to relate how that trail is a lot like temptation and sin. The temptation doesn't look too bad so we head down the trail. As we give into the trail, we notice how the trail doesn't look as great as it did before. Then, the sin becomes ugly and steep and treacherous. We are no longer having as much fun as we were. We want to turn back, our instincts tell us to but it would require too much work and too much time. So, we go forward. The way becomes impassible and we get snared by vines of deceit and the roots of darkness. Finally, we come to our senses and then we step into the light of the trail or the path that God had originally set before you. Maybe we come through with minor scrapes and bruises but often, we have crashed down the trail on our backsides getting slapped in the face by briars. Sometimes, we take our friends and family with us or sometimes they are the ones getting bumped and bruised by our actions(think of the alcoholic or murderer).
Sometimes, we wander around the forest knowing we need a trail guide but are too prideful to ask. We can't get past our own independence. I was so glad to get off that side trail that I could've kissed the ground! Are you on the right path?

Change 2.0

So, I got to thinking about my last post and I realized what the resistance is to believing in Jesus. Not that He changes, but the He changes you. I think that some people are just happy being who they are and living the way that they do and they don't see the need for changing the way that their lives are going. What most people don't realize is that life without Christ is like eating the top layer only. I love 7 layer Mexican dip. If I stopped at the 1st layer, then I would only experience 1 flavor. But, I keep delving into the dish, then I get to taste all the wonderful flavors that make up the dish. In order to reach the fullness of a life in Christ, you must keep delving into the different layers. Once you get past the 1st layer and experience the deliciousness of freedom in Christ, you have a hard time going back to the way that life was like before you met Christ. This is a process that goes on through out your whole Christian life. Each time you die to your sinful nature and each trial you endure makes you a richer(not monetarily), more complete, more beautiful person.
Being close to Jesus changes you!! I can attest to this personally. So many things that I used to do, I quit very quickly after I asked Jesus to cleanse me. He began to create in me a pure heart. In this case, a change will do you good!

Change

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about change. Yes, we can! And all that. I am here to say that people don't really like change. In church, when we change a pastor or music minister, people get their pants in a wad. They will send ugly letters to pastors and deacons. When I taught high school, if there was a new principal or superintendent, so many people wanted to quit or grumbled daily until the newness wore off. My children love a schedule and if we deviate from it, they are ill and whine for a few days. We constantly change governments and there is always someone from the left or the right hooting and hollering about it. If you are one of those people who dislike change and you know who you are, I have only 1 thing to say:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8 or maybe 2:
The grass withers and the flowers fall but the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8

So, I can't understand why more people do not want to follow God. If He never changes, nor does His Word, then that should bring comfort to those in whom change causes turmoil and stress. In this always changing world, shouldn't we look to the One who has been the same since before the foundation of the earth and the universe? The One who set the stars in place? The One who created all life and rose from the dead? God never changes!! The voice with which He spoke 10000 years ago to Adam is the same one that He speaks to us with today. We just choose not to hear it.
They say that the only constant in life is death and taxes. Well, I say the only constant in life is God. Death is certain but, as we all know, taxes are changing! Instead of letting ourselves get stressed out about someone sitting in your pew or parking in your parking spot, know that God loves those people, too. And so you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might!

Boo Boos

My kids are enthralled with Band Aids. They want to put them on everything, even bruises! They love to come to me and get one so that I can put it on and kiss it. If I am being perfectly honest, I love it, too. Isabela, who is almost 7(Sunday), doesn't come to me quite as often anymore. She doesn't always tell me of her hurts and is starting to keep things more inside. I know that this is normal but I am saddened that she doesn't need me as much.
In Bible study, this week, Angela Thomas quoted the scripture: "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 147:3. That got me thinking. Yes, God will heal our hurts and put Band Aids on our boo boos. He wants to. It is what daddies do for their kids. But, when we don't come to Him with our hurts, He can't heal them. Some of our wounds look only like surface wounds, when, in all actuality, they are all the way to the bone and in need of stitches(God is the Great Physician). If left alone, because we can handle it or we don't need God anymore, they will get infected and fester. Gangrene will set in and eventually, we must come to Him. How much better would life be if we had just put the holy Neosporin on it at the beginning and avoided all of the pain that came later? I had a wound that festered for years. My life got so infected by the poison it emitted that I couldn't enjoy my life. As a matter of fact, I thought that life wasn't worth living and wanted to end it. I tried everything in my power to end my year old marriage. Why? Why did I allow myself to suffer this way? Because, I could do it myself and I didn't need any help. I was dead wrong!! When I came to Abba Father, I found a safe place and a sense or worth that I had never known in my entire life. He began to put salve on my wounds and bandage the open sores. Over time, they began to heal. The salve was scripture and the bandages were His love. My marriage was saved, my broken heart was put back together, and my damaged psyche was on the road to normalcy. As the Bible says, He is still working in me until the second I take my last breath but on the whole I am so much better and healthier than I was. Man, I wish I could've avoided all the heartache by going to God first! Do you have boo boos? What state are they in? Brand new? Infected? Gangrene? Amputation? The Abba Father and the Great Physician is waiting to fix you!!!!

My letter to Heath Shuler

Dear Rep. Heath Shuler,

I called your office last Wednesday July 1, 2009 to ask a question about the Waxman bill(cap and trade). Ryan Fitzpatrick answered the phone. I asked him if you had indeed read the bill from start to finish. At this point, he got very defensive and I had only asked 1 question. He told me that radio talk show hacks didn’t need to call in. First off, I am not a radio talk show hack and I am extremely offended by his comment. The question required a simple answer: yes or no. The answer I finally got (in a condescending tone of voice) was that I just didn’t understand how complicated these things can be and that no one person could read an entire bill all the way through. I am college educated and I read a lot. I tried to read part of this bill and as soon as my eyeballs quit bleeding, I called your office. Ryan, then, proceeded to tell me that you have a non-partisan committee that reads the bill and staffers that read it and that you skim it. But for the most part you depend on them to tell you what is in it. Now, I have never signed a bill into law but I have signed a contract for my home loan and I didn’t do so without reading every word. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to do something like that. I told Ryan that it is like you have a book report due and instead of reading the book yourself, you have someone read it while you skim the chapter headings and then they tell you what the book is about. You, then, write the book report without knowing what you are talking about. I am offended that you would be so nonchalant with MY tax dollars. I had called the week before the bill and asked how you were going to vote. I was told (as was my neighbor) that you would vote how your constituents wanted you to. We were told that the calls were coming at 9 to 1 in opposition. Sounds like you lied or, excuse me, mislead your constituents.
I am angry with you about the voting but more than that I am angry at the way I was treated by your staff(Ryan). I would not accept that tone of voice or belittling from anyone else and I won’t accept it from you or your staff. I demand an apology from Ryan and from you. This letter is going to any and all who will listen, newspapers, TV channels, websites, and friends and family. If you won’t listen to the people FOR WHOM YOU WORK, then I will do everything in my power to see that you are reelected in the next term. Because, you do work for me and the rest of the tax payers, PERIOD!!!!! I expect when I call that I get common courtesy from the person who answers the phone. I spoke to him in a respectful manner and require the same thing in return.


Very sincerely,
Sarita Edgerton

Fourth of July!!!!!

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Weight check in

Today is July 1st and time for my monthly update. I wasn't sure how this was going to work out as I gained 4 lbs in the middle of June and then lost it. So I am currently weighing in at 153 lbs with a BMI of 22.59. This is the smallest I have been since October 2005 before I got pregnant with my 3 year old. So now my goal is to be pre-Ella Raye weight. That is 8 more lbs! I am excited! Hopefully next month will find me at a smaller weight. I have increased the intensity of my workouts and my eating habits have started changing. Stay tuned for more updates!