January: Goals Update

January crept along, as winter months often do, and we invested time pursuing the goals that God impressed upon us to set for this year. I wanted to give you an update.

To recap, our goals were to deepen our relationship with God, downsize our belongings, pay off our final debt and move fully into retirement savings mode, and improve our weight health.

In regards to our spiritual goals, we are over 30 days into our 40 Day Sugar Fast. We have learned so much from Wendy Speake’s book, and taking this challenge on with our church family has led to some great conversations on the weekends also. Learning to seek the Lord for our satisfaction instead of false fillers like sugar, shopping, social media, or other distractions has been transforming. My husband and I are continuing our nightly habit of having time for devotions and prayer before going to sleep as well as learning new ways to encourage, serve and pray for each other.

It is challenging to show a tangible success in this type of goal, but I know that I am changing and growing, and my husband is as well, so I am claiming success in this area.

The second goal was to downsize belongings. Huge success in this area! We donated five pieces of furniture and 15 boxes/totes of items. I don’t know how many pounds of recycling left the house, but it was a lot!

Donations box

The third goal was improving our weight health. In January my husband lost 3.6 pounds and I lost 4.3 pounds. Success! I also took my measurements and will do that again in March.

We have been working out at the gym, and on days I could not get to the gym I walked the treadmill at home. My workouts are slow going as my feet are still recovering from surgery, but I am seeing improvement.

We have reduced coffee and pop consumption and added in more herbal tea and water. I am definitely feeling improvement from that alone. I’ve been trying some new healthy recipes and increasing the variety in our meal plan.

Our final goal was to make financial gains. God has helped us have success in this area also. We were able to pay 15% of the total of our debt. This was in part made possible by our no spend year challenge. In January we had 18 days where we spent no money at all, 10 days where we paid our regular bills, bought groceries or gas and three days where we made “allowable” expenses that we discussed prior to purchasing.

So, needless to say we are feeling good about our January progress. We are being realistic because we have 11 months to go and, well, life happens! But we keep moving forward mindfully one day at a time. We pray for direction from God and He is definitely guiding us!

God is there to guide you towards your goals too. He leads through His Word, through prayer, and the preaching of a truth-telling preacher. God cares about goals, and if you ask Him to show you His perfect plan for you, He will show you, and then lead you all the way to the finish line!

Our 2025 Goals – Great Gains

January 10, 2025 was Quitter’s Day. This is the day when traditionally people give up on their New Year’s resolutions. We’ve already noticed the crowd decreasing at the gym. But in this house, we aren’t quitters, we are intentional about setting big, but attainable goals and we are determined to make them happen.

My husband and I have been discussing our 2025 goals for months already, so that is one way to make your goal setting effective. We joked about wanting to be big losers, but flipping that to a positive statement, we are going to make some great gains happen.

The first area where we are working to make gains is in the depth of our spiritual lives. We are pursuing God at a new level this year. We’ve started with the 40 Day Sugar Fast, not just to detox after the holidays but to see spiritual transformation as we seek God to satisfy that need for sweetness in our lives. We have been developing new quiet time habits of individual time with God in the mornings, and ending the day together with devotions and prayer. Studying the Bible and taking in sound Biblical teaching as well as engaging in worship in our daily lives is already showing benefits after a short time. God has very good things in store!

Our second area to make great gains is financially. No, we probably won’t get rich enough to retire this year, but we are going to finish paying our last debt in the next few months and then start racking up savings for our future. I turned 60 years old in 2024 and we are ready to retire to work more in ministry as well as spend more time with family and friends. To accomplish this goal to gain financial freedom we have taken on the no buy year challenge. We’ve set our guidelines, and I’m using my Happy Planner for visual tracking and motivation. So far, it’s going great, and I’ll dive into those guidelines in my next post.

The next area to make great gains is in our weight health and physical strength. I’ve been on the WW program for over 11 years, and my husband for about 8 months (officially). With my recovery from surgery and the holidays, this was paused somewhat, but we are back working the program and seeing results already. During recovery I spent some time looking at new recipes in the WW app and in my many cookbooks to give us some variety and new flavours to enjoy. I am happy to be back in the kitchen for short spurts of time in a day and able to do some meal prep. My husband does the grocery shopping and most of the chopping. Working the program together makes us stronger.

My husband joined Planet Fitness in December, before Christmas and with his membership, I can accompany him as a guest for no charge. I don’t have access to all the amenities but we are staying in our no buy guidelines. Again, we get to go together, which we both enjoy. I’m starting slow as I’m just regaining strength I’ve lost, but we want to ensure we are healthy and strong as we age.

The final 2025 goal we are going after is gaining space and peace in our home by decreasing our possessions. We are looking to decrease by one-third to one-half of our belongings in various areas. There are things that don’t serve us any more that can serve someone else. There is so much paper that can be recycled. Lots of donations have left the house already and I will summarize our success at the end of the month. Some decisions have been really hard, but once made, we have no regrets.

One of the huge benefits in this is for our marriage. We’ve been blessed with a great marriage and we love to spend time together. We work for the same organization, we minister in our church together, we go to the gym and attend WW workshops together. Making goals and implementing the steps to achieve them together makes us even stronger. In the past few months as we’ve been planning this out, God has blessed us with an amazing season in our marriage, so we know we are on the right track.

So don’t give up on your 2025 goals. Even if you succumbed to Quitter’s Day, or have started talking negatively to yourself about your potential to succeed, jump in again, where you are. Just because we are in mid-January doesn’t mean that the time to set and pursue goals has expired. It is a new day, and a great day to make some gains in your life!

I’ll be posting updates along the way, whether successes or setbacks. We are real people and life happens to us too. It won’t be perfect and definitely not easy to achieve all our goals, but with God’s help and guidance, we will get there!

Be Open: Holiday Wellness

Two more sleeps! It’s almost here! Even though Christmas in our home is looking very different this year, my husband and I are excited to celebrate (albeit quietly) this week. We are really motivated towards goals for 2025, but we decided, why wait? Let’s get started now. You can too!

Last week, my husband joined a local gym. We got a referral from our son, who is a member. I can work out for free with my husband as his guest. This is no problem, because we love doing things together and we work similar shifts. I will start in the new year, because I am still waiting for my bones to heal from my foot surgery. This works towards our weight health and financial goals. So many people have a goal to join a gym and start working out in January. But why wait? Why not start building that habit now? My husband will be well on the way to building his workout routine before the ball drops on December 31.

We have also had several conversations about food lately. Who doesn’t talk about food in December? Favourite treats, holiday gatherings, parties and Christmas dinner are big topics right now. My husband and I each have a dessert that says “it’s Christmas” to us and we have those in the house. During my recovery, I haven’t been able to cook or bake much at all, so that cut out a lot of additional foods I would have normally prepared. We will enjoy these treats and a pared down Christmas dinner this week, specifically December 25 and 26. Our plan is to eat our normal, balanced and well-portioned meals the rest of the days. We will likely have some treats January 1st as well. Between now and the end of the holidays, most of us will eat 30 meals. Take out one special meals on Christmas Eve, two on Christmas Day, and one each on Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s day, that leaves 24 meals that can still be within our food budget. Very doable, even with some work treats thrown in here and there.

Stuffing! My favourite!!

Since we aren’t traveling this Christmas, we can enjoy some extra sleep and relaxation time. When I’m well-rested, I do find I make better food choices and am more open to working out.

We also had a quite strict budget for gifts. We took a cruise in September to celebrate my mom’s 80th birthday and my 60th. Money was spent and I don’t regret it, but I don’t need an abundance of gifts at Christmas also. This gets us moving forward in our financial health as well. Progressing financially with zero worries about paying off Christmas helps me sleep and eat better!

Other things, like building up my marriage (an awesome marriage can always grow and become even more satisfying), deepening my spiritual life and decreasing my screen time are in the mix too. All of these help me eat better, move more and sleep more deeply.

So, what about your wellness goals? Have you established one (or a few) for 2025? Super! What is one step you can take towards those goals this week? I’m sure you can do this! Let me know what you have planned, even a baby step – I want to cheer you on! The new year is going to be great as we reach some goals. I am looking forward to January 1st knowing I will have a feeling of accomplishment that I ended the year starting some good habits.

Merry Christmas!

Be Open: It’s In God’s Hands and Out of Mine

Does it feel like you have to fight to get ahead anywhere in life?  Does it seem that success comes easily for others but never for you? I’ve been there many times, my friend.  Recently I was reminded of a particular situation and the lesson God taught me in that season.

When God called us to move for a church opportunity, we knew that to make it work, either my husband and I would need to find a job to start right after the move. I accepted a temporary position at a local hospital.  As the end date for this position loomed, I began applying for positions that interested me.  When I received no nibble, I sent applications for any open posting even if I didn’t really want it.  No calls.  No expressions of interest. Crickets.

Maybe there was a technical glitch and my applications were not getting through! Yes, that must be it!  After inquiring with HR I found out that I had been disqualified from the almost 20 positions I applied for, due to a union stipulation that I knew nothing about.  Disappointing is the word I used in an email, when actually I was devastated and feeling quite hopeless.  Later that day, God revived a glimmer of hope in another email with a “would you be interested?” line. Of course I was! Now to wait and keep praying.

On the weekend I was asked by a coworker to cover her shift.  After agreeing,  I learned I would be training the person who got the job I had to leave.  Hmm.  Well, I had given my word so, off I went.

It was a horrible shift.  In a mostly one-sided conversation, this coworker shared all the details of her life and family.  Okay – you’re guessing not much training was going on.  No worries, she was confident she knew everything.  She proceeded to tell me  that this new job didn’t provide enough shifts, so it would be helpful to her when I was gone. She didn’t care if I had a job or not, nor did she know I that was immensely satisfied and challenged in the job. Pity my poor husband when I got home to share all of this in the very late evening hours.

I awoke at about 3 a.m. with a song in my head.  Not just softly weaving through my dreams but pounding and blaring one section of the song over and over.  It woke me, and hard as I tried to stop it and get back to sleep, it roared in my mind.  It was a section of the Jeremy Camp song, “Out of My Hands”.  Over and over I heard, “Out of my hands and into Yours”.  Sleep was gone so I got up, made coffee, read, prayed and journaled. 

I headed to work that morning to my other job, about a 30 minute commute.  On the way home I began thinking about the night and wondering if that was God communicating with me, or if I had just heard that song so many times on the radio.  As I turned onto the  ramp to the highway I prayed and asked God to show me if it was Him or just my racing brain.  As soon as the current song on the radio ended, guess what song began to play?  Yup.  Out of my Hands.  I listened intently to the entire song, holding back tears.  God was urging me not to fight back or get defensive but let the whole situation run through my fingers like sand. Those who were working seemingly against me were lost souls, deceived by our enemy into selfish motives and it was only the enemy that was making it personal.  My husband and I came to plant a church and the hordes of hell were not pleased in the least.  But now I was settled.  I was letting it go and would just go on enjoying my job until God brought the next opportunity along.

The very next day on that same commute I got a phone call.  I was sort of expecting a friend to call, and I didn’t look at the number on the dash screen as I was driving that same stretch of highway.  It was a department manager at the hospital saying she had heard that I might be interested in an open position she had.  We chatted about it for a few minutes and then I was offered the job!  The best thing – the department was closed on Sundays!  No interference with church!  Hard to find in healthcare.  Besides being astounded to have a job interview while driving home, I was shocked to receive the offer immediately. 

Yes, the person who was trying to undermine me got her wish.  But that doesn’t matter.  God in a “suddenly” that He is so famous for, brought me to a new and better opportunity that I had not actively pursued.  My hands were empty of the caring of the problem and He filled them with the solution. I was open to letting God take care of me.

The Bible tells us that we battle not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12).  My battle was not with management, coworkers or unions.  These are people with cares, battles and agendas of their own.  Sometimes their own worst enemy.  But when I stand close to God, leaving myself open to Him and His Word – miracles happen.

What are you battling? Is it unemployment, lack of finances, health concerns, a disconnect with a spouse or family member, a rebellious child? Sometimes just adulting is a battle we feel we can’t win. Do what you can, but most of all confide in and trust God to bring you His best resolution. Your battle is safe in the hands of the One who never loses. Just be open to the One who cares for you best.

Want to know the song that encouraged me to trust God with my battle? Listen here:

Be Open: To Christmas Being Different

Favourite decorations, traditions, activities, and of course – foods! Some of the best things about Christmas are the ones that carry through from year to year, some even from our childhood. So what happens in our holly-bedecked hearts when things change – and change big time?

In early September I received a call from my orthopedic surgeon’s office that a spot had opened up for surgery the following Friday. I had been waiting so long, so I accepted the spot, knowing I had nine days to prepare to be off my feet for 12 weeks.

Among the many things to accomplish was doing some Christmas decorating. Our son, daughter-in-law and another daughter celebrate together on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in an extravaganza called Thankbirthmas where we celebrate all our birthdays, Christmas and Thanksgiving. The girls graciously offered to do the cooking, but we HAD to have the tree up.

So my hubby schlepped up one of our three trees and our memory ornaments as well as another bin or two of decor and we decorated the living room. That is all there was time for. Hurrying didn’t help my perfectionist self. It would absolutely have to do. First lesson learned!

Surgery went well and after a week I was able to be helped from the bed to the recliner. Menus were discussed with the girls and shopping had to be done online as my hero of a husband cared for me, ran the house, worked full-time, made meals and prepped and led Sunday worship services.

I love to spoil the kids when they come and we often take a walk together. None of this happened as it had in the past. It was settling in my mind that Christmas was going to be very different this year.

I’m healing well, and hopefully will get the all clear to return to more normal duties by mid-December. It’s not realistic that I will be able to do the decorating, baking, shopping and visiting that normally happens. I have a choice to make. I can take a negative attitude of self-pity or depression. I can poise myself for exhaustion by attempting to throw it all together in a week and likely end up short-tempered and resentful.

Or, I can chose to adopt the goal that my mother shared with me in a recent text. She wrote, ” My goal is to enjoy what this celebration is really about.”

Of course, I know that Christmas means a whole lot more than Christmas lights, Nana’s Christmas pudding and a house decked to the corners. I don’t think it’s wrong to decorate, bake, watch Christmas movies and give gifts of love. But maybe this year Jesus is inviting me to be open to sitting back with time to pour over the love letter of Luke chapters 1 and 2, to remember loved ones and special Christmases of years past. To be grateful for what I do have, enjoying my tree that I have all day to sit near and sing songs that celebrate the greatest Gift – the one that fits me perfectly and was bought with an immeasurable price.

No forest of tinseled trees, no immense Christmas village, not even a light display that can be seen from space can equal what has been given.

So yes, I’m open to a different Christmas. I am open to the love of my husband, my family and friends helping with the things I cannot do. I am open to a season of not rushing around tired with an endless to-do list. I am open to looking at my neighbours’ brightly lit houses from my window if my porch is bare. I am open to a store-bought cookies. I am open to one Christmas tree. And I’m open to Jesus, who is with me always and loves me best.

BE OPEN

It’s often said that as we get older, we get more set in our ways, less open to growth and change. I hope that’s not true of me. This has been on my mind a lot lately; not just because I’ve just celebrated a milestone birthday, but I also clearly heard God speak to me “Be open” as I lay on a hospital stretcher awaiting surgery recently.

Now, I am more aware of being open to opportunities, to other people’s perspective, to passages of the Bible that seem tough to swallow. Even in the way I manage my weight health journey.

Being open requires us to notice God’s presence in my life and the choices that He sets before us in the big and small things. Once we are aware, we can make changes and grow.

I hope to unpack some of this with you, dear readers, in upcoming weeks, and only God knows how far it will go. I imagine there are numerous ways that we can be more open than I have noticed God showing me.

If you are looking for change in your life, perhaps being open is the first baby step. It can be uncomfortable, and even scary, but so far it’s been an amazing perspective to take hold of, but look at the autumn leaves and evolving seasons – change can be beautiful.

Current Reads

I write for several reasons and one of them is as an outflow of how much I enjoy reading. During the colder months I was not walking on my lunch break, but did find a quiet spot to read, so there is always a book in my work bag. I also have a book on the go in most rooms of my house, but I am trying to narrow that down to two (possibly three).

I have been reading such great books lately in a variety of styles and genres and wanted to share a couple of these with you.

Current Devotional

I just completed this devotional yesterday, “Settle My Soul” by two of my absolute favourite authors, Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk. This is my second devotional this year by these lovely ladies and I enjoyed each of the 100 devotionals. There are reflection questions which were thought provoking and I actually wrote answers in the book (I never do that, always keeping a separate notebook). So many of the scriptures used helped me to see characteristics of God and Christian living in a fresh way. I plan to get this out and read it through again in a year or so and it will be interesting to see where my thoughts are at that time on those questions.

And Now for Something Completely Different

The other book I am reading is “How To Live Like the Little Prince” by Stephane Garnier. I have loved “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery since high school. My daughter, knowing this, found this book for me on our recent trip to Vancouver BC. While this might sound like light reading, it has made me stop and ponder on many occasions, and is so relevant to where I am in this season. The Little Prince teaches how to know the difference between what is important and what is urgent. I have definitely struggled with this before. How about learning to be rich with what I have? Another great topic. I am still reading, and absorbing so much and loving the insights from the Little Prince.

It’s a great time of year for outdoor reading and I see several friends enjoying books on beaches and patios and in shady hammocks. I’ve added a couple of those titles to my ever-growing “to read” list.

I do start my day with reading the best book, the Bible. When my devotional quotes a verse or passage, I read the entire chapter for context and to see what else God has for me to enjoy or learn from that day.

Reading is not only great entertainment but a way to move my life forward intellectually, emotionally and spiritually in a way that I don’t find that video can provide. I am thankful to have been raised in an extended family of readers who instilled a love of books in my life.

What are you reading? Do you prefer e-books or do you need the feel and smell of a tangible volume? I’d love to know – share with me in the comments.

Happy reading!!

Recover, Restore and Reset

I’ve picked you. I haven’t dropped you. Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you. Isaiah 41:9-10 MSG

It’s a new season. Yes, we are in the early days of spring, and I couldn’t be happier about that. For my spirit as well as my physical body, it is a new season of recovery, restoration – a reset.

That’s no tattoo – just my surgeon’s initials

Ten days ago I underwent arthroscopic surgery on my right knee to remove a floating piece of bone that was causing my knee to lock unexpectedly and painfully sometimes many times a day. This had been playing havoc with my workout routine for almost two years. I went from running, doing cardio and cycling several times a week to seated work outs. Now, don’t discount a seated cardio workout to get the heart rate up – I am thankful for them. (Check out many great free seated workouts, as well as many standing workouts with my ‘fitness friend’ Pahla Bowers on YouTube or http://www.pahlabfitness.com. )

This injury, combined with a new office position which was much less active than my hospital job, was having an impact physically and emotionally and at the time of surgery I found myself a few pounds over my goal weight for the first time in four years.

This is hard for me to admit. I felt like I was letting down everyone I have been trying to encourage on their journey for wellness. I felt I had let myself down, as I promised myself I would not let myself get over my goal weight once I reached it.

I have started to recover from the surgery and feel strength slowly returning as I do my physiotherapist prescribed workouts including small amounts of time on my elliptical. There is still discomfort, but stability is returning and I am feeling more steady.

In having a week off from work, I had time to read the Word and get back into a favourite book, Lysa Terkheurst’s, Made to Crave. I was reminded again that this is not just a physical journey, but a spiritual one. I have not let God down. He holds me up and strengthens me. I have never had to hold Him up or earn His love and care.

This is my personal journey, spiritually and physically, and getting to my goal weight was not the end of the journey. There is so much more God has to teach me and many curves and course corrections in my life that I will navigate where I need to hit the reset button, as I am doing now, getting back to what I know works, and letting go of guilt and shame over some poor choices in how I have eaten, managed (or not managed) stress and neglected my self-care.

God says in Isaiah 41 that He has a firm grip on me. He has brought me to a time of recovery and restoration and I am not going to take this opportunity lightly.

So what’s going to change? I’ve been tracking my weight weekly, even this past Friday where I had been in bed for several days and still had swelling in my knee. No excuses, it is what it is. Time to get back to tracking all my food and water. Every.single.bite. My crazy schedule had me winging things a bit. I will be doing my allowed workouts as prescribed so that I do all I can to aid the healing and strengthening of my body.

And I am going to share this with you, my friends. To be accountable and to be transparent. I am a woman on a journey. I don’t know where you are in your journey. Maybe you’re taking first steps. Maybe you are resetting for the hundredth time. Maybe you have been at your goal weight and maybe you can’t imaging being there. I hope you will walk with me. I don’t have it all figured out, but I trust God who holds me steady. I have a program that works for me when I work it. I will keep walking and will get to where I want to be. I throw off guilt and shame – that is too heavy a weight to bear. I am ready for a reset for restoration – how about you?

A Fresh Start For A New Year

The first day of 2022 is almost over. I was prepared to be called in to work, but no call came, so that was a great gift. I relaxed, puttered and perhaps had a few New Year’s day treats with my husband. We have a great plan to get back to our regular healthy eating program when we wake up tomorrow. We celebrated the holidays and included some treats in the celebration, but our bodies and minds know that like the holiday decorations, its time for the special foods to leave until next time.

I did exercise today. I have been having some knee weakness and pain and have been waiting about a year for an Orthopedics consult (thanks COVID) so my workouts have been modified. I’ve missed running and jumping, who’d have ever thought I would?! I dusted off the elliptical and have started adding that to my treadmill workout to add some intensity while still protecting my knee.

Charting is a good incentive for me, so today I’ve included a tracking sheet that I’ve used for a couple of years. You can track activity, water, healthy eating, sleep, or whatever works for you. It’s my first pin on my new Pinterest account where you will start to find tips, tools and recipes, so keep checking back for updates!

I don’t make resolutions, but love an opportunity for a fresh start or a reset. I have goals for the year, some new, and some continuing from last year. I’m definitely a work in progress! My friends, I would love to know what your goals are, and for us to get our goals by encouraging and supporting each other. Post your most exciting or most challenging goal in the comments – putting it in writing helps us be accountable.

Praying this is the year you draw closer to God, to friends and family and to the specially designed purpose that will enable you to thrive!

Day 12: 12 Days of Purposeful Wellness

We have been given the Greatest Gift – Celebrate! 

As you wrap those last minute gifts and put the finishing touches on your holiday table, remember with gratitude that we have received the greatest gift of all.  In the gift of Jesus’ earthly life, death and resurrection we have had the gift of salvation, healing, provision, protection, joy, peace and so much more handed to us.  If you haven’t accepted the gift, it would be the best day ever if you did.  If you have received this precious gift, celebrate it today by making use of it – claim the promises and hold onto the Saviour’s hand as he leads us with purpose through this life.  No one wants to give a gift to a love one to have it put in a display case or closet and never used.  Why would God be any different?  Celebrate the gift today. 

Prayer:  Jesus, thank you, thank you for being the most wonderful gift.  Your presence is the perfect fit for each one of us, no matter our age or dress size.  We celebrate You today and rejoice.  Help us to experience that promise that In Your presence is fullness of joy.  While part of the celebration includes food, we choose to focus on you. You are the greatest gift and we love You and thank You for it.

Dear friends, my prayer is that I’ve been able to guide you to a new or renewed mindset of desiring to pursue Jesus and a wellness journey more intentionally through this Christmas season, not waiting for a new year to start to begin again.  I would love to hear how God led you; your successes and where you need to spend some effort in the weeks and months ahead. 

I am still walking out this journey and I would love to have you join me in 2022 for our best year yet!