third Tuesday check-in (February 2024)

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! As a reminder for anyone who wants to know or who missed it the first time around, I am starting a new monthly series for myself called "third Tuesday check-in". I'll jump in with mine, and I'll ask you to weigh in with your answers at the end. I love knowing this about each other; it gives us accountability in life, and it helps us to know how to pray for each other. This also helps us to keep things real here in the world of blogging, which you know is my preference.

Spiritually

Once again this year, I am thankful to say that I feel like I'm in a good place spiritually. You know how sometimes the Lord can feel far off? We've all experienced that, and I know I will again someday, but that's not the case today. Today I feel very close to Him, and I often sense His presence near. This is only because I spend time with Him! I may have said this last month, but I treat my relationship with Him as I treat any other relationship with a friend: I schedule time with Him each day, and I spend a portion of everyday talking to Him. Because I'm often alone at various times in the day, I find myself talking to Him all throughout the daytime. I love being able to do this and I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to His Word as it's read aloud to me on my Bible app. 

Because I spend time with Him like I do a friend, I often sense Him near to me. There's a verse that talks about this very thing in James 4:8a. It says, Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. It's so true! The same thing can be said when the opposite of this happens. When I don't spend time with Him, He feels far off. About my quiet time in the mornings, I've been doing it consistently for long enough that it is now very much a habit. I have a morning routine down pat, and this time with Him is included in that. 

Physically

Well, if you read my post yesterday, you'll remember that I shared for accountability purposes the fact that some of the weight I'd lost before Christmas has slowly been creeping back on. I've been watching it happen a pound at a time, and honestly, I kind of didn't care for a while. Gone are the days of being able to eat whatever I want without a care in the world! Something in my brain snapped on Saturday, and I decided that enough was enough. 

Starting on Sunday of this weekend, I started all over again. I am being strict the first few weeks so that I don't give up, and after about a month, I'll loosen up a tiny bit. I'm not in a hurry to lose a certain amount of weight, and I don't want to be a certain weight or size, I just need to work on being healthier again. So, I'll be eating as close to gluten free as possible, because when I eat that, it causes inflammation in my body, and things hurt all over. I don't know if this means that I have an intolerance to gluten, or what, but I feel a hundred times better when I eat gluten free. This means no bread or white flour, no pasta, minimal amounts of rice (or even riced cauliflower), and little to no potatoes. In that process, I'm also giving up carbs and anything starchy. I've researched enough to know that it's best for me if I give those things up. But that's the thing: I'm not really giving anything up, except for sugar (minus what's in my creamer for my coffee). Often times when I eat healthy, I eat more food, because it's food that equals less guilt. I eat smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. I'm also making sure that when I do eat, I am getting in lots and lots of protein. That's what helps us stay full and to feel satisfied. I implement this in every meal (even my breakfast protein coffee drink over ice) and with every snack.

I am nowhere near anyone who actually knows what she's talking about here, but I've tested and seen the results in myself while implementing these things. I basically will eat anything that's considered a veggie, a few fruits, and meats, particularly the ones that are more lean. I know that I feel so much better when I do this, and honestly, I've already noticed a difference in how I feel since Sunday. I don't know if it's just psychological or what, but I can already tell that I have less pain. I've eaten so much better since then. 

Emotionally

I've been feeling healthy in my emotions lately. I could not say this before Christmas, and I was an emotional wreck most days. I do think this is largely hormonal and is also closely related to things going on in the circumstances that make up my life. You'll be glad to know that I've been able to (mostly) get it back together again; even so, I will always be an emotional person. I've always been this way, especially since I've been walking closely with Jesus. Even just writing that sentence brings me to tears, because my goodness, has He been good to me. I may have said this last month, but there's a (favorite) song of mine that CeCe Winans sings called Goodness of God that perfectly sums up these feelings. Just read them for yourself.

I love you, Lord

For Your mercy never fails me

All my days, I've been held in Your hands

From the moment that I wake up

Until I lay my head

Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

All my life You've been faithful

And all my life You've been so, so good

With every breath that I am able

Oh I will sing of the goodness of God

I love your voice

You have led me through the fire

In darkest night You are close like no other

I've known You as a Father

I've known you as a Friend

And I have lived in the goodness of God

See what I mean? I can personally attest to these words, because I've lived it and seen it over and over with my own eyes. Life has never been and will never be without its struggles and turmoil, but no matter what, God has been faithful to me in my life, and He will never be any other way. No matter the circumstance, He is always good; He is even more so during those times when we're struggling! If that's you today, know that He is merely one breath away. If you ever want to talk more about this, please reach out to me! I definitely don't have all the answers, but I can pray and sympathize, and I can share what I've done in my own life to feel close to the Lord.

Back to me being emotional, if you ever need a friend to cry with you, I am your girl. I wish I could tell you how often I tear up while I'm talking to people. I have literally always been told that I wear my heart on my sleeve, and that I need to toughen up, and though that's still true today, I will never be tough emotionally. I like to think I'm soft-hearted. 🤣

Personally

I feel like I've hit everything I wanted to talk about here today, but additionally, I'm always glad to be able to have things to look forward to. I have a fun "bloggers retreat" coming up in April that I am crazy excited for. I am dreaming of my next trip to Colorado so that I can see my family that lives there, and I'm even thinking of a trip I want Todd and me to take together. Also in life, I feel relieved about a few things I've had hanging over my head, some having to do with me personally, and others having to do with our sons. I won't share their stuff since it's not mine to talk about, but I am glad to be right here at this present day. 

It's your turn! You could pick one of these to chime in on about your life right now. Tell me how you're feeling right now! Also, if you ever need prayer for something, don't hesitate to ask. If you ever want to send that privately, you can email me at allboys@gmail.com. Just make sure and tell me who you are! Someone from here emailed me once, and I think I marked it as spam since there was no name attached. Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

I'm linking up with Joanne for today's post.