Wekk #4 in Review

Week #3 in Review

Well this wasn't my best week.  I was so tired from ice camp and had an all-night event this weekend and it really threw my schedule off.  I ran about 20 miles and my longest run was 8.5 miles.  I definitely did not do the reading I was supposed to do..at all.  So I need to hop back on it this week.  Mentally was also a rough week.  I was sooooo tired last week and it really gets ya down mentally when you are tired.  I am taking this next month and slowing my pace down as far as my scheduling goes.  I need to recuperate..end of story.  The length of this post compared to other reviews posts is an indicator of how I need rest.  i am keeping this short and brief.  Let me know how your week went?  What went well and what went bad?

Here is a video I keep watching over and over:  Check it out!!!

Ice Camp

This last weekend we took some students to ice camp! (It may have been the only weekend with snow in January so it worked out well).  We had a really great time.  There is something about sipping hot chocolate next to the fire at the lodge that you can't help but love.  However, the camp had a theme, and this year the theme was weird.  Simply being weird.  I know it sounds weird to be weird, right?  First let me define the term weird: 

adjective

1.  Involving or suggesting the supernatural; unearthly or uncanny.

2.  fantastic; bizarre.

Now, I needed to define that term because what I am about to say next would get me in trouble.  When I met my wife, Mickey, I was attracted to her because she was weird.  She was fantastic.  She was unlike any other woman I had ever met.  There was just something different about her that was so magnetic.  And not just for people people seemed to flock to her.  She never had a shortage of friends, people to talk to, or opportunities.  In fact Im convinced that most people only stand me so they can be around my wife.  Why is it we try to be like everyone else?  When we are like everyone else we are not always the person we were created to be.  I want people to look at me and say, "There is something kinda different about that guy."  So BE WEIRD!  It's ok.  It is what people will remember.  Here is a video of our Ice Camp, check it out!

Week #3 in Review

Week #3 in Review

This week was a challenge because I had a lot going on.  Elevate had our ice camp and it was a ton of work, but it was well worth it because we had a lot of fun.  I will blog about it later this week.  But with all the prep I really had to work in the things I needed to do.  

Physical

I did't get to run as many days as I would have liked but it was still good.  Ran more miles in the few runs I had.  But I still handled business! I still ran 4 days this week.  

-  Total Run -  about 23 miles this week.  (It was a walk/run combo.  Walked about 2 miles.)

-  Longest Run - 7.3 miles.  (I finished this run well.  I paced myself and ended the last mile and a half at about 6 mph.)

-  Eating -   This week was a challenge on eating, still did pretty well though.  Like I said we went to Ica Camp and usually camp food is pretty bad, but they had some healthy choices available which was a plus.  I only ate one unhealthy breakfast (the bacon was SOOOOOO good.)  I took healthy snacks with me and smuggled fruit out of the cafeteria.

-  Drinking -Again, drank a ton of water.  Also, the camp had some delicious hot chocolate that I am sure was not the healthiest, but it really warmed me up. 

Spiritual

-  With all the prep work from camp this was tough.  I battled between getting lessons ready for camp and doing my reading plan.  I did miss a day this week on my reading plan.

-  Prayer -- One of my favorite parts of my week is our Thursday staff meeting.  The reason for this is because we take most of this time and pray.  We pray for each other, other people, our church, things we have on our hearts, our spouses, our kids and I really love it because I really feel like the people sitting there with me really do care.  I know this sounds weird, but it is difficult for me to explain.  This week we even had a great discussion on prayer and how it is so easy to be the first thing that goes when life gets busy.  

Mental

- I had a tough mental week because I was soooo busy this week.  I felt very tired yesterday by the time I got home from Ice Camp.  My head hurt, my feet hurt, and I was tired.  I also have an all nighter this Friday night so I could be a dead person come Saturday.  I need to find time to recover for sure.

I am loving this adventure.  I really am.  I feel I am kind of reforming myself as a person and that is pretty cool.  I hope you are taking this journey as well and maybe becoming someone you have wanted to be.  Maybe a better spouse, parent, or child.  Perhaps becoming more physically, mentally, or spiritually fit.  Whatever it is, I hope that you achieve it.

Hitting the Wall

When you run a marathon it is a great experience.  It is a 26.2 mile race and it goes well until....the wall.  That magical last few miles where you feel like you go run over by a truck and then backed over again.  (If you haven't guessed it this is all second hand information because it pains me to even say the word marathon let alone run one.)  I know this is only week three into the new year.  Which means it is only 3 weeks into your new goals.  However, this, in my opinion is a "wall hitting" time.  We have done good the last couple weeks and now life is starting to catch up.  Work demands, family demands, and social demands all demand our time and in turn we slowly kinda push one thing after another off our goal page.  This has been and will continue to be a crazy week for me as will next week.  Our youth group has ice camp this weekend (which I am very excited about) and it demands a lot of my time as far as prep goes.  WIth that demanding some of my time my normal weekly routine items are being pushed back and later into the day, which takes from family time, which takes from fitness time.  You see the cycle right?  it is SO easy for this to happen.  Then, once we "fail at our goals" for a week it seems we never get back at them.  So, let me tell you what the challenge isn't.  The challenge is not to fail.  We will fail.  If we are trying anything tough at all we will fail.  The challenge is to make tomorrow a new day and get back at those things you have put in place to help you grow.  This week I am not running nearly as many miles as I did last week, that is ok.  Ill pick it back up next week and keep trucking along.  My schedule this week, it is crazy.  Ill adjust and move forward.  WHat are some walls you are running into?  Things you are doing to help you keep moving forward?  Comment.  Let me know!

Week #2 in Review

I felt like this was a great week for growth!  I hope it was for you as well.

Physical

This has been a great week physically for me.   I ran more miles this week than I have in a long time and I have had my longest run to date since high school.  

-  Total Run -  about 23 miles this week.  (It was a walk/run combo.  Walked about 3 of these miles.)

-  Longest Run - 5.75 miles.  (This run felt really really good.  it was one of those where I just wanted to keep running but I needed to get home.)

-  Eating -   I ate pretty good this week.  I am not going gunz blazin' on never eating another "bad" food again.  I will still have a slice of pizza at this point, just not 6 of them.  However, I really didn't make poor food choices this week.  Instead of snacking on garbage I chose healthy snacks:  carrots, fruit, almonds, etc.

-  Drinking - I drank a lot of water this week.  A LOT!  The only downside to drinking that much water is the amount of time I spend in the bathroom.  ( I know, TMI).  However, it keeps me feeling full and hydrated for the amount of running I have been doing.  I am really trying to eliminate pop and sugar drinks.    Also, due to some dietary issues, eliminating pop helps me to feel a lot better throughout the day.  

Spiritual

-  Still been doing my Youversion reading plans and they have been going well.  However, I think they may be a little to short.  I don't feel I am really challenging myself as far as what I am reading and should probably step it up.  

-  Prayer is an area I am really learning in.  It is difficult for me to grasp the concept that I am not just talking AT God, but communicating with God.  I am really trying to learn to listen more than I talk.  

Mental

-  Been getting better at writing things down as soon as I hear them.  Whether it be telling my iPhone to remind me to do things or putting them in my iCal.  

-  I really am trying to think differently.  Have a different outlook.  I have to admit that exercising and trying to grow myself spiritually is helping with my thinking.  It is amazing how all these areas are tied together.

Hope you all had a great week.  Please leave a comment with how your 2012 is going so far!  

Be Intentional

I have to admit at times I am really bad at being intentional.  I sometimes just kind of "fall" into things or circumstances with no original intention of getting their or being there.  At times this almost seems like an attractive option because it removes the responsibility from ourselves.  I was listening to a podcast this morning, Perry Noble at New Spring church, and he said something that caused me to ask Siri, my personal assistant, to remind me to blog about.  He said, "A growing relationship with Jesus is intentional, not accidental".  WOW.  This also applies to so many areas of life.  My marriage will not get better by accident.  My parenting will not magically be awesome when I wake up.  I will not get out of the shower in the morning and accidentlaly be 20 pounds lighter.  The cray thing is we treat life like this so often.  We meander through life just waiting for things to happen to us instead us happening to things.  If we want to get more physically fit we need to intentionally eat better and intentionally burn calories.  If we want to grow spiritually we need to intentionally set aside time in our schedule to read and communicate with God.  It is all about being intentional and this is something I am trying to be more intentional about.

Week 1 in Review

Every week I am going to review the week and how it went.

Physicall fitness:

     -  I ran 5 days this week.  It was rough but I did it.  I didn't run very far or very fast but I ran.  If we are friends on Facebook you can see how far or fast I ran via "Runkeeper"(an app for iPhone and Android).

     -  I ate a lot better and a lot less this week.  At this point I am still going to have a slice of pizza every now and then, just not eight of them.  One day for lunch I even ate half of my lunch and saved the other half for the next day.  Which not only saved me calories, but saved me some money as well.  DOUBLE WHAMMI!

     -  My sleep schedule was kind of all over the place this week.  The Michigan game had a lot to do with that.  But it was worth watching Michigan become the SUGAR BOWL CHAMPS!

Spiritual Fitness

     -  I have read my Youversion devotions every day this week, plus a little more here and there.

     -  Being totally honest, my prayer life is always one of the toughest areas for me.  i think it is because I am very proud at times and feel I can deal with things on my own and I dont need any help.

Mental Fitness

     -  As far as mentally...I need all the help I can get.  I re-set up all my calendars and switched the service that I was using.  I switched from Google calendar to iCal.  I really am trying to schedule days out so I don't just float through my days senselessly.

Hope you all had a great week and are growing closer to the person you want to become!

Youversion Study Tool

I posted a post on one of my other blogs about a great study tool called "Youversion".  I simply am going to repost this.  I have been using this for a coupl eyears now and it will change the way you read the bible and grow closer to God.  I promise.  Check out the post.

 It is an online bible study program that is FREE!  Yes, that is correct, I said FREE! FREE!  FREE!  That means it will cost you no money!  The web address is www.youversion.com and the home page will look like this... 

Once you get to this page it is best if you create an account fro yourself because it will track everything for you.  You can find this in the upper right hand corner of the screen, it says "sign in".  Once you have an account you can do Bible reading plans and it tracks everything for you!  Very user freindly and has a great interface.  Then if you look at the tabs at the top of the screen you will see some different options.  

In the "Bible" tabe you will see a "reader" you can use, different reading plans, the different books of the Bible, and different versions and translations if there is one you prefer to read over others.  

The next important section is the "My" section.  This is your section.  Personalize it all you want.  This is great for maybe following friends and their reading plans, their thoughts, and anything else that may say. As you can see mine profile name is melkins22 and you are more than welcome to look me up on there! Here you can also journal your own thoughts, see related links, bookmark certain things, and see contributions that people make on a certain verse.

The next section is the community section and that is pretty self-explanatory.  It helps you stay connected with other YouVersion users and communicate with them.  The last section is also obvious and that is the "Mobile" section.  Depending on your mobile device you can get you version on your phone.  I use an "Android" phone so I have a YouVersion app.  This has been great for me because whenever I am waiting in a waiting room, standing in line, riding (Not driving) in the car I can pull up my reading plan and just start reading.  Or if I need to know a verse I can pull my phone out and just look it up.  

The bottom line is this...you can get as in depth as you want or keep it as basic as you want.  For me, I like the heavy involvement just because I find that type of thing appealing.  I love technology, multi tasking, and learning new things so this was right up my alley.  I hope you find this useful and enjoy using it yourself.  Oh yeah, did I mention it was free!  Have fun!

Body, Mind, and Soul

Last week we started our new series at Connections Community Church, "Body, Mind, and Spirit".  If you missed it or just want to follow along I will post links to the videos right here on my blog!  So, check it out!
Here is the link:  http://vimeo.com/34539064

Being honest.

Throwing away chips from our cabinets.

Well I have a confession to make to all of you.  There is another love in my life besides my wife.  I know, crazy right!  This other love is.....food.  I love food.  I love all the flavors, textures, and styles of food.  See my problem isn't what I eat as much as it is the amount of food I eat.  When I sit down to eat I cant (or I should say I don't) eat proper portions.  Honestly, I have always prided myself on the amount of food I can eat.  I have entered burrito eating contests and have taken "steak challenges" at restaurants.  I have eaten more chicken wings then I care to admit and one time when fishing on lake Michigan the fishing was slow so I went down below in the boat and ate a bucket of KFC chicken that we brought.  When I am in the moment it doesn't appear gross to me, but as I type it i do realize how disgusting this is.  We talk about other sins and how serious they are, however, we rarely talk about gluttony and how it can be just as terrible for us.  I really want to show some control this year in not eating as much.  Last night I took a big step for me:  i turned down a slice of pizza.  I know this might not sound big to you but it is huge for me.  I dont even like pizza all that much but I love free food.  This was a huge step for me.  What are your traps?  Is there one particular food if given the chance you would eat an economy size box of it?  Share your thoughts.

Goals for 2012

A NEW YEAR!!!!


Well, it is a new year!  With that comes all kinds of excitement and anticipation.  We ask ourselves all sorts of questions like, "How am I going to change this year?  I want to make a difference, how do I do that?  How do I lose 20 lbs this year?" and I ask those same questions to myself.  So....I want to lay down some of my goals for this year!



Goals


1.  Fitness:  Lose 20 lbs this year.
     I am going to surround myself with some people that will help keep me accountable and motivate me.  I plan on using some apps to log my exercise and food intake (runkeeper & myfitnesspal).  I am going to try to workout 45 minutes for 4 days a week and eat smaller portions.  


2.  Spiritual:  Bible Reading/Silent Time
     I want to go through 2 different Bible reading plans this year that are found on Youversion.com (for more info email me or see the resource table at church):  Life Application Study Bible Devotion and Parenting by Design Daily Devotional.  Also, I need some silent time.  So many of my days are filled with noise, interruptions, and lack of communication with God.  This year I will take 1 day a quarter, go somewhere quiet, and pray, collect thoughts, and think about things to accomplish.  I know this sounds trite, but this is something I need to do.

3.  Mental:  Organize/Read
     I need to organize better.  Put systems into place that help me accomplish the things I need to accomplish.  This one is basic.  I will use a basic calendar app and my phone to remind me to do things, regardless of what I "want" to do sometimes.  Also I want to read 12 books this year