Lost Symbol, Hidden Meaning??

***If you have not read Dan Brown's new book and want to, I suggest you skip over this post***

I just finished up my morning devotional Bible reading time and a very odd and interesting thought struck me. Dan Brown's book The Lost Symbol. I know, weird, right? I read this book a couple of weeks ago and had some issues with it while I was reading it. I thought it was a great story, filled with lots of good suspense and wanting to know what would happen next. What was behind the story, however, not so to my liking. Like The DaVinci Code, this book is a chase to figuring out a mystery that will unlock some incredible knowledge. The Lost Symbol's chase was to find some hiding place that contained the knowledge of the "ancient mysteries", which is the knowledge that will make man equal to God. This is where things got a little irksome for me as I was reading. Despite enjoying the suspense of the novel, I found myself constantly being distracted by thoughts of "Come ON! We can never be equal to God!!! And how can you promote such insanity, Dan Brown?? *hiss*".

But then came today. As I was reading the Bible and learning new things to help me grow into a better person and have a more fulfilling life, it hit me. In Dan Brown's book, Robert Langdon (the main character) and his partners in crime do find the "lost symbol" aka "the word" that will bring man godly knowledge. Guess what they found? That special godly knowledge was in The Bible. While I don't really agree with how the book claims that there is all sorts of secret meaning to the gospels that will make man some powerful person that can change the universe's matter and do all sort of crazy science stuff, I do have to agree that The Bible is a powerful source to godly knowledge. And even though it is impossible, as we are all sinners and cannot completely remove that part of our nature, we are in fact meant to be equal to God. Yes. God wants us to be like Jesus. Jesus IS God. The Bible teaches us how. There you have it. The Bible IS in fact a book to hidden knowledge that can help us learn and grow to be like God, although not so secret since it is perpetually the top selling book in the world. And while I know that no matter how much I study that book I will never fully understand it and be able to apply it to my life 100%, I do know that its' worth giving a shot because it will undoubtedly teach me things that will only do good in my life. You know what? I didn't even have to go on a deadly, scary hunt through a bunch of symbolic puzzles to figure that one out either. Sorry, Robert Langdon. ;)

Thanks Be to God

The rest of the day went as planned. I got some cleaning done, play time, the gym, and relaxed with dinner and So You Think You Can Dance after some devotional reading with Peter. Makenzie and I even got out for a quick, light 20 min stroll before lunch. It is absolutely beautiful out right now and I adore fall so I couldn't pass up a light walk, even if my body is a little on the tired side. While strolling this afternoon, my mind wandered to prayerful time and I spent it all just thanking God immensely. It was nice to see that drop this morning and while I want to say "thank you" to everyone for the compliments and virtual high-fives I realize that I most need to say thanks to the Big Man. Without Him I am nothing, but with my faith in Him I can do or be ANYTHING. In reality - He is the only reason I am making the progress I need to make. Consider the things that go into prep -

• TIME - he blesses me with the opportunity to stay at home and not have the added time/stress of work so I can continue to focus on the important things and fit in the workouts for prep
• SUPPORT - he blesses me with a caring husband who is there for me doing whatever it takes to help me get what needs to be done done, with friends who understand my endeavor and don't try to hinder my goals, with family who will be there rooting for me on show day
• HEALTH - if He wanted to He could incapacitate me physically, but instead God chooses to give me the physical strength to do all of my workouts
• FINANCES - we are able to afford the healthy meals for our family, the suits, the gym memberships, the tanner/makeup/waxing/etc that goes into a good prep...in this economy Peter finding his new job with better pay is truly a miracle and blessing done by Him
• DETERMINATION - it is said over and over in the Bible that God is your strength and will lift you up...my will power can't carry me through, only knowing that when I am weak there is someone backing me up gives me the motivation and strength to keep on keeping on

So, while yes I am the one doing the workouts, eating the right things, putting in the sweat and growling tummies, it is still not my complete doing. So give credit where credit is due. Thank you Lord for ALL you do in my life!

Today's Stuff

Training: Chest & Back - all 4x8-10

lat pulldown

incline bb bench

one arm db row

db bench

underhand bb row

flat db flyes

cable row

hammerstrength bench

Cardio: 50 min SS elliptical 

Extra Prep Stuff: None

Macros - 253 C / 41 F / 151 P

HIGH DAY YUMMY YUMMY

meal 1 = pumpkin protein pancakes (1sc All the Whey cinnamon PP, 50g eggbeaters, .5c pumpkin) w/ .25c SF syrup & pumpkin pie spice

meal 2 = 1c Kashi GoLean/1c Frosted MiniWheats/10oz unsweet vanilla almond milk, omelet (100g southwestern eggbeaters/1 TJs apple chicken sausage)

meal 3 = wrap (Joseph's Lavash wrap, 3oz chicken, .5T light mayo, .5T dijon, 20g lettuce, 20g red onion), 115g apple, 100g cucumbers

meal 4 = 8oz unsweet chocolate almond milk/1sc All the Whey chocolate PP, luna bar

meal 5 = 4oz chicken/50g red bell pepper/100g sugar snap peas/.5c brown rice stirfry

meal 6 = skinny cow icecream sandwich

Goodlife Sunday

As previously mentioned, each Sunday I will devote a post to what was discussed in the Sunday class I lead called The Goodlife. Continuing with the series based on Max Lucado's book Just Like Jesus and how our hearts should be aligned to be in Jesus' example, we looked at the importance of worship and being "God-intoxicated" in our lives. What perfect timing for this lesson after all my realizations this week, huh? ;) 


We started looking at worship? What does it mean to you to worship? Is there one certain way to worship? We all agreed that there is no prescription for the "right" way to worship, as long as it is done with a pure heart and joy and is honoring God. Things got tricky though when we delved into what do you hope to get from going to church, reading the Bible, studying religion, praying, communing with fellow believers....worship? Many of us will go to a church service, listen to an inspirational song, read a few Bible verses, talk about our faith with the expectation of feeling "nice". Thinking we have done our part, checked it off the list, etc. Max Lucado made a strong point that we should be worship hungry. We should be LONGING for our time to worship. We should approach each Sunday morning (or Friday night or Saturday afternoon or Wednesday evening...whenever you worship) with true passion. We SHOULD be coming to worship like a child awaiting Christmas morning, like a bride awaiting her walk down the aisle, like a competitor ticking off the days til show with excitement (yes, guilty as charged here). We SHOULD be excited about worship and seek more than just "nice". And NO - that doesn't mean we should be going in with expectations to get new revelations, guidance, etc. Worship is to GIVE TO God....not GET from a pastor, verse, etc. Yes, it can help us grow and open our eyes but that is not the purpose. After all, our number one purpose on this Earth is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength (Matthew 22:37)....in sense, to WORSHIP! That is a whole new way of looking at worship - to go excited, with a heart ready to give instead of receive, and to let your passion for God just flow from within you and in the process be renewed with His love. 


How do we approach worship in such a way? How do we carry this passion into our everyday lives? By becoming "God-intoxicated". By believing that God is with us all the time and that we are in constant communion with Him. Our relationship with Him is compared to branches on a vine (John 15:5-7), us a heavenly temple He resides in (1 Corinthians 6:19), and a marriage (Revelation 21:2). We work TOGETHER. He is by our side, connected to us, and we have the power to tap into that and use it in our lives. To be strong, determined, and steadfast in His love. Know that you are connected to God. Know that you are close to Him and He is always there for you....and thank Him for that security and never-ceasing support. Worship Him for it. 

Refocusing

Good morning all! I firstly want to thank you wonderful women for all the support :) It truly means a lot. And while I know the cereal won't kill my progress (as was visible this morning when I could still see all my abs ;) hehe), the thing that concerned me the most is that I was blindly eating and more than I knew was necessary (we are talking a BIG bowl here, with 2nds of that monster to follow). The way I was eating reminded me of how I felt and ate when I used to binge. The amount may have been MUCH less, but still the attitude and approach and thought processes that went into it are what scared the (you know what) out of me. I have not done something so self-sabotaging in so long. Even in times this past year I have eaten a bit more than I should have or eaten something extra/"off-plan" it was never in such a secretive, guilty, spiteful, negative manner. I do NOT want to go back there. I REFUSE to go back there. 


So, what now? I realized a few things yesterday after sharing what happened with Peter and talking out my thoughts, hurts, etc. with him. The past couple of months I have been very driven by this competition. No one can deny that planning the food, organizing the details, getting the workouts in, taking time to practice posing/research online/etc etc etc takes a lot out of a person. Despite all that, I have not let this all get in the way of my responsibilities as a wife and mother. Peter says that he doesn't see a difference in attitude or how I treat him, he doesn't see an excessive change in my time with him and M, and overall doesn't notice a change in those general aspects of my life. But deep down, I knew something wasn't right. I knew something wasn't aligned right with my life. And when taking a closer look - it hit me smack hard across the face that what I claim is the most valuable part of my life is what was slipping into the very spare moments I could grab in a day instead of the focus of my day. My relationship with God - my faith. 


Now to some that may seem cheesy or superficial. But I can't ignore the fact that every tough time in my life I was only able to come through it by putting it in God's hands and turning my focus back to Him. From small things such as stresses of school or work, to big things like a changing relationship with my father, He has been the only true help I could count on and that would suddenly help everything seem right and manageable. I have to get that part of my life in order so that I can get through the remainder of prep. Otherwise I very well could end up back in a very dark place, which would in the process be spitting in God's face after He has already helped me out of said "dark place". So here goes - 


God, 
50 days left in this prep. 50. That's it. Right here, right now, I recommit these next 50 days to spending more time growing my faith and getting back to my solid habits that sustain me there. I put my focus on YOU the next 50 days, knowing that by doing so I will make it to that stage fulfilled, happy, with more to my life than pride. These next 50 days will be a whole lot less about me me me and what I can do and whole lot more about YOU and knowing it is only through YOUR will, support, and guidance that I can do anything. I am going to try refocusing how I look at each day. I will begin each day a few minutes earlier so I can have some time to be with You in prayer and get my thoughts aligned with You for the day. I will pray before workouts, before meals, at night after devotional reading with Peter, all day - every chance I get. After all - we are commanded to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I will turn my radio to 104.7 (sidenote to readers: the popular Christian station - and no it isn't all gospely crazy music like you may think - I actually enjoy this music a LOT and its my 1st preprogrammed station anyways - even if I have found myself slipping off it more recently). I will focus more on the lessons I prepare for each Sunday's lesson, instead of just going through the motions to get it done. I give these next 50 days to You, God. Help me use them as a way to honor You. And knowing your great love for me, that You will bless me and honor me in return by putting me on that stage on November 7th strong, confident, happy, and beaming with the love you have for me. 
Love, your daughter, 
Christina


This may seem tedious to some, but I can guarantee you that if you gave realigning your focus a shot, once you got into the habit it would be seamless and so incredibly worth it. That is the truth for me and that is what I must do now. 50 Days. It's a gift. I must use it wisely. Which even includes resting my back today ;)