Today is a long, busy, fun day with my dear, dear friend Heather (Cheaper By the Dozen), so I will post my Fabulous Family Friday as Marvelous Mommy Monday next week! (Gotta love that alliteration!) 
Have a blessed weekend, dear friends!
Fabulous Family Friday?
January 28th, 2011T-Tapp Tuesday! Did I Diet?!
January 25th, 2011Sorry I’m a bit late in the day here! Today was music teaching day so I’ve been busy between that and catching moments to work on 2 essays for my personal trainer certification!
So the big question–did I diet?
Big answer–NO!
I am not for deprivation diets of any sort. Even when I was a part of First Place, a Bible study weight loss program, I didn’t go below 1800 calories.
I am an emotional eater, and one thing I’ve learned is that any extreme focus on food, either avoiding certain foods or even eating more healthy foods, is counterproductive.
When I started T-Tapp, I weighed 175 lbs., which is exactly what I weighed before I had Isaiah….four months before! I had lost very little when he was born, and then regained 10 lbs. over the next few months. Nothing I did, even “being good” and not eating too many treats over the holidays, did anything to budge a single pound off. I had started working out with my routine again (core exercises from Peggy Brill’s The Core Program, light weight training, and rebounding) and again…not a single pound, inch, centimeter budged–nada.
Teresa often says if you have to focus on movement or diet, choose movement. You are at least moving lymph and expending some calories. You can diet and get small, but you cannot diet and get healthy or diet and build muscle. You must move to build muscle, tone up, and help move out the toxins you’ve stored in that fat!
In fact, T-Tapp advocates not focusing on food when you first start. I started T-Tapp in January 2007 (4 years ago tomorrow!), and I didn’t worry about anything food-wise until March. At that time, I was still nursing Isaiah completely, so I just focused on not eating as much bread and pasta (which I ate way too much of!). Although First Place advocated exchanges instead of calories, I still got tired of counting things. It did, however, show me how imbalanced my eating was!
Baby steps–that’s how I did it.
I started eating dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. Then started eating a better chocolate (Endangered Species 72% dark, as a matter of fact!). After awhile, regular variety chocolate started tasting like wax! Even to this day, if I give in at the check-out and get a Milky Way (what I used to buy a LOT!), I eat a few bites, and wonder WHY did I even bother?! YUCK!
I started only having half a piece of bread at dinner instead of two. Still had butter on it, though! And sometimes homemade freezer jam, too!
Added more vegetables in my diet (still struggle with that one).
After a few years of T-Tapp, I learned about Dr. Diana Schwarzbein and The Schwarzbein Principle. I started eating that way as much as I could, and after a period of not losing for 2 months, started losing weight, inches and sizes! Unfortunately, life got in the way after a few months, and although I didn’t regain, my progress was more sporadic.
I hit an adrenal crash a year and a half ago by doing two no-no’s: I didn’t eat enough protein and I overdid it with exercise at the same time. If you don’t eat enough protein (and carbs–you need carbohydrates to synthesize protein AND to metabolize fat!), your body will catabolize itself (think “cannibalize”!). It must have amino acids and it will do all to keep circulation, respiration and digestion happening.
Most “weight loss diets” have you cutting way back on one of the major macronutrients–protein, carbohydrates, or fats. Now, anything in excess is not good! But you shouldn’t cut way down on your complex carbohydrates. This is backed up by science, that your body needs some carbs to metabolize fat and synthesize protein. You need protein to build body tissues. You need good fats to help you stay full AND it is an essential ingredient for healthy skin and hair AND helps in transporting fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K–I always thought low-fat or non-fat milk fortified with vitamin D was a bit of a joke! You need the fat to synthesize the D!). Dietary fat also provides you with essential fatty acids which are needed for many bodily functions, including regulating your blood pressure.
Let’s take a typical scenario:
You go on a “diet”. You start losing weight and feel encouraged. After a little while, though, you hit the dreaded plateau. You then decide you need either a new diet, to lower your caloric intake, and/or exercise more. Sometimes, that works. Then you hit another plateau. Now it’s not working, so you conclude that diet is not working for you. You try another one. And the pattern repeats itself.
A very important thing you need to know is that a plateau is NOT a bad thing! Losing weight and inches is a good thing, but it is still a stress on your body. When you burn fat, remember fat stores toxins and hormones. So as you burn it off you are getting rid of that, but it may not feel so great! The body needs to regroup and rebalance after a period of loss.
What also happens, if you are not getting enough of the right ratio of nutrients, is that your body assumes it is in a famine. Now, in case you didn’t know, muscles burn more calories than fat. The body says, “We’re in a famine! GET RID OF THE MUSCLE AND HANG ON TO THE FAT! We’re going to need it for this famine!” Basically it resets your metabolism. Now 1500 calories no longer will “work” for weight loss. You need 1200. But what happens when the body resets for 1200 calories for maintenance? How low can you go?
My mom was anorexic. She never admitted it, but anyone who knew her could tell you that. I don’t know what started it, but for the past 20 years she had trained her body to quit eating enough. And it was quite obvious as her body ate itself up—she looked like a Holocaust victim.
You may say that’s not happening to you. Your scale tells you you’re losing body fat and not muscle mass. I had never figured out how standing on a scale is going to measure that. So I looked it up and found those type of scales use “Bioelectrical Impedance”. I’m going to quote from my trainer’s manual, “Fitness: The Complete Guide” from the International Sports Sciences Association (p. 346):
“Keep in mind that BIA devices were developed mostly for the population at large and use calculations and norms for the average person. In addition, recent scientific reviews of thes emethods indicate that they are unreliable.”
I would not rely on those to tell me I’m really not losing muscle mass! I don’t always fit into the “population at large’s” statistics!
The ISSA doesn’t condone any diet or eating plan that goes below 1200 calories unless for a medical reason that is closely monitored by a doctor. I personally believe even 1200 is low.
The big problem with low calorie diets or cutting out a nutrient (such as low carb) is that it is damaging your metabolism.
Breaking down, or catabolism, uses up your neurotransmitters, and actually releases “feel good” hormones. That is why people get “addicted” to exercise. Dieting can do the same thing. But there must be a building up phase, or anabolism, and typically that doesn’t feel as good. Someone whose metabolism is damaged may not feel bad symptoms until they stop the behavior that’s damaging. Then they feel worse, so they think, “I’m going back on my diet!” or “I’m going back to my workout routine! I felt much better before!”
The time of rebuilding can even mean weight gain. That is not what we want to hear! But you must be willing to go through this time of rebuilding if you want to be well in the long run.
Sure, some of these diets and eating plans make you feel great–for now. You may even have great results! (for now) Dr. Diana Schwarzbein is an endocrinologist who has been helping people get well, mainly through a way of eating, for 20 years. She firmly believes that many of the “degenerative diseases of aging” are really diseases of a damaged metabolism.
If you are interested in learning more about The Schwarzbein Principle, I have posted links at the end of this post I would advise you read the transition page first. Then go back and read through The Program tab to get an overview of the 5 steps.
I made a comment on my Fabulous Family Friday that if you don’t fuel your body well, you will be fooled by food! We think we’re doing the right thing–but face it–food is to fuel our bodies. Yes, it’s nice to have comfort and fellowship, but those are not to be food’s main purpose. If you are an emotional eater, going on a diet or doing something to decrease your appetite is not going to solve the underlying problem, and that form of idolatry may just find its way into another area of your life.
The flip-side of that is if you only eat when you’re hungry, you may also be fooled. If you have a damaged metabolism, you may well not be hungry when you should be.
Dr. Schwarzbein explains a lot of this in her excellent books. “The Schwarzbein Principle” is a good book giving you the basis of her program. “The Schwarzbein Principle II: The Transition“, is to me, the “textbook” explaining much of the whys and hows and helps you figure out where your metabolism is, all without being too technical. “The Program” gives a Reader’s Digest Condensed version of it all and gets right into the program itself. All three books have sample menu plans, and the first book even has a few recipes.
She has you eating 3 meals and 2 balanced snacks a day. That is interesting, because do you know what my trainer’s manual advocates for building muscle density? 5-6 smaller meals a day! With a balance of good fats, good carbs, veggies and protein!
The thing I love about SP is that it is doable. I am not doing it 100% right now, but just getting the basics of the balance of protein, good carbs, good fats and non-starchy veggies is a big help. When I was doing this last spring (during my Daniel Fast, I was careful to get plenty of protein from legumes and nuts, and to balance the meals according to SP) I started losing again and felt really good–mental clarity, less foggy brain, less hormonal issues, and even my eyesight cleared up!
Dr. Schwarzbein’s motto is:
“You have to eat well to build well and feel well, and you don’t lose weight to get healthy, you get healthy to lose weight!”
I say a hearty AMEN to that!
Your body has to perceive overall health and that it will be fueled well to release the fat. You may need to give it time to “believe you” that you’re not going to turn around and starve it–again! But once your metabolism heals, you will lose the excess fat in a way that is sane and healthy.
To date, after 4 years of T-Tapping, I have only lost at the most 38 pounds. I have regained about 9 since Mom died last May. But I kept losing inches even on fewer workouts over the summer!
The amazing thing is–I have lost 174 inches! And 8 sizes! (Well, probably regained one of those!) All I can say is muscle density is GREAT! 
That is why I often say, “Weight doesn’t matter!” If you are gauging your success on how much “weight” you’ve lost, may I suggest a better way?
There is a place for losing weight, but the scales absolutely cannot be the measure of success of a way of eating or an exercise program.
You want overall good health–not just a thinner body.
You want more lean muscle mass–muscle density, not just less fat.
You want to do all you can to live a full life as long as God allows–not just exist as you get older.
To do that, you have to move (T-Tapp!) and you have to fuel your body well (for me, that’s Schwarzbein!)
Following are some links that you may find helpful!
May we strike the word “diet” from our vocabulary and just focus on healthy, balanced eating!
I want to end this rather lengthy post (!) with a quote by Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, from the page on the transition on her website:
In the healing phase your body will repair itself from the damage caused previously by years of poor nutrition and lifestyle habits. You always have higher insulin than adrenaline/cortisol levels during this phase because this is a rebuilding time.
It may seem as if you are in suspended animation during this phase because though you are healing, it doesn’t feel or seem that way. As you improve your habits, you are rebuilding your biochemicals at a much higher rate than you are using them up, and this causes you to feel tired and to gain fat weight.
During the healing phase you expose your current metabolism because your hormones will react to your new and improved nutrition and lifestyle habits and reflect their true state.
Unfortunately, your body will not start working efficiently the moment you improve your habits. As previously stated, you did not damage your metabolism overnight, and you will not heal it overnight. During the healing phase, you are still hormonally out of balance.
The more damaged your current metabolism is, the longer you will need to stay in the healing phase and the more fat your body produces. In fact, as your ratio of insulin to adrenaline/cortisol increases, your symptoms will worsen.
As awful as this may sound, this is your body’s only way to heal. So do not be put off by the healing phase–it is simply a reflection of the damage that came before it. Since insulin is a rebuilding hormone and adrenaline and cortisol are using up hormones, you can only heal from years of using up your biochemicals by rebuilding them– this means higher insulin to adrenaline/cortisol levels. Unfortunately, even though you begin to improve your habits, the damage has already been done by your previous poor habits. Therefore, you will not instantly reap the rewards of your better habits.
The Schwarzbein Principle homepage:
http://www.schwarzbeinprinciple.com/pgs/home.html
The page you MUST read about the transition (especially “The Healing Phase” about half-way down, where the above quote came from):
http://www.schwarzbeinprinciple.com/pgs/program/transitn_read_more.html
(In case anyone wonders, no, I have not done her GI testing. I can see it could be beneficial, but it is not necessary to “do” the Schwarzbein Program.)
A picture of 5 lbs. of fat and 5 lbs. of muscle so you can see how the same “weight” can take up less space!
http://cat_mania.tripod.com/fatmuscle.html
A thread on T-Tapp that I compiled a few years ago of many other threads which will convince you that “weight doesn’t matter”!
http://forum.t-tapp.com/showthread.php?63950-Weight-Doesn-t-Matter-Repeat-After-Me!
Another thread I started about a plateau not being a bad thing:
http://forum.t-tapp.com/showthread.php?69913-A-Plateau-Is-*Not*-Always-a-Bad-Thing!
Fabulous Family Friday! Taking Care of Mama!
January 21st, 2011You’ve heard the saying: If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!
There’s a BIG element of truth in there!
We truly are the “heart of the home”, and if we’re having a bad day….somehow it seems the rest of the family is, too!
We mamas are usually giving from dawn to dusk (and sometime from dusk to dawn!), serving our families in one aspect or another. Often the tyrrany of the urgent drives us, and the important priorities don’t always happen.
One big one is, taking care of ourselves.
Let me say right off I’m not advocating some aspect of “me time” at the expense of your family. There’s enough written about that out in the world!
But neither is it some form of Godliness to let yourself get so run down to the point you can no longer function well in your roles as child of God, wife, mama and homemaker. Sometimes illness or a crisis (or several!) just makes it hard…sometimes it is our choices that lead to this point.
In my studies for becoming a personal trainer with T-Tapp, it has been interesting to see it reiterated over and over how our lifestyle choices are most often what cause the degenerative diseases of aging. The seemingly “out of nowhere” fatigue, fibromyalgia, aches and pains, arthritis, thyroid issues, burned out adrenals….they didn’t come from bad genes or a virus, but little choices along the away that add up to BIG consequences!
(Sounds a bit like something I’ve read in the Bible somewhere….. )
Now, there is the caution that we don’t become obsessed with being thin, looking youthful, or even eating well and being healthy. We know as Christians that we live in a fallen world, and you can do a lot of things right and still suffer.
But neither do I think we should ignore the physical and suffer for our own foolish choices! If we’re going to suffer, let it be for God’s glory and not for our foolishness!
I know as a young mama, taking care of all these areas at one time during some seasons of your life may not happen. But your heart should be to do what you can in each season of life. Because I’m here to tell you now, there will be a price to pay. You can either do what you can to pay it now, and reap the dividends later, or you can say “I just don’t have enough energy to think about that right now” and you will also reap the dividends of that later–but it won’t be as pleasant!
1. Time with the Lord
Yes, I know it’s tough with little ones. I love how Nancy Campbell often admonishes mamas of many littles to keep their Bible by the kitchen sink. Grab a verse here and there. Or if “all” you get to read is half a Psalm, turn that into a prayer back to your Lord! That’s what the Psalms were, anyway–hymns of praise to the Lord! (Complaint sometimes, too, but always ending back on praise!)
Work on memorizing a verse–say it while diapering and doing dishes. Your little ones can learn along with you. Come up with hand motions (ASL browser has come in handy for me! I used to borrow books from the library to come up with signs!) So what if you only memorize one verse a week? Or even a month? That’s better than none!
One other thing you can do to feed your soul is sing hymns and praise songs! Keep a hymnbook of choice handy with your Bible. Or copy off a hymn you’re learning and tape it in a prominent place you spend a lot of time. We try to sing a “hymn of the week” so my children will be more familiar with some of the great hymns. At one time we even had a “hymn of the month”–that’s even better! They will know that hymn forwards and backwards! And so will you!
2. Emotional Health
This is pretty easy to write about, and pretty hard to do!
Probably the biggest 3 things you can do for your emotional health are:
1. Trust God
2. Let go of things
3. FORGIVE!
You have to begin with #1 or you can’t do #2 and #3! Too many times our issues really stem from not trusting God for Who He says He is. We don’t realize that and we’d certainly never say, “Oh I don’t really believe God is able to do that! I don’t believe He is Who He says He is!” but our actions say it quite loudly!
I read something very interesting in a book by John Ortberg, Faith and Doubt (highly recommend it, by the way!).
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
Ben Patterson tells of a common experience of westerners, particularly missionaries, traveling through jungle sections of the Amazon. They will ask members of a village to give them directions to where they want to go. “I have a compass, a map, and some coordinates.” The villager knows precisely the directions to get them there, but he offers to take them himself.
“No, that’s okay. I don’t want a guide. I just want directions.”
“That’s no good. I must take you there.”
“But I have a map right here. And I have a compass. And the coordinates.”
“It does not work that way. I can get you there, but I must take you myself. You must follow me.”
We prefer directions, principles, steps, keys. We prefer these things because they leave us in control. If I’m holding the map, I’m still in charge of the trip. I can go where I want to go. If I have a guide, I must trust. I must follow. I must relinquish control.
God is not much on maps and compasses and coordinates. Life just doesn’t work that way. We don’t need directions. We need a Guide.
~Faith and Doubt, p. 172 by John Ortberg (emphases mine)
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
You will probably see that quote again on my blog. It profoundly puts the proverbial finger right on our pulse, in many areas!!!
When we can’t “trust God”, we’re really saying, “I want to stay in control”. So the first step MUST be to trust Him. Then you can place things in His hands and leave them there.
And then you can forgive. Forgiveness helps you more than the offender. When you really boil it down, if you can’t forgive the person before they even ask for forgiveness (or if they ever do), you really won’t be able to forgive from the heart when they do ask.
Isn’t that what God did for us?
#3. Physical Health and Well-Being
Again, let me say I am not promoting a physical focus to the detriment of all else. No obsessing!
This is why I love T-Tapp! (You knew I had to include that, right?! 
)
In just 15 -20 minutes a day, you can get some movement in, for way less than the cost of a gym membership (besides, who has time to run to the gym for 1 1/2 hours daily?!) You can even do it every other day, and while you may not see major inch loss, you will still feel better for getting that lymph pumping and some movement in.
In fact, many people address diet first. Well, way of eating. Ah, neither one sounds good! (Diet has DIE in it and way of eating is often shortened to WOE! LOL!)
Actually, your first thought should be to get movement in. Walking is good. I will say, though, that walking is generally not as all-over body conditioning. I know, because I walked for several years before finding T-Tapp. It was definitely helpful, but the lump in my armpit didn’t get smaller with walking. It did with T-Tapp!
So you’re moving now, but what about eating? Is it any wonder eating has become a billion dollar business—the food industry, the diet industry, the supplement industry—it’s enough to make your head spin!
And there is so much out there! Low carb, high carb, low protein, high protein, no fat, good fat, no sugar, fasting, low calorie, and a plethora of diet plans that have variations on the theme.
The problem is, though, that if we don’t understand how our bodies are fueled by food, we can be fooled by food!
It is not a matter of calories in=calories out. You don’t figure how many calories for maintenance and go below that to lose “weight”. (You’ll lose, indeed. Usually more muscle mass and water than fat!) Nor do you figure how much to exercise to get your caloric intake just right.
It is far more complicated than that.
I’ll be sharing more next Tuesday on my T-Tapp Tuesday about food and dieting, but I wanted to share today, for you busy mamas, that getting moving and making sure you are eating as well as you can are more important than restricting calories to get thin, or thinking cutting food groups out will make you healthier.
Balance is the key. If you eat a balance of good protein, good carbs, good fats and non-starchy vegetables, that will do so much good for your body’s metabolism. In fact, if you just add more veggies into your eating, that alone will take care of some “poor choices”! I’m not going to say, “give up sugar”, but make sure you’re getting plenty of other good food, too!
And one last thing for today–drink water! You need half your body weight in ounces a day–more on hot days and when you exercise (meaning you don’t count the two glasses you drink while exercising as part of your normal total!). Nursing mamas would obviously need a little more, too!
If that has you confused, I’ll demonstrate:
I weigh 146 lbs. right now. So I would need half of that, 73 but in ounces. So I need to drink nine 8 oz. glasses of water during the day.
It’s best to drink it throughout the day, and try not to gulp down water with meals. Sipping water at a meal is fine, but that should not be where you get most of your water intake! When your children (or you!) come to the dinner table and gulp down water first thing, that is a sure sign they didn’t drink enough throughout the day!
Our bodies need water for many functions, and it strengthens the immune system.
AND–by the time you’re actually “thirsty”, you are already dehydrated!
So, busy mama–fill yourself a pitcher with the right amount of water in it, and make sure it’s empty by the end of the day. That will help you make sure to get your water quota in! If you find it hard to drink water, adding slices of lemon or lime or even cucumbers can help it taste refreshing and make you actually want to drink more!
Please take time to take care of yourself, young mama! (And older ones, too!) Really, none of these steps requires much in the way of money, and really, not even that much time. They do, however, require some effort to make them work. But as in much of life, a little effort will bring rich rewards in refreshing you and helping you to be the best daughter of our Father, wife, mama and homemaker that you can be.
HUGS to you as you seek the Lord on how to take care of yourself, for His glory!
Then everyone will be happy…because mama is!
Deep Discount Tuesday!
January 18th, 2011T-Tapp offers a Deep Discount Tuesday the third Tuesday of every month, and today’s is a GREAT DEAL!
The T-Tapp Broom workout for only $20!!! (Regularly $39.95)
Click HERE to take advantage of this great deal, but only until midnight EST!
I love Broom because of the options! Using the broom helps you both use those lats as well as keep the shoulders back in alignment with the hips, both important for inch loss!
The MORE on this dvd is just three moves! Yes, 34 minutes for three moves! It is a clinic version and you will glean a lot of form tweaks from this part of it alone!
During the Broom Warm-Up there was an unexpected fire alarm! If you fast forward through that part, the warm-up is closer to 15 minutes.
Broom has options–and you know I love options!
If you’ve been thinking about getting Broom, this is an EXCELLENT deal!
Happy Tappin’ with your Broom!
T-Tapp Tuesday!
January 18th, 2011I really need to get back to blogging on a regular basis here!
I decided in addition to posting on Fridays, I’m also going to post about T-Tapp on Tuesdays.
Of course I’ve posted about it before (just click the T-Tapp category!), about my results both health-wise and inch-wise.
I’ve not been as consistent since my mom died last spring. The amazing thing is, until the last few months, I really didn’t gain that much back! What T-Tapp has done to help my metabolism is amazing!
I remember when I started, just a year later I got into a funk in January. I did 3 short workouts weekly, and fought with the same 3/4 inch for the whole month! (Gain it, lose it, gain it back, lose it again, gain it back…)
Six months later (1 1/2 years into “tapping”), I had another 3-short-workouts-a-week month due to busyness, and I maintained!
That was obviously an improvement!
I can’t remember the next time I had a spurt like that–maybe a year or so later–I actually kept losing inches while doing 3 short workouts a week!
And now, barely getting 1-2 in (some weeks none) from May to October, I basically maintained!
You can’t keep doing that, of course, but what a testimony of the ability of this powerful workout to deliver–yes, truly, in just fifteen minutes a day! This is THE workout for busy mamas!
To date, I’ve lost 174 inches, 8 sizes (well, I probably gained one back since spring!) and only 29 pounds. The most I’ve lost pound-wise is 38 pounds, then I lost 7 inches and gained 7 pounds–no, I do not understand how that works other than muscle density is TREMENDOUS!
As you gain muscle (and you may put on 5 or more pounds of spinal muscle density the first few weeks of T-Tapp), that muscle burns more calories at rest. Fat burns no calories at rest! I firmly believe that is why I’ve been able to maintain on fewer workouts during this time.
I jokingly say I’m trading fat for muscle! Of course, it’s a matter of burning off the fat and building muscle. This is why if you hang around the T-Tapp forums at all, you will often see me say, “Weight Doesn’t Matter!” I realize if you are having knee or hip issues weight plays a part–but to just lose the weight without also building muscle means you are losing muscle mass–NOT what you want!
And the beautiful thing about T-Tapp is it rehabilitates your body from the inside out! So as you are doing T-Tapp, you are helping to rehab your knees, build muscle AND lose the weight/inches you need to!
My life has been so changed and touched by T-Tapp, that after praying and seeking God’s will, I’ve decided (with my husband’s blessing) to pursue being a T-Tapp Trainer. It’s a big shift for me–the foreign language major! Physiology and muscle kinesiology (big name for studying how muscles move! LOL!) were definitely not my forte in school!
The more I learn, though, the more and more amazed I am at how God designed our bodies–we truly are fearfully and wonderfully made!
This whole venture is only possible because of the gift of some money my mom had left. In a small way, it is a way to keep her memory alive and honor her, by using this to help others.
I am close to finishing my ISSA trainer test–have some written work to do! Ever try to write an essay on 6 major body joints, their functions, and exercises using them?! Yeah, me neither! But I’m doing it now!
My goal is to be done with the ISSA part by January 26–next week!–which is my four year anniversary from when I started T-Tapp. Who could have imagined 4 years ago that an exercise program would impact my life so much?!
After finishing the ISSA studies, I can then move on to mentoring–which is when I actually get to practice torturing tweaking my friends’ form!
I’m looking forward to helping others find the improved health, flexibility, function and yes, even inch loss, that I have experienced.
I would appreciate prayers as I come to mind, that I will do well in my “studies” and also that I would keep foremost the goal of doing this for the glory of God.
If you’ve not been to the T-Tapp homepage, you can click the link on my sidebar and it will open a a new window and take you to the store. For the homepage, click here.
A few posts you might find interesting on the T-Tapp forums:
Weight Doesn’t Matter–Repeat After Me!
A Plateau Is *Not* Always a Bad Thing!
Did I diet, you ask? Come back next week and I’ll share!
~Merry Christmas!~
December 25th, 2010
Wishing you all a very Blessed Christmas!
May the love of our Blessed Redeemer shine through you
all throughout the year.
(Not So) Wordless Wednesday–Do You Think God Sends Cards from Heaven?
December 22nd, 2010Well, not literally!
But in the past week, He’s “sent” two to me!
Last week I found myself at K-Mart. I don’t go there often, but we had received a gift card, so I went to see if anything there would meet our needs (or Christmas list wishes!).
I decided to look at their cards, thinking of buying one for my husband.
I found this one…..
The front and the sentiment inside are exactly like something my mom would have sent me!
Of course I bought it! (Actually, between the gift card and a $10 off special for signing up for a buying club, it was free!)
I marvel how the Lord gives us something sweet like that just when we need it!
But He wasn’t done yet….
I posted Friday how I was slaying the Stuff Monster in the shop….well, his cousin resides in my sewing room! And this one is even more sinister and ugly in some ways! *ewwwww!*
No pictures of THAT disaster, yet! But, as I was clearing a spot so I can (hopefully) sew a few Christmas presents, I found this card:
My mom had actually sent me this card when she went to Tennessee for the winter after Dad died three years ago.
Isn’t it a wonderful “God-incidence” that I found it again just now? And isn’t it also amazing how relevent the sentiment inside is?
I am no theologian. I probably couldn’t “defend my faith” against an atheist with brilliant arguments.
But I could defend my faith based on the relationship I have with my loving Heavenly Father, my Beloved Bridegroom and my Holy Spirit Comforter with many incidents such as this!
Thank You, Abba Father, for Your tender care for us, Your weak and frail children.
Thank You, for caring, even about the “little” things.
And thank You, that someday, the world will be
a perfect place,
and
we will never be apart from You
or
from our loved ones…
ever again.
Fabulous Family Friday–Slaying The Stuff Monster!
December 17th, 2010It has been incredibly busy the past few weeks!
First of all, I’ve created a new sport! INSIDE sledding!
Just get one Rubbermaid Tub lid, place on laminate flooring, step down on it when you are hanging clothes up to dry in the windows of the sunroom, and go sledding! Of course, it is very helpful if you are expecting to do this so you are not caught off guard and fall nearly-flat-on-your-face!
It took a good week for most of the soreness to go away from that one. I’m very thankful it wasn’t worse, and that T-Tapp’s Primary Back Stretch really helped keep the soreness more at bay. Between some T-Tapp moves, Tri-Light Health’s Snooze-EZ herbs, Health and Wisdom’s Magnesium Gel (scroll down about half-way), and T-Tapp’s Melatonin, I ended up only taking 2 ibuprofen the whole time! Truly amazing!
So when not doing indoor sledding we’ve been decorating for Christmas (well, the girls have–see here!) and I’ve been finishing the decluttering I started in August. Why any family needs the amount of coats we had is beyond me!
I am a sentimental packrat. Well, not just a sentimental packrat, but also a messie who finds it hard to make decisions. I remember hearing Elisabeth Elliot share 15 years or so ago how Donna Otto said that most packrats aren’t really sentimental, they just have a hard time making decisions. I say a hearty AMEN!
Now some of that could be lack of training, or related to being adrenal challenged….but bottom line is I should have had a system to keep up with the stuff all along. Hindsight’s 20/20, they say….
My advice to you younger-than-me-mamas–keep up with the stuff or it will BURY you! I am spending soooo much time going through things now, and many items were ruined from being stored in less-than-ideal situations (meaning they got knocked onto the floor of the “shop closet” where we stored them, getting dampish and therefore mildewed. 
)
Yes, we literally had to crawl over “stuff” to get to other “stuff”!
I thought more than once about the Parable of the Talents. About the one servant who buried his talent in the ground. I know sometimes it is good stewardship to keep clothing to pass down to your children….but at some point along the way, you realize you really do not need so much!
This was where I threw the bags of toys so I could get to the clothes!!!
I got rid of a lot of little girl dresses–if God blesses us with another girl now, she could never wear all those dresses in 5 lifetimes! Not to mention that she would have seven older sisters who would love to sew new dresses for her! Better to let others who could use these dresses have them. I kept some back for sentiment’s sake, but let a lot go. In fact, at Susannah’s graduation open house, I urged moms, “You can’t leave until you fill a garbage bag full!!!”
Anna getting ready to carry a basket of hangers out
It’s getting better!
More are going to a local charity that sells used clothing, but also will give what people need free of charge.
Susannah helping sort
Cassia sorting and hanging up dresses and jumpers.
We actually had another shorter rod for tops and turtlenecks,
and yet another short one for coats!
We can actually see the floor now!
Remember the “before”? (Scroll up to the first picture!)
Woo-Hoo! Love seeing that OSB!
Wow! We can actually get TO the coats and clothing now!
Oooohhhhh….Ahhhhhh….Bee-YOU-tiful!
More beautiful space!
Where did the toys go, you ask?
That’s another post!!!
Still have to go through toys…again, time to get rid of what has lost parts, or is broken (why do we keep these things around anyway?)….
These are just the “few” coats we took to the charity thrift store–
believe it or not, I gave twice that many to a friend,
and have another bag waiting to give to yet another friend!!!
I remember hearing of a mom who had a rule–when someone dropped of a bag of clothes, she gave herself 24 hours to go through it. If she hadn’t gone through it, she passed it on or took it to Goodwill. Now, 24 hours might not be realistic, but at least have some sort of deadline. I wish I had held to my original 1 week deadline. Learn from my mistakes!
SEVEN bags of clothes, nightgowns and coats going to a family at church!
Although I haven’t worked daily on this project, it has been hanging over my head for 4+ months–no, really much longer. I knew it was getting out of hand out there and was going to deal with it “soon”.
Soon has come!
Besides things getting ruined or children outgrowing things before they were even found, there is the weight of needing to take care of it hanging over my head all these years. I truly was not “free” as long as the thought of dealing with this “stuff” was in the back of my mind.
Whether it’s a closet, an attic, your parents household stuff (yeah, still have to go through some of that!), or a whole storage unit, it’s important to pare down. Do we really need it all?
No.
I’m not as spartan as some, but I’ve come a long way. Still have a long way to go, too! But my goal is to get these storage areas under control and have a system to at least purge once or twice a year. Now many of you may already do that–wonderful! But for the rest of us that didn’t get that training (or inherit that gene!), we need to devise a doable plan. Of course, when you have crises hit one after another, it makes it hard to keep up with anything but survival!
I’m ready to be out of survival mode now….
There is a spiritual analogy in all of this. I realized it as I was talking to my friend, J., on the phone last week.
When we hang onto all the “stuff” emotionally or spiritually–it binds us. Keeps us from being free to really experience God’s love and care for us as well as being able to serve and love others. Just as I have not been truly free to enjoy life with my children (because I feel guilty that I’m not getting that “stuff” dealt with), so also we are not truly free to serve others and give of ourselves when we are hanging onto “stuff” like:
Unforgiveness
Resentment
Hurts
Grudges
Past traumas
Pride
No “God esteem” (putting ourselves down because we don’t realize our worth in Christ)
Those are just a few areas–you know what yours are!
There is only one thing to do–purge the stuff! But unlike my physical stuff, there are no thrift stores nor charities to donate the emotional/spiritual “stuff” to! But we can ask the Lord to help us rid ourselves of these things–usually that involves giving up to gain Him.
Giving Him our all so we can have all of Him!
If you need a little help, Gary Thomas’ book, Authentic Faith has been tremendously helpful to me. I also have Holy Available, which I haven’t read yet, but looks to be as good.
I also have benefitted from The Glorious Pursuit, (also by Gary Thomas).
Whether physical, emotional or spiritual–
Deal with the stuff!!!
Don’t let it rob you of one more minute of your life in Christ!
Oh, and lest you think once you take care of it all, you will never have that problem again, whether with physical or spiritual stuff, take heed! You’ll turn around and notice–
WHERE DID THAT STUFF COME FROM?!
A “few” more bags I caught sight of today…..*sigh*
Eternal vigilance is VITAL–for our physical homes and our spiritual ones as well!
They’re Catching Up!
December 16th, 2010We get a quarterly mailing from our local school system. We live in a rural area with a consolidated middle and high school that serves parts of two counties. Not a huge school, but bigger than the less-than-500-total K-12 school I attended!
This issue was about math.
Now, I’ll be the first to say that I know there are many wonderful, caring teachers in many schools. I don’t fault them. It’s the system that isn’t always in the best interest as someone in Washington tries to “standardize” academic learning as if children are widgets on a factory conveyor belt.
The title of the main article was how mathematics proficiency is about understanding and application.
I certainly agree with that!
This particular paragraph amazed me, and then tickled me.
We know that what children need to learn in mathematics today is vastly different from what they needed to learn only a few years ago. Computation, basic math skills, and memorizing formulas remain important, but math proficiency today is all about understanding and application. Students must be able to connect mathematics to other subjects and the real world….”
I found myself scratching my head that until today, apparently, understanding and connecting math to the real world wasn’t as important?! I don’t think that’s what the writer really meant….was it?!
I know when we used Math-U-See, Steve Demme had shared how some of his students in class knew the basic operations, but not when to use them. Both are important!
A few paragraphs later:
Schools in the United States traditionally teach mathematics an inch deep and a mile wide while schools in other countries teach for a deeper understanding. We can no longer teach as we have always taught. Today’s children must be able to apply mathematics skills to everyday situations; they must know how, when and why to do it.
Again, I find myself wondering…what have they been teaching? And up until recently we haven’t taught this way?
I think if we look at the history of education, someone may find that 100+ years ago math was taught quite differently in our schools. A quick look at Ray’s Arithmetics, which were finished in 8th grade, would show that they knew their math waaaayyyyy better than most college bound seniors today!
I agree that schools teach math (and other subjects) an inch deep and a mile wide–it’s the nature of the system. There have certainly been strides in many schools to change some of that, but quite frankly, you can only do so much when you have a student for 1 hour a day, in a class of 20-30 students with all their varying degrees of need and abilities of understanding. I have learned from teaching piano that you can’t go home with the student and motivate them–especially if they don’t have the support at home. I really feel for public school teachers who really care and try–they have a hard job!
I think the acknowledgement of needing to teach math differently and make sure it applies is commendable.
I also think homeschoolers have been doing this for a long time!
I am perpetually “behind” in math, it seems, yet my children have always seemed to have a strong conceptual understanding. I always felt if I had to err on one end of it or the other, knowing the when and why was a bit more important than speed.
Soon I’ll be reviewing a new math program we are trying and are really liking! One that I believe fits the criteria the article in our local school’s mini-magazine is looking for, but this one was developed by a homeschooling mom for use by homeschoolers (although those wanting extra help remediating math could use it, too!) Stay tuned in a few weeks for the review!
It was funny how the captions to the pictures all involved math–a young man saying how music helps him with his math, another saying, “Believe it or not, there’s a lot of math involved in sewing!”
Not news to us!
I’m not knocking the school–kudos to them for trying to do a better job.
It just makes me feel good to be able to homeschool and be on the cutting edge–even ahead of the public school!
I think I might keep this one and put it in my “Why I Homeschool” file! If I’m ever questioned, I can show how we were doing this before it was the “going thing”!
Isn’t it nice to know the public schools are catching up to us?!
Wordless Wednesday–Warm Memories
December 15th, 2010
