Defeating Laziness

This past year, I have had the hardest time with laziness.

How awful does that sound? 

It is pretty awful, but its just the truth.

I don't know if it is college...

or feeling overwhelmed...

I'm not quite sure, but whatever it is, it makes me want to put on my fat pants, crawl in bed and watch a movie....while eating something yummy. (Can I get an amen? Or is that just me?)

When I looked at what the bible said about laziness, this is what I found:

Proverbs 20:4

Verse Concepts

The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Laziness#sthash.JFlgVUQH.dpuf

Proverbs 6:9-11

⁹ How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
    When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest—
¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

Proverbs 18:9

⁹ Whoever is slack in his work
    is a brother to him who destroys.

Ephesians 5:14-17

¹⁵ Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

When I read all of this, I was super convicted. 

I have been given life. Breath in my lungs.

So why am I using this life as my own?

He has given me a soul-to hunger after God

He has given me ears-to listen to his voice

He has given me a mouth-to proclaim his name

So why am I sitting here on my tush?

Our lives are too short to please ourselves. As my brother Paul put it so plainly..." We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves."-Romans 15:1

It may be relaxing, but I pray that we never be found sleeping on the job.
I don't think we will get to heaven and say "Sister, I wish I had slept more on earth!"
It just won't happen. Cause we were not called to be comfortable.
SO, get comfortable with being uncomfortable!
[[Preaching to my own heart here]]

Here is what I have had to do to defeat laziness.

1. Wake up early// there is just something about waking up early before the sun comes up and having those precious quiet moments

2. Start your day with a quiet time// FIRST THING--before you scroll through instagram, before you check emails, before anything. God deserves our first moments of waking up. Devoting our first thoughts on Him. 

3. Exercise// wowzers. This. I am not a fan of running, BUT ...I am learning to like it. Plus it starts your metabolism for the day! 

4. Clean&Organize// When my living place is in order, I feel like my life is in order. I know this is totally unreasonable, but its how I feel!

5. SMILE// When I am not laughing and kind of just going through the motions, I just really feel down, these are the moments that I want to curl up in a ball and hide in my room. Life is great, there are so many reasons to smile, so lets just smile and have the greatest day ever everyday! 

These are just a few, what do you do to defeat laziness? 

xoxo,

Lacey Beth

Proverbs 20:4

Verse Concepts

The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Laziness#sthash.JFlgVUQH.dpuf

Proverbs 20:4

Verse Concepts

The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Laziness#sthash.JFlgVUQH.dpuf

September Goals

I am SO excited about September.

I know I am about to be cliche, but I just can't wait to get to wear boots all the time! I also can't wait for scarves, and vests, and eating everythang pumpkin :)

Here are my September goals, but first, I'm going to take a look at my August goals! 

1. Read 3 more books..do school books count? NO. 
2. Make my school notebooks efficiently organized
3. Continue working out for an hour every morning...all I can say to this one is HA! Gotta work on this. 
4. Study 2 hours for every 1 hour in the classroom
5. Work on the middle school Sunday school classroom
6. Ask my bridesmaids 
7. Send some happy mail
8. Send three handwritten letters
9. Have the youth from our church over for the first monthly "Hot Fudge Sundae Bar"..this is happening this Saturday!

I got about 75% of my goals done, but I want to strive for 100%

September Goals

1. Keep studying hard.

2. Seriously start being more intentional in exercise and healthy eating.

3. Finalize everything with all of my vendors for the wedding.

4. Celebrate 1 year with Matthew!

5. Work on the apartment some more.

I am only doing 5 goals for September because school has got me constantly studying. Next month I will shoot for more!

What are your goals for this month? :)

xoxo,

Lacey Beth

Your Body: A Temple or a Trashcan

source
This series is all about purifying ourselves and using our bodies as a temple for Him rather than a trashcan.

The verse for this series is:

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;  you were bought at a price.Therefore honor God with your bodies"

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

When you think of a diet, I am sure that if you are like me, all you hear are the first three letters DIEt. Thinking about what you are putting into your bodies is simply not fun. If I want to eat pizza at midnight, I don't want to think of what it will do to my body. If I want to drink a milkshake from Steak and Shake five nights in a row, the last thing I want to think about is what that sugar is doing in my body. I just want to enjoy the stinkin milkshake! 

I love a good thing of fries every now and then...[and when I say every now and then, I mean I could eat them every day...] but here recently when studying for this series, I realized some things. 

Think about back in the old testament days. Only the best of the best-the most refined gold and purest things - were brought into the temple before the Lord. And in the new testament, when people brought unholy things into the temple, Jesus overturned tables and told them all to get out! He only wanted the absolute BEST to be in the house of His Father. 

Read 1 Corinthians 6:19 again. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. 
Wowzers. When I sat here and thought back about all the unhealthy stuff I willingly put into my body, I felt super convicted. Why would I put things into my body that God would advise for me to put straight into the trashcan??

God gave us potatoes, but I definitely don't think that he meant for us to toss them in some oil and fry 'em up and load them with salt. He gave us all of these things, these blessings, of yummy food and options on how to eat them. 
Now, I don't want y'all to think I am going all extremist and only eating fruits and vegetables. I am still going to enjoy a milkshake every now and then. But now I am going to do it in moderation. I am going to watch what goes into the temple. God gave us sugar naturally in His creation (we have also created processed sugar and sweeteners from things in his creation but that is for a whole different post) and he wants us to enjoy it, but not enjoy it so much and on a regular basis that we abuse the gift. 

Also, on the flip side of what goes into your body, how are you taking care of your body? Do you exercise to keep yourself healthy? Are you trying to 'keep the temple clean' so to speak? 
I know that I can do a lot better at this. This summer I have really been slacking. But the way I see it is, if God gives you the ability to use your body, then use it! If your legs are healthy and strong, use them for his glory! Ride a bike, go for a run! If your arms are healthy and strong, lift some weights! If you have kids, lift your kids! If God has given you the gift and ability-use it!
Like my mom says "I go walking because I CAN go walking." She doesn't take her gift of being healthy for granted. 

If you're like me, you may have to find a way of exercising that is actually enjoyable. Matthew can go for an hour long run......AND enjoy it....[he's crazy I know. bless him] I am not as talented as my fiance and would definitely be complaining the whole way. So I found different ways to exercise AND love it. I roller blade around the neighborhood and my ultimate favorite-ZUMBA! You don't have to hate what you're doing when you are exercising. 

I am going to be completely honest here: I did not want to write this post. I knew that once I wrote out the words and hit 'publish' that I would officially be held accountable and really have to try harder at taking care of myself.

But let's do it together shall we? 
Lets go against the grain and decide to take care of this gift, this body, that the Lord has given us. Let's treat our bodies as a temple and not a trashcan.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to go do some Zumba!! :)

I hope you all have a great, healthy weekend full of good food and getting your bodies movin! 

xoxo,
Lacey Beth