Excited like a Kid in a Candy Store!!

Have you ever been so excited it takes you back to that feeling when you were a child and got to go to the candy store and looking around at all these wonderful delectable candies you could choose from??  Meeeeee Tooooo!! (Oh to be a kid again!) :-)


I am not sure if I have gotten to share with you a whole lot about My Family and Church. Well My DH (aka Dear Hubby) is a Pastor at a Little Country Baptist Church in El Paso, Arkansas. Never once did I EVER EVER see myself as a Pastor's Wife let me tell you. That just proves more and more that it is the work of none other then the Good Lord Himself working thru us. So let me catch you up and fill you in on some of my Spiritual Life.

This how the story begins......

The Lord brought us to Royal Hill over a year ago to help and fill in while they were searching for the Pastor the Lord would lead to them. In the beginning DH and I didn't feel lead to take the Church.. but about 6+ months ago, the Lord did some dealing on my DH's heart and showed him that was where He wanted us to be, wow!! At first I had some mixed emotions, I was going to be leaving some really good friends at our then Home Church. But the Lord later comforted me and showed me, where my place was and it was at Royal Hill Baptist Church in El Paso, Arkansas. Whoa.. I was so not so sure, but I never doubted the Lord and his work in this matter tho, b/c the Lord has NEVER EVER let us down or never let us fall. So we are now Pastor and Pastor's Wife of this amazing little Country Church. At first it was just 3-5 of us and then the Lord has lead some others there, and now we are upto close to 12 every Sunday. Praise the Lord!!! He is so Awesome!! Such an answer to prayers, b/c back a year ago this little church was thinking their doors might have to be shut... but they knew the Lord would see them thru . You know what He did too. Opps I am spoiling the story.. Let me continue on. :-)  (can you tell that I am excited to tell you more?? )

When we first started Pastoring Royal Hill the only service we had was Preaching, then on down the road a few months the Lord opened up Sunday School, we had a Children's Class and an Adult class. It was also an answer to Prayer as well. Then about 3 or so months ago the Lord opened up Sunday night service. Do you see a pattern here?

Well since all that we have been in Prayer about Wed night Services too. You know what the Lord had really burdened our hearts for this too. We had a business meeting a week ago Sunday and this was one of the topics of business. You know what the Lord did??

You guessed it!!! He allowed the Wed Night Services to be opened up. So last night we had our very first Wed Night Service. We had a Kids Class and also a Adult class. It was such a wonderful and oh so blessed time.

The Lord is so mighty and so true and as long as we continue to put Him first the Lord is going to continue to bless us. I am so excited to share this wonderful news with you all this week! I have so been that,"Kid in the Candy Store" due to the excitement of the Work of the Lord!

Do you have a story of a time in your life when you had that "Kid in the Candy Store Excitement?" I would love to hear about what the Lord has done in your life as well! Share with me!

Till next time!

In Christ,
M

Here's Just a Taste of my Crafty Side

Frustration... and Discouragement.. Ugh!

Have you ever felt that you have given your all and did the right things and wind up falling on your face?

Yeah.. that so happened to me this past week at weigh in. I was so pumped and excited to get to Monday for weigh in because I just knew that I had lost this week. Boy was I wrong wrong wrong... a BIG FAT GAIN... 2.2lbs!!!! I was just so floored and so upset!! I did wind up staying for my meeting and sucking it up and not going and emotional eat due to being hurt and upset.  So when I did leave my meeting I just cried on the way home.. pathetic isn't it?? 

Well on Tuesday I was reflecting on what I had done and how I reacted to my Monday, and I had eaten within my points, and even exercised way more then normal, due to joining the WRWA Clinic. So I was talking with some of my Group Me friends and they are so wonderful and oh so encouraging and here is what they told me, "We Love you M and I know you can do this. You need to believe in yourself as much as we do.", "It's a bumpy road for all of us M :-) maintaining or losing your have hurdles but its getting back up and remembering the reason you chose to live a healthier lifestyle. We all love you and are here for you. Shake it off, it could just be water weight from increase in exercise, sodium, or that time of the month. :-) ) See why I just rave about them?? They so pepped me right up and helped me brush myself off and to be a bit blunt put my "Big Girl Panties back on!!" lol. This is a new week and I have been staying within my points as well! Also been exercising again, so I am looking forward to Monday's weigh in and ready to report back to you all.

I have came across on Pinterest this delish new recipe. You take 1 angel food cake mix and 1 sugar free apple pie filling and mix it together and back for 20-25 min or until done at 350 degrees. You talking about delish!!! Then Hubby and I shared a single serving cup of vanilla ice cream (divided it in half make only 50 calories) and warmed the cake up and put the ice cream on it.. divine I tell you. Its a must try!! http://pinterest.com/pin/125115695870214620/ Here is the link to my pinterest pin for this cake. I really hope you try it and let me know what you guys thought about it. You can also use any flavor of pie filling, I have tried lemon before and it tastes a whole lot like lemon bars and then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Yummmy!

I hope you all have a wonderful and very very blessed rest of the day and week! Send me some comments and let me know what you would be interested in hearing about next.. Thank you again for reading!!

In Christ,

 M

Simple Pleasures are a MUST....

Do you enjoy the simple pleasures of Life? 

Like the beautiful spring flowers, or just a beautiful Sunny day? Those are two of my very very favorite things for when Spring comes around. The daffodils have been coming in full bloom around here and they have been just beautiful. Gets me so excited for the upcoming Spring. I can't wait.... What about you? 

But this week that isn't the simple pleasures that I am speaking of tho.. I am talking about those weight loss journey milestones and pleasures of doing something great on your journey. 

This week at my weigh in I love 3.4 lbs but that wasn't the most exciting part though, I got my 5% key chain! I have been working hard for it for the past 3 weeks. That was a simple pleasure and a HUGE milestone in my weight loss journey. Now my next task at hand is 25 lbs lost. I am not to far away from that goal either. 

I am just so happy and so proud of have some very wonderful people that support me in a way that I have never been supported while loosing. They keep me in check and also help me keep my spirits up and not down so I can't get discouraged. I have to brag about a very special little person that has helped me so much this week, he has been my "good angel" on my weight loss journey, when I wanted something I didn't need he would say, "Mom you have to weigh in on Monday!" Wow what some powerful words from a little person that struck me like a rock I tell ya. I am so very very blessed to have a son and a husband that support me and Love me no matter what but help encourage me in the right way even if I do wanna be bad. So Thank you Little B for Loving your Momma and helping her so much this week. It means more to me then you will ever know. Please keep up the good work. I love you so very much!!  

I know that I promised you guys some of my favorite recipes, but I thought until I get them all gathered and typed up that I could share with you all my "Getting Healthy Recipes" board on Pinterst. Here is the link, if you are on Pinterest please follow me. http://pinterest.com/mbyerly/getting-healthy-recipes/ I hope that you guys enjoy some of these as much as I have. 

I also have a food find to share with you all this week to. A dear friend told me about these little jewels over the weekend, and boy oh boy are they awesome!! Here is a pic for you all. If you are a lover of almonds and chocolate then these are for you my friend..... AMAZING!! Also if you guys haven't tried these Cracker Chips.. oh my goodness they are so awesome too. I like this them much better then the "Baked" chips. Try them yourself and let me know what you think. 

What are some of your favorite WW recipes? Please comment below if you have a favorite tried and true person or family favorite. I am always looking for new and improved recipes. Or do you have some of those simple pleasures that I have spoken about tonight? 

I hope that you have a wonderful and very Blessed night. 

In Christ,
Malinda

My Little Family

I promised that I would introduce you all to my family. Here is a most recent picture of us. My dear husband B and my dear son Little B. Hope you all are doing great. I am currently working on a new post for you. Going to try and include a few weight watcher recipes as well. So till then.

In Christ,
Malinda

What does True Love mean to you?

Happy Valentine's Week Everyone!!

I thought since Valentine's Day is fast approaching that Love would be an appropriate topic of discussion. Here is a questions for you to ponder on.. What is True Love?

Your first thoughts might be those mushy feelings you have you start dating someone and just really hit off with them? Some might call it "Puppy Love", we have all been thru this at least once in our lives. Another example might be the feeling when you see your child for the first time after being born. WOW!! What a feeling! That is a moment that will forever be engraved in a person's heart, and you never know how you could love a little person so much. A child might consider getting a gift an outward showing of love to them. All these examples are so true and a form of Love.

The Love that I am wanting to talk about is the kind of Love that Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior has for us and showed us when He died on the cross for our sins. The first verse that comes to my mind when I think of Christ's love is that ever so famous one:

 John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

God sent his only Son Jesus to be a sacrifice for ALL of our sins. You know all we have to do is accept him as our Lord and Savior? How simple is that. We just have to believe on him, and ask him to forgive us for our sins, and you know what? He will! He will save you, he will save, he will save you now! 

 

I know with Valentine's day we all like gifts, flowers, chocolates and things of that nature. Those are nice and all, and I am like all of you and enjoy these things as well don't get me wrong. But when I think of God and his Love and know that God is Love.  I think of this verse too.

 

1John 4:16 - And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

 

 

So the next time you think of the term Love, think of Christ who Loved you so much that he died for you and for me. Could you lay down your life for one person much less the whole world? Now that is what I call True Love.

 

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, Please do so, this will be a decision in your life that you will never ever regret. You don't have to go to a Preacher, or anyone to do this, you just have to come to Jesus, and ask him to into your heart and repent of your sins. Its that simple.   

Struggles? Yeah... We all have them.

Let me ask you a question...

Do you have a struggle that you are dealing with? I bet your answer is yes. I think most if not all of us do. Its part of being human I think. I am going to share with you all this week about a couple of my struggles that work against me on my weight loss journey.

1.) I am a HUGE HUGE emotional eater.

2.) I hate to exercise.. so lacking in movement.

3.) Drinking all my daily water.

I would like to take each of these and dissect them and maybe me discussing all this with you all it will help me get a hold of these struggles.

So on the first struggle, emotional eating. It is something that I have dealt with my whole life, even as I was younger. Plus being from a good ol' Southern family that loves food doesn't help, and also being a die hard member of the Clean Your Plate Club. (Who's with me?? haha) So what I have learned to help me with this, I haven't perfected it, but I do try is to play a game with my brain. When I am upset, or happy and want a HUGE slice of that oh so yummy chocolate cake, or a big ol' bowl of that delish ice cream with all the fixings.. I ask myself, is it really worth all those calories? If I do eat it is it really going to make those feelings go away or make me happier? Is there a healthier substitute that would be a better choice? I also try and drink a glass of water and wait about 10-15 mins to see if that craving is still there too, and if it is and I can't shake it with some of these questions then I will have a small piece or a small scoop of whatever it was that I wanted. I have learned that if you feel deprived or if you do deprive yourself that it just makes it worse and you are more likely to fall off the wagon and do way more harm then giving in a having a small bit of what your wanting.

Onto the second struggle, exercise.. Ewww is so what I think. lol. But when I have exercised before I do enjoy it. Its just the thought, so here we are again with those questions and brain games right? Right.. So I am the queen of talking myself out of exercising for some crazy reason. I will get all psyched and pumped about getting my work out on, then by the time I get home I am like.. Oh I will try tomorrow.. and then tomorrow NEVER seems to come.. ugh. So then I get mad and upset at no one else but myself and then goes the emotional eating again. See how all this works together yet against me when I let it win?? Very very frustrating I tell ya. So last night we talked about moving and exercise at our weekly Weight Watcher meeting and for this next week we are supposed to keep up with our exercise and to get started moving. So tonight I am going to exercise in some form NO MATTER WHAT! I will be held accountable. So maybe this is the break thru that I needed to get myself moving, because I know that I need to and when I don't I am doing nothing but hurting myself.

Water oh Water how you are not my friend.. lol. Do you any of you feel that way too? I mean when its hot outside I do crave a glass or when I eat something salty and then you thirst for a nice big glass of ice cold water! I know we are supposed to have at least 6-8 8oz glasses a day or more if we can. But goodness I feel like I am drowning if I do. But now they say that if you eat lots of fruits and veggies they count as part of your water?? Hey hey! Good thing. But still, I know I need to be drinking lots more water then I do. So I have been trying to make it more appealing, by putting it in a nice purple cup (since purple is my favorite color) b/c they say if you put it in a pretty cup you are more likely to drink it? Hmm well it doesn't always work for me, but maybe it does for you. Then I try adding a lemon slice to it, that is nice once in a while, or maybe some of that water enhancers that you can buy. So these are nice and do help, but I would much rather have a nice big ice cold soda. Since about a month ago, I have cut out all sodas, even diet ones b/c they are still full of not good things for our bodies. So I have been drinking coffee on occasion, un-sweet tea or with Splenda, and water. Trying to kick this I don't like water thing that is in my head to the curb.

So now it is your turn to comment below and tell me some of your struggles with your weight loss journey or a struggle with anything. I look forward to hear from you all.