Amen…this made me cry tonight…

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on his hands,
My name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.

Because a sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the One,
Risen Son of God!

Behold him there, the risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I am,
The King of glory and of grace!

One in himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by his blood
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Savior and my God
With Christ, my Savior and my God

GOAL:  Be in the best health I can be

Medical:

1. remember to get my paps and mammogram
2. remember to get my blood work done
3. put the date on my planner to change my contact lenses before they start to hurt
4. find a new GP
5. drink grape juice or red wine every day
6. drink green tea every day

Fitness:

1. do the rest of the goals and objectives (monitoring and update objectives as we go
2. walk 2,000,000 millions steps (okay, I’ll count what the pedometer counts when I pedal the bike as well.
3. go backpacking two times

Skin

1. put in my google calendar to use moisturizer during the day
2. take care of my feet (moisture and pedicure)

Hair:

1. Get a perm 3 times a year instead of twice
2. find a gentle, nice color and remember to do it

Cycling

GOAL:  Ride a “Century” by the end of the cycling season  – perhaps “Apple Cider Century” or “Middle of the Mitten”, both in October

I most likely will not be riding outdoors until March or April (I don’t have a snow-ready bike), so some of this will be indoors.

Objective: Ride 50 flat miles by May 1 and 50 hill miles by June 1.

At home (winter work)

1. Watch one movie each week while riding a stationary bike
2. Three times each week, listen to 20 minutes podcast while “sprinting” on stationary bike
3. Strengthen “core muscles” using Pilates

As soon as roads are clear and dry:

1. Get out on Musketawa Trail (flat work)
2. After 50 miles on Musketawa Trail, begin with 20 miles of “hill work”  (route on Mapmyride and including Grand River Ave and Five Mile Road.)
3. Beginning May 1 (because of sunrise times) ride to work 3 days per week.

GOAL: Ride my bike to my parents’ house (180 miles) by July 4.

That should fit in with the rest of the bike work.

Financial piece:

1. need panniers and trunk bag

Notes:  for riding to Mom and Dad’s house, a good idea might be to either have a “volunteer” ride with me, or have Tom drive ahead and “camp” at a hotel.  I’d like to do the ride in 3 or 4 days.

The old guy went to live with Amanda.  I was a little worried that he would not do very well.  He hid under her bed for 2 hours, then in the basement for 2 days.

We think that he might have been planning his strategy.

Now I’m told that he’s the new alpha-cat in the house.  And doing pretty well at it.

Yeah…sorry.

GOAL: Post every day

grace-note – okay to miss three days a month

Objective:  Stick (loosely) to the schedule.

• I posted a loose schedule a few months ago that has worked pretty well

Objective:  Make my blog known

• Post on “hot topics” that will attract search engines
• Post comments on other blogs that I already read and enjoy, although through my blog reader.

Objective:  Make my blog “worth it”

• Use MzEllen.com to blog my way through books, devotionals, podcasts and life.

I like it.

I benefit from the flexibility building of yoga type exercises, but don’t like the spiritual aspects.

This DVD is really good.

Praise Moves: The Christian Alternative to Yoga Dvd! Laurette Willis

(if you click through here and buy thing, I get a credit)

I did the warm up, including several marching in place segments where you recite Bible passages that come up on the screen.

The stretching was good and hit my target spots – and the positions were named things like “rainbow” (and while we were holding the position, we were reciting Revelation 4:3 (And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.)

and Genesis 9:13 (I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.)

And so forth…

Arm circles and stretching went along with the passage about the armor of God.

I will most likely get the other DVD’s in the series.

GOAL:  keep joints, bones and flexibility young and healthy.

Objective: Take all the right supplements

1. CoQ-1-
2. Glucosomine
3. calcium

Objective: Take care of myself

1. Stay on track for 38 visits to chiropractor and massage therapy
2. do “Praise Moves” 5 times per week.

This is the really, really difficult one, because it’s so easy to fall off that wagon and so hard to get back on.

GOAL: FOCUS ON THE WAY OF LIFE

GOAL: FORGET THE SCALES

Objective:  Focus on “The Primal Blueprint”

1. Limit carbs to 100 grams a day, 6 days per week
2. including 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables (heavy on vegetables)
3. limit dairy to 1 serving a day
4. restrict grains to oats and rice

Objective: Focus on “anti-inflammatory/anti-aging” eating

1. make preferred and avoid food lists and carry in planner
2. restrict “avoid” foods to one per day (working toward fewer)

Objective: Focus on “Blood Type Diet” (this should fit nicely, since it’s very similar to the Primal Blueprint.)

1. restrict “avoid” foods (dairy excepted) to no more than 5% of eating

Objective:  Enjoy the journey

1. Eat foods I enjoy and don’t force myself to eat food that I don’t enjoy
2. Cook one brand new recipe every week.

Objective:  Use the blogs

1. Use the blogger blogs to track progress

• daily food logs
• blog through diet and exercise books
• post new recipes
• update weekly

In the next twelve months, I want to believe for more than I believed for in 2009. I want to reach harder and burn hotter than I did in 2009.  Should someone want to write my story at the end of my days, I want them to stare at January 1, 2010 wondering “What in God’s name happened to him then?’

This year I want…

• to end the year in love
• to backpack on Isle Royale
• to swim in the ocean
• to camp in the desert
• to see Amanda back in school
• to see Tom on the road to graduation

My plan is to use my planner more effectively.  First…find the thing (just kidding I know exactly where it is)

Calendar Section:

• Buy new planner pages (pick something pretty)
• Put classes in planner

Health Section :

• General goals and objectives for cycling, weights, walking

Diet Section:

• food log pages
• shopping lists with beneficial and avoid foods

God Section

• print weekly devotional
• print out Bible reading plan
• prayer log

Book and Music section

• reading and music log
• wish list

I exercised 3 days (but not very long)

I did well with calories, but the carb thing was pretty bad.

I don’t know how the weight went, but I weigh every other day and I’ve been holding very steady.

This is a day early because tomorrow I’ll be doing goals and objectives for next year.

or maybe I do.

I feel so darned pleased with myself every time I remember “recycling day”.

The bins are out on the curb and ready to go tomorrow morning!

(and the garbage also, but that’s every Thursday and easier to remember)

At first I thought the optical eye needed cleaning or something.

Now I think the “clicker” went bad – it doesn’t “grab” text.  That will annoy me later one.  For now I can happily use the pad on my laptop to copy and paste.  When I start writing for school, it will get frustrating to move back and forth from laptop to keyboard.

So, I’ll drop one in my Amazon cart and when I get paid, I’ll order one.  I also have a second DVD player in there to use upstairs (to exercise to).

The most important event in your life…didn’t take place in your life.

Thomas is on vacation and the fill-in massage therapist is a woman.

I’ve heard from other people that women just don’t “get” therapeutic massage and maybe they’re right.

It sometimes hurts during my massage, but that’s because it’s really getting deep into the tissue and I know that it’s working.

Today felt good while I was getting it, but my “tight spots” still feel tight.

The other thing is (and I’ve floated the thought before) – I’m familiar with “runner’s high” – the release of endorphins during physical stress (such as exercise) or pain.  When your body starts to calm down again, you can get the chills.  I experienced that after cortisone injections.

I start my massage therapy face-down.  I used to have a very sensitive spot at my spine right at the base of my neck.  Thomas goes very deep there and it really hurts.  When I turn over halfway through the massage, if he has gone very deep on my back, I get those chills, as if the deep tissue massage signaled my brain to release endorphins and as they “go away” I get those chills.

The upside to that is that I no longer have that bad spot at the base of my neck.

I haven’t seen Thomas for two weeks and it’s back a little bit.

Today, I didn’t experience those chills…and my back is no better.

John Piper at Village Church.

On hope in suffering.

While I listened I joined the “Praying for Matt Chandler” facebook page and put the Village Church in my RSS feed.

I also signed on for Michael Spencer’s “friend list” on facebook.

(thank you)

And wordpress 2.9 is pretty slick.

Came up on my shuffle

I want to somebody’s everything…

I refuse to settle for something less than great.
And if it takes a lifetime, then that’s how long I’ll wait.
‘Cause all I want is everything, is that too much to ask?
Have romance, love and passion; find magic that will last.

And I want someone to think they’ll die if they can’t be with me.
I want to be their joy, their pride, their dreams,
The very air they breathe.
I want to wake up feelin’ loved and go to bed the same.
Yes, I want to be somebody’s everything, somebody’s everything.

If I were to move denominations, it would be nice if I could find one (other than LCMS) that was more liturgical.

I like the idea of following the church calendar.  Today I listened to a podcast that talked about “Ember Days”, which I had never heard of before.

Ember days are four different sets of 3 days of fasting (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) throughout the liturgical year.

Fasting (in its pure form) is meant to sharpen the spirit and prepare for repentance and spiritual rejuvenation.  It readies our mind for prayer and helps to focus on that prayer.

I am drawn to the liturgical calendar, and will most likely keep track of some of these days, with the intent of honoring a few of them.