Five Thing Friday

1. Loved yesterday's devotional by Madeleine L'Engle (who also happens to write great young adult fiction that I enjoyed growing up!):

"Faith means believing without seeing. If we can see it, verify it, explain it, and make perfect sense of it, we don't need faith. Faith, by its very definition, requires us to trust in something we don't understand. 

"Much of Scripture require us to take that step. Virgin birth? Unbelievable. Calming the sea? Can't be done. Raising people from the dead? Impossible. And so some turn away and decide that they can't be Christians when, in reality, those questions are the first step. Knowing that something is unbelievable or impossible means that a higher power has to be involved. That knowledge leads to a choice. Are we willing to believe the unbelievable? Are we willing to have faith?

"You may never understand the reason for some events of life on this side of heaven. But God is pleased when you have faith in him even when you can't understand."

2. Chalene Johnson is one of my favorite motivators. She's done numerous fitness videos, hosts a podcast, has written a great personal development book, and created several online classes. She wants to help others, and she's helped me a lot. 

Her timely advice in an email today was, "There are no universal 'facts' that apply to everyone when it comes to eating. There’s so much research out there that can be carefully selected to prove whatever 'fact' or 'rule' you want. Moral of the story: be skeptical, do your own research and experiment with what works for YOU."

She said it perfectly! No matter what you do or don't believe in regarding fitness, nutrition, and/or health, you can find evidence to back it up. So it's up to you to decide what works for you, and to stop letting others try to dictate how you treat your body.

3. Beachbody has recently launched a new program very different from anything they've ever done. This one is called YouV2 (You Version 2). It's a fitness and nutrition program for those who have never worked out, hate the thought of working out, have a lot of weight to lose and need an easy place to start, or have physical ailments that prevent them from bending over or doing many traditional exercises (think squats and lunges).

Anyway, I just got access to this program today, and it looks pretty silly and fun. All of the music is hits from the 1980s and 1990s, so in order to promote this program, I decided to put together a little costume to show my love of the 80s!

4. The podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin is by far my favorite podcast that I listen to. I have listened since it first started over two years ago, I think. Gretchen and her sister, Elizabeth, make wonderful co-hosts. Their advice this week is to design your summer, to be intentional about how you're spending this season so you can make the most of it. I love this advice! Summer, after the Christmas holiday season, is my favorite time of year. You can do so many things in the summer that you can't do the rest of the year, and it should be celebrated! Now I just need to think of how I want to design my summer...

5. I am a huge of fan of The Reset Girl's #listersgottalist prompts. I love making lists! She has faith-based listing prompts, and more generic listing prompts. Here's one of my lists I thought I'd share!

What Bravery Means to Me:

Being scared, but going anyway.
Choosing not to regret what I didn't do.
Having faith that everything will work out and I'll be ok.
Being strong in the face of pain or grief.
Doing what's right.
Getting to go on grand adventures.
Being a little impulsive, maybe.
Getting to create the very best of memories.