Made to Thrive

 How do you thrive in the midst of adversity?

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Hosanna

"The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 

took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

“Hosanna!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

The King of Israel!” John 12:12-13 (NKJV)

Easter is a season of sorrow and a season of hope. Sorrow because of the circumstances surrounding the death of our Savior. 

Times were hard in Israel. Oppression, injustice, and instability were the law of the land. People were afflicted by sicknesses, their own burdens of life, and the burdens of their oppressors. 

Hope because God sent Jesus, our Immanuel to be with us. 

Palm Sunday is a special time of the season. For years, I've been finding creative ways to teach this passage to the kids. 

This year, as we go on with our daily lives, we do not cease the cries of help around us. We cry with those who cry. We grieve with so many who lost loved ones. We carry our own sorrows as we strive to live in this world. 

Palm Sunday reminds us of the hope of a Savior. We read about multitudes crying out "Hosanna." Hosanna, in the original translation, sounds like prayer for it says "Oh save us!"

Saving He did. Jesus died and rose from the dead with all victory and power. He is coming again. He did not leave us helpless or hopeless. The Savior Jesus is still in the business of intervening in our earthly situations as we cry out to Him. 

I'm not in the mood of observing Easter as a fairytale or a feel-good social event. Easter is for the heart that is tired of suffering. Easter is for those who are exhausted by so much violence and pain. 

Let us cry out Hosanna for the triumphant Savior still hears us. He is marching on with this truth. He is the hope of the world. He is the Savior and He will save. 

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Come Alive

"And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." Deut. 8:2-3 (NKJV) 

I'm delightfully submerged in the One Year Bible reading. We are in Deuteronomy and the people of God are on the outskirts of the promised land. They are so close. 

Reading the Bible in context is a beautiful thing. This time around, I'm noticing how many times the text reads "remember."

Remember your God. Remember what He did for you. Remember. Remember. Do not forget. 

 

This particular passage speaks about how circumstances cloud our memories. The people of Israel are no longer in Exodus. They are now settled in a great land.

Being settled has a way of clouding our memory and judgment. We start to think we delivered ourselves from the slavery of Egypt. We start to think that we are the ones with power to get wealth, not our gracious God.

Remembering our God helps us to keep things in perspective. He led us here with his mighty power. We didn't lead ourselves. 

Obeying His commands guarantees that things will go well for us. What I mean by guarantee is that God blesses obedience. None of us is immune from trouble and tribulation in this world. Jesus did say we could be of good cheer because He overcame the world. 

During this passage, Moses is reminding the people of Israel of all the things God wants them to know and obey. Jesus knew this passage very well. When being tempted (see Matthew 4:4) He used this passage of Scripture. 

Indeed, man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

These days, my husband and I say the same thing to our kids. We make it applicable by telling them that we all need to read our Bibles. The best way to know the word of God is to read our Bible.

These words of life come alive. They came alive for Jesus when He was tempted by the devil. They came alive for me when my thoughts and the faith I profess were not matching. I was praying in faith and my thoughts were reflecting unbelief. Deuteronomy to the rescue. Through the pages of the Bible, I read that God is who He says He is and He can do what He says He will do. 

I repented. I proceeded to pray with trust and remember who my powerful God is. 

I'm not sure if you are walking through a perilous path as the children of Israel once did. I'm not sure if like me, you are struggling to believe that your prayers are going to get answered. 

I am here to encourage you to let the words of God come alive. 

Remember your God. Open His book. Come alive by the Spirit of the living God.

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Small changes

Small changes bring big results. I've seen this in a few areas of my life. 

I decided to delete my most used social media apps each week for 48 hours. This small change allows me to:

• Disconnect from the maze of online content
• Connect with my family
• Free my mind from the effects of looking at endless amount of content 
• Lose the want to post all the time
• Feel more at ease and at peace 

The kids disconnect as well, which is good. This small action helps us truly rest more during those 48 hours. 

I decided to drink more water during the day. This small change allows me to:

• Feel better because I'm hydrated
• I make better decisions because my mind is clear
• Even when I'm tired, I feel better because I'm hydrated 
• I exercise better because I'm hydrated 
• I drink more water on weekends because I know the benefits.

What is a small change you want to implement? What do think the big result will be?

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Food Prep for the Week

I love Sundays. I love going to church with my family. I also enjoy downtime to prep for the week. Yesterday was a particularly quiet Sunday. The kids were tired from youth camp. We were all tired from the happenings of the previous week. Still, I took the time to prepare for a successful week. 

While I don't take an entire day to rest, I insert rest periods during my weekend. Some weekends, I say out loud "I will only run one errand today so I can rest." 

Rest means not doing so much physical work that I don't recharge myself for Monday. Rest sometimes means not working out. I find running refreshing but there are times when five days of CrossFit is plenty time. My body is a fan of two rest days back to back. Rest means trusting God's goodness and accepting the gift of rest. 

I often go to sleep early on weekends so I can get more hours of sleep. During the week, I try to get enough hours of sleep. My magic number is 7. If I don't get multiple days of rest, I get more tired as the weeks go on. The weekend is the perfect time to get more sleep. I might sleep for 9 or 10 hours. I wake up feeling brand new. 

I also love weekends because I prep our food and laundry for the following week. These days, the kids do their own laundry (hallelujah!). I coordinate everyone's efforts. 

One helpful thing I do is to separate my work and CrossFit outfits for the week ahead. From the dryer, I fold every piece of clothing I need for the week before. All I need to do is to wake up and get dressed. 

My coffee maker is always ready the night before. Anything to make the early mornings ready is a smart thing to do. My One Year Bible is already on the table. All I need to do is to open and read it. 

Over the past few years, I became quite skilled in food planning. I start by writing a menu. I take into consideration everything we have in the freezer and pantry. Once I find out what's missing, I add the ingredients to my phone. I just use the list App that comes with the phone itself. 

I mostly do my own shopping. When my schedule is impossibly busy (I don't miss those days), I order grocery delivery. Once the food comes in, I commit to prep it and pack it. 

This weekend I planned to prep 3 lunches and 3 dinners plus 2 breakfasts:

Dinner:

• Grilled salmon with roasted sweet potatoes, greens beans, rice, black beans, and vegetable salad. 

• Crab cakes and salad;

• Crockpot fajitas with all the fixings.

Lunch for work:

• 3 days of Protein wrap with ground turkey and a green salad.

Breakfast:
• Turkey sausage low-carb muffins with cheese - recipe here. 

• Breakfast sandwiches.

Weekend prep is my superpower. It allows me to provide the nourishment my family and I need to thrive during the week. 

Every week is different around here. One thing is for sure, I am committed to being prepared for all the responsibilities ahead of us. 

Tips:

• Start small. You noticed I didn't cook for an entire week. I find that 3-4 days is great to get me ahead.
• Use what you have. I didn't buy special containers. I'd say most of my things don't really match. I just use what I have at hand. 
• Look at your schedule. Every Wednesday my church serves dinner. My kids prefer to eat at church. I include that in my food plan. If we are going out of town or having something else happening, I am mindful of that. I don't want to prep too much food. 
• Enjoy the journey. You will learn a lot about yourself during this prep journey. Make sure you enjoy it. I started enjoying it when I made the whole thing work for me. I skipped the expense, complex prep suggestions we find available online. I came up with a plan that works beautifully for us. 

I hope you find my tips helpful my friend!

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