Forward motion is harder than it seems. However, I am steadily progressing. In my walk with God, in discovering untapped talent that He has given me, in becoming more physically fit so that I may do His will and serve Him, in finding the good in people even when they are not seeing the good in me. I am still moving forward.....and I continue pressing on.


5 Weeks
14 LBs Lost
3% Body Fat Loss

New Music Learned
New Lessons Learned
New Scriptures Learned
New Purpose Being Revealed


OUR GOD IS TRULY AWESOME!!!!

Things don't always work out the way we want them to, or the way we think they will. Sometimes we don't even see it coming. We get hit with some form of pain out of nowhere leaving us feeling desperate and helpless. That's the way life is. Still, it makes us wonder how God can let these things happen to us. How God can just stand by and watch us suffer. Where is God when it really hurts? Maybe God is actually closer to us than we think. Maybe it's when we're in these situations, where everything seems to be falling apart, that God gets an opportunity to remind us of how much he really loves us.

I wrote this in my old blog several years ago:

I think that sometimes we all wonder how God could ever let some of the tragic things in our lives happen. Sometimes life gets so tough that we begin to doubt God's existence. In my experience sharing God with others I have come across many people that just couldn't get past this question. Why does God allow Suffering? So, I decided to tackle this question here. And what better place to begin than the beginning. When God created man he created him innocent. He placed him in a garden with no sin, pain, sorrow, or death. Through sin, man lost his trouble-free paradise. Genesis 3 shows how man's sin caused suffering to enter the world. Eve bit into the apple or the forbidden fruit. Because she disobeyed god, and so did Adam, suffering entered the world. Man - not god - through sin and rebellion, was responsible for bringing suffering into the world. Today, we are directly the cause of 85% of all the suffering in the world. We inflict it upon ourselves. Some of this suffering includes lung cancer, murder, rape, drunken driving accidents, robbery, poverty that arises out of laziness, and more. Another cause of suffering is because the world is in a fallen state due to man's sin. So if sin is causing all of these problems then why didn't God create us without the ability to sin? If he created us without sin we would no longer be human. We would be like machines. There would never be any conflict or harsh words but there would never be any spontaneous love either. God didn't want us to love him because we didn't have a choice. Love isn't really love if you do not have the ability to choose to love. So God gave us the ability to choose. By giving us the ability to choose to love Him, He also had to give us the choice to love other things. Through this choice, sin was created. But isn't God doing something about the worlds suffering? You bet he is. He sent his son to suffer redemptively (Hebrews 2:18; 1 Peter 2:20-24) He Gives grace to us when we suffer. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) He purifies through suffering when we mix it with faith (Romans 8:18, 28-29) He uses us to help others face their suffering (James 1:27 and 5:14-16; Cor. 1:3,4) God loves us so much that he gave us the choice of love and the choice of sin and then he suffered and paid the price for that sin so all that remains is his overflowing love. All you have to do is accept it and you will be 4Given.

If you live in the DFW area and have not been outside today I have one thing to say to you.
GET OUT THERE!!!
It is a beautiful day. I couldn't make myself go to the gym because the second I stepped outside I felt the warm sun and cool breeze. So I took a walk on the trails by my apartment and I just had to admire the work of a God so powerful yet so gentle with every single delicate creation. So, whether you are at the office, have a million errands to run, or are just sitting at the computer relaxing. Take a few moments to enjoy this beautiful day that God has given us.

It is senseless that these things must happen. Let us pray for those at Virginia Tech.

20 Dead In Virginia Tech Shooting
Last Edited: Monday, 16 Apr 2007, 10:25 AM MDT
Created: Monday, 16 Apr 2007, 10:19 AM MDT
Shootings at a dorm and classroom on the Virginia Tech campus Monday, April 16, 2007, left at least one person dead and one wounded, and a suspect was arrested, authorities said.

-->By SUE LINDSEYAssociated Press Writer
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Gunfire erupted in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing at least 20 people, authorities said.
The university told students to stay inside and away from windows as police swept the campus and worked to establish whether the gunman acted alone.
A hospital spokeswoman said 17 students were treated for gunshot wounds and other injuries.
On the Web site, Tech reported the shootings at opposite ends of the 2,600-acre campus at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and said there were "multiple victims" at Norris Hall, an engineering building.
Government officials with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press there were seven to eight other "casualties."
All entrances to the campus were closed and classes canceled through Tuesday.
"There's just a lot of commotion. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on," said student Jason Anthony Smith, 19, who lives in the dorm where shooting took place.
Aimee Kanode, a freshman from Martinsville, said the shooting happened on the 4th floor of West Ambler Johnston dormitory, one floor above her room. Kanode's resident assistant knocked on her door about 8 a.m. to notify students to stay put.
"They had us under lockdown," Kanode said. "They temporarily lifted the lockdown, the gunman shot again."
"We're all locked in our dorms surfing the Internet trying to figure out what's going on," Kanode said.
Madison Van Duyne, a student who was interviewed by telephone on CNN, said, "We are all in lockdown. Most of the students are sitting on the floors away from the windows just trying to be as safe as possible."
It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed because of a shooting.
In August 2006, the opening day of classes was canceled and the campus closed when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the Tech area. A sheriff's deputy involved in the manhunt was killed on a trail just off campus.
The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital murder charges.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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I am constantly changing and this time for the better. On the outside it may seem like a subtle change....maybe even not at all but it is happening slowly. My reasons for beginning a workout routine originally were physical just like anyone else. I noticed that my desk job seemed to be a trap for those extra pounds and I was not very happy about the way I was always sick and always had no energy. But then something happened. Somewhere in the middle of the first week or two of working out God spoke to me and He is still speaking to me this constant message. I'm now changing more than just my outside appearance but my insides too. I go to the gym not only to burn calories but to spend time worshiping God and talking to God as I work out. I take better care of my health because God has a plan for me and I know I have been ignoring it for a long time and I cannot carry out His plan by sitting on the couch. I cannot continue to live without truly living, just going through the motions and not even pausing to wonder why I am doing the things that I am doing. I fall into my routines and forget why I am here.
I saw a animated kids movie last weekend called Meet the Robinsons. At the end of the movie there was a quote by Walt Disney that seemed to fit this message that God is giving me.

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” - Walt Disney

So I am changing. This time for the better. And my goal is this: Wherever God may take me, whatever path He leads me on next, I will follow. I will train myself up and go out to serve Him in any way that is possible. And no matter what happens, I will keep moving forward.

I choose to not settle into a routine that gets me nowhere any longer. Each day I want to be a little bit closer to God than I was the day before and each day I want to make a little more progress in doing His will. It is Him that created me and Him that I serve. I serve an awesome God!! Full of love and grace more than words can describe!