The Story of King Ass

I had a crazy revelation while reading my Bible this morning (and I thank You LORD that you lead me to this).

Now I've heard this said numerous times, but you know how sometimes you have to hear it one more time for it to stick? I think this is that time. The Bible does say also that God prepares us and He gives us the understanding when we are ready for it; I'm guessing this is that time. 

The story of all the kings of Israel are told in the books of Kings and the books of Chronicles, so you get some repetition. The thing about repetition is that we have a tendency to close our minds to things because we say, "Oh I already read/heard/saw this so I'm good." 

The thing about repetition, though, is that it is the mother of skill. Through it we learn new things and turn them into something much greater! Playing piano, acting, drawing, working, etc..., all those things require repetition in order to master them. But I digress...

Okay, so God told the kings of Israel and Judah to first seek Him with all their heart, soul, and mind, and He would prosper them. The most notable kings who were blessed were David and Solomon, and after Solomon came his son Rehoboam. Rehoboam was 50/50 with God - he turned away and then turned back to Him. Once he passed on his son Asa took over as king of Judah. (Israel had a different king- they are two different nations).

Asa followed the Lord's will and brought the people back to Him. Asa also destroyed the idols and false gods from previous kings. Because his faith was strong, the Lord delivered him from multiple armies who far outnumbered Judah. 

However, after things had been good and peaceful for a long time, Israel began to shore up some of the cities that bordered Judah - essentially cutting Judah off from the world. So Asa sends some presents to another king and says, "Hey man, let's go defeat Israel and stop this." So they do just that, and Asa takes all the supplies Israel was using and fortifies some of his own cities. 

Okay, Adrienne, so what's the point here? This sounds pretty standard; making treaties and joining forces with someone else to defeat your enemies. 

That's the problem right there. Asa turned to another human being to assist him instead of turning to God who had delivered him over and over again! 

Say what? But he got what he needed! He stopped Israel!

Well yeah. But that's not what it's about. It's about having more faith in God and His will for your life than the enemy who outnumbers you. 

So check this out. A seer comes to King Asa and says, "Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on The Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on The Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of The Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you shall surely have wars." (2 Chron 16:7-9)

Asa gets upset, chucks the guy in jail and then starts oppressing the people too. Gets his panties in a fine twist! A short time later he falls ill, but instead of seeking the Lord for healing he seeks out help from physicians only. He suffers for about two years before passing on. (2 Chron 16:10-13)

I know what you're thinking: that sounds like a pretty extreme way to make a point! And you're right, it is extreme. But sometimes it needs to be big and ugly and in your face in order for you to get with the program. Like when your parents would say to you, "don't touch that it will burn you," and you'd keep reaching out until you finally touched it, only to burn the heck out of your finger! You learned pretty quickly after that not to touch hot things!

Listen, I don't know about everything. I certainly don't know everything about life! But as time goes on I have learned this much (even though I still get tripped up): when we try to do it for ourselves it rarely turns out  how we want/hope/expect. And sometimes we get it right away only to have it bite us in the butt! 

Instead of getting it my way, I'm going to let it be His way. 

I asked for a revelation last night and this morning and this is it. Giving every decision and every question of my heart over to God is the way I want to be living my life, and it's going to be the main focus for me this month. Not leaning on the understanding of man, but turning to the wisdom of the One who knows the plans He has for me- to prosper me and to plant me in the place He has chosen. 

To Wish or to Pray

Do you ever feel like there is a message being pressed on your heart? And do you ever feel like you simply must share it?

That's how I have been feeling these past few days. 

It started with this amazing sermon at church on Sunday... 

WAIT! Please, don't stop reading! I know it's easy to want to do the second somebody mentions church or religion or sermons. I know that sometimes it feels like sermons are too... Preachy. Yep, I said it! But please hang in for just a minute!

Sunday's sermon was about one of the biggest questions people ask of us believers: If God loves us, why does He let bad things happen?

So I pose this question to you: Have you ever read the Bible, or any portion of it? Even if you haven't, you've heard of how God had Moses lead His people out of Egypt right? Moses parts the Red Sea and then the Sea falls around the enemy army, drowning them. 

God's promise was "I will bring you out of the desert and I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey..." 

The funny thing is that He never did tell them exactly when He would plant them in the promised land. Want to know how long it took? 

40. Years. 

That's right. It wasn't immediate. It was far from!

That's just one example of many, but it's the easiest one to begin with. 

We live in this world of instant gratification, where people can literally get their coffee in the way that they want, and it is supposed to be made in 3 minutes or less. Also, if you don't like it you can send it back and get an entirely new one at no charge! (Though you do have to wait a few more minutes for it to be made... And I bet you get a bit impatient waiting for it to be made right- right)?

So when people get hit with hard times or extremely sad circumstances they begin to pray. They ask God to take away the pain or illness or unfortunate events, and then they wait for His answer. 

For about 24 hours. 

Ok maybe I'm being dramatic. But it's true! When people don't get the miraculous healing akin to bringing Lazarus back to life they immediately assume that there is no God, that He doesn't care and He isn't listening. 

So I ask you: IF you knew that it would be 40 years and then He would bring the redemption, would you wait? Would you continue to have faith? Would you walk each day with happiness knowing there was an end coming no matter how far out, or would you complain that it wasn't soon enough?

Do you believe in the power of prayer? And do you believe and know that it happens in His time and not ours? 

We have moved away from praying and have stepped into wishing, looking for that magic lamp with a genie tucked in it waiting to answer our three wishes. 

We know that wishes aren't real. We know that wishes are empty, meaningless, and we have no expectation for a return on it. They aren't even hopes or dreams; things that can come to fruition through our work and dedication the the goal. Wishes are just things we say with no expectation of fulfillment. 

What about prayers?

Let me tell you this: the word of God does not return void. He has made you promises, He lists them out clearly in the Bible! He will bring you out of Egypt, and He will lead you to the land of milk and honey. Pray, believing you have already received it and it will be granted to you. He has plans to prosper you and not to harm you! He only asks that you have faith the size of a mustard seed, and that you let Him open those doors for you. 

Stop wishing. Start praying. 

Super Easy Crockpot Soup!

PEvery now and then you need a go to comfort food type meal that's also pretty easy and provides plenty of leftovers! Well my friends, this is one of those!

This all started in Paris when I lived there. My roommate was from Argentina and had some great ideas for dinner. This (well, a variation of it) was one of our faves!

I started with the following items (organic if you can- if not just clean them well):

1 box soup purée (I used Trader Joe's tomato and roasted red pepper)

1/2 box chicken broth

1 package all natural chicken sausage (I opt for andouille because it's spicy!)

1 bunch kale or 2 spinach

1 package mushrooms

1 sweet yellow onion

1 red sweet potato

1 white sweet potato

1 green zucchini

1 yellow zucchini

2 medium carrots

Salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. 

Dice, shred, and chop all the veggies and meat. Toss it in the crockpot. 

Pour the box of soup purée over it, then pour the chicken broth into the purée box, shake it really well, and pour that over everything. You want to get all the purée you can!!! Then give everything a stir to mix it well!

Cook on high for 2-3 hours, then on low for 1-2 hours. OR cook on low for 8 hours! I season at the end right before I serve it!

You can top it with grassed cheese, crème frâiche, or anything you like. I picked my fave grassfed sharp cheddar!

Delicious!! This will give you leftovers for a day or so as well =) 

Also, feel free to use whichever veggies and sausage you like best. I just picked what was available! You really can't mess it up =)

Is It Okay to Take a Break? Your Questions Answered!

Good morning and Happy Wednesday my friend!

Today I just want to take a minute to answer a question that gets asked frequently. Once you've started a program or a routine, is it okay to take a short break in the middle or should you just push through?

The first thing to evaluate is this: why do you want to take a break?

• If it's because you think it's too hard, then instead of taking a break you need to look at modifying some of the moves, or taking more frequent "pause breaks" during the workout.
• If it's because you don't think it's working, you need to persevere and look at other things in your life that may be sabotaging your success. How is your diet? And be honest with yourself about it. Are you drinking enough water? Are you still drinking sugary sodas? Are the people around you being supportive? If not, get in touch with me and I will add you to an accountability group! I am also here to help you with anything else: exercise questions, food and nutrition, etc.
• If it's because you're just feeling lazy... you need to push harder! =)

So, when IS it okay to take a break?

• If you are feeling very physically fatigued, or you are sick, it is absolutely okay to take a break. Listen to your body, it knows what it needs! And if it needs a couple days off and just to chill, then you need to do that. You can pick up where you left off, or you can start up where you are on the calendar and then just plan to extend a couple days at the end.

Does this mean you should "take a break" every single time you're feeling a little tired? Absolutely not. I'm sure you're not surprised by that answer! We ALL wake up some days feeling a little bit sleepy and not quite ready to push play and get our sweat on. However, you know that as soon as you get about 10 minutes into the workout and you see that you really don't have that much time left to go it's much easier to just persevere and get it done!

Change takes time, and it takes effort. If you think back to the person you were in middle school, all those things you used to do and the way you used to behave, are you that exact same person? Probably not! And has it taken time to transition from that person, to the high schooler, to the college student, to the person you are right now? Of course it has! We all know that Rome wasn't built in a day, and your health and wellness goal isn't going to be achieved in a day either!

Regardless of whether or not you work out today, the day is going to pass and you aren't going to get it back. So tomorrow, when you look back on today, are you going to look at it with, "Man, I should have pushed play! Now I'm one extra day away from finishing this program!" Or will you look at it and say, "YES! One day CLOSER to being finished! I can't wait to see what my results are!"

I believe in you.

Exposing The TRUTH About Modifiying Exercises

You and your friend are out for coffee, and you compliment them on their noticeable weight loss or physical changes.

"Oh thank you for noticing," they exclaim proudly. "I started doing that <insert exercise program here> and it's AH-MAZING..." At this point they begin rattling off the various exercises they are required to do, and they talk about the jumping around and the kicking and the flailing.

You might have been interested in joining them, but after listening to them you start thinking, "Holy crapola, I can't do all of that!!! I'll DIE!" So instead of piping up and talking about how you have goals to lose weight, tone your muscles, or just get more energy, you sit there and nod your head; then you glibly change the subject.

You really want to step up and make a change. You have been struggling for years to get to where you want to be. You've tried diets, diet pills, various online activity sites. You've tried support groups, only to have your gung-ho friends slowly drift away and come up with excuses to NOT do things. You don't know where to start, and while you've seen the different infomercials for various fitness programs that promise results you are left thinking, "I can't do that. I have bad knees/hips/elbows" or "I have asthma" or "my stamina sucks and I wouldn't last 15 minutes."

My friend, I was - and still am - just like you. My lung capacity is not what I want it to be. My cardiovascular strength is still developing. My knees - oh my knees.... how they LOVE to get tweaked during power jumps or any type of plyometric workout. And can we talk about my wrists, particularly my left one? While my tendonitis is finally under control, I still find myself favouring it and having to monitor exactly how much time I spend in regular plank vs. planking on my elbows instead.

What your fitness loving friend isn't telling you is that you can modify the exercises to fit your fitness level. While certain programs don't show modifications, there are plenty that DO offer a modified option. If you are interesting in working with a personal trainer, talk to them in your very first meeting about your concerns and ask them about modifying. If you're researching an at home fitness program, talk to someone about programs that support modifying.

Today I modified multiple exercises to fit my current fitness level. I was attempting my power jumps, and during the landing of one my right knee gave out and I tweaked the tendon. So instead of jumping, I alternated lifting my knees. Here's a snapshot to show you what it looks like:

The key is to hold your elbows up and contract your abs forward  and a little to the side of the lifted knee. This works your obliques! You just march as quickly as possible and contract your core as hard as you can. Exhale - really blow OUT - as you lift your knee as it helps those abs contract even more!

I also modified the squat hook (a type of punch) combo as I began to lose energy and my knee was still sore. Here's how I did it:

Start in the center with your guard up. Take a BIG step to the right, push your hips and tail bone back (this keeps your knees back and over your ankles), and squat down while you bring your right hook across. A hook punch is like sliding your elbow across the top of a table or shelf. Step back to the center, keeping your guard up. Take a BIG step to the left, push your hips and tail bone back, and squat while you bring your left hook across.

At the end of the day it comes down to this: ANY movement is better than NO movement! We aren't all born with springs in our legs. This girl is only meant to jump when riding a horse! And you know what? I'm okay with that! Plyometrics are my weakest point, but I try each and every time to do what I can, and when I can't do it anymore I start modifying the workouts to fit what I am capable of.

I'll leave you with this: it is not a sign of weakness to modify exercises. It is a sign that you are smart and you don't want to hurt yourself! Know your limits, know what you're capable of. Don't stop trying to see what you can do without modifying, but don't ever beat yourself up for needing to ratchet down the intensity.

Get out there and be awesome my friends!

Grain-free, Gluten-free Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Just in time for fall! I don't know about you, but I am obsessed with pumpkin! It is so tasty and totally one of my favourite treats. Pumpkin pie? Yes please!!! Pumpkin cheesecake? Pumpkin streusel? Pumpkin bars? *faint*

Okay, okay. So it's true that I love pumpkin a lot! I decided to adapt last weekend's recipe to fulfill my need for pumpkin. And they totally pass the test! They are absolutely delicious!

I will take a better picture when I have them all dressed up with some tasty frosting tomorrow! We're having a party, which is why I went on a baking spree =)

So, check my other post for a link to the original recipe that I used. Today I adapted to the following (I doubled the recipe to account for extra people, but this is the normal recipe which will give you about a dozen muffins):

• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 3 T organic grade B maple syrup
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 T coconut oil, softened
• 1/2 t apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 C coconut flour
• 1/4 C blanched almond flour
• 1 t pumpkin pie spice
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/2 very ripe medium banana (approx 2/3 C mashed)
• 2/3 C organic pumpkin puree 
• 1/4 C almond milk (or milk of your choice)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together coconut oil, vanilla, and maple syrup. (This step  is essential!) 
2. Add your eggs one at a time and mix well in between. Add the ACV and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl mix together your dry ingredients.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well, using a spatula to scrape down the sides as needed.
5. In another bowl mash together the banana, pumpkin, and milk. Ensure it is well mixed.
6. Gently fold the pumpkin mix into the batter.
7. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling them approximately 2/3 full.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick or fork comes out clean.

I did double this recipe and came away with 2 1/2 dozen muffins! WOW. So you get a lot of bang for your buck with this one =)

Leftover muffins should be stored in the fridge if you plan to have them around for longer than a day or so. They also freeze well!

Trail Mix Cups - Trial and Error

Because I had all the pulp left over from my homemade coconut milk I figured I would use it to make some trail mix bars! Or something like that =)

The first thing I did was spread the coconut out onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper:

Since my oven was still warm from the banana muffins I just plopped the pan in there for about 30 minutes.

While that was doing its thing, I diced up the following:

• 2 dried apple rings
• 2 dried peach slices
• 2 dried pear slices
• 2 dried nectarines
• 3 dried plums
• 3/4 C dry roasted unsalted almonds

I also grabbed:

• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• dash of himalayan pink salt
• 5 Tbsp organic local honey 

 Sadly, the mixture wasn't "wet" enough, so I cut up some waxed paper into squares and used them to line the muffin cups.

I baked them at 350* for 25 minutes! While they taste really, really good - not too sweet, good crunch - I need more of a binding agent so it's back to the drawing board! I have an idea of what I want to do, a couple of ingredients I'm going to add, but you'll have to wait for a week or two till I have them all in hand. Until then, these would be a great topping for yogurt, or as a Paleo granola!