A few steps back = a few steps gained

     As you listen to the birds calling to one another, hear also my love-call to you. I speak to you continually: through sights, sounds, thoughts, impressions, scriptures. There is no limit to the variety of ways I can communicate with you. Your part is to be attentive to my messages, in whatever form they come. When you set out to find me in a day, you discover that the world is vibrantly alive with my presence. You can find me not only in beauty and birdcalls, but also in tragedy and faces filled with grief. I can take the deepest sorrow and weave it into a patter for good.
     Search for me and my messages, as you go through this day. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole being.
     John 10:27; Romans 8:28 (AMP); Jeremiah 29:13

     The crazy thing about this devotion today is that this morning I read the daily devotion and the birds were having a "hay day" outside. My definition of a "hay day" is just having tons of fun. I guess that isn't TOO crazy, but it was fun to listen to!
     Another crazy thing is that I took the child I babysit to the park today. I met a woman there who lives ten minutes from my school. She worked at my college for about five years and now is starting a church there! The church is connected to the church my mom is attending where I go to school! Small world, right? I am going to try her church. Maybe God wanted me at that park for a reason.

     Yesterday I chose to take a break. I am realizing that I only have a limited time before I go back to school. I am starting to become overwhelmed with everything that is going on, and when it is time to workout after work I find it more stressful to do what I love than it is to just do it. So...my advice to everyone (and some people may disagree) is that when someone feels like this, take a break. This is not giving up and it has taken a little bit of growing up to realize this, but taking a break is so much better for me. I have reached a point of exhaustion, and after a couple weeks of just being tired, I become cranky, demanding, less understanding, and so many more things. In my reality, and sometimes I am still afraid to do this, I take a couple steps back so in my future I can end up ahead. I know that as a runner, if I am not mentally strong, I am physically weak. I made the choice to take a break from serious workouts and enjoy the time I have. I can start my serious workout routines when I return to school and start getting a schedule. Right now, my schedule is becoming so crowded, and I am feeling something I do not like feeling. Don't let the thing you love to do start becoming a task; that is at times when things you love are destroyed.

     What I am thinking about doing is a 7 day detox fast. I read about a fast that has someone eating certain things on certain days and it is supposed to relieve the toxins from your body. I want to check more about it out because I don't want to lose a lot of weight (weight is not the reason I am interested in doing it, I just want to almost "restart" my body), but since I am not working out as hard I am thinking it may be the time to take action and try it out!


Something I learned yesterday: 
You can find ANYTHING on blogs. Google what you want to read about (food, organizing, relationships, college, anything) and a blog will appear. I am amazed!