Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

Meal Planning Monday

Monday – Chicken pie…this is, without a doubt, one of my FAV meals!!!

Tuesday – Parmesan Crusted Chicken and WW Cauliflower Casserole

Wednesday – Healthy Buffalo Chicken Mac N Cheese

Thursday – Million Dollar Spaghetti and garlic crescent rolls {roll out lowfat crescent rolls, sprink with Pampered Chefs Garlic Garlic then roll up}

Friday – Easy Chicken Casserole {minus the poppy seeds}

Saturday – Out to dinner with the fam

Sunday – Ham and bean soup with homemade bread

Dear Body

Dear body,


I would like to start this letter by saying two things…I am sorry and you are beautiful.  I’m sorry for all the terrible things I’ve said and thought about you.

You are an amazing creation that God designed specifically for me. You have carried me through 40 years of playing + walking + moving + learning + thinking + creating + loving + living.

I’m sorry for letting what other people think change my thoughts of you. Remember when we were little and we were friends? You weren’t good or bad or fat or thin or ugly or beautiful. You were just me. You were the vehicle I rolled down grassy hills in, screaming with laughter. I wrapped myself in you to swim in the ocean with my Grandma. You were the cocoon I snuggled in to sleep at night.

We’ve walked the streets of Mexico, the shorelines of beaches and countless parades while I twirled a rifle (which I hit you with many, many times).  We’ve birthed two perfect, extremely large babies and we’ve fed them with milk we made from cheeseburgers, steak salads and cold cereal. We’ve walk endless miles with my Mama shopping.  We’ve danced for hours, all sweat and motion.  We’ve survived!

You have endured multiple displays of my clumsiness, bad luck, horrible aim and dumb-flat-feet-make-me-trip. And by multiple I really mean uncountable…but yet, you kept going. You didn’t throw your hands up in the air and say that’s IT, this girl is unreal…how can she fall UP the steps and DOWN them?

Not to mention the countless surgeries over the past few years. Through it all, you never gave up or gave in. Not even in ICU where you were so, so very tired. It’s because of you that this Mama can see her kids grow up.

After all that, how do I repay you?  I belittle you.  I call you fat.  I complain about you.  I compare you to every single woman that walks past me. I talk to you worse than I ever would speak to anyone else.

I am so sorry for that. 

I want to appreciate you for what you are, not what I wish you were.  I want to appreciate every inch of you.  The stretch marks that show I carried two babies.  The lips and eyes that show my heritage.  The nose, crooked from being broken multiple times, that show I truly am as clumsy as I say.  The face that may sometimes droop on the left side that shows I’m a survivor.  The scars that show I’m alive! 
I wish I would have appreciated what a perfect gift God gave me when He gave me you.  I am so grateful for you and I vow I will try as hard as I can to change the ugly way I speak to you. 
I’m sorry.  Thank you.  I love you.

One Little Word – 2016

Here we are, starting a new year. I have to admit, there is a big part of me that thrills over the fresh beginning in front of us.  It’s like a fresh blanket of white snow free of footsteps.  It feels like a book with blank pages, just waiting for you to write your own story.  

For years, I’ve picked a word to be my “one little word” for the year.  Instead of overwhelming myself with lots of resolutions, I choose one word to be my driving force for the year.

While I was thinking and praying for my one little word, I spent some time reading Ali Edwards blog {she is the creator of one little word}. Wow, there are some amazing, inspiring words for 2016! Inspire, calm, believe, still, thrive, whole and forward are just a few of the words others have chosen. Wow, are those not some awesome words!

As I was thinking of my word for this year, I kept being drawn to a blog post I wrote a while back I am Tired of the Not Enough’s.  I spent some time reading other peoples words and pouring over lists of words.  I was still wordless but I couldn’t shake the feeling of being drawn to that post.  Over and over again, God kept calling me there.  This happens every year. And every year, without a doubt, I find myself saying “Are you sure? I mean maybe I just misunderstood” and then I always pout around, feel slighted and wish I had a “cool kid” word. Then, as every other year, I realize I’m being a selfish spoiled brat.

I’m fairly certain if God gives you a word, that you should take it and embrace it. And with that, I give you my word for 2016.


Enough.
Pretty enough.
Smart enough.
Good enough.
Talented enough.
Talkative enough.
Tall enough.
Normal enough.
Confident enough.
Perfect enough.

I’ve claimed this word as my theme for the next 366 days {it’s a leap year y’all}. I’m going to post it where I can see it daily and meditate on it often. This one little word is between God and I. It’s something that I’ve really felt He has been trying to work on in my heart lately.

For years, I’ve struggled with feeling not enough.  Pregnancies, age, surgeries and sickness have left my body changed. This body, riddled with scars and weight gain, has been the hardest for me to accept and added to the not enough feeling. Not pretty enough, not thin enough, not good enough, not smart enough and not talented enough. Halfway through 2015, that changed. I was tired of being stuck in the not enough’s, and I refused to live there anymore.

Enough to me means being able to look in the mirror and love the woman I see. A quiet confidence between my mind and my body. It speaks to me of smiling, of happiness radiating from my face, of knowing my worth because of who I belong to and of a sweet humbleness.

I have a journal that I write in daily, and my word of the year makes an appearance often. In my daily “God talk” time, I ask God to show me what He has to teach me about the word in my life, and then I collect quotes, Bible verses, sermon notes, conversation tidbits, impressions, etc. by jotting them down in my journal, one thought to a page.

As we head into the New Year, would you want to join me and consider claiming a word for the year? I’m sure He has a special one just for you. Write the word down, pray about it, journal about it and open your heart for whatever lessons God has in store for you.