It has been a really long time since I have last written anything.  Where to start?  in the last year, God has turned my life upside down *for the better*.

Just a few words, and thoughts on paper for today...

The Lord is merciful to those who call on his name, that in every circumstance which passes, belong to the Lord, what is rightfully his, and we should without cause, declare to God give all glory which stagnates beyond all measure. Amen~ May your day be declared His from Dawn to Dusk. In Jesus Name, Amen...

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For all that has passed from then and now Lord, I am still thankful. For the ability to shout and praise to you Father, You are Holy, You are Mighty, You are deserving our Praise Lord. That in every circumstance you truly see me, for me, and see what I desire, and graciously give all that is necessary to mold my future self... What joy is there left, than the relishing of this exuberant humility I feel? I am not worthy, I have done nothing to deserve you, yet, even before time, you saw me, and loved me, since the dawn of time. At last, I am who I am because of your love, because of your mercy, because of your grace. So thank you Lord, for hearing all my cries to you, for the challenges I have plunged through, and even in that pit of darkness, where the impossible seemed so vast a distance, in an instant you carried me. Thank you, for the ability to feel your presence, upon my life, in my life, in  the way I interact with my brethren, and still speak for me, the words of truth. For all that lies ahead Lord, I praise you. Even though I might will such words to form during the storm, my heart stays confident in you. I can smell you, feel your embrace around me, and cupping my face in your tattered hands, and still whisper, I love you more than you know... So, thank you. For all these things which are to come, for all the activities you've planned for me. I give you glory Lord, I give you thanks Lord. and declare you, over and over again, you O Lord are my life, your love is life to me.

May 7 – May 13

Here are your top 5 interesting, must-know news articles from the past week. Enjoy!

"As the saying goes—You win some; you lose some. It’s hard to imagine a world without compromise and a need to find a middle ground. But at what point does the message itself become compromised and watered down? Is it when tolerance is administered in the wrong way? Or when we give up our identity to please the majority? Either way, we must find patience in the process."

Tagging right off Judy's last two posts, I have been also doing something other than just exercise to...well get my exercise. My front yard has two very ugly trees and my father regretted planting when we first bought our house about 16 years ago. So since I already pulled out 2 pretty large trees in our backyard (which took about 2 weeks), I thought this would be a much easier task. 

Each tree took about 2 days but I gotta tell you, its no easy task trying to uproot a tree. Cutting the tree down is easy with a chainsaw but digging around it, that is some major upper body workout. With limited tools, I use the same pick axe for the entire process and lever out tree from underneath.

Right now, there is a craze on total body workouts as opposed to isolating your muscles. Sure it's great to get the big biceps to show off to strangers at the pool, or to pump your pectorals like Terry Crews, but using your body as a whole to build strength is useful in your daily life. In real life, you never use just one muscle of your body, unless of course you're doing desk work or something. Any physical task you perform, your body works as a whole. This is why you'll rarely see me on a machine (unless of course I am recovering from an injury), but almost always using free weights. 

Don't just do curls, do curl presses, curl squats. Don't feel like you have to stick to the same motion for the 10 reps on your triceps, go over and under, palm up and palm down. Even look at Tony Horton's workouts, most are ALL from just ordinary, daily life movements. from pulling your pants up, starting up a lawn mower, putting things on the shelf and even crawling under a fence.

Be creative, use your entire body, pull out some trees.

April 30 – May 6

Here are your top 5 interesting, must-know news articles from the past week. Enjoy!

"Social media is capable of making an enormous impact for lives around the world—some positive, but some negative. Negative ones either end at ridicule or some may go as far as suicide. Where do we know the difference between trying to stay informed and from participating, thus perhaps encouraging such detrimental situations?"