Get NAKED!

Let's all live in a nudist colony, no more worries about what to wear and cover up. Ok ok that is a bit extreme and I am totally kidding, yet if it were up to Nick, he would never wear clothes, ha! Back to the point, it all started in the garden, Eden, everything was perfect. We were meant to be naked, yes you heard it right, no clothes, no walls, no boundaries, no shame, no fear, just you complete in Christ. Think about it, "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed," it says in Genesis 2:25. The Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings, our God created us to be in relationship with him, unashamed until Satan came as a snake and Eve listened to him instead of her Abba. From then on, they were covered and ashamed and it was destined for each person from then on. 

So God saw this, but come on, God saw this coming, he knew it would happen, he knew that sin, this ugly thing that we live in now separated Adam and Eve from God. They were kicked out of the garden. Now, for generations until Jesus, the Lamb of God, died for us, everyone that wanted to come to God to talk with him had to go through a priest, who did a sacrifice and many other cleansing rituals. 

Now for today, we were meant to be naked right, I would have loved to be Eve, not having to stress over every day what to wear, whether I look fat, whether I am in style or fit enough. This is what I constantly stress about, covering up what God has made me to be with so much STUFF! In the beginning, Satan came as a snake, he is the father of lies, and he comes in so many forms today, speaking lies in every avenue of my and your life. Lately it has been the lie of having this pinterest perfect home, complete with the latest furniture, the latest art work that is put on the walls the way that article said to. I am sooooo frugal, yet I am almost willing to go spend money on things for my  house that will eventually go out of style, but more importantly they will stay hear, "where moth and rust destroy."  Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be hospitable, but where is your heart, I am asking myself everyday, who are you trying to impress, will you be more loved when people see your house all done up like that beautiful one on Pinterest? NO! Will the Gospel be shared, be seen, will my God be glorified in all the stuff I store up here instead of storing up treasures in heaven, no. (Matt. 6:19-20)

Another struggle in my life has been looking pinterest perfect. Let's be honest, who in the right mind would pin all these incredible desserts and fattening recipes then pin this skinny, ripped, big-boobed girl  with the caption "that cookie doesn't taste as good as skinny feels." COME ON!!!! I lived in a community where mostly everyone dressed the part, stressed about every ounce, every calorie, every hour they work out and how many calories they burned. I was sucked into that, I used to totally stress, and sometimes still do. I love this post from Ann Voskamp, I love this line,“The curve of a smile is a woman’s most perfect curve and the only tag that matters is the one that says Robed in the Righteousness of Christ. It may not be easy to be a woman in this world. But it is always perfect to be a woman in His hand."

Then in church this morning, we were singing "You're Beautiful" by Phil Wickham, one of my favorites, and God kept saying to me "You sing that I am beautiful, Caitlyn you were made in my image, so why do you bash and criticize every part of my beautiful art work?" Ladies, here it is, you are so beautiful, no matter the size on your jeans, no matter the number on the scale, because what is true beauty is fearing God! "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Let every person who comes across your path, who sees your smile, see Jesus in you and not you. Let them see that Christ is the reason you live, the reason you feast on the true bread of life, the reason you breathe, you move, you worship your creator. 

We are here for such a short time in comparison to eternity; we may have one opportunity with this person. But we are, including myself totally, missing it, we are clothing ourselves with things of this world, we are clinging to the sins of our past, we are ashamed, or we are putting up walls between us and God or others because of so many insecurities. Listen, children of the Living God, Christ has redeemed you, if you have declared him as your Lord and Savior. Why are we walking around clothed in the world, not living naked with the righteousness of Jesus covering us? He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, he gives us the strength. When we continually seek his face about all things in this world, Psalm 27:4 says it all. "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple." Lord this is my prayer that I would hunger and thirst for things of you more than any thing in this world. We love you Abba.

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." Isaiah 61:10

-Caitlyn

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Quinoa Chili

Ok, so I am not as cool as all the other blogs that post their decadent pictures of their food, but I can give you an easy and phenomenal recipe!

My hubby loves it, and now my little 10 month old loves it! It is full of protein and veggies and so filling. It makes so much we freeze half and have leftovers for the next day's lunch. I soak and cook all my beans and don't use canned beans but you are more than welcome to. It is just more cost efficient if you go with homemade beans.
So enjoy, it is a variation of Sweet Twist of Blogging.

2 cups/ 1 can of Red Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups/ 2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups/1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained(I put these in almost everything, a bit obsessed!)
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2 a sweet onion
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
4-5 cloves of garlic
2 tbs coconut oil
6 medium mushrooms
1 zucchini
2 tbs chili powder
1 1/2 tbs cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 pepper
1/2 can of water
1 can of tomato sauce
1 cup of uncooked, soaked, and rinsed quinoa

Instructions
1. Dice up your onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, and garlic. Melt your coconut oil in your pan and add everything except the garlic. Saute all that until your onion is translucent, then add garlic for another minute.

2. Pour all of that into your crockpot, then add the rest of the ingredients but hold the quinoa. Cook on low all day or on high for 4 hours.

3. You add the uncooked quinoa the last 45 minutes right before you serve it.

4. Feel free to top with sour cream (not fat free, you need the fat and the fat free or low fat has just added sugar yuck!), or fresh organic cheese, or fresh guacamole. Enjoy!

You can also do this on the stove, probably for 2 hours, up to you, just adds flavor the longer you let it simmer.

Eyes Off of Me

I haven't posted in a while mostly because I have not had the time. Being a stay at home mom is hard work, I feel as though the days fly by and I see that one basket that isn't folded, I will do it tomorrow. Then I see that I haven't vacuumed this week, ugh, I will do that tomorrow. Then I look down at my Bible on the coffee table, sitting in the same place that it was in yesterday, I will read it tomorrow.

We always hear there is never enough time in the day, and it feels that way often, but the Lord gives us the right amount of time to do what needs to be done, to live the way he calls us to live, and to love all the people we can love, right here, right now. I am so guilty of just rushing through the day-wake up, make breakfast, read the Word, journal, get Luke ready, go to the gym, come home, get him down for a nap, make lunch and shower, Luke wakes up, go to the store, come home, clean up the house before Nick gets home, make dinner.

You see I have fallen, fallen into the trap, the trap of the "perfect housewife." My mind is screaming at me, "Be perfect, look perfect, eat perfect, house perfect." Neil is our pastor and he did a sermon last week on the loudest desire and your deepest desire, those are my loudest desires, but my deepest desire is to bring glory to God.

He has shown me that in order to be a good wife and mother I must keep my eyes on Christ and off of myself. In reality, as all of us, I am a selfish sinner that fights with the sin nature in me. Paul of all people wrote about this inner struggle, this inner war raging within him in Romans 7. "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7:21-25


God calls me to rest in Him, I am not resting for sure. I go through every day at full speed doing all that I can to be perfect and then worst of all at the end of the day I am tired, shocker huh! And I give what little I have left to Nick which is usually sarcasm, anger, and little time because I am so ready for bed. I am guilty of living for myself. In Isaiah 30:15 God says, "In repentance and rest is your salvation in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it!" 


I am ready to repentant of my selfish ways, to rest in Him, my strength. I am ready to trust that my God is enough, even when nothing gets done, I don't look like a size 4, and I can't eat perfectly to a T. He is all that I need, my eyes look to Him!

Lord that is my prayer, help me, I can't do it on my own. You are my rock which I cling to and build my life upon. I trust you that you have a plan and will for my life and that it all comes down to bringing glory to your name. May my life reflect you, not myself, may people see the love, joy, peace, and hope of Christ in me. I love you Father. Thank you for this new life, may I live it fully. Amen.

Our Little Athlete

I am currently typing this blog while our little Luke is sitting up on his own! He is such a rockstar!
We are so proud and are just falling more and more in love with the mover and shaker. Did I mention, he NEVER stops moving unless he is asleep! Wait take that back we will sometimes put him in the crib and he would have turned a complete 180 degrees when we get him!

He really wanted the camera and was a little upset that I wasn't giving it to him.

Luckily he is not eating any solids, just good ol' breastmilk. Did you know that their stomachs aren't able to digest anything besides breastmilk until they are 6 months, wow! They are made to live on breastmilk alone til then! He is gaining weight at an awesome rate so there really is no need to give him solids. I always hear if you give him a full dinner of solids before bed he will sleep through the night, this is not true though so I am perfectly ok with just nursing.

He is over 17 lbs and 30 in. long, that's right the 90th percentile in length! He is getting a tooth, we are expecting it to cut through any day, that means, as you know, EVERYTHING is in his mouth.

Here are a few pics!

This is my old man face.

Add caption

Give me the camera mom!

As for the rest of the family, we are about to embark on a two income family, well kind of. I am going to training next week to be  Body Pump instructor, and hopefully be teaching this year sometime. I never thought I would be a gym rat and want to be an instructor. I was never an athlete, only did colorguard in high school but that is it. This is what I have wanted to do for so long and am now able to help people become fit and stay fit!

Life-Long Resolution Part 2

Your health shouldn't be just a New Year's Resolution but a life-long resolution. I have not always been this health conscious, I was overweight and never exercised, ate fast food and processed food, until I realized what I was doing to my body was not glorifying to God. The Lord gave me this body to take care of, so while I at one point was obsessed about the scale, counting every calorie, and being so thin, I have been convicted to not stress about the worldly image of my body but take care of it as God calls us to.
I hear it all the time, "I work out everyday but I can't lose weight, you look great after having a baby, what is your secret." It is not a secret, it is pretty simple. I don't eat processed, fatty, sugary, empty foods. Instead, I fuel my body with organic vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean organic meat, wild caught fish, nuts, and beans. I eat every two to three hours to keep my metabolism up and have protein of some sort with every snack. Honestly I do give myself sugar sometimes, that is my weakness, but only eery now and then. Ok, don't get me wrong, if you do exercise that is awesome! You are doing your body wonders and adding years to your life, but that is only half or less of the equation. You see you MUST eat a well balanced, whole food diet to first of all lose weight, then second, to stay healthy. I can name so many diseases that have been linked to not eating the right food, not giving your body what it needs and feeding it trash. I recently had a gallbladder issue. About two months after I starting having huge stomach aches every time I ate, come to find out, my gallbladder was inflamed. I had to get off of dairy, sugar, fatty foods, low carb, and drink a liver cleansing juice with grape juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, and a little bit of apple cider vinegar (which is so good for you to drink every day). I am ten times better now, but while I ate "healthy" before, I am really eating better. Diabetes, cancer, colds, gallbadder inflammation and gallstones, IBS, digestive issues, etc. are all linked to not eating whole and organic foods. Did you know that many people get their gallbladder taken out when you can quickly and strictly change the way you eat and get rid of the stones and reverse it! Here are two of my favorite blogs for great recipes and living a healthy whole life and raising a family on those foods. Also, you must be drinking enough water, the right kind of water, tap water is sooo bad for you. The fluoride among many other things in it are horrible for you. We recently bought empty 5 gallon jugs and are buying the purified water from the grocery store machine. It is glacier water and is purified I believe 5 ways. We just keep Nalgene bottles with us all day, we drink coffee in the morning and water all day, that's it. Our body is mostly water, don't starve it of that. It also cleanses and keeps you going! God gave you this body, take care of it, fuel it with the right stuff, not cheap, empty gas.

The number one New Year's Resolution is to lose weight, every year. So we see the gyms get packed and I can guarantee, most of them think that since we are working out we can eat what we want, I earned it! Right, WRONG! Yes, you do burn calories therefore you need to take more in, but it is the kind of calories you are eating that makes the difference. If I could be an encourager to every new person that comes in to my gym, I would tell them I want to see you here past February, many leave then. Either they get bored or it just isn't a priority. Did you know we spend more money on healthcare than any other country in the world as individuals and health providers, etc., we are the most advanced, yet we are the most unhealthy country in the world. That is shocking! Diabetes is 100% preventable with exercise and healthy eating. I work out 1-2 hours 6 days a week doing cardio for an hour every day and strength training three times a week. I realize that many people can't work out for that long every day, but you can do cardio for 30 minutes a day, wake up earlier, go after work, go during your lunch break. You are doing yourself more favors than you know. The endorphins that are released when you exercise give you more energy, give you better sleep, and you are in a better mood. Who doesn't want to be a better mom, wife, daughter, worker, student, this is one way to get there. I am a better mom and wife because I take the time to exercise and eat right.

I could go on and on about this, it's a passion of mine as you can see. In the posts to come, I will go in depth on different topics. But lastly I would like to mention the importance of sleep. Did you know you burn a lot of calories when you sleep? You need 8-10 hours of sleep a night, and it's best when you are consistently going to sleep and waking up around the same time. You can't lose weight or function well without getting enough sleep.

Let's not put your health on the back burner, make it a priority, make it a life-long goal to be healthy. Don't stress about the scale, don't count every calorie, while portion sizing it best, don't go overboard, but take good care of the body you are given. God made you you, and we should fuel it well.

-Caitlyn

4 months and counting

Ok, so I realize I am horrible at updating the blog with all things Luke. So here is the low down with the little munchkin.

Can't see it, but there is a tooth coming in on the bottom!

He is a super baby I am convinced, he has mom's thunder muscle thighs, a six pack of abs, and he has shoulder muscles. Ya, the last one is not true but it sure does look like it!
He loves to stand all the time, with our help of course. He is now 4 months and a week, so crazy how time flies!
He is sleeping great, just waking up once to eat then goes right back to sleep and wakes up at around 7-8 all smiles! I just love it, what a way to wake up, to a beautiful, healthy, happy little blessing named Luke.
As many of you know because I am such a proud momma, he is rolling over both ways now. Rather, he has learned to roll from his back to his front and hasn't rolled the other way in so long because he just loves his new trick.
He loves to laugh, he giggles at all the silly songs I sing and the faces we make, and loves peek-a-boo.
He is getting his hair in mostly on top but so cute and fuzzy!
He is doing great at the Y childcare, they love him and he takes a bottle if he is hungry, soooo helpful. This is a huge blessing, I can still have my hour or two everyday to exercise and be sane, I am addicted to endorphins. I know this keeps me healthy and makes me a better wife and mother.
He is teething like crazy, chewing and drooling on everything, bibs are now a part of every outfit. We feel it coming in, so cool!
He loves Baby Einstein and Veggie Tales, we only have one movie of Veggie Tales and I know the whole movie.
He got a new jumperoo for Christmas among many other toys, and while he doesn't last long in it somedays, he is a rockstar at that thing!
He loves his tummy time and has such a strong head.
He lights up when he sees his daddy and loves to have daddy time, so blessed to have Nick as his dad! I am so glad Nick is an awesome dad because he will be taking care of Luke for two days 8 hours a day by himself in February while I train to become a Body Pump instructor!

I am loving being a mother with every day that goes by, its crazy that a year ago on Saturday I found out I was pregnant, broke down crying, well I did. I didn't have this planned for my life, and now I look at our little boy and would never take it back. I really miss youth ministry and I know I will do it again some day and will volunteer when Luke gets older, but for now, being a stay at home mom is the best job, most important, and most rewarding job the Lord has and will ever give me.

He got his daddy's old rattle!

Santa's cutest elf!

Thank you Abba for your plan, it is so much better than we can ever fathom and can every make ourselves. You knew what was in store for our family before Nick and I ever met, and I praise you for every moment, good and bad. I praise you for the trials and the joy in every day you give us. Thank you for this sweet baby boy you have given us to raise. Let us do it well and according to your Word. You are our life, more than the air we breathe, more than the food we eat, more than all the delights in our life. Let our lives and the way we act towards others fully reflect our love for you. Let Luke see that this family, his parents love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves. You are so good, Holy, Righteous, King of Kings, the Great High Priest! We love you and in your Son we pray, AMEN!


~Caitlyn

Life-long resolutions part 1

Your relationship with the Lord and aspects of it should not just  be a New Year's resolution, but a life-long resolution. I know many Christ-followers are making their New Year's resolutions and many are read my Bible every day, pray more, journal more, love others more, and go to church more. I believe that New Year's resolutions usually fail, because we are trying to do things by ourself. I love what Ann Voskamp says in her blog, "Trying harder only results in harder trials." We were not meant to do this on our own, we were given the Holy Spirit when we gave our life to Christ, but we as self-centered human beings set out to do it all by ourselves. You see we live in a world that screams self-reliance, self-power, self-centrality, but we are not of the world. Jesus asks of the Father in John 17:15-17, "¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by^[a] the truth; your word is truth." We can't be sanctified which means to be set apart or to be made holy, purified, without knowing and being in the Word. 


Ok ok, let me confess, I find it so hard especially now that I have a baby, to get in the Word daily. So I am writing this to myself as well. Here is my challenge to myself and every reader out there.

1. Dive head first!
    -Ask of the Lord for a hunger and thirst for the Word. He doesn't want you to read and meditate out of a sense of duty and obligation. We as a church I feel pressure every Christian in our pews so much to do the morning "quiet time" that they are pushed away towards things that they like to do. We enjoy facebook, pinterest, youtube, blogs, and tv that we spend more time on those than we ever do with our Creator. Wake up you sleepers! He wants you, he wants a relationship with you, he wrote a whole book full of truth for us, why aren't we diving in? Lord that is my prayer for me and everyone else reading this, that we would hunger and thirst for your Word. I pray it would come alive when we read it, i pray we soak it up deep in our bones, that it penetrates to the deepest part of our being, that we store it up in our hearts as your Word says. I pray that we would use it more than any other earthly "wisdom", that you are our ultimate guide our life, our tree, our base that we build everything on. I pray that we would love your Law! Amen.


2. Join a community
    No I didn't say commune, we aren't FLDS here. By this I mean, surround yourself with loving, Christ-following, godly, real, and encouraging friends. God gives us church, He gives us brothers and sisters in Christ to lift us up and encourage us, and speak truth to us. He speaks through them so be listening. At the same time ask the Lord to make you a great friend as well, loving and active in others lives. Put yourself last, serve others, love others. Let me give a shout out to my sister who is one of very few that gets it. She lives in a very low-income mostly african-american community, in an old house with two other girls. Down the street is the "boys house" where they meet weekly with all the neighbors, serve food, hang with kids. They just do life with each other and those they live around. I am in awe of her and her selfless faithful heart to do exactly what Jesus did. I live in suburbia and I confess I am nowhere near doing this well. I am a part of a group of godly young women who challenge and encourage me. But I am not serving those who are in need, who don't know Jesus. I truly admire her. So this is my prayer for all of us, Lord, may you surround us with people who love you and passionately pursue you. Reveal yourself in my brothers and sisters, let me open up my heart and mind to what others share with me. Let us prayerfully reach out to others, smiling, talking to, encouraging everyone around me, that our light would shine so bright that they know something is different because of Christ in us. Thank you Lord for all the friends you give us, let us not take advantage of them but put them first. Amen.


3. Talk to your Dad
   Man, he is waiting to hear from you. I always listen to James MacDonald everyday and he is talking now about prayer. He mentions that God already knows what we are praying for, rather prayer is for us. It is for us to commune with the creator of the universe. How awesome is that??? We were given the gift of Jesus, he died so that we could have eternal life and a relationship with the Lord now. Back in the Old Testament times, only the high priest could talk to God and he had to go through so many rituals to get to God. But now, we are able to talk to God anytime, anywhere, for any reason. Why aren't we doing that more?? I can tell you, because we have our priorities out of whack. We like our lives with busyness, so we don't have "time" to talk to God. This is for me too, if I was to not talk to Nick, my husband, we wouldn't have a marriage.  So why would I neglect and not pursue God in prayer. I can't have a great relationship without talking to Him. The Lord our God has paved the way, so lets walk on it!

Here are a few resources I use every day in my time with God.

I always pray for Nick using this awesome book, Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian.
I start off my quiet time with Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.
I am loving this incredible blog that kind of goes off of her great book. Ann Voskamp is very gifted with her words and is so poetic and seeks passionately after the Lord. Always reminding us to give thanks in place of fear and stress. So good for us busy moms! Blog is here and book is here

~Caitlyn