The Hard Lessons pt. 2

So we just read about how Jesus let a lot of disciples quit (The Hard lessons pt.1). He just let them go. Things got hard, and they just chose to walk away from eternity because of a hard lesson. Woah.

This leads me to my next thought.

In Matthew 19:24 Jesus said to his disciples "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." This is a lesson he was trying to teach the disciples after an encounter with a rich young man who desired eternal life (to know Jesus). He was asking what he had to do to get eternal life. Jesus told him that even after he honored all the commandments that he was still lacking something. Sell your possessions. Give up the one thing in your life you trust in the most. The most comforting thing you have, the thing you have that you feel valued by. Go, give it up.

vs 22 "When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth."

Jesus just let this kid walk away from him sad.

Doesn't that go against everything you feel like you know about Jesus? Doesn't He go after that 1 lost sheep? Doesn't He love everyone?

Stop the presses. Jesus didn't chase that kid down. He didn't run to him, or put His arm around him and comfort him, saying "maybe you'll feel like giving up that idol one day, just come along." No. Jesus immediately goes and teaches us a hard lesson, and let the kid leave, sad.

Being a Christian and following God means you surrender it ALL. We cannot love God with all our hearts and yet keep our ______ to ourselves. (name your vice).

Jesus teaches us hard lessons because God is Holy. Because he LOVES us and wants to be with us for eternity (not just feel happy on earth).  If we want to be with Him for all eternity, we must be willing to give up everything to gain EVERYTHING. Capital, EVERYTHING meaning His eternal love, His presence and the benefits of the Creator of the Universe! And the sobering truth is, not everyone will finish the race.

There are many people out there today that will try to make those hard lessons easier, try to make that eye of the needle bigger, so people don't feel rejected or sad. Jesus doesn't need our help. He drew that line in the sand. He loves with a perfect and holy love, and we must love others that way too... but we must Know Jesus, and learn these hard lessons so we can live like Him and with Him for eternity.

The Hard Lessons pt. 1

John 6:60 "On hearing it [the message Jesus taught], many of his disciples said "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"... "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."

Woah. These were disciples. Not just random people hearing Jesus for the first time. They had been with JESUS. In the flesh. God. The epitome of Love. Jesus. Yet they turned back and no longer followed him. After one hard lesson. OUCH!

I'm not gonna lie. When I read passages like this, they get to me. That is tough! How can people, who are considered disciples, so easily turn away from Jesus? They aren't just church hopping. They aren't just taking their ball and going home. They are walking away from... God. Jesus just let those disciples quit.

Why would they quit?

• A lot of them may have realized He wasn't who they thought He was. They were expecting the Messiah to come in the form of a conquering King. Jesus wasn't who they expected. Following Him didn't live up to their expectations.
• A lot of them might have felt like their requests and needs weren't getting met (selfish maybe?).
• A lot of them might have thought His words were offensive and had trouble understanding things like faith vs. deeds or what He was trying to get across.

It's so easy to be tempted to turn away when Jesus' lessons are hard. Will you give up? Will you ignore what you don't like about Jesus and what he challenges us in? Will you reject the one true God?

Have courage. Jesus teaches us hard lessons sometimes, that's nothing new. It's so easy in this day and age to give into the easy way out, to make excuses and reason to yourself why "giving up everything to follow Jesus didn't really mean "everything""... or did it. He is Holy, set apart, and has to set us apart so we can be with Him.

... verse 67"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

When hard lessons in life happen, which perspective will you have? "there is no where else to go but with you Jesus" or "this is too hard, I quit". Jesus is the Holy One of God. I hope I can walk with Him through the hard lessons of life.

Read more in The Hard Lessons pt. 2

Hungry?

The correlation between eating healthy foods and being spiritually healthy is pretty amazing. It's the start of a new year. How many of you are saying "I'm going to eat better" or  "I'm going to start reading the Bible more", etc... I know I'm in that boat! So what are some things we need to change to get spiritually hungry, and to be healthy? Many times when we feel like God is far away or like we can't muster up enough energy to spend time with Him, the reason is because you aren't doing anything to get hungry.

When you want to get healthy one of the keys is to stop snacking on junk food. To stop filling up on unhealthy things. How many times do we choose the easy way out, stick to our comfort foods and graze, just getting bits and pieces here and there, or picking the pre-packaged, boxed "fillers"... yet remain hungry or start realizing you are filling on junk, that leaves you feeling worse? A good place to start is to begin by fasting. It's good to detox every once in a while! Fasting is like hitting the reset button physically and spiritually. It's showing God what is most important to you. It's a great place to check the motives of your heart and to stop for a moment and re-align where you are getting your nourishment from.

It dawned on me recently that the reason we (I) don't feel spiritually hungry (a deep desire to spend time with God/ know more about Him) sometimes is because we are filling ourselves with junk food. We snack on things which turns out to be just enough to curb our appetite, but not enough to nourish us and keep us satisfied. We snack on sermons, books, worship, godly advice etc, but we don't sit down at God's table and dine with him. We don't go deep in the Word or prayer where the real nuggets of truth can fill us and nourish us. Some of those snacks seem healthy, and can be, but they are never as whole as sitting down and reading the Bible, allowing God to speak revelation to you, seeking His face. We can even snack on completely unhealthy things- things that can lead to or are sin... or even the things that don't "seem that bad" like TV or advice from someone, or social media (and the list can go on). They are just enough to hold us off emotionally so we don't feel the need or desire to spend time with God.

Let me just say from experience on the roller coaster of life, you gotta always check your appetite. Check what you are filling up on. Check where you get refreshed and if you ARE really getting refreshed at all! I don't think you can truly be refreshed aside from being in God's presence. Sit at the table and DINE with God. Eat of HIS food, and see how healthy you get! 

The Good Fight of Faith

The topic of faith has been on my mind a lot lately. What it really means to have faith in God. There is a song by Caedmon's Call called Shifting Sand that used to always bother me because as you can see in the lyrics it said "my faith is like shifting sand, changed by every wave". I guess I never really related to that feeling until recently with some things I've been dealing with. I've felt like Jekyll & Hyde lately with my faith and doubt. Thankfully faith days have been winning out lately.

As I was reading Romans 4 one day I came across this passage, vs. 19: 19Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."

This challenged me. I don't have to ignorantly, blindly step out in faith... but I can face the facts. Realize what reality looks like... while not weakening in my faith or waver in unbelief, but I can look at reality and see that God is bigger, stronger and mightier than any situation and circumstance I see as reality and trust that He cares for me, and is a victorious God that can bring transformation.

I always battle with trying to muster up in my own strength, faith. Which ends up looking like "talking myself into it" and ignoring the facts and determining whether I feel faith well up in me or not. When in reality faith is not something I can "do" to get results. I can't tell myself "have faith, and God will answer your prayers". It is a gift of God that I must call upon him for.

Meeting the Needs

There are so many needs out there. It can be overwhelming when you think too much about it. From tasks in your job, to taking care of the poor, hurt, or homeless, to friendships and relationships, how do you do it all without getting burned out?

I've been thinking about this lately. Dealing within our family alone, meeting the needs of a husband and 3 young boys, as well as serving in the church and connecting with family and friends, it does get overwhelming at times. The last thing I want is to be incapacitated simply because I was too concerned with what was going on around me, rather than meeting the needs within myself.

What I get back to each time is we must make sure we are refilling our cup. How easy is it for us to constantly give, serve and pour out, to the point it comes from our own strength and eventually runs dry. In 1 Cor. 10 Paul saw the tendency of people to be so concerned with helping others (which is a good thing) all the while neglecting their own spiritual lives, disciplines and health (enter the bad part). It is much harder to give of yourself when you are empty, and that is where we put ourselves at risk.

Where it is a GREAT thing to put others needs before ourselves, and to desire to help others, if we aren't taking care of ourselves, how will we truly be of any help? In our small group this week, we talked about this very thing. An example from my own life we laughed at, was as a mom, how concerned are we that our kids are bathed, fed well, and sleep well, yet we forget to eat lunch ourselves, or even sometimes take a shower (gasp!). How similar is it with our spiritual lives.

When our relationship with God is put first, we will be able to really help others. When we find the way that we refresh ourselves best, we can refresh others. That is when we find as we are generous and refresh others, we will be refreshed, (Prov 11:25). The point: how can you give and be generous if you don't have anything stored up to give? If Jesus needed to retreat and refill with God, how much more do we as humans need to!



On a practical note, here are some ways I have been thinking that best re-energize my life:
- Spending time with God- reading, praying, worshiping. (for me it looks more broken up throughout the day according to nap times, etc at this phase of my life).
- Really engaging with worship and responding to the Word (at church & at home).
- Getting some extended quality time with God when I can.
- Staying accountable with someone (for me it's Ross- when we go on a date we ask each other what God is speaking to us lately)
- 1x a year Ross and I try to do a "spiritual retreat"(overnight with no kids, intentionally praying and seeking God together).

What are some things you need to change, or what are tips you have to refill your cup? 

Dusting it off...

it's been a good minute, okay, okay, 2 solid years since I have used my keyboard for blogging purposes. I am interested to see where this goes. I've been a bit busy, but it has been on my mind.

I have been weighing the purpose- I think twitter temporarily satisfied my need to share thoughts/ happenings/ humorous moments/ life lessons I'm learning along the way... I mean, is blogging as popular as it was or is it a dying fad? I've always enjoyed writing, and this is a great way to practice and learn how to form thought-out ideas, I won't lie when I say I wouldn't be disappointed if this turned into something a little more permanent (even paperback). :)

So as to not put the cart before the horse, let's see if I can be consistent. If I have anything worth sharing. If I can put to words all these silly little thoughts swirling around in my mind.

Any topics of interest out there? Do share!

Just Keep Going

What do you do when something you have been believing for hasn't happened or seems to end in disappointment?

Just keep going. Life goes on. Baby steps.

We must remember: His Grace IS Sufficient. When things don't go they way you want or expect, don't forget God is the author of our story, and tests our motives. His Grace is sufficient. 2 Corinthians 12:9. We need to believe that not only will we make it, but when we are in God's Will we will not only survive in it, but thrive.

Another thing that has been swirling around in my head is something Pastor Mark Batterson says all the time: "Don't put a period where God puts a comma, and don't put a comma where God puts a period."

Just keep going.

Not dead but Asleep

I was reading Mark 5: 21-43 today and the reality of this passage lights me up.

So the man's daughter is going to die, and he wants Jesus to go touch her. Jesus starts going in that direction, but gets "side tracked" by mobs of people needing/wanting him, and he stops to spend time "healing another with His touch" (the lady with the issue of blood). So the man gets upset that it's too late now, and his daughter has died. Jesus ignores what they say, goes and raises her from the dead.

Here are some points to consider:

1- Jesus demonstrated a healing through touch (just what the man wanted Him to do for his daughter), but that still didn't sink in to him- to have faith, like the woman w/ blood.

2- God's timing and order are perfect, and have a purpose.

3- God is God and we are not. We may grumble and complain that our prayers aren't answered the way we think or as fast as we think they should be, but there is a reason.

4- It just takes one word, one touch, one thought from Jesus and it's done.

So... do you have a prayer or a dream that you have asked God to come touch?

• Maybe God has to do a few other miracles first on the way to fulfilling your dream.
• Maybe God is building Hope and Trust in you, even when the dream looks dead.
• Maybe God is wanting to demonstrate His greater power in your situation, rather than answer your prayer the easy way like you expect.
• Maybe God wants to see if your Hope is in Him, more than in the dream you seek.
• Maybe God wants to build your faith first by doing something else that looks to you like He's gettting side tracked. We need to think bigger picture!

"Don't be afraid. Just Believe"- Mark 5:36

Kid Friendly Big Cities?

We got to travel up to NYC the 1st week of January to visit my sister in law and her hubby. We had a great time, but I discovered 1 thing, NYC is not kid friendly. I love visiting the Big Apple. This was our first trip with the boys. We had a great time. The 2 famous huge toy stores were the big hit for sure. NYC does have some great things to offer for little kids, Central Park, Times Square Toys R Us, FAO Schwartz, and a few others.... but the NYC Subway system is NOT, I repeat NOT kid friendly. I think I have gotten spoiled in DC with their Metro system & free events/museums.

#1 We don't have a rat problem here,

#2 we have elevators at every Metro stop, and escalators too,

#3 you have to pay for just about everything.

The entire time we were in NYC we didn't see 1 elevator or escalator for the stroller. Luckily we just brought our small umbrella one and we had extra hands, because we would have been out of luck if we had the double stroller.

So note to self, if you feel the itch to go to a big city with little kids, I recommend Washington, DC... so many free great places to go with kids, and a friendly Metro for sure! If you live in NYC- God Bless you if you have children, I don't know HOW you do it. :) Don't worry I still {heart} NYC!

Decompression

How do YOU decompress?

Every so often "it" always piles up on me.... I feel overwhelmed, exhausted, stretched to my limit, get snappy, easily frustrated and I'm just not fun to be around. I realized this the other day, and it dawned on me... I haven't had any "time off". I try to have my quiet time each day, and that's usually enough to help me get through the day, but sometimes you need just a little bit more.

It's amazing how just a little change in scenery can change your perspective and help you decompress. I am trying to work it into our weekly schedule that Ross spends extra time with the boys alone, and I go somewhere to "decompress". It doesn't take a whole lot to have a huge effect on me. This week I just went window shopping, alone, for a few hours, got a Starbucks, journaled, and read a book. When I got home, I was like a new woman!

What does the trick for you? How do you refresh/decompress? I would love to hear some tips or ideas!

Perspective

Ever been praying for something and it feels like your prayers are just hitting the ceiling and God doesn't hear them? Yeah, i've been in one of those seasons. It's hard to stay consistently in faith when that happens.

Today God gave me a picture of what He's doing in times like those. I was listening to that old school Life House song that says "How can I be with you and not be moved by you" and it goes on to say "You're all I need, You're all I want, You're everything..."

I saw this really dark stage and there was a spotlight on a man in white (representing God) and me wearing a dark dress. It was like one of those dances where the man is behind me and without touching me leads my movements (for anyone who was at Campus Harvest back in 2003 you remember that Jim Monroe dance that made everyone cry? kind of like that). Each movement the man behind me made would cause my arms, feet and body to gracefully move with him, even though I couldn't see him.

I was dancing and the man (God) was leading me, He kept taking a step and I felt like he was far away and the spotlight would go with him, leaving me in the dark, I couldnt reach Him (as if I couldn't hear/feel God), but all along He was just leading me. Each time I would follow, and get back in the spotlight with Him.

It's like Prov. 16:9 & 3:5-6. God has ordered my steps. I just need to, by faith, step along with Him, let him LEAD me. It turns out to be a BEAUTIFUL dance. I have no idea where it's leading, in this dance (song, season of life) but I will follow because God makes those steps BEAUTIFUL and GRACEFUL and in WORSHIP to Him.

Just keep dancing (going) and God WILL LEAD. His steps are beautiful and full of Grace. Praise God!

Desperation

When I find myself in moments of desperation, it's always interesting to see what God pulls out of me. Here's my thought for today, as we are in a desperate time to see our house sell or rent out. We need to be moving up to Washington DC in about 2 weeks and it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel with our house & finances being taken care of.

Here's my thought today: God brings us to moments of desperation so that we can begin to praise Him and be thankful for what He is doing. Without moments of desperation we become so self sufficient and it's easy to leave God out of the equation. Being in this moment of desperation, I am thankful because it only leaves room for God to do something miraculous and supernatural, where only He can be glorified, and we can trust Him more. Praise God, shouldn't we be asking for more of that? Now we GET to see God move and work a miracle!

Life is a Highway....

besides it being my 3 yr olds favorite song (thanks, CARS) that has been my theme song for this past month! We have put a lot of miles on the car!

We just drove up and back from Washington, DC for the Every Nation North American Conference (the ministry we work for, NAC09 was AMAZING by the way) and back down to pick up our boys from my parents (can't thank them enough for watching them for a week!) and now over to Panama City for a few weeks to meet with our ministry partners.... and in a few more weeks back down to Tampa to meet with more! It's a whirl-wind Summer to put it lightly!

So much time on the road has got me thinking. Highway driving is SOOOOOOOOO much better than back roads, and more gas efficient. Our 14-16 hour drive up and back from DC to Tampa felt WAY faster than our 6 hr drive from Tampa to Panama City. Why? because we were on the interstate the whole way to and from DC, and were on back roads the whole way from Tampa to PC. (plus we had 2 kids w/ us on that leg)

So my contemplation is: How do you stay on the Highways of life? In other words, staying the course, and not getting detoured by small towns and stop lights. We listened to some sermons in the car on these trips and I heard a great one by Pastor Andy Stanley where he talks about our Direction determining our Destiny rather than our Intentions determining our destiny. Your intentions DO NOT determine your destination. You may have the best of intentions, but it is your direction that will determine your destination. For example: If you intend on having a great marriage, but are spending more hours at work with your secretary than on dates/at home with your wife what direction are you heading in?

We must be intentional on the direction we are going in if we want to arrive at that particular destination. If I want to go to Harvard Law school one day, I shouldn't just have really high hopes I make it, and be taking a scuba class and watching Legally Blonde.... I need to be actually taking the classes, studying, immersing myself in law, applying to the program to get there.

Where do your dreams want to take you? What has God spoken to you in your heart? What is a destination you look forward to? What are you doing to get there? Are you just having good intentions or are you heading in that direction?

Confessions of a Shoplifter

Oh Goodness, I really did it today. In my whole life I have never shoplifted.... today was a first.

OOPS!

So here's the story. My 3 yr old and I made a quick run to Wal-Mart to pick up some goods and hand soap. He was really into the hand soap smell so he was holding it while I went to the self-check out line. I got all done paying and bagging and was headed out the door.

I walked through the sliding doors and headed to the parking lot and looked down. There was the hand soap. Immediately I thought "aww man, I'm gonna have to turn around and wait in the mile long customer service line to pay for that"....then it went straight to "nah, it's only $1, Wal-Mart won't miss $1."

WHAT?! What in the world made that my first thought? So I continued on to the car. (with the thought floating in the back of my mind that there was a security guard headed behind me about to club me over the head because I just "casually shoplifted" $1 hand soap.)

I loaded the car up and buckled Aiden in and was backing out of my parking spot. No sooner did I start backing out that I started feeling what you call CONVICTION. My heart started beating so bad, a mental war started raging in my head. You can say it was your classic angel/devil on your shoulder thing.

I pulled down the aisle and I seriously felt like I could have a heart attack by the conviction of not turning around to pay for that. All the while I was reasoning in my head "it's only $1, not worth the 10 min. to go stand in line and pay". But then I clearly heard God say “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." Which is from Luke 16:10.

WOW! I immediately turned around.

It was funny when I walked back in, 2 Wal-Mart ladies were at the door to help people with returns get the little stickers, and they were like "excuse me mam, are you returning that?" I had to explain that we walked out with it in the cart and I forgot to pay for it.... needless to say they and my cashier all looked at me like I was crazy to not just walk away with.

It not only turned into a valuable lesson for Aiden, but for me most of all! What was going on in me to try to cut corners like that, laziness!? Wow, it humbled me. It brought to reality how easy it really is to cut corners and hide sin, and try to get away from it. I also realize if I give that a little foothold it will become a snowball effect and my heart would get hardened to the voice of God and conviction. Which, least to say, puts the fear of God in me!

Have you ever found yourself trying to cut corners?

So Simply

It amazes me how when reading our kids Bible with them every night, I end up getting revelation! We read a story every night in their kiddie Bible and pretty much every night I get something out of it. I have even found myself referring to it when I'm talking with people and in Discipleship moments! haha.

I love this version, it has great pictures to keep the kids interested and it makes the Word so simple that it allows for God to speak the deep truths. When the new year began we started reading the Bible from cover to cover, and it's also pretty amazing to me that we just happen to be on the stories that coordinate with THIS very weekend- Good Friday & Easter! We started when Aiden was about 18 months old, and I'm excited for both boys to get into the stories together. It's also been fun watching Ross get into the story telling part (acting it out and all!) Who said I was the dramatic one of the family?!

So, if you find it hard to read your own Bible (you know, the ones without pictures) maybe you should pick up a kids one! lol (note: I do read my own bible every day too, this isn't considered my quality time with Jesus alone, haha).

Pup Pup

This post is for all the dog lovers out there....

Our beloved Bichon Frise Porter (Porterhouse Tank Middleton) is turning 5* years old this April 28th and it boggles my mind that after 5 years of being groomed he has "issues" when he gets home. We have been to several different groomers and he has about the same reaction everytime.... but thankfully since we've been to our new Vet, South Monroe Animal Hospital, he has been WAY better.

His typical routine after a grooming/ vet visit is sleeping in his cage for about a week, no eating, hardly going outside to pee or anything, and when he does emerge from his cage (bed) he runs and sits immediately as if he has been violated. It's so sad to watch.... yet amusing at the same time (since it's consistent after every visit). I feel bad for him, but after 5 yrs I wonder, is this normal?

Fortunately since he's been to this new vet, it's only lasted about 2 days instead of 7. :) Does your dog act weird after a vet/grooming visit?

* Thanks to Kelly catching it, Porter is turning 5, not 4- oops! :)

We WIN!

I've had the Israel song "We Win" in my head all week.... probably because I heard a great mini-message last Saturday night from the great Pastor John Rohr that had to do with that.

There have been so many times that I just want to throw in the towel and quit. On many things..... too many for me to list here, but something just keeps me in the game. That something is the Hope I have in God.

I know a lot of my friends have been going through some tough things lately (myself included), and I just wanted to leave you with this thought. Don't give up. With Jesus- We Win! WE WILL WIN! He conquered death, with Him ALL things are possible. Whatever you are going through, just remember, it's WORTH the fight. We will see victory. We have been promised that.

Read Is. 61:1-3

There is a verse in there that says "He sent me...to put on a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair..." I heard this from the wonderful Lynette Lewis once "Praise is a garment I must CHOOSE to wear & it WILL begin to fit". So even when you feel like giving up, put on that garment of praise and it will begin to fit you, then we can see VICTORY.

What's Next or What's Now

I was listening to Hillsongs today and there is a line in one of the songs I love "I wanna be where you are..." I was thinking about that for a while and realized I keep saying that, but am I really doing that?

What I mean is... I want to be where God is. Not living in the past (dwelling on past issues/junk), or living in the future (constantly thinking of what is next for me). But to be HERE. Present in God's presence.

I get so caught up on what's next for me lately that I realize I can easily neglect what is now for me.
It's always about going back to the basics: Seeking His Kingdom First, Then things will be added.

Lord, give me your eyes, ears and heart for where I am now so I can make the most of every opportunity.

Simplifying My Life

There are just WAY too many ways to complicate life these days. Way too many ways to get caught up in the busyness, hustle and unimportant things that distract our finances and time... things that can be better spent elsewhere. Along with my resolution theme going on in my blog lately I think this is one way God is calling me to assess my life in... simplifying.

There are many ways I am accomplishing this goal... in little ways- keeping up with dishes, laundry, implementing a cleaning schedule, making a daily schedule for myself and the boys, picking and choosing the real valuable and fruitful things in my life over the time-taking, mundane, etc. So in another way to attempt to simplify our lives, my husband and I decided to sell our house.

We only built it and moved in a little over 2 years ago, so it was not an easy decision. We love this house and picked out every detail thinking long term with it. There are multiple reasons we decided this would be the wise thing to do, I won't bother you with the details, but ultimately we believe this will simplify our lives even more so that we can spend more important time and finances in more important areas right now. There will always be a chance to build a great home in the future... but we need to make sure we are being wise in our present to be able to do those great things in the future.

Anywho, the reason I write this blog is 2 fold: please be praying with us to sell this house quickly and to actually be able to make some money off it to pay off debt. AND to challenge you, where is God calling you to simplify?

Discipline...ouch

Discipline has been on the forefront of my mind lately... not just because I have a 1 yr old and 3 yr old, but because I feel like I am facing a real season of walking in discipline myself. I heard this quote from a Pastor I truly respect. 

"Don't be exhausted simply because you are undisciplined." - Pastor Jim Laffoon

It's ok to be exhausted from other reasons, working hard, etc... but to find yourself exhausted simply because you weren't disciplined to do things such as work out, use time management, being lazy, etc is not excusable. 

I like to read a Proverbs a day (to keep foolishness away, har har) and today I came across Prov. 5:21-23, summarized says "For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths...He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly." Wow... I have a lot of analyzing my use of time to do. I don't want to be a fool. 

It's a new year, and a great time to evaluate how disciplined I am, or are not, and start to change some things. What are your thoughts?