Dressing Like a True Valentine

It's Valentine's week and I've been on my #dresslikeavalentine campaign for the past four days! But some people have been asking me why and I feel the answer deserves a blog post. Yes, it's a week about getting my lady friends to put on pink and sparkles and to empower themselves with girl-power energy. But it's about so much more than the outfits...

St. Valentine was, as his name implies, a true saint. His story is only speculatively known, but the most common tale about his life I found goes something like this: he was executed on the 14th of February in the 200s for helping persecuted Christians in the Roman empire by marrying them in secret. That's all I really know about St. Valentine...but what I don't know intrigues me. For whatever reason, this man of faith felt compelled to protect and savor the tradition of godly marriage. This is beautiful! So why would I want to dress like him?

Haha, orange robes are not really my jam.

But "being" a Valentine, to me, not only means that I am standing for the sanctity of marriage, but also for the fruit of the spirit that is love. I have been a long-time believer in Valentine's Day being all about the ladies. I mean, really, single women are a lot more likely to do something for themselves on February 14th than are single men. Why? Because it's a day of fun and frills that really doesn't have to include a man! Now, don't get me wrong. I am oh-so-grateful for my boyfriend and can't wait for the little surprise he has planned for me on Friday...but part of the reason I love him is that he gets my need to celebrate the women in my life ALL WEEK LONG and he so gives me the space to do so.

So by wearing pink, red, purple, and other various shades of girly this week, I hope that I'm doing more than just showing you my cute selfies, friends. I hope to encourage you, women, to SEE how truly loved and valuable you are...to me and to Jesus.

So go on, #dresslikeavalentine.

P.S. Here's a link to wikipedia and catholic.org...where my speculative research was found, hehe.

Happy (Orthodox) New Year!

Today is January 7th, Orthodox Christmas: a holiday my mother's side of the family celebrated in days of old; a holiday God graciously reminded me of in the nick of time. You see, my New Year pretty much stunk as I came down with the stomach flu right in time for the 1st. I was vacationing (which adds a whole new level of miserable to being sick, wouldn't you say?) and I was very frustrated that I could not have a fresh start to the year; I could not begin my resolutions as effectively as I'd imagined.

So I'm starting over today. This is the day the Orthodox church celebrates the birth of Christ and since I already had a great Christmas, I'm taking another shot at the new year. Appropriately, I treated last night as my New Year's Eve and feasted on pasta and frozen yogurt. My resolutions are not really life-changers, more just life-get-back-on-trackers. I'm planning to:

-Eat really clean for the next 90 days, which means: only whole grains and natural sugars, as well as only organic animal products and organic produce from the dirty dozen list.
-Work out 6 days a week for the next 30 days.

After my 30 and 90 day periods, I will continue to eat well and exercise, but I find that giving myself a specific time frame for these stricter rules makes them both more manageable and purposeful. Its sort of a boot camp healthy cleanse for my body, without making myself feel like I am forever deprived. I most certainly believe in feasting and I believe there is a healthy way to do it!

I have a whole list of ideas floating around in my head about other resolutions I would like to pursue...like blogging once a week, going to 2 services every Sunday, recycling more consistently, and taking cod liver oil...but I think these are things I will just do, rather than resolve to punish myself for not doing. Does that make sense? It's like: being ambitious is ok, as long as it's backed by reality-groundedness, hehe.

So Happy New Year, everyone! If you fell off the horse already, get back on today!

On MS, fasting, and the heart of the discipline...

This weekend I rode my bike in the MS Bay-to-Bay tour on a team for our friend Jacob, an MS fighter. Here is what I wrote in my journal this morning by way of a reflection:

What happened this weekend was a first for me in many ways. It was certainly the first time I've completed 100 miles on a bike, the first time I've been a part of any sort of athletic "team", and the first time I've intentionally put my body through that much pressure for the sake of a goal. And yes, I think I may have even gotten a taste of the lack of control those with MS feel over their bodies every day. There were moments when I was riding where everything hurt and I could not take my mind off of the throbbing in my thighs, the tightness of my lungs, the stiffness of my shoulders and neck, the sting of my back spasm...but even more than the physical trap of numbness or fatigue they must feel is the mental and spiritual battle faced by those with MS. There were moments when I literally wished I could fall off my bike and discontinue the ride. My mind would not relent. But I know those suffering from this nasty disease want to be done with it...and have no choice. And just as my teammate reminded me, neither did we. We had to finish.

In my spiritual walk, God has been bringing up the discipline of fasting periodically and I think I learned more about it this weekend. In Encinitas, I somehow freakishly got separated from not only my whole team, but also all riders at one point. I was riding alone and was passing all the cute little coffee shops along PCH. I saw Pannikin's, one of my most favorite places to sit and drink coffee...and it took everything in me not to get off my bike and take a long, relaxing break there. I really thought about it...would my team really miss me? Wouldn't it benefit me to have just a little familiarity and comfort in a moment of exhaustion and fear? But then I reminded myself that I had signed up for this physical denial. I quite honestly felt like I was wasting a perfectly beautiful, foggy, cozy morning at the beach (my favorite kind of morning, mind you) by not stopping off at Pannikin's until I had that thought and realized that in many ways, this bike ride was like a fast. For a fast is a decision.

God has created me with a very sensitive body and spirit. Fasting from food is difficult because of my blood sugar issues and emotional needs (though I know he will sustain me on the day he again calls me to give up food for a day). For now, though, God has taught me some significant lessons about fasting. I have learned to participate in the heart of the discipline. When I experience moments of hunger and fatigue, I'm getting myself in the habit of proclaiming that God's strength is more than enough for me. And I think that possibly the most important thing God taught me this weekend is that cycling for MS was a fast for me. I fasted from comfort, which is kind of a big thing since I realize I have a fear of being uncomfortable. Fasting is about humility and discipline and for me, cycling embodies those concepts. I have to be disciplined and humble to both stay on that bike when I want to get off and to have a good, joyful attitude about it. I am so glad I did this and I will so do it again, despite all the meaningless declarations I made throughout the weekend to never get on a bike again.

Thank you, Lord, for this huge lesson and opportunity...and thank you for Jacob, who has no choice when it comes to his body, but makes the good choices when it comes to his heart. Amen!

By Way of an Update...

I've been avoiding Shepherdessing...

Not the act of shepherdessing, of course, but the blog. I knew I wouldn't blog much over the summer since I went on a seven week mission's trip to Europe, but now that it's September I've had the urge to start blogging again. I haven't entered into it yet, however, because I am not sure if I can be consistent enough to make my blog "worth it".

But I do not want to neglect my desire and ability to write just because of fear or uncertainty, so I will dive in and see where shepherdessing takes me this semester. That's right, I said semester, which means I am back in school! God taught me a lot this summer, including the idea that I can take my passions for member care and nutrition and use them together in one career. I now have a certain dream-to become a registered dietician, work here in the States with people on personalized-lifestyle diet plans, and fund myself to offer free nutrition seminars to missionaries overseas at member care conferences.

First step-beef up my BA with about 30 units of science! This means I am taking classes at the community college, which has been way more challenging to figure out than I expected.

One valuable spiritual lesson I've gleaned from the difficulty of getting into overcrowded classes is that God sometimes asks us to be persistent. At times in the process, it was difficult to discern whether God was closing a door or simply giving me the opportunity to practice persistence. I prayed that his will would be done and kept moving until he said, "stop" (which in this case, he did not). It took attending two sections of the same class for two weeks, plus multiple phone calls and emails-including one to the dean of Chemistry-for me to finally be given an add code for the final class I needed. This may all sound a little overdramatic, but my point is: in the midst of this little journey, I had a hard time telling if I was holding on to my dream too tightly or if my dream was just going to be one of hard work.

While God does not always clearly tell us if a door is opened or closed, I have learned that it is easier and more realistic to try and hear his voice if I am already moving. Sitting and waiting can be valuable, especially if the decision at hand has high stakes. But in this case, God showed me that my movement and persistence toward a goal I would like to see reached allowed me to see his will more clearly in my life.

I don't know if I will get into my master's program of choice and become a registered dietician in the timeline I see fit, but God knows. And he is faithful by revealing just enough at once. I know that for now, he has directed me to a semester of 8 units, GRE prep, 30 hours of work, and a women's wellness ministry. And for now, that is my dream come true.

Photo: me with some beautiful fruit at an open-air market in Madrid this summer

My Happiness Project~~Part 8

April flew by!

My happiness theme last month was "getting serious about hobbies" and I did a LOT of crafting. Among the items I've recently crafted are: curtains, greeting cards, embroidered tea towels, and spring 'twig' paper flower displays.



This month is...

"22, Flirty, and Thriving":
Build and work on my confidence.
Go to a trend show.

Every once in a while, it does a girl good to put on something cute shoes, curl her hair, and walk about with extra confidence. I am a firm believer in outer appearance affecting inner attitude. I am on no road to a complete beauty overhaul (trust me, I'm sitting at the computer with wet hair and chipping toe nail polish)...but I do have some plans up my sleeve for steps I can take to help myself feel more beautiful.

The trend show is next weekend and I am quite excited to girl it up at what has become an annual event for the women in my family.

My Happiness Project~~Part 7

I realize it's already the middle of April and I'm just now writing a happiness project update, but unlike my procrastination to publish this post, I have not been procrastinating in my April happiness goal.

April: get serious about hobbies.

I told myself I would "figure out sewing" and make time for crafts. And I've done it! I figured out sewing so much that I've almost completed 2 sets of curtains. And I've made so much time for crafts that today I am officially launching my Etsy shop: TheCraftyChristine!

All funds raised at the shop between now and June will go toward my missions trip to Europe so I am, of course, shamelessly using Shepherdessing to promote my sales.

Here's the link! Please visit!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCraftyChristine?ref=search_shop_redirect

Eyes, Ears, Mouth, and Nose~~March '13

Happy Easter!

Here's what my eyes, ears, mouth, and nose were into this March:

Being on a partial TV fast, in which I was only partaking when others were present, I've really enjoyed The Bible on The History Channel. I'm realizing more and more how sensitive I am to violent and vulgar entertainment...so no worries here. I did enjoy the deep themes of The Perks of Being a Wallflower though.

I already talked about coconut sugar...last night, as part of our family vacay festivities, it was my turn for the iron chef dessert battle. My secret ingredient being coconut, you better believe I whipped out the mighty mighty coconut sugar...as well as coconut oil, coconut milk, and coconut flakes. This made for a DECADENT chocolate coconut cake. Another fun ingredient I've been into this month is cashew cream. It makes vegan smoothies really creamy and tastes so silky.

As far as dreamin', I've been really into EUROPE! Because (big announcement) I'm going on a 6 week missions trip to Portugal, Spain, and Rome this summer! I am so excited to start raising support and to get there so we can bless the socks off of some missionaries. I've also been dreaming about fun career options (more on this with my next happiness project update).

As I began dreaming up fundraising options for the trip, I decided that maybe handmade crafts will rake in some dough. The ribbon "curtains" (pictured above) might make it to my etsy shop when it gets set up. Yes, March was a crafty, crafty month.

Other than these things, I am SO into relaxing because it's spring vacation and I am loving the free flowing family time.