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Blog, Faith, Fitness, foodie, prayer, Stress

Know your worth: A self-care day

Today is Sunday, the day that the American church typically celebrates the Sabbath, the one day of rest which God commanded in Exodus 20:8-11, although Jews observe  Shabbat from Friday evening to Saturday evening. I believe what’s most important is that we set aside one day a week to rest and not work. This is good for our bodies, soul, and spirit. Some people work on Sunday (or Friday or Saturday), so they have to take another day to rest. Generally, I observe both days! The weekend is my time to “unwind” from my week’s work.

Thankfully I was able to sleep in this morning, cook a cheese/onion/green olive omelette, and enjoy my morning cup of creamy coffee–my Coffee with God time. Then although there is plenty of work to do around the house and in my biz today, I decided to take a relaxed, self-care day. 

“Know your worth, hold your own power, be you.” –Morgan Harper Nichols, American Christian musician, songwriter, mixed media artist, and writer

Morgan Harper Nichols

Image: Morgan Harper Nichols

Part of my goals for 2021 are focused on my health and fitness. Years ago, I stopped drinking Cokes because I felt like God told me to do this (a miracle because I was addicted to them and had drank them almost all my life!). I started eating healthier (such as salads) and began walking at the track. I was able to lose 29 pounds doing this. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, I felt so much better. You can see how much thinner I was in this pic below, on the back steps of our house.

me after losing weight

me after losing weight

Then Missouri’s winter came with its snow and ice, so I stopped walking. As we all experience sometimes, bad habits aren’t easy to break and I began drinking sodas again–this time, Dr. Pepper. God is not fooled. It is just Coke–with pepper! I started eating unhealthy and the pounds which I had lost piled back on—and then some! It has been very discouraging.

But it’s never too late to start over. The Bible says in Lamentations 3:22-23, NKJV, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.” I’m so glad that with each new sunrise, we get a brand, new start with God!

It starts with a decision of our will, a choice. And I’ve decided that I want to be fit and healthy again. When Ray gets home from work, I drive to either the track in town or a walking path in town that has blooming cherry-blossom trees. It is so pretty and peaceful.

cherry tree

cherry blossom tree

path

path

I carry my iPhone with me to listen to music and to pray and think about my life and my business as I walk. This week I saw a cute bunny rabbit hopping in the grass. The robins and other birds feed in the grass and sing. There is a blue sky and puffy white clouds, giving testimony to God the Creator.

robin

robin

clouds and blue sky

clouds and blue sky

My goal for now is simply to re-establish a walking routine, 3 to 4 times a week at least. I’m not trying for a marathon here, or even a 5K (at least not right now! I have done two 5K’s in the past and hope to do this again one day!). It has been a long time since I’ve walked, so I have to pace myself.

Any time you begin something new, there is resistance, whether that’s exercising, eating healthy, managing your finances better, improving a relationship, developing a daily quiet time with God, or taking a new class or training. I noticed on the 3rd day of walking, that my right knee felt sore. So I’m resting this weekend, and will begin again tomorrow.

my Nikes

my Nikes

I’m aware of this resistance, so I’m already praying about it and for God to give me self-discipline again. If I did it before, I can do it again! Please pray for me—and for my body to cooperate!

trail

trail

I can do this with self-discipline and through faith in Christ. I love how The Passion Translation in this verse puts it, “Christ’s explosive power infuses me.”

“I know what it means to lack, and I know what it means to experience overwhelming abundance. For I’m trained in the secret of overcoming all things, whether in fullness or in hunger. And I find that the strength of Christ’s explosive power infuses me to conquer every difficulty.” (Philippians 4:13, The Passion Translation)

I’m trying to get my husband Ray on the bandwagon with me to eat healthier. He is very much a “meat and potatoes” man, so it won’t be easy. But he’s willing, for the sake of his own health. We’re not spring chickens any more, so taking care of ourselves physically is important. And our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, so we need to honor them. (1 Corinthians 6:19)

rooster & chicken

rooster & chicken
Image: Unsplash

This week when I went to the grocery store, I bought as much organic, fresh fruit and veggies as I could.

fresh fruit & veggies

fresh fruit & veggies

Blueberries are packed with antioxidants and phytoflavinoids, and are high in potassium and vitamin C.  They lower your risk of heart disease and cancer, and are anti-inflammatory. They are known by doctors as a superfood. Frozen blueberries are healthy, too.

You can make fruit smoothies with them. I use almond milk in mine. I bought Ray some coconut milk to make his smoothies. I also bought a package of frozen mixed fruit with mango, pineapples, strawberries, and peaches.

I also add blueberries to plain yogurt, mixing in a teaspoon or two of raw organic honey and cinnamon to sweeten it and for flavor. This has much less sugar (unhealthy and causes weight gain!) than regular yogurts. I’m still getting used to this, as I love yogurt!

blueberries

blueberries

almond milk & frozen fruit

almond milk & frozen fruit

coconut milk

coconut milk

I love finding things on sale at the store.  I saw these discounted mushrooms and grabbed them. They taste so good, sauteed in butter with sea salt on them. Yum!

lettuce and mushrooms on sale

lettuce and mushrooms on sale

For greens, I usually buy Romaine lettuce and spinach and kale combined. You can use these in a salad or a smoothie. I’m still trying to figure out how to keep lettuce and other greens “fresh.” Since it’s just Ray and me here at home (empty nesters), if we don’t use it quickly, the salad fixings can wilt and go bad fast, which I hate. It’s a waste of food and money. If you have any tips for this, please let me know!

Of course, God never intended for food to be stored in a cold box (a fridge), but to be eaten fresh out of a garden! I recently bought some Romaine lettuce and cilantro, and I’m going to try to grow it in my sunroom. I admire people who have big gardens, but I don’t think I have the patience for it!

I do drive to a local Amish market, which sells fresh produce in the summer and love it! I encourage you to take advantage of your local farmers’ markets. 

spinach & kale

spinach & kale

Besides putting good things inside my body, I’m also trying to take care of the outside. Last year on my friend Dana Arcuri’s recommendation, I started using Mineral Fusion mineral skin care and makeup. It is healthier skin care and makeup, and has natural ingredients. They make their products free of gluten, parabens, talc, artificial colors, synthetic fragrances, SLS, and phthalates. They don’t do animal testing, either. I love both the skin care and the makeup! Yes, it is more expensive than most makeup you can buy at Walmart, CVS, Kohl’s, or other places, but I believe it’s worth the investment in you!

Mineral Fusion skin care

Mineral Fusion skin care

Last week I bought a Dead Sea Mud Mask product. My cat Natalya always stares at me when I apply it, as if I am the Creature from the Black Lagoon. You can buy it here at Amazon. It is enhanced with collagen, which can improve your skin’s hydration and elasticity, making it look younger. (Don’t we all wish for the fountain of youth as we age and those wrinkles and grey hair start?!)

Mostly I bought it because I want to reduce the size of my pores, which look like the size of craters! This aging thing is for the birds! I figure the mud mask can’t hurt. Today I put it on, painted my fingernails, washed it off with a washcloth and warm water, and then came into my office to blog.

Dead Sea Mud Mask

Dead Sea Mud Mask

Something that is good for both your insides and outside is water. Most people walk around dehydrated. It has 7 benefits:

  • Maximizes your physical performance;
  • Affects your energy level and brain function;
  • May help and prevent headaches;
  • May help relieve constipation;
  • May help treat kidney stones;
  • Helps prevent hangovers;
  • and most importantly, it can aid weight loss!

This year I bought a water tumbler to help me drink more water. I paid my daughter Heather and her fiance Andy to paint it in a beautiful blue color (the color of my branding here) and put the letters of my website, BethJones.net on it. This is a great way to promote your biz when you’re out and about.

Andy has a painting business. They did a beautiful job on it and I love it! You can follow Andy on Instagram @andysuniquecoatings

Our daughter Leah just graduated from college with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Graphic Design. She designed the logo for Andy. Great job, Leah! You can find Leah’s website at https://lemeraedesigns.wordpress.com/

water tumbler

water tumbler

Finally for self-care, I surround myself with beauty. I enjoy being in nature–God’s beautiful art. One thing I love is fresh flowers. Sometimes my husband Ray surprises me with a bouquet. While I normally like roses just for Valentine’s Day and prefer large sunflowers, daisies, or a variety of flowers for everyday “appreciation,” I do love this bouquet with the orange lilies and white and pink roses in them, as well as the white flowers (not sure what they are called! If you know, tell me).

If you don’t have a spouse or a significant other, buy yourself flowers! You deserve it!

flower bouquet from Ray

flower bouquet from Ray

lilies

lilies and roses

What day of the week do you honor the Sabbath/take a much-needed break and relax?

How do you do self-care? Leave your comments below. 

Blog, Faith, Marriage, Parenting, prayer

Mothers’ Day with our beautiful daughters and my flower garden

Abraham Lincoln quote on mother

“I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”–Abraham Lincoln

I had a great Mother’s Day weekend and hope you did, too. The best part for me was seeing our precious, beautiful daughters Heather and Leah. I went by to see our middle daughter Eden, but she was working late until that night. Hopefully I can see her this week when she is off work. 

Heather bought me a sweet card and beautiful fresh red roses, my favorite flowers–so thoughtful of her!

card & roses from Heather

card & roses from Heather

Heather works full-time, stays constantly busy and on the go, and lives almost an hour away from me here in Butler. So it was a real treat for her to drive here with her girls Annabelle and Violet and take me out to lunch at the Mexican restaurant, El Charro. 

Me & our beautiful daughter, Heather Mothers' Day 2018

Me & our beautiful daughter, Heather
Mothers’ Day 2018

 

Heather opening her card & gift from me The girls watching her Mothers' Day 2018

Heather opening her card & gift from me
The girls watching her
Mothers’ Day 2018

Heather and the girls then stopped by our house to see our black cat with green eyes, Natalya, for the first time. Violet loved her! Natalya is shy, so I was really glad she allowed them to pet and even hold her!

Heather seeing our cat Natalya the first time

Heather seeing our cat Natalya for the first time here

 

Our granddaughters Violet & Annabelle seeing Natalya the 1st time

Our granddaughters Violet and Annabelle seeing Natalya for the 1st time here at our house

Their visit was very short and sweet, because Heather had an errand to run, but I’m so thankful that I was able to see them and spend time with them for this special holiday!

On actual Mother’s Day Sunday, our youngest daughter Leah treated me to lunch at El Charro, too (we both love Mexican and I can never have too much chips and salsa!). Seeing our daughters made my whole weekend!

Me & our precious, beautiful daughter Leah on Mothers' Day 2018

Me & our precious, beautiful daughter Leah on Mothers’ Day 2018

 

Mexican lunch

Mexican lunch

 

I'm addicted to chips & salsa!

I’m addicted to chips & salsa!

The restaurant staff also blessed me with a free dessert for Mothers’ Day: it was a creamy, yummy cake with strawberries!

the yummy dessert: Leah & I shared it!

the yummy cake with chocolate & strawberries: Leah and I shared it!

I’m so thankful that I was able to do this with Leah. It made my whole day.

My husband Ray bought me a beautiful butterfly card (I love butterflies!) and a Chicken Soup for the Soul book, The Empowered Woman. What the card read inside about me being beautiful and what he wrote about me as a mom meant the most to me and deeply touched me.

butterfly card & book

butterfly card & book

To treat myself afterward, I planted some flowers in my flower bed that I’d bought at the Mennonite store in town, the Stoplight Market, where I purchased them last year. All this is a lot of hard work, and I was very sore the next day! I posted a meme on Facebook which read, “My glutes are on FIYAH!”

 

flower bed

my flower bed. I started gardening last year and am happy to have fresh flowers again!

My friend Stephanie urged me to buy mulch for the flower bed, so the rains wouldn’t wash away the petunias. I went the next day to buy the mulch and put it down to protect the flowers.

mulch

mulch

 

petunias

petunias in a variety of colors

 

cute little sign-fairy

cute little sign: fairy crossing

 

yellow daisies

friendly daisies for our back steps

 

purple potted petunias

purple potted petunias

 

gardenias

red gardenias for my sunroom

I love having creamy coffee and drinking it in our sunroom in the morning. It’s a great place to just pray to God and watch the birds, squirrels, butterflies, and bunny rabbits.

coffee in the sunroom

coffee in the sunroom

My mother-in-law Judy bought me this beautiful, little glass table for the sunroom. I love it! It is perfect for my coffee, flowered cactus, and aloe vera plant.

glass table

glass table

Our cat Natalya loves our sunroom as much as I do, but for different reasons. She intently watches the birds and the squirrels, anticipating a kill if she could only get outside (she’s an indoor-only house cat!). 

Natalya watching the birds

Natalya watching the birds

 

Natalya by the sunroom screen

Natalya by the sunroom screen

 

Natalya in the sunroom

Natalya in the sunroom

I bought a few herbs for my sunroom: wonderful-smelling lavender, oregano to use in cooking dishes like spaghetti, and beautiful purple Salvia. I never leave our cat alone in the sunroom with the plants, as some can be toxic. The door stays locked when I’m not in there.

I have the herbs in a big, white crate that was filled with goodies the attendees blessed me with last year, when I spoke at a retreat in Liberty, MO.

herbs: lavender, oregano, and Salvia

herbs: lavender, oregano, and Salvia

 

faith deco in sunroom

faith deco in sunroom

Last year I planted a big butterfly bush to entice butterflies, which I love. It blossomed well, and drew butterflies in my garden. But Missouri can have harsh, cold winters and it’s likely the ice and the snow killed the poor, little plant. I wasn’t able to find a big plant I really liked for that corner, so I bought a Celtic Cross.

I am proclaiming it is a prophetic declaration for me visiting Ireland, one of the things on my bucket list! Irish legend says that Saint Patrick was trying to convert the pagans to Christianity. Some of these pagans worshiped the sun, so it is said that he combined the cross with the circular pattern of the sun as a way to associate light and life with the Christian cross in the mind of his converts. I think it adds a unique touch to the garden.

Celtic Cross

Celtic Cross

I also put new bark mulch around my roses. Last year I planted my first rose garden. Two of the rose bushes look somewhat sad this spring, so they may have to be uprooted and replaced. I’m not sure they survived the winter. The other two rose bushes are doing well, and one is already blooming beautifully.

rose garden

rose garden with stones

 

my roses from this year's garden

my roses from this year’s garden

I bought bags of black sunflower and other little seeds to draw the red cardinals, sparrows, purple finches, blue jays, and other beautiful birds in our yard. I’ve already seen the male and female red cardinals in our yard. The red male cardinal is my special sign of love from God, and it makes me so happy to see one!

I’ve also seen purple finches and mourning doves. Doves make beautiful sounds in the morning and are among my other favorite birds. An interesting fact about doves is that they mate for life. 

red male cardinal Image source: Pinterest

red male cardinal
Image source: Pinterest

 

purple finch

purple finch

Last year my mother-in-law Judy bought me the squirrel-proof feeder on the left in the pic below. The squirrels are greedy, and practically do acrobatics on the feeders, even going upside down, to try to get to the seeds and eat them. 

bird feeders

bird feeders

I also put back out the hummingbird feeder with sugar water, and have already seen hummingbirds at them. I love the hummingbirds; they are so little and cute!

To make safe hummingbird food (there is controversy whether the red dye is safe or toxic to hummingbirds),  mix 1 part sugar with 4 parts water and bring to a boil to kill any bacteria or mold that is present. Cool and fill your feeder. They love it! This morning I saw a big black and yellow bumblebee at the feeder; they like it, too, so be careful. I was stung by a bee on my foot as a child, and my foot was swollen to twice its size, so I’m allergic to bees. 

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”–Ashley Smith

hummingbird feeder

hummingbird feeder

The previous owners of this house had planted two pink peony bushes on the side yard. They are now blooming beautifully. My friend Stephanie said these are her favorite flowers, and that if I take care of them, they can grow as big as saucers.

pink peonies bush

pink peonies bush

 

pink peony

pink peony

I have a few more goals for our yard. One is to get a white trellis for the Wisteria tree, that Ray suggested I buy and plant last year. We put it in the front of our house by the little porch. It is now taking over our house, and friends of mine advised to get a trellis to train its growing “arms,” so it won’t destroy the siding on our home.

Wisteria tree

Wisteria tree

My other planned project is to buy 3 giant rocks at The Grass Pad in Martin City, MO, and make an attractive fairy rock garden on top of it. This is where I bought my stones for my rose garden last year. 

I had a very good Mothers’ Day this year and am so thankful.

Me on Mothers' Day 2018

Me on Mothers’ Day 2018

What did you do for the holiday? Leave your comments below.

Blog

New sunflower theme

It’s Friday evening, sunset. Today hasn’t been super busy, but steady. I dropped off Ray at work early (we have one car), had my morning joe with prayer and reading the Bible, petted my black cat Natalya a long time, then walked and slow jogged at the track.

Our adorable grandson Jacob

Our adorable grandson Jacob

This afternoon I picked up our grandson Jacob and dropped him off at our daughter Eden’s house, hung out with her chatting a bit (watching Piper eat a slice of pizza and Willow sitting up in her baby chair & gooing), and then came home to dry a load of laundry as Eden’s dryer broke yesterday! Not something she needs right now, having just started a new job, with a baby, an active toddler who loves getting into everything, and her sweet but rambunctious son who gets easily bored when not at school!

Craig & Eden

Craig (Eden’s husband & our son-in-law) & our middle daughter Eden

 

Eden & Piper

Eden & her “busy bee” toddler daughter, Piper

 

Eden & Willow

Eden & her baby girl Willow

This week I tackled my email inbox, which is quite a feat; emails had snowballed and I became overwhelmed trying to deal with them! I deleted and filed over 17,500 emails, and archived the rest to get emails down to zero. Now I can rest my mind!

Today I also changed my website theme at BethJones.net. I do this whenever I feel restless, bored, frustrated, or any number of emotions. At least it’s better than eating too much chocolate!

Yellow cake with chocolate frosting www.bakingthroughmsbh.files.wordpress.com-2010-03-slice1

Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
www.bakingthroughmsbh.files.wordpress.com-2010-03-slice1

I chose a beautiful sunflower picture for my website header, after writing my most recent book that has a cover of a sunflower and an orange butterfly. You can find that book here at Amazon. (It’s called Metamorphosis: Transformed From Despair to Hope)

Sunflowers track the sun. The flower buds and young blossoms will face east in the morning and follow the sun as the earth moves during the day. Even so, may you and I always lift our faces toward and follow the Son and the Light, Jesus. He is the King & is coming soon.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers

The navigation is a little different than my last theme, but you can find the main pages at the top of the page.

woman drinking juice

woman on laptop

To read my latest blog posts, click on “Blog” at the top of the page, or look on the right sidebar, scrolling down a little until you see “Recent Blog Posts.”

You can connect with me other places online with the social media icons on the right sidebar, my links on the sidebar “Other Places Beth is online” (such as my Podcast), and catch my Instagram pics on the sidebar as well. 

As always, if you have any questions or comments, are interested in hiring me as a speaker for your women’s conference or online event, or have a question about my books or online trainings, you can contact me here.

Beth Jones, International Speaker Amazon Best Seller Author

Beth Jones, International Speaker
Amazon Best Seller Author