Do you like green eggs and ham?

On Friday, I had the opportunity to spend some time hanging out with Mrs. Roberts first grade class (my sister in law). She had asked me earlier in the week to come and make green eggs and ham for her first grade friends. Apparently, my brother has shared with her that she's not a very good egg scrambler. This may or may not have to do with the fact that she tried to pass microwaved eggs off as "yummy".

Nonetheless, I headed to WPES, electric frying pan in hand, to cook. The principal met me in the office and remembers that there is a child with a severe egg allergy directly across the hall from the room we were in and that we would need to find an alternate plan. I shared that news with Chelsea and while she asked (frantically pleaded with) her mentor teacher to borrow her room, I chatted with the friends. 

First, I was shocked by how many of them remembered me from a blog Chelsea let them read several months back! They exclaimed, "you're the sister with the dogs. and you're married to moose!"  Lol! Second, one little girl made sure I knew that I used to be Miss Roberts until I got married. Third, they thought it was so silly that I called "Mrs Roberts" Chelsea! 

We voted on who would like green eggs and ham (only 3 said no), and then headed down to the 4K room when Chelsea returned. We cooked and ate our green eggs and ham while watching a quick Dr Seuss book on the smart board. Then, our in-school field trip ended and we headed back to Mrs. Roberts' room. As I packed up and left, the friends were writing about their green eggs and ham experience. You'll have to head over to First and Fab to find out how they liked them, but I'll share that I heard several murmurs that moms would be asked to make some of those yummy green eggs for an after school snack! 

All in all it was a minorly chaotic but majorly fun afternoon visit to first grade....and the kids got non-microwaved eggs to boot. ;)

#SavilleLifeInPictures2014 Week 10

Day 61: homeward bound from my crazy trip!

Day 62: selfie before my sub class! Excited. :)

Day 63: nothing like spending your day in a middle school library to get ya going!

Day 64: my hubby left me a glorious present of a mountain of laundry to do!

Day 65: this family loves projects! My parents' guest bathroom remodel. 

Day 66: a relaxing Friday night. Love to play cards!

Day 67: riding round town, top down making the rounds...

Check out that hair! 

Fitness Friday. Edition: Rest.

I've been saving this post because I felt a little hypocritical posting it the past two Fridays. However, now that I'm back home and getting a happy 8 hours of sleep at night-I feel perfectly comfortable posting about rest.

Here's what I've learned: rest is a crucial puzzle piece to fitness. Every training plan I've researched has "rest days" built in. These days are usually filled with yoga or stretching, if any activity, and are designed to allow your muscles to get over any fatigue you're causing them. I recently learned that novice "athletes" should build in a rest day approximately every three days, and an advanced athlete should rest at least weekly. 

Additionally, sleep (and getting enough quality sleep) is crucial when attempting to become more fit. A good 8 hours allows your body to rest, heal itself, and prepare for any strenuous activity you may be building up for. I wrote the book on lack of sleep affecting you physically and have no desire to go back there! I became depressed, had issues with passing out and heart arrhythmia, and went to the doctor more times in those years of my life than ever. Sleep=healthier Megan. Healthier Megan has all of the tools to become fit Megan. That being said, I fully understand that there are seasons of less sleep in everyone's lives. I just firmly believe that during those seasons, we should be even more careful to build in rest days into our exercise schedule and be very careful with how much we do. Our bodies can only take so much! 

So rest up! We have fit bodies to build and races to train for. 

Your Heart's Desire

The scripture tells us He will give us the desire of our hearts, right? So why do we sometimes feel that it's not coming? Why, often, do we not even know what our heart's desire is? My gut tells me that if I were to ask right now "what is your heart's desire" in my small group or Sunday school or discipleship session-most of what I would receive would be blank stares. We don't know. We don't know what we are passionate about...and those of us who do, those of us who have determined our heart's desire are confused about why we aren't receiving it!

I think to better understand this promise, we have to investigate the command that goes along with it. My dad often teaches that Scripture is full of commands with a promise. For example-an easy one-"follow Me and I will make you fishers of men." In other words, I will provide a career for you if you leave your current one and follow Me. This sort of command/promise relationship happens all the time. Our promise we are visiting is found in Psalm 37. Verses 3 & 4 are as follows:

"Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart."

The first thing I notice is that there are a lot of commands here that we probably aren't following 100%. We may not be receiving the desires of our hearts because we aren't trusting in God, dwelling in Him, relishing His faithfulness in good and bad times, or delighting ourselves in Him and Him alone. Wow-that's quite a list. But, knowing what we know about who God is, it should be our goal and reward to follow those commands. We should be thrilled to obey and dwell in our Lord! However, for whatever reason we don't. 

The second thing I notice is that we may not be using the phrase "give you the desires" properly. Is it entirely possible that if our mindset is wholly and completely on Jesus, as the commands tell us to, our desire will be whatever He wants it to be. In other words, He will place Jesus-driven desires in your heart. So, we may not be getting our desires because they aren't the ones He has placed in your heart. Also, we give blank stares because He hasn't given us our desires to long for yet...because we aren't trusting Gim and dwelling in Him. 

I've thought a lot about this verse and my heart's desire/my passions lately. I wonder if these things can change. If something I'm so passionate about or that my heart desires so fully can be removed/changed to fulfil a completely different purpose. As I've studied and read, I'm finding that if I believe God is putting those desires there and fulfilling them as we obey Him, they absolutely can change. While my desire to live fully for Him is going to (should) be the root of all of my passion, the way that passion is displayed in my heart and my desires can change based on the season to which He has called me. 

I think my goal in writing this post is to encourage myself and others to first follow the commands. Commit yourself daily to trust Him, dwell in His faithfulness, and delight in who He is. Then, and only then, will the true and deep desires of your heart be made known and achievable. Don't despair if you are feeling a little lost. Don't despair if you feel your passions have changed. Just know, He will place His desires in your heart if only you'll obediently allow Him to lead. 

Subway Art

I don't normally pat myself on the back or self-advertise. But-I've been contacted recently about making a subway art print for a friend, and figured I would share it with you guys. 

Over the past few years, I've gotten fairly proficient with the computer. I started playing around with design, and created my own wedding invitations three years ago. 

Recently, I've gotten into making subway art signs and designs. 

I've done birth announcements, hymns, etc. 

If you're interested in me doing something for you as I continue practicing, leave me a comment or message. 

Here are a few I've done recently:

Hebrews Recap: Week 3

I'm back home, so hopefully, I will get back on track with publishing everyday! Today, though, is our Hebrews recap for the week!

Our Bible Study last night began with a sweet prayer time. I had truly missed these women and their hearts! We moved into a discussion about the homework and really differentiated between Christ and others who had gone before Him. He is our true high priest who mediates between us and His father. He is like none other because He has never sinned. What a joy that was to think about!

We then went into our lesson portion, where we focused on Hebrews 5 and 6. We heard the pastor say “GROW UP!” But, he uses the phrase pheromai.  “Let us go on to maturity” in Greek is pheromai, which means Let Us Be Carried On. The implication here is that we can’t make it on our own. So, he’s not saying pull yourself up by your bootsraps. He’s saying, Let God carry you forward. 1 Cor 1:26-31 continues in this thought.  The concept is that it’s all about the supremacy of Jesus.

There are often hills and battles that we can’t overcome on our own; so, take heart! Jesus will carry you into maturity and over the hills.

After chastising them, he commends them for their love. He says, though you need to mature some more—I see your love and grace.

The last section of chapter 6, verses 13-20 talk about the curtain being torn. In order to understand what in the world is going on here, we need to read Matthew 27:45-54! Now—if you write in your bible, jot Hebrews 6 beside vs. 51! I know that the curtain is the separation in the temple that separates the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. Do you remember what was in there? The Ark of the Covanent! The word ark in Heberw actually means box. The group did such a great job remembering their Old Testament history and remembering what was in the box and about the Holy of Holies!

Do you remember what was in the box?

            Jar of Manna, Aaron’s staff, and pieces of stone tablets

Do you remember who got to go in the Holy of Holies and when?

            High priest/rope/sacrifices …during yom kippor

That is the only time the curtain was allowed to be open. BUT…during the crucifixion, that curtain was torn in two. What is so significant about this Matthews passage that has to do with Hebrews 6? That curtain was HUGE! It took over 300 priests to move and hang that curtain. That is the exact specifications for the US flag that is hanging over Ground Zero! It was as thick as a man’s hand and weighed several thousand pounds. Guys—that happened at 3p.m. with priests standing there. Can you imagine their response? Well…they believed in Christ!

In your book, it reminds us that the curtain ripped from top to bottom. It implies that God himself did the rending!

The point of Hebrews 6 that we see evidences of in Matthew is this:

We have access to our redeemer because Jesus himself  tore down that separation between us and God. We don’t have to have one person go to God for us once a year. We have access to scoot closer to our redeemer. Jesus is our firm anchor who holds us secure in the fiercest of storms. There are no words that can describe the supremacy and greatness of our King…the king who ripped the curtain so that he could get a little closer and love a little deeper with us.

For week two:
http://mooseandmegan.blogspot.com/2014/02/hebrews-recap-week-2.html

For week one:
http://mooseandmegan.blogspot.com/2014/02/hebrews-recap-week-1.html

For intro week:
http://mooseandmegan.blogspot.com/2014/02/hebrews-recap-intro-week.html

#SavilleLifeInPictures2014 week 9

Loved being away, but glad to be home. Here's the remainder of my New England trip. 

Day 54: Sunday fun day in my favorite state in the whole world! 4 hour round trip for some sledding, lighthouse seeing, and lobster. Yay :)

Day 55: so grateful I got a short nap on this day to get me through the week. 

Day 56: got a package in the mail...and then realized I had shipped it to myself. :/ oh well; I like my new shampoo!

Day 57: drove to Boston to see my sweet friend Carrie, but forgot to take an actual picture. Loved meeting Chasen and spending time with Carrie!

Day 58: purple Thursday!

Day 59: PJs on, feet up--the perfect Friday night on the road. :)

Day 60: that line was literally that long at all times! Busy week!!!