The Puke Pill

~ Dina’s Corner

Wouldn’t it be great if we had a pill that made us nauseated at the site of a Hershey bar or a piece of cheesecake?  Ok, now before anyone steals my idea- let it be known that I came up with The Puke Pill-cause I want my cut-are you listening Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer?  Me, I came up with it.  Ok so, you take this pill and it works on your brain chemicals to literally make you sick if you look at fattening food but healthy fruits and veggies, they would make your mouth water like Pavlov’s dogs.  Yeah…that would be awesome.  That’s it, my ticket to fame, fortune and a size 8 thighs- The Puke Pill!  I’ll start working on it right away~ call the patent office! 

My mom once told me to replace a negative with a positive.  For me that means replacing the cookie with a carrot- now that’s a hard pill to swallow.  My life has been full of cookies and not a lot of carrots.  Consistently eating a healthy diet has always been a struggle for me.

  Growing up, my grandmother let me eat just about whatever I wanted- literally pushing the junk food in front of me because to her, that equaled love.  So summers spent at Grandmas meant I came home fat.  You can actually go through pictures of me as a kid and see when I had been with my grandmother for a couple of weeks.  So I learned early on how to eat whatever I wanted and not pay a lot of attention to anything but my taste buds.   Not only did grandma let me eat junk food, candy and soda but on top of that, she was the best cook in Rochester.  Creating  the most delicious Puerto Rican food,  no one could refuse a plate of grandmas rice & beans, pl`atanos, alcapurria, and forget about the tostones.  To grandma, a skinny person would not do.  She would be insulted if you refused seconds and she enjoyed feeding everyone.    Oh grandma, I love you…and I have your arms.   I wish I had a puke pill. 

 

 

Fight!

~My dearest friend Sherrie has recruited me into her Contend mission…yep, that’s our theme this year for the byGrace Ministries March conference and I’m hip deep in it. There are a lot of things to contend for, battles to fight today and some left to the Lords timing. I didn’t know it, but I’ve been headed for a fight…for my fitness and Sherrie is the ringleader of our troop.
Sherrie should have been a Marine Special Ops sergeant. I smirk as I write this, but it has a ring of truth to it. I would say, jokingly, that she’s missed her calling but I know she didn’t. Sherrie has embraced her calling as the mouth of byGrace Ministries and Thank God for that because she’s been such an encouragement to me. I’m also thankful God gave Sherrie that calling and not me because I couldn’t talk that much if you gave me a script. But when you see her coming down the hall at the Y, with her clan of eight children, you think “She’s ready for battle” and “I’m in trouble.” Eight kids in tow…and she’s working out? With her determined gait and a focused eye on you, you understand that you will soon be sweating, grunting, grimacing and wishing Sherrie was not up to the task of pushing you to go another mile on the treadmill or do one more sit-up, but alas~ she’s always up to the task. How did she manage to sweet-talk me into doing this fitness thing anyway? She just wore me down and here I am, wearing my Spandex and sweating like a pig.
“One more set!” she calls, I groan.
“Come on, don’t stop now, you only have another ¼ mile left!” she says and I keep going.
“One more minute, come on, Dina, anyone can do anything for a minute!” she cajoles…..God, I pray, please make her tired so she’ll leave me alone. But she doesn’t leave me alone anymore than a drill sergeant will leave his new recruits to fend for themselves. I can hear her in my head, “Fight!”
Nope, I’m stuck. She will not give up on me and she won’t let me give up on myself.
Watch out for those faithful friends of yours, ladies…the ones who push you to better yourself. The ones who refuse to be a miserable comforter and help you polish off the rest of that crumb cake…all 6 pieces of it. Be careful for those wild eyed enthusiasts, all pearly whites hugging on you and whispering sweet dreams of muscle toned biceps in your ear….they’ll get ya…right into the gym. And later as you proudly cringe when you stand up because your gluteus maximus (more maximus than gluteus in my case) is the sorest it’s been since that time you went horseback riding, you’ll really appreciate …well, I don’t know what you’ll appreciate- for me it was a hot shower, but for you- you might just get some satisfaction out of knowing you met the challenge for once. And a faithful friend was there to help you along.

“Divine Interruptions”

Don’t you just love those moments when you know that God has destined you to have a divine moment with a complete stranger?  I am becoming more and more attuned to those moments and seeing that there indeed is an unseen realm that is full of activity and that under the direction of a loving and sovereign God these “divine interruptions” are taking place all around us.  God is a loving Father pursuing His children and He uses us to speak to them through a kind word or a kind deed.  But will we lay aside our agendas to pick up His at any given moment or will we be too busy to even see those heavenly opportunities when they present themselves?

Philip had a “divine interruption” (Acts 8:26-40) and because of that Christianity was taken to Ethiopia.  Paul had a “divine interruption” on the road to Damascus with the Lord Jesus himself (Acts 9) and because of that we have him to thank for over half of the New Testament books.  One of my favorite “divine interruptions” was when a Samaritan woman (who was loathed by the Jews) came to a well to draw water and left after an encounter with Jesus Christ as the first woman evangelist in scripture!  (Read John 4:28-39).

As I sit here reflecting on the conversation I just had with a precious young single mom I realize that God pursued me in much the same fashion.  He used others to point me towards Him even when I didn’t even realize it.  He revealed himself through a kind woman in a small craft store that on a whim I had stopped in at almost 22 years ago who invited me to her church.  Little did she know that at that moment I felt anything but worthy to enter into the doors of a church!  But somehow her eyes told me otherwise.  They were filled with an unexplainable joy and I detected no judgment in her voice.  As if God knew my hesitation because of my previous church experiences he even had the pastor walk through the door of this little shop and many other members as they were there to celebrate her grand opening of her quaint little shop.  Was this luck or was this the answer to the recent cry of my heart to know that there truly was a God and that somehow my insignificant and very messed up life mattered to Him.  I soon realized that He cared for me enough to put me in this place at this moment to receive an invitation to get to know Him more and to show Himself to me through the love of those in that little shop that day.  That was the beginning of my coming home!

The question is; are you looking for those “divine interruptions” in your life today?  Are you planning on taking a trip to the grocery store, a PTA meeting, the post office, or just a trip to your local Starbucks for some private time?  Are you willing to lay down your agenda when God places a new assignment in your lap? 

Truth is, I was probably more blessed by our conversation than she was.  I continue to learn more and more about the heart of God towards His own.  I had the opportunity to pray with her and her son who just moved into the area.  I prayed for the Lord to lead them to a church where He would be represented well and where they would find a church home for their precious little family and provide financially for them until she is able to obtain a job.  And more than anything I prayed that the Lord would reveal Himself to her in a tangible way to show her His love and care for her.  Would you take a moment and pray for this precious young woman and her son as well?

I trust that this was no accident or a case of luck but a case of being placed at the right place at the right time for a heavenly ordained encounter and being open to the “divine interruptions” of God in my day.  I’m sure that I miss many of these but as so thankful that today was different.

Sigh… I love these moments when God writes our names in other people’s stories.  To Him be the glory both now and forevermore!

Butt Crunchers Unite!

Dina’s Corner:

My son and daughter had never heard the term ‘butt-crunch’ so when I told my daughter she should be butt-crunching when she was sitting around she giggled…and then the giggles turned into hysterical laughter as my kids came up with creative new options for the term. “It sounds like a cereal!” they laughed. “BUTT-Crunchers!” they exclaimed, “plain or with chocolate berries!” Yes, potty humor is in full swing at the Gmeinweiser home.
Since I spend a lot of time online I have started to do a lot of butt-crunches. I figure I need to be doing something with these glutes since they spread out so far when I sit down. Not to mention the workout they’re going to get next time I hit the gym. Now I’m not saying this weird little exercise is going to restore my behind to pre-pregnancy firmness~ remember that….? Ahhh….the days of size 8 jeans when I could eat just about anything I wanted without guilt…sigh. Well- back to reality ‘cause those days are over babe. But there are little things that I can do on my way to fitness. You’ve heard this stuff before- park at the end of the parking lot when you go shopping so you have to walk a little to the door, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and use low-fat milk instead of cream in your coffee, ~ little things. If we are going to get healthy…what are some little things we can incorporate everyday to get closer to that goal? As for me, I butt-crunch, suck in my gut, squeeze my leg muscles, and stretch several times a day while I’m sitting, standing, doing the dishes…whatever. My hope is that the more I do these little exercises, the healthier my circulation will get and little by little, I can build some muscle that I didn’t possess before. I don’t want to just get into shape- I want to change my shape because right now I look like one of those primitive fertility statues the ancient pagans used to worship- you know the ones I’m talking about- huge boobs & belly- shaped like a pear… like this one:

No, thank you. And the truth is, the more weight I carry around my mid-section, the higher risk I run of certain cancers. No thank you, again. So, I’m doing something about this, after too many years of not doing something about this. And one of those little things I’ve incorporated into my fight for fitness is butt-crunching. Yes, I’m proud to say it~ I’m a Butt-Cruncher. Join me! Butt-Crunchers unite!

WARNING: PLEASE READ THIS ON AN EMPTY BLADDER!!!

Dina’s Story:

My First Week  (other Blog titles considered:  “My First Week in Weight Loss Hell”, “How Sherrie Anderson Twisted My Arm into Getting Fit”, “Workout? Who Me?BAHAHAHAHA!”)

 

Dec 29, 2011: I weigh 193lbs.  I have weighed anywhere from 191-197lbs since my daughter was born…11 yrs ago.  I’ve come to accept that I will probably always weigh over 190 since I hate exercise and don’t watch my calories. My stomach is starting to hang over my hips slightly…after two kids and stretch marks in the shape of zebra stripes I figure that’s just the way it is.   I go through days of food anxiety~ what will I eat, when will I eat, what else can I eat…can I withstand the temptation and not eat…no, I can’t- pass the chips.  I hate the flab.  I hate that I can’t get up off the floor without my knees and lower back screaming.  I hate pictures of myself.  I wish I could lose a bra size because I have fat boob- these DD’s make me look even fatter and finding flattering clothes for a rack like this is difficult.  I have more chin than I need….my arms flap in the breeze and when I bend over my stomach rolls push into my pancreas. 

I hate exercise and I feel guilty that I don’t exercise.  I’m tired all the time.  I have IBS and have suffered from abdominal cramping for years~ sometimes it puts me in bed for the day.  I’m 43, menopause is around the corner and it’s not gonna get any easier.  So……

  I’m being dragged (silently kicking and screaming) into working out with my ministry team.   My leader, friend and sister-from-another-Mister, Sherrie, is yet again stretching, prodding and poking me into actually doing something about all this. What’s worse is she wants me to tell you all about it…the nerve of that woman.

I don’t wanna.  Did I say I hate exercising?  I have no balance.  I look fat in workout clothes.  My feet hurt due to pronation and bunions.  I’m weak.  I have no natural athletic ability whatsoever.  I’ve never stayed on a consistent exercise schedule ~ much less a diet ~ ever.    Hmph.

 

Dec 30, 2011 1^st workout:    I’ve descended into New Year’s resolution hell.  More on that later- let’s just say I’m at the YMCA working out with some sweaty people that look a heck of a lot better than I do in spandex.  And I was traumatized at the Y as a kid…again, more on that later.

 

Jan 2, 2012 2^nd workout:      Ow.    I’m hungry.  I have to pee.

 

Jan 3, 2012 3^rd workout:      I got my fat measured today.  Yes, I said I got my fat measured.  “How do you get your fat measured, Dina?”   Well, I’ll tell you.  You get your very tall, slim, gorgeous and fit friend Liz to get her little fat measuring torture device and gather your folds of dimpled flesh in it….all over your rotund mass.

 Very humbling.  I have the most fat of our bunch.   Not the “1^st place” recognition I was looking for.   I don’t think I have any muscle tone on my entire body, other than my tongue … and to top things off, Sherrie took ‘Before’ pictures of me and my bulges.  I bet she’s going to want to put the pictures up for all to see too.

This morning, before Liz attacked me with her little fat measuring vice grips, I weighed in at 191~ it’s the water. I’m drinking a lot of water- and since I’ve been dehydrated for my entire adult life, it’s working.  So, flush away girls~ first rule in getting healthy is to drink your water.  I know it’s only 2lbs of water weight but I’ll take it.  At this point~ the slightest encouragement is detrimental to my mental health.

 

Jan 4, 2012:       I counted my cereal pieces this morning…this is getting surreal.  I signed up for a website app called Lose It!, which is a free program where you log everything you eat and all your exercise- it’s really easy to use and shows you exactly how many calories you are taking in.  It also tells you how many calories you need to eat to meet your weight loss goal.  Never thought in a million years I would actually do this.  Count calories? Me? 

 

Jan 5, 2012 4^th workout:      Ok- now I’m hooked.  Now I want to do this….how did this happen, God? It certainly wasn’t me. Actually did 2 miles on the treadmill today- me…two whole miles.  And I did better with weight lifting too.  Love the Lose It! site.  Check it out at http://www.loseit.com-  it’s the coolest thing. 

 

Jan 6, 2012:    I am the butt crunch queen.  I find myself butt crunching when I’m sitting down ~ I’m on automatic butt crunch pilot.  Now…how to become the suck in your gut queen….that would be marvelous!  Went on a 2 mile walk with our team this morning- I was huffing it on the last mile but I did it.  No one else was even winded…but I don’t care anymore.  Exercise is ugly sometimes. So what-when my butt is fitting into a size 12 and I’m a C cup whose gonna care anyway?

 

Jan 7, 2013:   This morning I weighed in at 188 lbs.  Keep in mind, I always weigh myself in the morning, before I eat anything and after I go potty…bare-naked in my really cold bathroom, squinting to see the tiny little lines on my old but accurate scale.  I’m sore but I feel really good.  I’ve been sleeping well too.   I pray with all serious humility that God will grant me strength and determination.  And I thank Him for putting some beautiful and sacrificing women in my life to help me along~ without their encouragement, I would not do this.  Second rule of getting fit is get someone to hold you accountable and encourage you- it works.

Stepping Into the Ring

 

Okay, it’s time!!  Tired of saying it, thinking about it, feeling guilty about it!  No, this is not a New Year’s resolution; it is about getting healthy though. 

You see one of the first things the Lord began speaking to me about contending for has been my health.  It took a major health scare to do it, but it worked.  Many people probably think I look just fine but me and my Spanks know better!  I have had eight children and obviously my weight has seen its ups more than it has seen its downs.  My baby is two and I’m still holding on to 35 pounds that need to go!

Now hear me when I say that his has nothing to do with trying to get back to my pre kid weight, or get down to a size 8 pair of jeans!  This has everything to do with my long term health.  You see my mom died of colon cancer when I was 32.  My grandmother also succumbed to colon cancer this past year.  My recent health scare reminded me that when my mom died I made a commitment to be proactive in regards to my health such as yearly physicals, mammograms, and yes I’ve already had two colonoscopies.  You get the idea.  So I have always worked out by playing volleyball, running, biking, and work outs with a trainer.  After having Selah I had initially lost 35 or the 70 pounds I needed to lose through my workouts with my personal trainer but still had 35 more to go to get back to a healthy comfortable place for me.

I trained late this summer and ran the Rochester Half Marathon.  It was a goal that I had set many years ago but never did it until this past fall.   After the marathon though I stopped working out and what began as a one week break turned into a 3 month stint on the couch.  Ouch!  That is until I ended up in the doctor’s office dealing with stomach pains, anxiety and depression.  I realized that working out was not just about losing weight but about keeping me mentally healthy as well.  I also remember looking up what the risk factors were for the type of cancer that they thought I might have (it was not colon but closely related) and realized that the only risk factor I had was that of being overweight. 

Hence, I have taken that which the enemy intended for evil (fear of having cancer) and have seen God turn it for my good.  He has awakened a passion in me to see these last pounds come off to get my BMI (Body Mass Index) back to a number that does not increase my chances for certain diseases such as cancer, heart problems, diabetes, and the list goes on.  I’m looking forward to the challenge to take off almost 20 pounds before the conference and thanks to my byGrace Team who I have recruited or coerced, depending on which ones you ask we have all determined to “Contend” for our health. 

Now it’s off to the gym at 5:30am three days a week for spin class and two days a week running and weight lifting with our team.  You should see us with all our kids (usually 14 of them) walking into the Y and taking it over.  We are serious about getting healthy and satan don’t get in our way!  We are women on a mission!!  God is teaching us to take back the ground the enemy has stolen in this area. 

Be ready to read some real honest blogs from the team members because I can tell you this has not been easy.  It has been a commitment and we have had to make what seems like sacrifices to get to the gym, etc.  But I can tell you that when two or more are gathered in His name HE IS THERE and He has been teaching all of us about how to contend for much more than just our health.  Can’t wait to share more in March at the conference!  Until then please keep us in prayer as we step into the ring, put the gloves on, and learn to fight like His girls!!!

Liz’s Story

 

Liz Testimonial:

Whenever I heard the words women and event in the same sentence I would always cringe, and avoid the scene at all costs.  I have attended a couple of women’s events and always came away wishing I could have that 2 or so hours of my life back.  Every time it was a bunch of women sitting around singing old hymns, drinking black coffee and doing crafts, definitely not my idea of a good time.  I think it is important for women to be connected and doing life together, but I thought there must be another way to do this.  Enter Sherrie Anderson.  I was talking with her on a Monday night and she asked if I was coming to the ladies night out on Thursday.  I chuckled and said no that most likely won’t be happening, at that point I did not realize that she was the one speaking and hosting the event.  All I was thinking was no way lady, I don’t know who you are but I do know that I do not want to spend my Thursday night sitting around sipping black coffee and doing crafts.  Sherrie, being the convincing woman that she is, got me to agree to try this ladies night out, saying that it would be different than what I knew.  So I dragged a couple of friends along with me, to make sure that if things got bad I had someone there to talk to.  To my pleasant surprise this “ladies night out” was different.  The worship was relevant, upbeat, and engaging.   The speaker (Sherrie) was very engaging, and the atmosphere was very appealing.  To top things off the food afterwards was exquisite, skip the black coffee and Italian cookies, there was humus, veggies, and platters of different kinds of cookies.  Now this was my kind of women’s event.  I had always thought that there must be a way to do a women’s event that appeals to all generations, I just had not been to one that was able to accomplish that.  I was so impressed by how the ByGrace ministry team was able to minister to the older and younger generation.  They made me walk away feeling like I wanted to connect with other women and do life together with them.  After the event I could not stop thinking about how this team of people was able to put on a women’s event that was so relevant, and engaging, and fun.  I wanted in on this business.  I want to share with other young women that there is a way to connect women of all generations.  ByGrace ministries is striving for that, and accomplishing it.  I am very honored and excited to have the opportunity to be involved with the ministry and reach out to the younger ladies and get them connected with other women.

Contend

Contend
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight.” Proverbs 3:5
Several months ago while I was alone and out running some errands, I was talking to Father about the possibility of a future conference for our ministry in our new church home. To be quite honest I wasn’t sure if there would be one at all. We had only been at our new church home for a short time and hadn’t approached anyone there introducing our ministry. All of our previous events were held at our last church where James and I had attended for almost 10 years.
Usually before the end of each conference for the last two years the Lord has given me the name of the next year’s conference. But this time the conference had come and gone and still no name. I guess as a team we could have brainstormed for a theme and name for the conference, but that’s not how Father and I work. You see, He gives me the name and until He does there is no conference as far as I am concerned.
“Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1
So I waited… and then it came as clear as day to my heart!
Contend!
To be totally honest with you, I wasn’t sure I liked it. I kept saying the name over and over… The Contend Conference. “Okay Father,” I said. “Not sure if it sounds good, but you know what you’re doing and there’s no denying it was You because I wouldn’t have thought of that name.”
I remember my next thought was “Lord, what am I contending for?”
I wanted to feel comfortable with the theme of “contending” but it took time to grow on me. When I shared it with the team for the first time they were a little apprehensive about the title as well. We threw a few other names around but I knew in my heart that this was the name the Lord had given to me so we decided that “Contend Conference” it was.
I cannot tell you how timely and appropriate that name truly was! Listed below are just a few of the things that we have been going through as a family in the last 15 months here in the Anderson household:
1. We moved my father here from Texas who was having major health issues and spent the next nine months walking along side him as he endured surgeries, trips to the emergency room, and hospital stays.
2. We sold our home in Mendon that we had lived at for the last 9 years and moved our family to a new area and a rental while we built our new home in Bristol.
3. We had to make the heartrending decision to leave our home church where we attended and served faithfully for nine years.
4. We then had to move from our first rental into another one after only eight months due to our new build not getting started because of appraisal issues.
5. The build job has now been put on hold for the foreseeable future due to unforeseen circumstances due to the local market and banking restrictions.
6. Our church experienced the tragic loss of a precious young woman to suicide.
7. I have just gone through (as you may have read in my last blog) my own health scare and had to undergo a biopsy and a CT scans.
8. We have had to adjust to my dad living with us and his ongoing health issues.
9. Although we are thankful for our new home (and especially our landlords who have become close friends), this home is too small for us and we as a family have been suffering the effects of essentially “living on top of each other”.
10. Family estrangements.
11. Because of all this stress I have been struggling with depression and IBS.
12. I have children that are struggling with their school (we home school by the way) and some that are struggling emotionally with the loss of friends from our old church and the loss of their young friend who committed suicide recently, and all of the other changes that living like gypsies for the past 15 months brings with it (no privacy, not home, temporary, etc.)
13. My husband is dealing with work related issues.
14. We finally decided that we are just not “renters” and decided to buy a house until it comes time to build and will be moving a family of 11 for the third time in 15 months in the next two weeks.
Yep… I would say “Contend” is a perfect title for our next conference. It is a word that has become a part of our daily vocabulary.
This shouldn’t surprise me! As a teacher of God’s Word He is faithful to give me what I need to teach others about whatever it is that I am going to minister to others. I don’t believe that He brings it upon me but knows what life will hold and uses it for my good, yours, and the glory of Him who is seated on the throne and whose name is to be praised no matter what we are going through in this short life.
He is teaching me to contend for things I didn’t even know I needed to contend for. He is taking this time in preparation for the conference to show me how to fight like His girl, to take back the ground that the enemy has taken from me without me even knowing it (peace, joy, etc.). I trust that not only will He use this mightily in my own family’s life but will use it in yours as well.
Recently I wrestled with the Lord and told Him honestly that I just grow weary at times in ministry and sometimes wish I could just get off the front lines and enjoy the back lines where I feel safe and less vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. I told Him I wanted to start sitting in the back row at church (instead of my usual front row). He clearly said to my heart, “Sherrie, you are not a back pew girl!”
I also confided in friend who is an amazing teacher of God’s word and told her that since I have to walk through whatever I’m teaching on I wish I could name a conference “Joy” instead of something like “Contend”. She looked at me with wisdom and a twinkle in her eye and said, “Then you would have to go through sorrow,” to which I replied, “Then I want one named Victory,” to which she replied almost laughing, “Then you will have to experience defeat.”
Okay, I give up! I surrender Lord. My only prayer is that you help me make the devil sorry he ever thought about messing with this girl!
And so the gloves have come on and I’ve stepped into the ring!!!! It’s time to CONTEND!
(If you find yourself in a place similar to mine I hope that you will watch the video posted in this blog and prayerfully consider joining us March 16-17 at the “Contend Conference”. Registration is open. Go to www.byGraceMinistries.org for more information and to register. Hope to see you there!)

Sherrie-boxing