Journey to 1/2 Marathon: 11/26

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Well, since setting my goal for running a 1/2 Marathon in March. . . So far, I haven’t made any progress. I went running one day. For 3 minutes. I decided that I can.not. give up on myself.

The last time I proved to myself that I could do hard things was about 7 years ago.

Then, it was a mental obstacle. Once you get past the mental obstacle- your body can do hard things.

This time, I’ve been much more stagnant. I know that I can push past the mental obstacles of running, but now I’m worried about being able to overcome running long-distances, physically.

One thing I will say, is that I have been closing my rings more often. My jobs keeps me active. Now, I just need to add in cross-training and walking/running into my daily schedule.

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Getting Outdoors

Posted on by rootedmama

As a young mom, I wanted to get my family outdoors more. I was tired, anxious and just didn’t have the energy or follow through to nurture a love of nature.

I remember hoping, dreaming and wanting for this love of nature for my kids.

It wasn’t until we started traveling full-time that this dream started to come to fruition.

When we were traveling, we were outdoors so much. Hiking. Exploring. Just playing and being outdoors.

The other day, my younger son told me “mom, I miss playing in the Forest and trees”.

And, I miss it too.

Being a country that is “stuck inside”- it can be hard to change your mindset and habits.

But, once you get your family outdoors, it’s a refreshing level of peace and contentment.

My kids started off complaining about having to go outside to play. It was like pulling teeth.

Now, my kids ask me and bug me to go outside.

How do you get your family outdoors more?

One Thing: Budgeting/Finances

Posted on by rootedmama

Background:

Finances. Eck. Not my favorite subject…people get weird when finances get brought up.

My finances have gone something like this…

(From the time I moved out of my parents house and into my own apartment)

Work 3 jobs, go to school, eat. sleep.repeat. Just like I didn’t make time to go through all of the stuff I had accumulated…I also didn’t make time and attention for my finances.

I struggled…just like every other person, starting out living on their own.

When my husband and I got married…it is by the grace of God that every need was met.

And, as we continued on in our marriage…we did ok.

For a couple of years.

Then, as I started working part-time and eventually stayed home for a year…our financial situation has slowly grown into a giant needing to be slayed.

But, if you rewind a year or two…you will see that I had prayed for this…

And looking back now….I just laugh…and shake my head…because that’s all you can do. I literally asked for this giant.

A couple of years ago, as I was pursing a Network Marketing business…you would hear stories about how people were in this financial situation. They were hurting financially, and when they made the jump into Network Marketing…they needed a God miracle.

And one night…I remember praying to God. “Break my finances, God….and put me in a place where I need you. Break my finances and put our situation back together, help us start over from ground zero.”

I knew that I have never really been in that place of need and hurt. So, I never really jumped in like they did…because they had been in a different place than I had.

I also knew that, we honestly hadn’t been faithful with the little things. We hadn’t been faithful with the little bit we had been given, and if we couldn’t do that…how could we be trusted with the big blessings? If we weren’t faithful with the little, then when the big blessings came…it still wouldn’t be enough.

So, I wanted to be able to be trusted with the big, so that we could help others.

The Bible says: “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. “ Luke 16:17

As I have mentioned before…I dream BIG. There is no small dream that crosses my mind.

And so, in that moment, I knew that I never really needed to depend on God in our finances in such a way that I had to worry in any way that it really hurt. I never needed to take a leap of faith, because I always leaned back on what was given in the natural.

Up until that point, we struggled, but we were comfortable- and God did always provide in some way or another, just when we needed it.

Over the last 2-3 years, God has shown us so much. We have learned so much.

And now, we are in a position where we are making the changes to set us up for long-term success.

And, waiting on God to slay this giant, once and for all.

Because, with prayer, action, and the Holy Spirit…God will have all the glory when this giant is slayed.

This is another one of those growth areas….

But, here is what we have done, so far…One Thing at a Time.

* A couple of years ago, my husband started working an extra part-time, work-from-home job so that I could stay home with our youngest when she was born.

* I went back to work for a year.

* We sold our house and downsized to Tiny Living. (There are other reasons for this, but that story is for another time.)

* I have started working jobs that can be on our time, flexible, and still contribute to household income. While also allowing for space to write, volunteer, and many others things that I love.

* Get rid of all monthly subscriptions or monthly bills that are not necessary and get back down to just the basics.

* Partner with referral and affiliate opportunities that come up- and I have to believe in their companies and products. I’m a big believer in multiple streams of income, and residual income. So, any chance I can take on that, and not have to invest a ton of money. I’m down. Again, as long as I love the product and company. What I love about these, is that they still take time to build. You have to put in hard work for reward…just like anything else. Anything worthwhile, takes time to build. And, as I do the hard work, the residual effect will take place in the long run. And if I do the hard work now, I don’t give up…the residual benefit will pay out later.

* I bought a budget wallet. If you want to know more about that-look up Dave Ramsey. Then look up a budget wallet on Amazon. Boom and done.

*Pray and allow God to do His thing. I literally asked to be in this position…(someone remind me next time to make sure I know what I’m asking for) and when He does…give the glory to God. (Again…I’m still learning how to do just that)

*Give faithfully- there’s a time and place for giving a God gift. A gift that is outside of what you can see there is room for. An outside of your comfort, I don’t see how God will make this work, but I’m going to do it, because He told me to gift. And then, there’s giving faithfully and consistently within your means. I’ve got the riskier one down-that one was hard. Now, it’s time to learn the latter. Equally hard, but in a different way.

There’s no way we could have taken all of this on at one time. We made changes slowly, over time.

If you find yourself walking along side me in this season, and you’re overwhelmed…

Remember…just one thing. Look up. Take a breath….seek God. And focus in on one thing you can change right now. Let God do the rest.

“One Thing” Let’s set the background…

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Let me set the background for you on the 8 topics that I chose for this “One Thing” series…..

Over the past 10 years, I’ve gone from living life with no passion, purpose, or reason to hitting what I call my “Rock Bottom” period, to coming out the other side, to beginning to thrive. In all of these areas, I have great passion. In all of these areas, I have hit a stage of tension, realizing that what I’m looking for is growth in that particular area. I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, but I would say that I have gained some wisdom.

As I share tips and tricks, I have three groups of people in mind.

Group 1- You are in a season of “Rock Bottom”. You look around and you can barely breathe, your head is barely above water…and you don’t see a way out. Friend. I want you to know, that you are not alone. This season does not last forever. And you can slowly climb out of it, and you don’t have to do it alone. You can do it with loving people surrounding you. There are actions you will have to make. Do. Not. Give. Up. Keep going.

My prayer is that by sharing these following posts, that they can be one of many resources to you. Resources that will act like a hand reaching out and pulling you up. We can not get out of these situations alone. Use these posts as one starting place to begin climbing UP. You will likely have many starting places. View these posts as hope. Hope that this season will not be forever. You will see that other people have been where you are, and they go before you-sharing how they got to where they are now.

Group 2- You are right where I currently am sitting. You are in the season of beginning to thrive. You were in a dark place. The fog has cleared. You are beginning to see how the things you have been hoping and praying for are slowly coming together. You’ve worked through a lot of stuff. You still have a lot of growth to do (little secret…you have a lot of growth to do at every season of life), and you are likely no longer beating yourself up over every.little.thing.

My prayer is that by sharing these following posts, you will know that you are not in this season alone. You have someone walking in this current season with you.

Group 3- You are in a season of thriving, in a TON of areas in your life. It is unlikely that you will cross this page. And if you do, that moment will be incredibly humbling. You have figured out things that most of us are still trying to figure out. You have incredible wisdom, and you got there by hustling, working smart, and letting other people pour into you. Now, you are pouring into other people. You know that in reality, every stage and season of life you have to dig deep, learn, fail, and re-learn. You have a growth mindset.

My prayer is that you keep pouring. You go before us, and we are learning. As we learn, we are also pouring into others. Your platform is bringing light to those who need it. It has a greater impact than you imagine.

The 8 topics that follow are my “Daily 5” and 3 other topics I am currently working on creating healthy habits for growth.

* Time with Jesus

* Cleaning and Organization

* Health and Wellness

* Education of my interests

* Self-development

* Exercise

* Connecting

If you’d like to learn more about creating your daily 5- follow John Maxwell’s website. He has a book that addresses this concept.

**This is not an ad, I do not get compensation from sharing John Maxwell’s website. He is one of many resources I’ve had the opportunity to learn from.

One Thing Series

Posted on by rootedmama

In writing my post about “One Thing” , I came to the conclusion that the concept of doing one thing at a time to help cope with anxiety/depression, can very easily be applied to other aspects of our lives.

I began thinking about all the ways I feel like I have failed or not succeeded, or at least in the way that I thought I should have succeeded. My gaze was at the top of the ladder I was trying to climb. My mind was focused on how I haven’t reached the top, and I definitely wasn’t recognizing each individual rung that I have achieved on my journey to the top.

This made me realize that we need to recognize each step of progress we make to get to where we are going.

Celebration of each small step we take is just as important as our idea of the final destination.

I began contemplating on parts of our lives right now…parts that I have prayed and hoped, tirelessly for.

And I’ve come to realize I have been more successful than I give God and myself credit for.

As I was contemplating all of this, I realized that I would love to share on the different areas of my life, where I have done “one thing” to make progress.

So, what ya’ll will get is a series.

I hope that what comes is able to bless at least one person in some way.

In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday. I’m certainly enjoying the rainy, fall weather, here in Texas.

One Thing.

Posted on by rootedmama

I am a dreamer.

I get an idea- and I dream it up, bigger and bigger, until its this massive idea that is overwhelming.

And then. I freeze.

I freeze from being overwhelmed.

I freeze out of fear.

Have you been there?

It’s…frustrating. It’s terrifying.

My family can not live off of dreams.

I also have faith and hope. I have faith and hope that these big dreams are going to work out. And little by little, they do. But, that BIG, MASSIVE, breakthrough that I am searching for. It hasn’t come to fruition, YET.

I say yet, because my God is big.

He is bigger than I can ever imagine.

I keep putting Him in a box.

And He keeps reminding me that…

1. He doesn’t belong in a box

2. And even if He did- He’s much bigger than a box

I believe that God moves in BIG ways. But, He can’t move, if we don’t have action.

So, when we are overwhelmed with “God, I don’t even know what I am supposed to do anymore?” “What do I do?”

Just do one thing.

What is the ONE thing you can do right now?

What’s the one thing you can do right now- it’s that little thing that will help you breathe easier.

You got it?

Wait, wait, wait. Don’t make it complicated. Quit overthinking it. Don’t let your thoughts run wild…go back to it.

What’s that one thing? Hold on to it. Focus on it. Start it. Complete it. That’s it.

Ready?

Great. Let’s go get it done.

Announcement

Posted on by rootedmama

Good morning, Good morning!!

Last night, I released an announcement over on my Facebook (@RootedMama) and Instagram (@rootedhealthymama) on what we are doing to expand!

Head on over- like and follow Facebook and Instagram for updates as these next few months unfold.

It’s 2020!!!!

Posted on by rootedmama

It’s a New Year!!

I can hardly believe that we are already 4 days into 2020.

Looking back over the last 1.5 to 2 months…I’m in awe.

I’ve enjoyed writing SO much more than I thought I would.

And, I needed some time for reflection and waiting on God.

To reflect on where this blog is going, reflect on what things we need to set up for when we begin traveling, and what things to work on that I am passionate about!!

The details are still being worked out…and I do feel like they are starting to come together.

Before I start releasing any kind of news….

I want to know how your Christmas celebrations were? Did you stick to your plan? Or did you have to adjust?

What about planning for the new year and the new decade?

What goals are you planning for?!

I love the newness and all… I’m also loving to learn the discipline of the day-in-and-day-out. To lean into the mundane….because that is where the real stuff happens.