The Problem with Approval-Seeking

It's the weekend, y'all!  I hope it's off to a good start for you.  Yesterday after work, I picked up my packet for the Lighthouse Loop Half Marathon I'll be running on Sunday.

I'm a bit nervous because my mini-training didn't happen.  I've found a running buddy (the Social Studies department chair at one of the schools I'm the math coach at), though, and we're planning on running a mile then walking for a minute until we finish the race.   Also, running this bridge for the last mile is no joke:

Until tomorrow, I'm going to do some foam-rolling, walk/stretch today, and get in the mindset to succeed!

As those of you who have been reading for a while know, I'm doing a Beth Moore Bible study right now.

This past week, the homework and video session really resonated with me.  Today, I wanted one of the things that I learned.

How many of you really seek the approval of others?

*raises hand* This is something that I do A LOT.  I'm a people pleaser.  I want others to like me and approve of what I do.  A lot of times, my mood throughout the day is based on whether I've received praise or criticism from others.

Well, this week in the video session, Beth Moore said something and referenced a Scripture verse that hit me like a ton of bricks:

"We become servants, bondslaves of whoever's approval we are trying to get!"

This comment came after reading Galatians 1:10:

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?  Or am I trying to please men?  If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of God."

You know what I thought after reading that verse? "Ouch."  Based on my desire/need/goal of please others, I am preventing myself from being a servant of God.  That is the exact OPPOSITE of what I really want out of life!  What a wake-up call for me.

I've also realized throughout this study that seeking the approval of others is really a stronghold keeping me from true freedom in God.  The purpose of this study is to break free of such strongholds so that we can enjoy all of the benefits of the freedom God intends for us.  Approval-seeking is certainly something I need to work on before I can fully enjoy that freedom.

Since Wednesday, I've been praying to God to move in my heart and shift my approval-seeking focus to Him.  This obviously isn't going to happen overnight, but I have seen a tiny shift in myself that I can only attribute to Him.  Praise God!

Question for you: Who do you seek approval from?

I certainly seek approval from my boss, as well as my co-workers.  My parents and husband are also people that I continually seek approval from.

Vanilla Protein Frapp

Hi there!  We're halfway through the week, y'all.  Hope it's a good one for you so far!

Usually, I have a What I Ate Wednesday post for you, but I just didn't take any pictures of food this week.  I made a little something today that I wanted to share.  It's not exactly food, but it is certainly tasty!

This afternoon, I came home needing some caffeine before Bible study.  I knew I didn't want hot coffee, but I also didn't want a soda.  That's where this Vanilla Protein Frapp came from.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of your favorite brewed coffee (cold brew, if you can)
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 cup of milk
• Ice
• Sweetener of your choice

Directions:

Put all ingredients in the blender and mix until ice is broken up.  Add more ice until at desired consistency.

I was interested to see how this would turn out, and I actually really liked it!  It tasted like something you'd get from a coffee shop without the $5 price.

As you can see, this made enough to fill my 20-oz. tumbler twice!  I certainly needed it, though, and enjoyed this afternoon treat.  I used this protein powder that I found at Wal-mart, and I've gotta say, ithe flavor is enough to mask that protein-y taste.  Good stuff!

Other alterations you could make: add a little (a very little!) vanilla extract, try a different flavor of protein powder, add/subtract some of the milk depending on your taste preferences.  If you try this out, make sure to let me know what you think!  

Question for you: What's your go-to drink/snack when you need an afternoon pick-me-up?

A Fun Football Weekend

Hey guys!  Even though it's Tuesday and the weekend is long gone, I wanted to do a little weekend update.  Joe and I had a fun one, so I wanted to share the pictures!

Before I do that, I wanted to let you know that registration for the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge from Amanda at Run to the Finish opens TODAY!

Image Source

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that I participated last year and LOVED IT!  You earn points for eating right and working out while competing with others of your same fitness level.  There are lots of prizes to be earned, so it is GREAT motivation to focus on your fitness and health during the holidays.  I highly recommend you sign up!  (Shameless plug: if you do, make sure to say that I referred you!  You can reference my blog or just put Amy H.)

Now, on to the weekend!

Friday night started by finally taking a wedding present out!

My sewing machine!  I had a project to work on Friday, so I went ahead and got it set up Friday night.  We then had a little visitor from a furry friend.

This adorable stray hangs out in our neighborhood.  Kitty cat (as we call her) loves us now because we feed her tuna every now and then.

She's a cutie!

The main event for the evening was walking around Main Street for Biketoberfest.  Each year in October, there's a mini-Bike Week here for a weekend.  It's great people watching, so we went down to check out the scene.

Joe likes to dress the part during the bike festivals, and I'd say he fit right in!

Me, not so much.  We had a good time walking around, seeing our landlord who runs a beer tub at one of the bars, and just taking everything in!

On Saturday, we watched a lot of college football.  Just the way we like it :)  I also worked on my projects for the day.  First, I needed to decorate for Halloween!

I bought these decorations on sale at the end of last Halloween, so I had to put them up this year.  I love how festive our house looks now.  Next, it was time to break out the sewing machine.

Joe had a Jacksonville Jaguars jersey that said M. Jones on the back, so I changed that in to say Joe.

This was the first time using the sewing machine by myself, and I'd say I finally got the hang of it!  Loading the bobbin was one of my favorite things.

Joe needed the jersey for Sunday because we went up to Jacksonville for a football game!

We had a great tailgate, and even though the Jaguars are terrible, we had fun at the game as well.

Notice how few fans were around during the 2nd half!  Fun fact: The Jags have yet to score a touchdown at home THIS SEASON.  They're bad.

Another fun fact: You have to take a clear bag in to NFL games (unless it is a very small clutch).  Didn't know that, so I had to leave my purse at the gate and hope it didn't get stolen.  Hope you don't run in to that same problem!

After we got home, I wound up sleeping on the couch for a little bit before heading to bed early.  I feel like this weekend was really busy, but it was productive and fun at the same time!

Question for you:  What did you do this weekend?  Any projects you've completed lately?

Slow and Steady

Good evening, y'all!  I hope your Monday was great.  Today was a teacher work day, so while there were no students, I still had a busy day of meeting with teachers!  No rest for the math coach :)

Last week, I finally got back in to my running!  I can really tell that I haven't been consistent with training when looking at my pace.

On Tuesday, I completed an out-and-back run.  I focused on negative splits for each mile.  Here's what they looked like:

• Mile 1: 10:42
• Mile 2: 10:08
• Mile 3: 11:25

Well, I got negative splits between Mile 1 and 2!  The 3rd mile was going well for the first quarter, but I just ran too hard at the beginning and had to walk.  It taught me a good lesson, though, for my half marathon!  Make sure to start out slow if you want to finish strong :)

I turned Thursday in to Treadmill Thursday!  I got on the treadmill for a 3 mile run using intervals.  I ran 4 miles at 6.0, followed by 1 minute at 5.0.  Here's what it looked like including the warm-up and cool down.

I usually amp it up a bit on the treadmill, but again, my body wasn't feeling it.

Knowing that my half marathon is 6 days away, I think the theme of this race is going to be slow and steady!  I still want to finish strong, which means I'm really going to need to focus on starting out at a pace I can maintain throughout.  I'm going to practice that on my short runs this week and see how it goes!

Question for you: How do you determine your goals for a race?
I usually have a goal in mind beforehand, but in this case, I need to alter that goal based on how my body is doing right now!