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I can get discouraged in my fitness journey, particularly in this decade of life. I’m tempted to give up. But thankfully God encouraged me this week as I looked back over my timeline. I have KEPT eating well and exercising for years. The temporary setbacks (inevitable) didn’t derail me from dusting off my workout shoes and try-try-trying again.
Today I ran my first 5K of 2021, and I’m grateful.
I’m the little engine that could in terms of exercise, which encouraged me. I think we’re tempted to only use the scale as our measurement of progress. But I know there are other, less surface-y tangibles that are worth uncovering.
Eating well helps my stomach not revolt. It keeps me alert. Exercise diminishes stress and keeps my worry at bay. I’m stronger than I was last year.
I’m grateful for coaches like @lizfwtfl and @maubro5 and my new friends @cgrockwall who have encouraged me even when they didn’t know it.
As a writer, I am constantly working on a WIP (work in progress). Perhaps We should look at our fitness journey in a similar manner. We are works in progress. We rise. We fall. We rise again. It’s the overall forward momentum that matters.
Don’t be discouraged, friend. Look back in the decade and celebrate your work in progress.
#fitnessforwriters #campgladiatorrockwall #campgladiatordfw #campgladiator #runningforweightloss #runningastherapy #runningintexas #workinprogress #wipfitness #justkeeprunning #progressoverperfection #prayeveryday
Many of you who follow me here know a bit of my story, particularly my yearlong sexual abuse at five years old. I’d like to highlight a different aspect of it today. When I was in junior high, I was broken beyond belief, incredibly lonely (one of my hopes was for just one friend), and suicidal.
I spent a lot of time alone because my parents didn’t get home until after 9 PM. Since we had 7 horses and acreage, I did chores, learned how to cook, and spent a lot of time in the evenings thinking killers were lurking outside my door (in @enumclaw_chamber WA, hardly a hotbed of crime).
I met with a counselor at my school who saved my life in so many ways. He let me cry as my mom’s third marriage crumbled. A now-fatherless girl, I was devastated. (My biological father died when I was ten).
But still, there were those thoughts of ending myself. And I wrote suicidal poetry. I remember sharing it with a relative, and, instead of being alarmed, she told me it was disturbing and please not to share any more poems with her.
In the 9th grade, a friend invited me to @YoungLife. That was when I learned about Jesus. Every time someone shared about him, I was hooked. Here was God with skin on, someone who loved unconditionally, and enjoyed finding outcasts in the margins. (Um, that was very much me).
The next year I attended a weekend camp, heard the whole gospel, and surrendered to Jesus beneath an evergreen tree one night. In a moment, all those longings to kill myself waned. I felt loved and wanted and seen.
Thus inaugurated a lifelong journey of healing. Jesus has transformed so much of my trauma, though I still battle vestiges of it today. He has given me purpose, a sweet family, and a song to sing. He has empowered my pen, my paintbrushes (though I’m pretty insecure about that), and my voice. It’s now my great joy to share Jesus with you because he really is my everything.
When did you meet him?
One of the ways I’ve processed this stressful year is to work through my worries by painting with watercolors. I am not a professional artist, but I do love connecting with God through paint. This is something I’ve done for years during Lent (a painting a day). This eventually led to some of you asking me to share that art on @Etsy.
I created 2 packs of 31 Scripture cards earlier this year, representing many books of the Bible. You can find them at marydemuth.com/art.
What has been helpful is this: I uncover a verse that encourages or challenges me, then, because I am painting it, I have to meditate on it, asking God to show me how I can visually represent the key idea held within. Sometimes the thinking takes longer than the painting. I love the connection between image and verse. This exercise has deeply affected my life with Jesus. It has caused me to pause and ponder before I paint.
In light of that, what are you doing this year to connect in different ways with Jesus? Have you picked up a paint brush? A pen? Your running (hiking, walking) shoes? I believe God uses our own creativity and bent to minister to us. (An example: every book I’ve written has been a tool God has used to bring me further healing). So consider honoring the way you’re created. Partner with Jesus in it. And experience connection and breakthrough as you co-create with him.
#powerofprayer #intheword #Biblestudymoments #devotional #seekHimfirst #shereadstruth #morningprayer #wellwateredwomen #womensbiblestudy #goodmorninggirls #readthroughtheBible #butfirstJesus #intheword #womenintheword #lampandlight #womenlivingwell #verseoftheday #marydemuthart #artandjesus
This is the cry of my heart today, to know God hears me as I pray.
One of my prayers is decades in the making. What is one of your longterm prayer requests?
“It’s not faith to step into a known future. It is faith to leap into the great unknown.” What are you stepping into this year that requires great faith?
Thanks @lorewilbert for her reminder today that 100% of the human race is stamped with the image of God, weighted with worth.
Today I accidentally stumbled onto an article about someone who I’ve had a falling out with. My first reaction was a trauma response. But now, I am choosing to pray a blessing over the person. It helps my heart when I do that.
Do hard things. Climbing a 14er last year was one of the most difficult physical challenges I’ve ever experienced (except for maybe several kidney stone adventures).
I whined, friends. I wish I had just kept quiet, but there were times I gave full vent to my stress. When I finished, I felt sore, proud, relieved, and disappointed in my full venting of emotions.
This has reminded me that I need Jesus and his perspective when life is painful. While it’s not wrong to process out loud, there’s a line I crossed where venting became sin. I am learning the art of reflection and trust. I don’t have to say everything that comes to mind.
I remember a friend telling me this after she eviscerated someone with her words: “I’m just being authentic.” But there’s a big difference between authenticity and saying harmful words.
I made it to the top of Mount Yale, but I regret my over complaining. Sometimes we can do a good thing, or be chasing a noble goal, but if we run off at the mouth, the victory becomes hollow.
If you DM me, I will consider it a privilege to pray for you.
The cathedral in Bayeux, France is my screen saver. It reminds me of majesty and reverence. I pray that I will always approach God with holy awe.
What’s the prettiest cathedral you’ve seen?
The truth matters. It changes our perspective. It helps us stay sane and rooted. It reminds us of our place in the world. It sets us free. It informs our worth.
Lies strip us of confidence. They destabilize us. They bring weariness. They undermine our perseverance. They hijack our joy.
So here are a few truths you can sink your heart into today.
Thank you @amandascgorman for poetry that sings truth, offers hope, and leads hearts forward.
None of us fit the stringent mold of supposed perfection. None of us experience constant success. Many of us have endured being judged and misunderstood based on some external construct.
But what I love about Jesus is that he saw beyond all that and looked at the heart. He saw people where they were and loved them well. He told them the truth. He walked alongside. He empathized with their pain. He personified kingdom living.
I want to be more like that. I don’t want to contribute to the problem of purposefully misunderstanding people based on externals. I need to listen more, love more, and tell the truth with kindness and humility.
I recall a painful bend in my story when I felt pinned by an unfair and unkind judgment. That was one of the deeper wounds I’ve experienced of late. It pressed me to evaluate when I do the same thing. It caused me to examine my heart. I didn’t want to cause the kind of pain I experienced. That’s how the pain of misunderstanding can serve us—to help us NOT act in the same way toward others.
How can I pray for you? How have you been misunderstood, judged, or pigeonholed?
#misunderstanding #jesuseveryday #lovewellcommunity #examineyourheart #dountoothers #liveinkindness #empathymatters
“To bloom from the dark hardscrabble of the past is its own defiant beauty.” I painted this as a holy declaration that the old has gone and the new awaits.
How has God helped you move beyond your past toward a new, ever-blooming life? What prevents the blossoming today? How can I pray for you in this journey toward wholeness?
#communityofchristiancreatives #artsgram
#artistagram
#womenartistsofinstagram
#artforinstagram
#etsyartwork
#etsyartisan
#etsyartistsofinstagram
#etsyartistofinstagram
#etsyartistshare
#etsyartistsofig
#etsyartistoninstagram
#watercolorartistsofinstagram
#artistwatercolor
#watercolorartistoninstagram
#watercolorartistofinstagram
#christianart
#godspromise
This is from the book I’m writing about being misunderstood. The Lord has been faithful to supply the words and inspiration. What creative task are you working on today?
#shewritestruth #christianblogger #christianwriter #christianauthor #christianwriters #authorlife #christianbusiness #christianbook #devotional #devo #faithblogger #christianblog #gritandvirtue
Happy #martinlutherkingjrday friends. Here’s my wee contribution to the conversation.
#artistsforchange #mlkquotes #jesuseveryday #imagodei #jesuslovesthelittlechildren
It’s ok to grieve. In fact it’s important to. I would say the height of your joy is in proportion to the depth of your grief.
They say that neglect is one of the hardest things to recover from because it means you’ve been unacknowledged, unrecognized, unseen.
So my adult life has been a story of compensating for that early neglect—a longing to be seen.
In high school, a wise counselor pulled me aside and said, “You are Mary of many talents.” He went on to explain that I had been gifted in a few areas, but because I was so busy trying to be noticed, I had failed to notice others.
His words shook me. I realized that I needed healing in this need-to-be-noticed issue.
That commenced from learning that I am beloved of God. That belovedness couldn’t help but spill over into how I cared for and noticed others.
So now what I do is try to use my past pain as empathy for others—to realize that my need to be noticed is also in others as well. I gain far more joy in recognizing another than I do in being recognized.
So if you compliment me, and I don’t respond effusively, it may be because of this. I’m almost afraid to accept praise because I’m trying to compensate for my earlier neediness. I hope this makes sense?
Art print is included at marydemuth.com/art.
#childhoodneglect #livingforpraise #youareloved❤️ #noticethepainofothers #jesuseveryday #empathymatters #useyourpainforgood #youarebeloved
To listen, friend, is to love.
Who is the best listener in your life?
I know many: @sandraglahn @jkmath6 @rebeccacarrell @fivepointslakefork @mateeranne @sophiedemuth @rockwallcac @suzanne.eller @lagarfias to name a few.
#jesuseveryday #listeningequalslove #listenwell #loveoneanother❤️ #bealistener
Before and after. I decided I was tired of my laundry room today. It’s been the same blah beige for 13 years. So I painted and added removable wallpaper by @roommatesdecor.
I had one rule: I could not spend money, and I had to use what I already had. I’m really happy with how it turned out.
What did you do today?
#laundryroommakeover #laundryredo #removeablewallpaper #lightteal #beforeandafter
In case you needed the reminder.
