It’s Monday again, but not like all the others. This one is full of hope for life change, a wanting something different, and resolutions. Decisions that resemble those we make on New Years.

After bloating on Christmas goodies that so quickly followed Thanksgiving feasts, I decided to reset my heart, mind and body.

Heart: I will enjoy the presence of my God, walk with him, laugh with him and learn to work under his direction. Not that I haven’t been doing such, but I will intentionally spend more time focusing on him and remaining in his presence. Please join me in this adventure or pray for me as I go.

Mind: Along with reading the Bible, I will read more ministry related books and add some good fiction to spur creativity and enjoy the fact that I can read. Are their any books you suggest? Any recommendations of good fiction?

Body: The most common decision and the one where I struggle the most. Resetting my body will mean my heart and mind must be engaged. Eating healthy and exercising takes determination. I’ll need all the help I can get.

I found help in a cool online tool, thanks to a Twitter post by @mdemuth (Mary DeMuth). The Daily Plate is a free tracker of food intake. No writing down what I eat, or counting calories, or figuring out how many calories I burned washing dishes. The Daily Plate does it all. (iPhone App too.)

How I started:

• I went to www.livestrong.com, The Daily Plate is compliments of Lance Armstrong. Go, Lance. Go!
• I typed in how many pounds I wanted to lose per week, my height, weight and age. The Daily Plate showed me how many calories I should eat daily to reach my goal. (Note: I skipped paying for the upgraded version and clicked on the bottom for the free version.)
• I signed up for a profile and got My Plate.
• Once the profile was done, I typed in an orange and coffee for breakfast. The Daily Plate tracker calculated the calories and showed how many more I needed for the day. I typed in lunch, snacks, and dinner and My Plate kept a cool personal record (menu) of what I had eaten. The challenge was to keep the calorie counter from topping its limit.
• I explored the exercise calorie counter. I typed in “folding clothes” and the amount of time it took then it counted the calories I used. I can’t wait to type in my gym workout.
• It tracks glasses of water I drink as well.

The Daily Plate is way cool and gives a visual of my efforts to obtain body health. Every day the tracker brings up a new page to fill in and provides an export of my data. And it’s free. Thank you, Lance.

Go, Robin. Go!

Go, reader. Go!

See you at the gym.

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I married into a wonderful family.

Oh well, they have their quirks. Like on the first Christmas Eve with them, I was awakened by people yelling at me.

“Christmas Eve gift!”

“No, I got her first!”

My new husband laughed at my bewilderment then explained the family’s ritual of tagging everyone before they can tag you. You become “it” if you get tagged with, “Christmas Eve gift.” It’s a fun game where the person that gets tagged has to give the one who tagged them an extra Christmas gift. Nothing big, but acknowledgment of the winner is a must.

The game has gotten very competitive at times. Often a phone call in the wee hours of the morning would wake you up with hollering on the other end. Some would not go to sleep until after midnight to make sure they get the Christmas Eve gift. The game isn’t played by children only. Granny wins the prize more often than not. (You ought to see the competitive way Granny hunts eggs at Easter.)

Your Free Gift

Putting family competitiveness aside, I’m pretending you tagged me. I am giving you a Christmas Eve Gift. Please don’t call me in the wee hours of the morning.

Your gift is a copy of “Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged.” For teachers, leaders and communicators of all kinds, this gift will help get your point across, keep your audience’s attention and make your presentations memorable.

Sign up now for your FREE gift “Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged.” This link may become defunct in the future and the Christmas Eve Gift may disappear.

Christmas Eve Gift! on you…

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I get aggravated when things don’t go as I plan. Like preparing a meal only to find out that my husband ate the same thing for a business lunch. Or when I’m doing my normal work and difficulties keep making the easy task impossible. Even when I’m expecting and waiting for some great experience, I get irritated when it doesn’t happen on my timetable. Like when I prayed for and got pregnant. I really wanted this child, but it was Labor Day and we had planned a steak dinner. Going into labor was not on the calendar. And Christmas. The extra rush of the season—decorating, cooking, gifting, and partying, just doesn’t fit into my already busy schedule. Surely I’m not alone in my frustration when life is interrupted.

That’s when I read about three people whose lives were interrupted in a major way.

• In Luke 1 Zechariah went about his duties as a priest when the angel Gabriel showed up and changed his life forever. He was struck speechless when he questioned God about the promise of a child and because of his doubt he would remain silent until the birth. If I was Zechariah desiring a son, I would be somewhat irritated at the situation surrounding this child and being struck dumb. How could I tell anybody?

• Elisabeth, his wife, had her life changed as well. Imagine desiring for so long to have a child, and then in old age with a wordless husband, she finds herself pregnant. I’d go into seclusion too.

• I read further where a young girl’s life took an extreme twist. She was engaged and preparing to be wed, when Gabriel shows up and tells her she would get pregnant and give birth to a special boy—God’s son. Talk about wedding changes. Life interruption!

All throughout the Bible and even today, God interrupts normal lives. I’m glad these ordinary people allowed God’s disruption. Their life intrusion gave me salvation. I will put away my irritations and embrace my life interruptions. Off to celebrate Christmas—the best interruption of all.

What interruptions and irritations can you celebrate this Christmas? Leave a thought or comment.

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