Tuesday, June 22, 2010
7:21 AM
Posted by
Joe Nicholls
Labels:
Bible
,
devotional
,
energy
,
prayer
This last weekend, I ran the Wasatch Back Relay with a group of people from my church. For those of you who do not know, the Wasatch Back Relay is a 24 hour running event that involves 189 miles and 12 people. Each runner takes 3 legs ranging from 3 to 9 miles and varying levels of incline or decline.
I was added to the team about a month before hand and it was a busy month at that, so I didn't get to train much. I also made the decision to run without music; so it was just me, the road and God.
It was an amazing experience. It was my first true event of any length or difficulty so it was fun from that aspect alone. But the closeness I felt with God as I ran was even better. I am not going to sit here and say that I saw angles, or a figure of Jesus talking to me, but it was like talking to my best friend, father, mentor, and boss all in one. It made me realize that there is no doubt we need to keep a constant open conversation with God.
1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 tells us to be joyful always and pray continually. If we give God the things in life that stress us, He will give us the energy to take care of our bodies and help each other.
We should feel comfortable going to God with anything and talking to Him in a normal conversation, no need to be formal or worried about "doing it" wrong. (1 John 5: 14-15)
So next time you don't think you have the energy to start a workout or finish a workout, say a little prayer and ask God to help you with the things that are stressing you out. As a matter of fact, do it right now. And again in 15 minutes. And again in an hour. . . .
Saturday, June 12, 2010
12:24 PM
Posted by
Joe Nicholls
Labels:
Bible
,
devotional
,
exercise
,
inspiration
God has a will for us. We do not know what it is, but we need to strive to live out His will, not ours'.
How do you do this if you don't know what it is?
Pray and be prepared. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Ask for His guidance to know what He wants from us and to help us live out his will and not ours.
We need to be prepared in many aspects:
- Mentally- We need to be prepared for His answers to our questions and requests. (It's not always what we want) - Psalm 32:8
- Spiritually- If we are meditating on His word, the Bible, we can know that what you are hearing/ feeling is Biblical and not satan trying to guide you down the wrong path. Ephesians 6:11
- Physically- Maybe God's next calling for us is to work with the children in our church or a mission trip to Africa, we need to have our bodies prepared to serve God in any way we are asked.
This is where exercise and health come into play. If we are lazy and out of shape, we may not be able to answer the bell so to speak. So next time you are struggle to start a walk, run or workout... remember that God may call you to do something that is more physical than what you are doing now.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
9:59 AM
Posted by
Joe Nicholls
It's summer time, which is awesome for so many reasons!
The warmer weather means more time outside. Whether it be playing at parks, going for hikes, golfing or good ol' running/ walking.
It also means that we can dust off the grills and start BBQing!
Here are a couple tips on Tasty Tuesdays for BBQ healthily:
- Grill a lot of chicken. Chicken is versatile, good source of protein, and the Vitamin B6 is good for energy.
- Use spices and herbs to your advantage. Spicing up meat can help take away the need for calorie laden sauces and cut down on the sodium.
- When choosing meats, keep this in mind:
- Fish or skinless poultry is best.
- Look for lean or extra lean for the lowest fat content
- 4 ounces is one serving size. So keep your meat serving to just that, then supplement your meal with a salad and vegetables.
- Do Kabobs, they are great because you can mix vegetables and meat!
- Make a tin foil dinner. Throw some extra lean ground beef and veggies in a tin foil and let it cook. Another great way to get some more vegetables in your diet.
- Use lettuce for your hamburger bun.
Happy Grilling!!!
Monday, June 7, 2010
2:20 PM
Posted by
Joe Nicholls
Labels:
God
,
music mondays
For me, it all starts and ends with the lyrics. When I played basketball in high school, I listened to rap and hip hop.. then I woke up one morning and realized I was a kid from rural Utah and couldn't relate to 99% of the lyrics. So I stopped listening to it.
Now, most of my music consists of Christian or country. On Music Monday's, I am going to try and pick songs that are upbeat and have great lyrics. This week's selection:
Matthew West- Out of My Hands
First four lines of the song go like this:
"There you go changing my plans again
There you go shifting my sands again
For reasons I don't understand again
Lately I don't have a clue"
It talks about how He has a plan for us and we have no idea what it is or it may not even make sense at the time. How there are too many things that we can't control and so it's out of our hands and into His will.
It's an upbeat song and easy to sing to. (which may or may not be a good thing for others ha ha)
Here is the iTunes link to the song.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
8:27 AM
Posted by
Joe Nicholls
The word hero gets thrown around entirely too much.
"Tiger Woods is my hero."
Golf, yes. Life, no.
"The Beatles are my heros"
Music, yes. Life, no.
A lot of the time, we are guilty of labeling someone that is good at what they do - a hero. When in all actuality, they may have completely different views that we do, someone that you wouldn't want your kids looking up to.
But yesterday, a hero was lost yesterday. John Wooden has left this world.
For those that don't know who John Wooden is, he was the best college basketball coach there ever was. Here are just a couple stats from his career:
- 10 National titles in 12 years
- 88 straight games won
- 38 straight wins in the tournament
No doubt he was a very smart X's and O's coach, but it went beyond that. He was a teacher, mentor and some of his past players called him a parent figure. He cared for his players as people, supported them throughout their lives. He lived the life that he preached and the life that so many of us strive for. Someone you can tell your children about and feel good about it too. I will end this post with some quotes from the man they called Coach:
"Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books - especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance everyday."
"The most important word in our language is, love. Second, is balance. Keeping things in perspective."
Check out this video: Amazing, amazing man
I may do more posts about this guy and his philosophies. They go hand in hand with my beliefs and Christian beliefs.
RIP Coach...
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
8:19 AM
Posted by
Joe Nicholls
Labels:
Bible
,
devotional
,
exercise
The Bible talks a lot about self-control. Here is one example:
1 Peter 5:8 "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
What does this have to do with exercise and health? A couple of things really...
First, it can take self-control to go do something rather than sit on the couch and watch your favorite movie or television show.
Second, one of the side effects of exercise is that your mind is sharper and more alert, which in turn helps you have more self-control. I have no doubts that God made our bodies this way to help reinforce the activity that you do.
So.. next time you don't feel like working out or going for a hike, say a little prayer and ask God to give you the energy because you want to live a life for Him and have self control (or something along those lines). You may be surprised that the workouts you don't feel like doing, can be the best ones!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
9:30 AM
Posted by
Joe Nicholls
Labels:
tasty tuesdays
We are already in the sixth month of 2010! I can't believe how fast time goes...
Here is another tasty Tuesday tidbit...
Salad are a good meal, especially when you add chicken, turkey or other meats. But the calorie and fat count can get out of control when you drown it in dressing. Here is a great tip, I heard a while ago and use every time I get a salad. Put the dressing on the side and dip your fork in it and then get the salad. The dressing will be the last thing you taste which makes it seem like there is a lot on it, but when your done with your salad, you will have hardly used any.
Also, in general just stay away from the creamy dressings.
Hope this helps.. It gets to be frustrating to me when I see people trying to eat healthy with a salad and it ends up not being very healthy.
God bless.
