#49 - Really, For Real! Are You Really Crazy?

Good morning! Believe it or not, I am on my THIRD cup of coffee!! WHOA! This never happens! :) But, it sure is yummy. :) Tyler had an early appointment, so that left more coffee for me. 


Ok... WHOA! OMG. Today, prepare yourself to learn some stuff!! GOOD STUFF today! Let me preface the comment so you do not think I'm being "boastful." So.... I was sitting here reading my Bible. As I was reading my Bible, if you could see Proverbs 10 it has more verses than not that are doubly high-lighted. Many verses are in brackets, or have stars outside particular verses, many verses are underlined or circled, some have $$ signs beside them. I mean, literally, this chapter is ALL marked up. As I'm sitting here reading it, this doesn't happen very often, but I was kinda whining to God in my mind. This was what my "whine" sounded like, "Ahhh. God. How am I suppose to pick a verse out of this whole chapter? There are too many good ones to choose from. I could go a number of different ways. This is way to much pressure. Can I really write a 'new' blog each day when reading the same stuff every month? Waaaahhhh, waaahhhh, waaaahhhh!" So, yes. Pathetic, I know. I'm sure none of you ever whine to God like that...but, there it is, in black and white, I was being a baby. :) So.... right after my "whining" episode, God didn't say anything, but a verse JUMPED off the page at me!! TOTALLY JUMPED OFF! Something I knew, and even something I READ this morning in another book. I was scheduled to have a coaching call this morning with someone I'm coaching through a program to optimize health, fitness, eating & weight-loss.... well, as I was reviewing her homework assignment... there were some very interesting pieces of information that I think will really bless you, today. It has definitely blessed me now as a 33 year old... and will ESPECIALLY bless me when I hit the golden years... 70's, 80's, 90's & 100's! :) This read is going to bring LIFE to you! Get ready!!!! :)

Proverbs 10:7 (KJV) - The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.

Proverbs 31:25 - Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]!

As a high school athlete... I remember all the funny things we would do to pass time. If you know my sister, Kimmi, you know that she is a little goofy. :) I'm sure this stemmed from her. Well... at cross-country meets and practices when we would be on the bus, or sitting around before or after a meet, or when we would be out for a warm-up, or long run... we would often sing stupid songs. One of them was super funny & fun and this is how the words went...."I was crazy once, they put me in a rubber room, I died, there were worms and they tickled me, it drove me CRAZY! CRAZY?! I was crazy once, they put me in a rubber room...." That was just one of the stupid little "ditties" or "songs".... and you just kept going on and on repeating it. (Along with the "Song that Never Ends" ... ahhh!) Well...for real, let's think about it. From a spiritual perspective, even with just lyrics to a silly song, when we say it out of our mouth, we are CONFESSING it. We are speaking it. We are bringing LIFE to it! What are the common things we have read in Proverbs? "Life & death are in the power of the tongue." "You are snared by the words of your mouth." We could go on and on with verses. So...there we were, naive little high school students, speaking into our life that we were CRAZY. Crazy! Think about crazy. We classify crazy as someone who has "lost their mind". Crazy. "Oh, this _______ is driving me crazy!" You fill in the blank. "Oh, I forget. I don't remember their name. I have a horrible memory." Really? For real? Is that really what you want to be confessing over your life. Or, even to this day.... I'll be listening to Pandora and a song will come on that brings back memories, I'll begin singing along because I know all the words, and then in the chorus it will belt something about, "It Drives me CRAZY!" As I get ready to belt out the lyrics, I have to catch myself and NOT say them! Proverbs tells us that our words REALLY are important! They really do bring life or death! I'm sure when God had that put in the Bible, He wasn't joking about it. 


The memory of the just is blessed! I receive that! That is for me! In the Hebrew the just also is translated as "righteous", memory is also translated as "remembrance." Being able to remember things....that's pretty important, wouldn't you say?


So, how can we apply this to every day life? How can I NOT say, "I don't remember" or "I don't know"?? I mean, for real Amy, there are times when someone asks me a question and I really don't remember, or I really don't know. How can I realistically confess the right thing? 


Try this on for size. Here are some responses to include instead of "I don't know" or "I don't remember."

• The name of that movie? Hum.... it'll come to me. 
• I'll let you know when I think of it. 
• It will come to me any moment now. 
• The Holy Spirit is making it known unto me. 
• I'll check and get back with you on that. 

It really is quite easy to change, it may just take some pro-active thinking and catching yourself when you slip. 


I guess for me, it really hits home for a few reasons. My grandpa passed away when I was either in middle school or high school. He was bi-polar. My mom said in his later years, he was indeed "crazy." (I believe she used that word.) So ever since I can remember, if she has heard one of us kids confess being "crazy" or "I'm crazy" or "That drives me crazy," she was and still is quick to correct us! "Don't speak that, because it has been in our family and you do NOT want to be crazy!" I'm sure my mom would have stories for you. Well... then with my grandma.... she is such an awesome, amazing person!! :) What a server. Growing up, I just remember grandma making me "mashie eggies".... or we'd get to her house and she'd take drink orders and go downstairs and get drinks for everyone and come up with her arms full! I would always be drinking a Mountain Dew. She took us shopping. She just did anything for us!! What a woman! Well.... I remember hearing her countless times say things like, "Oh that just drives me crazy." Or... "I'm loosing my mind." I confess that she is HEALED in JESUS NAME.... but as the facts lay currently, she was diagnosed with Dementia/Alzheimer's and has been in a nursing home for the last several years.  (Please say a prayer for her... she just broke her hip a few days ago and had surgery. Agree with me for wholeness & restoration & no pain!)


Our Words matter. Our words that we may say flippantly, could really determine the outcome of our future. Change your words now!


That brings me to some other things that you can do NOW besides just watching your words. The following tips & facts came from a GREAT book by Sean Foy entitled: The 10 Minute Total Body Breakthrough (Sidenote: I do his 10 minute workout and now weigh lower than my wedding weight! Just from 10 minutes!!! I'm the lightest I've been in over 10 years! From 159 to 129... shooting for the low 120's. Now I coach people to do what I've done! So fun!)

• Exercise reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. An article in The New York Times entitled "Exercise on the Brain," notes that individuals who get regular exercise in the middle age are 1/3 as likely to develop Alzheimer's in their 70's than those who do not exercise. Even people who don't start exercising until their 60's have their risk cut in half. 
• In 1967, 100 set of Swedish twins were enrolled in a study called HARMONY. 30 years later, researchers tried to determine why, in 90 cases, one twin developed dementia while the other did not....the study concluded that the twin that did light exercise, such as gardening or walking, & regular exercise involving sports were associated with reduced risk of dementia. Higher levels of exercise seem to be associated with an even lower risk of dementia. 

Tyler's great-grandmother Melba is 94 years young and strong as an OX! He remembers when she was in her 70's, and she'd be out in the yard with Ty doing yard-work, raking and just keeping up like she was 40. Her memory? Sharp as a tack! She worked right up until about 90-91 years young. Worked! If you were in Atlanta, GA over the last handful or years, you may well have been greeted at Wal-Mart by Melba. Tall, upright, strong & just nice as can be! At 94 years young, she is still not only "kickin it", but she's still STRONG, active & even living on her own!


Our Proverbs 31 friend is able to REJOICE over the future because she knows she is strong now, and WILL be strong in the future. She is not worried that her family may have to take care of her... she is strong! Her mind is sharp. She knows that SHE is ready for the future! (Not to mention, she exercises!! See Proverbs 31:17)


So.... get your words right! Begin to exercise! And if you need a good tool to help, order that book by Sean Foy! 


Xoxo!
Amy J


BONUS FIT TIP: Want strong abs? Stand up straight! Sit up straight! Do you want to be a senior citizen that is hunched over? Well, begin working on it now! Stand up straight, shoulders back, abs in. Good posture even helps in abdominal strength. Sit at a computer all day? Don't use that as an excuse to slouch and have poor posture. Don't be lazy, stand & sit up tall!