Monday, Monday, Monday.

Hello, week!  How was ya’lls weekends?  Mine was delicious with a lazy Saturday night, some good hard workouts, and yummy sweet PB Banana Frozen Yogurt.  That’s what I call a weekend!

FITNESS
This morning was the usual 6am roll call at the gym:  myself, the husband, and the brother-in-law.  We did a core workout that will most likely leave you unable to tie your shoes.  It went a little something like this:

After a quality, dynamic warm-up:

• As many sit-ups as you can do in 2 min.  (We did Marine Corps-grade sit-ups, with arms crossed across your belly and someone holding your legs).  (I got 101).  (The 1 was to beat my brother-in-law, who got 100 ;) )
• 15 weighted back hyperextenstions (I swung 10 lb. weights. The guys did 25 because they’re motivators).
• 15 kettle bell obliques  (each side)
• Straight-legged dead lifts  (These are straight-legged in order to target your lower back, not your legs, so it’s important to not use crazy weights.  The guys did 135 lbs, I did 60).
• This 8-minute ab workout  (WARNING: I spent the first 2 minutes laughing at this video… it’s from the 80’s! But it’s a decent workout once you get past the spandex. I promise).

We repeated the circuit then ended with a 60-sec plank.

Your core will love… then hate… then love you for it!

Back Hyperextensions

Straight-legged Deadlifts.  This looks different than a regular deadlift; the goal is to target the lower back.

FAITH
Still in Isaiah.  Seriously, you need to check this out:

What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator.  Does a clay pot argue with its maker?  Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’  Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’ ¹⁰ How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’ ¹¹ This is what the Lord says—the Holy One of Israel and your Creator: “Do you question what I do for my children?  Do you give me orders about the work of my hands? ¹² I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it.  With my hands I stretched out the heavens.  All the stars are at my command.

Isaiah 45:9-12

Wow.  So… in other words… who are we to question how God made us?  Or why He made us the way He did?  To complain or not be satisfied with how we look, how we’re not pretty enough, athletic enough, smart enough…?  It’s insulting to the God of the Universe to think He messed up when He made you.  Because truth is, He made you exactly the way He intended to, in the way that ultimately brings Him the most glory.  And at the end of the day, that’s what it’s really all about:  His glory.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
Have you ever questioned your Maker on how He created you?  Has Isaiah 45 shed any perspective on that?

I certainly have.  Isaiah reminds me that I am a pion compared to God’s infinite and skilled craftsmanship, and that I need to trust that He made me for His glory.

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