I Am Second - Day 4

Michelle Aguilar: I am Second - Biggest Loser

I am actually a day behind posting. This was Day 4 of the challenge. The question was "What is your relationship with food?" Its much like my human relationships; addicting and not good for me. I definitely have a codependent relationship with food. I need it and it needs me. Really...it does. Its told me. In the middle of the night, or just before I go to bed it begs me to take it with me. "I will feel lonely in the cold fridge. It would rather be in your warm belly." See...I am needed. And trust me, I am just as dependent. I need food too. To soothe me, to destress me. I can vent and be angry at it. I can tell food how much I love it. And the cool part is food never says anything to me and just gives me what I need. good ...or bad.....Frenemies, lovers...till the end.

The challenge also asked that we make the day a day of health and eat three healthy meals. No skipping, no snacking, no seconds. I went to bed that night and as I fell asleep God told me to fast. From that moment until noon. And it felt good. It gave me a clear mind and let my creative juices flow and I got so much work done! i didnt skip either. It just gave me a clean start to the day. God is very good at sustaining you when you need and when you don't think you can.

"He, the All-powerful, All-holy Word of the Father, spreads His power over all things everywhere, enlightening things seen and unseen, holding and binding all together in Himself. Nothing is left empty of His presence, but to all things and through all, severally and collectively, He is the giver and sustainer of life.... He, the Wisdom of God, holds the universe in tune together. He it is who, binding all with each, and ordering all things by His will and pleasure, produces the perfect unity of nature and the harmonious reign of law. While He abides unmoved forever with the Father, He yet moves all things by His own appointment according to the Father's will"

Ashley Rawls: I am Second

Ashley Rawls: I am Second - Day 3

Appreciate the unappreciated

It was 4am on Sunday and I had been asleep for about 4 hours after a wonderful evening we had shared with another couple out for dinner. We both were sharing a wedding anniversary. They, 23; us, 3. It was a great evening.  The night before I had just spent cleaning up puke from all over the house that the two youngest had left for me in the middle of our movie night. Rubbing backs and wiping chins and then there I was hunched over the toilet puking my brains out with no one to do the same. It was a very lonely moment.

I figure that sometimes as wives, moms, heck, just as women, we look to others for praise when we've done something nice for someone and then get upset when you didn't get the accolades in return. We want to be cared and caressed the same as we give out so freely when we are down for the count. Sometimes it's very easy to feel unappreciated. Sometimes the unappreciated can be your own lack of appreciation for yourself though.

"The feeling of being unappreciated is a failure to appreciate others" - unknown

The 5 year old Rat came in that night though as I was aching and moaning and groaning from the aches and she started to cry and said, "mommy, I don't want you to be sick" And then she grabbed my hands and said she wanted to say a prayer for me. Her delicate little fingers in my feverish hands. Her sweet voice asking God to heal me and make me better. Appreciated.


Sometimes appreciating the unappreciated can be as simple as having cable, or change in your cup holder to  have just enough for lunch or sometimes it can be having a wife who gets the kids off to school despite having the stomach flu or a husband who works hard despite the negativity slung daily and still comes home with a smile on his face. Rather than looking to others first, we need to just stop and pat ourselves on the back for making it and give the praise to God who appreciates us in ways beyond our understanding.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son..." (JOHN 3:16)

Encourage Them to Go Higher

David McKenna: I am Second - Writer: American History X

Todays Challenge is to encourage others. love someone extra special today. buy coffee for someone, call your family, have a conversation. Sometimes we do it and its nothing to do say hi to your friends and family. But what about that guy that just past you on the street. Or what about the homeless man who is asking for something to eat. Do we stop and share a little extra love? What about when you are disappointed by someone close to you. Can you set aside what you feel for them and actually encourage them?

I chose to check up on one of my brothers who got in a car accident a few weeks ago. He thinks he's a little invincible and didn't initially get checked out. He finally did and I set aside some of the disappointment i was feeling and decided to see how he was doing after all. I care a great deal about him even though at times I don't agree with his decisions. But I think we all face that in our relationships with others. We disappoint and the way I operate doesn't always coincide with someone elses point of view. But I know that was the life of Jesus day after day. And He chose to love no matter what. Trust me He knows what its like...

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." (John 15:18)

Brian Welch: I am Second

Brian Welch: I am Second - I want to share an amazing video about a challenging transformation that Brian Welch of Korn makes. We all are faced with challenges and our demons and sometimes doing what we know first leaves us and those we love...last.

Day One - I Am Second 22 Day Challenge

Seems I am a bit fond of challenges. But this particular one is designed to encourage us to always reach out to others first. It is an amazing and inspirational site. It goes back to what I talked about yesterday and being reminded that we are ALL challenged...daily. And some of us more than others. And often times sharing those challenges with each other helps to keep it all in perspective. The grief, the sadness, the anger, the resentment, the hopelessness. We all feel it. Its not that anyone of us is up on the other. But those feelings can make you feel so, so lonely. But as I know it..the Devil is a liar. A good one at that. and has often convinced us, me especially, that those feelings are the only ones to be had. especially if we have been feeling this way for a long time. However, sometimes all it takes is one moment for it all to change. A nights sleep, a phone call, a blog post, a scripture....

So today I am sharing a scripture that is my sword daily against all the thoughts that try to make me lay down and give up. I start with an action to believe He is talking directly to me and promised me it's all gonna be ok.

" For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Remember thinking is a verb, an action. Its not a passive thing you do. Just as it is with our bodies, so also with our spirits, we are what we eat – we are the product of our thought life. If there is to be any change in who we are, of necessity there must first be a change in how we think.