Yesterday in church, BJ challenged us with this: to fast from something for 21 days. Why? So I can totally let God take control and put my faith in him. By doing this, I’ll grow more intimate with Him and all His plans He has for me. So, I’m fasting from junk food. It’s going to be hard, since I really love food, but it’s going to be awesome to see what God will do with my surrender to Him.

Everyday we’ll have to read a small passage from the bible, and today’s was Matthew 6: 19-21. I can’t wait to see what tomorrows is. I am really praying that God will totally take away my craving for junk food and that He’ll guard me against Satan’s attacks (because he WILL attack). I want to grow stronger through this and I pray that I’ll be walking right by God’s side all the time.

For as long as I can remember I have been involved in my development in a conscious and deliberate way.

I guess that’s a good thing.  It could be a drag at times, believe me.

But as a result of these decades of helping myself and others to change, grow and evolve, I have tried some pretty interesting programs and initiatives.

The latest one combines several such programs and it’s called POWER UP.

I can’t even tell you, mere words can’t capture the excitement in these fingers and in my heart right now!!

This is so cool.  It’s perfect.  I’ve done versions of this and it is POWERFUL.

POWER UP is all about starting you day..getting up, if you will… with *** P O W E R.***

Let me ask you, what’s the most important hour of your day?  And don’t tell me anything about night person, afternoon person and all that stuff!

Just tell me which hour of the day do you think is most important?

Hope you said the first one.  Then I don’t have to convince!

It’s really simple,  the first hour of the day, your first conscious moments CAN (and often DO) determine the rest of your day.  Of course you ALWAYS have the ability to turn things around…but it will take some serious effort.

Start the day with an hour of power and you will continue on that trajectory - it’s a law of physics as well.  Takes more energy to change directions than to keep on the same path.

Also, as creatures of habit , we respond with heightened excitement when we begin the day with a predictably powerful hour.

So here are the details of the Power Up Program.  Seven Powerful Steps!

For the first hour of the day we have decided at our household to do the following: (you can create your own version of this morning ritual, these are the steps that work for us)

1. Awake with GRATITUDE - as eyes open say a verbal ‘thank you God”
2. Drink a glass of water immediately - 1 minute
3. Gather and pray - 2 minutes
4. Meditate, Silent time together - 2 minutes
5. Workout - 20 minutes -
6. Read - Bible and /or selected spiritual passage - 15 minutes
7. Eat a good breakfast - 20 minutes - [Talk while we eat - positive, supportive, LOVE talk (NOT an opportunity to scold)]

Let’s take a closer look at each.

1. To begin the day with gratitude is smart and right.  We’re grateful for life, for another day, for yesterday and the more we are aware of this gratitude, the more we will pull into our life those things we honor with our gratitude. With a gracious disposition, we will be sowing what we would like to reap.

2.  HYDRATE - first thing! The body has been without water for many hours, it needs it. The digestive system will be thrilled.  All functions will operate so much more smoothly!

3.  Pray - it’s what we do to remain connected to source.  Adjust this to do whatever you do to remain centered and connected.

4.  Meditate - whereas praying is us talking to God, meditating - just being silent in the present moment, without even thoughts to distract, permits us to hear back from God.

5.  Workout - for all the obvious reasons.  We well add longevity and quality to our health, the boys will work off some of their play energy so they can really focus on learning later.

6.  Read - The mind is funny this way.  It tends to go with what its given.  So if you feed it the information you want it to process and apply…it’ll do it!  First thing in the morning is an excellent time to give the mind and soul the specific information that will send empowering signals to your emotions.  If you don’t, someone one else will fill it with the first thoughts, images and emotions of the day.   The first hour is the formative power hour, remember.  Would you prefer being in charge of that vital function,  - mind control - or  have TV, radio, other people take control?

7.  Eat - research shows that starting the day with a good healthy breakfast, sets us up for better eating habits the rest of the day and provides the needed fuel for life on the fast lane!  Talk while you eat if you’re doing this with family.  We want our children to be filled with our love messages first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, at the very least.  There are so many other conflicting messages in their world, we had better be competing smart.

So that’s it, the Power Up Program. (PUP)

Try it with us…we’ll be reporting back to you

Oh and by the way, we’re doing this for 21 days straight, starting Monday October 13th.  Join us.

We expect it to be miraculous in its impact!

What changes would you make to the PUP?

Have you tried something like this and what were the results?

What do you think would be the most challenging aspect of the program?

Contact me and let me know if you’re joining the POWER UP Program to create a set of powerful new success habits.

Believe me you will be stunned at the life changing impact.  Whatever you’re imagining, times it by a 100!

(Oh…the “we” in my family: husband and two sons 16 and 13 - 20 yr old daughter misses out as she’s not at home!)

Have fun!

Julette Millien

♥♥♥

Nu har jag ändrat bloggen till Svenska för jag har kommit fram till att jag bara vill rikta denna bloggen till familj och vänner hemma i Sverige.

Nu är det bara 21 dagar kvar, men ingen nervositet än direkt. Vet inte riktigt varför jag inte är nervösare, kanske för att jag innerst inne vet att allt kommer gå bra Vi hade grym tur nu när vi skulle boka in oss en vecka på Hostel, vi hittade ett Hostel som hade fått bra kritik och som var ungefär hälften så dyrt som alla andra. Torque Hostel, 1600:-, 7 nätter för både mig och Amanda.

Jag har inte så mycket mer att skriva om london för tillfället eftersom det fortfarande är rätt lång tid kvar, men jag återkommer! =) Ge gärna lite kommentarer på saker som är lätt att glömma när man ska iväg/flytta.

        Oprah has been doing an “experiment”…she has been following a vegan diet for 21 days to increase her spiritual awareness of food.  The experiment was induced by author Kathy Feston of the book, Quantam Wellness.  The diet puts into practice the removal of alcohol, animal products, gluten, and sugar and caffeine from a person’s daily meals and snacks. 

        Oprah documented her journey through her blog.  http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/food/cleanse/blog/blog_1.jhtml   In theory it sounds great to eat healthier; and, to eat foods that aren’t having a negative influence on your body or the animal world.  Whole foods that are grown and prepared with fresh herbs and spices are so much more satisfying to the body. 

         However, I know how much work is involved preparing enough food to satisfy a family…and i think definately, that Oprah had an advantage as she had help through the first week by having someone (Chef) think about the menu and prepare it.  Not to mention she can “financially afford” to eat any way that she chooses to. 

          Eating right can be costlier than eating on the cheap; especially with the cost of shipping food from one distributor to another.  I read somewhere recently that more and more people are choosing to buy from local markets and farm markets to help keep freshness in the food; and as a way, to help green up our planet by not adding to the greenhouse gasses of having food shipped to the local grocery store from up to 1,500 miles away where it was grown or produced. 

          Being an informed consumer is never a bad thing.  We are all connected in a multitude of ways…human beings, planet, animals, and plants…making informed decisions about how we live our lives can have a huge impact on the world around us.  Most of us don’t stop to think on those issues.  I think that the native Americans came the closest to living in a spirtual way of balance on these issues from the beginning of our nation’s origin; and, we would be wise to follow that example of respecting life and planet.

        I do admire Oprah’s willingness to agree to try this new way of life and to follow through it, on principal.  Thinking about what we put into our bodies and understanding where that food comes from is important.  There are so many people in the world going without the basic food necessities; and, most American’s are spoiled in the fact that we have so very many choices about what we eat.  Educating ourselves to eat healthier and with a state of awareness is, something that i can get behind.  Good job of leadership Oprah!

       Like Oprah, I grew up growing and canning alot of what our family ate.  I had gotten away from that way of life over the last few years.  However, we are once again growing some of our own food which i will preserve.  This way i know about the safety of the food too…what kinds of pesticides (none) and fertilizers were used.  Where the water comes from and that it is clean water used to prevent adding additional bacteria to the produce.  It feels good to grow your own food and know what has happened along the way of the growing season; before that food hits the family dinner table. 

           So…Oprah has declared that she will never eat food again without an awareness of where that food comes from.  If nothing else, Oprah has set a trend and helped people to think about the fact that we do have choices in what we eat; and, where we get the food that we serve to ourselves and our families.

Not that bigger is better, but… This year the New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators held the spring conference at the Crowne Plaza in Nashua and it was excellent! It was overflowing! We were busting out! A record number of authors and illustrators took over the hotel April 11-13. I got a warm and fuzzy feeling remembering my first conference 8 years ago in Portland, Maine, where the cut off was around 200 people. It was at least double that number. I was inspired that day in Maine and this conference was no different. Here are some nuggets of gold to share:

1) Laurie Halse Anderson was the keynote. She challenged those of us who have been in a writing slump to write daily, if only an hour or two, for 21 days. The experts say it takes that many days to make it a habit. I know this, I knew this… I needed Laurie Halse Anderson to kick my butt. FYI, this is Day 1. I’ll keep you posted.

2) On revision, LHA says she makes five passes.
1st: Logic. Does this make sense?
2nd: Details. Do they match what I’ve written? Can I enhance the story?
3rd: What can I cut out? Your writing should say what you mean in as few words as possible.
4th: Word Choice. It has to match the speaker.
5th: Spelling. I assume she also meant other piddly things like capital letters, punctuation…

3) When you are empty and spent, when you can’t write for one reason or another, fill up on the arts. She also repeated Picasso’s (I think) line about how we must do the thing we think we cannot do in order that we can do it. It went something like that. So there was the challenge, but also permission to refill our wells when necessary. Figuring out when to push and when to rest is our job.

4) Sarah Shumway, editor at Dutton, gave a fantabulous workshop on Pitching and Packaging our work. I usually find it hard to talk about my current work–actually any work. She suggests thinking like an editor. Have a one line sales handle and a short book description. This will make it easy for the editor to sell in acquisitions. This one-line example is from a book Dutton has coming out in the fall: It’s You’ve Got Mail on manga and role-playing games–a totally fierce and current romance for teens. (Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi) I came home with my sales handle and book description in place. It refocused me and I’m good to go!

5) The NESCBWI conference is full of PLU (people like us) and if you haven’t given yourself the gift of the full conference weekend, I highly recommend it. Being able to go to my room and chill, or swim, write, or party like a crazy woman whenever I wanted to, made it a worthwhile expense. And yes, yes, the workshops were excellent. Also, it was nice to see familiar faces, and feel the warmth, energy, and enthusiasm everywhere. Mark your calendars for next year (April 24-26, 2009)!

~RMM

elissa said 21 sleeps before GG…

21 sleeps…

504 1/24ths…

30240 clock ticks…

tick tock tick tock.

Well, I have managed to get both my quiet time and my exercise in these last couple days, let’s see.. 16 and 17, (Ephesians, and Psalms, respectively) but I haven’t had the chance to blog about it, have I been slacking?

Kinda,

Have I been busy?

Yeah…

Did I forget my password and spend 2 hours trying to look it up in one of my secure files?

(Hangs head in shame) I refuse to answer that.

Quiet time this morning was in Mark, and it touched on a subject near to my heart, and that is being a servant. Especially when my dominant personality trait is phlegmatic (Ironically, my secondary trait is choleric, and it’s very high, almost equal, but I digress).

Serving people is, at least from my culture a way to honor a person, and you can look back to the traditional tea ceremony (which I have never performed, it is on my list of things I want to do, however). We as a team look to serve the church, to serve our God, we shouldn’t, however neglect serving our fellow man, or in Lifepoint terms, show the love of Christ in a real and relate-able way.

I skipped exercise this morning but I’ll be getting it later.

Sorry I’ve been a bit busy all weekend, but I haven’t missed a day yet, though I only did half a time today, I need to finish up after I get home this evening.

Something that I’ll be implementing in the next day or two, I remember this from one of Towne’s books is that we budget our money but why not our time?

I’m … well ok I’m decent at budgeting money, though I’ve greatly improved in that area, but I’ve got a lot of work to do to budget my time. And as I view quiet time and exercise valuable enough to schedule, I’m going to start scheduling when I’m going to do it instead of the laize-faire (and I KNOW I spelled that wrong) attitude I’ve been approaching it with.

I’ve made it 10 days, I’m ALMOST 1/2 way there, and I’ve been enjoying myself immensely. I read Philippians this morning, the whole book, it’s rather short, Pauls exhortation (am I using that in the right context?) to the peace of God is such a good reminder for me, Rejoice in the Lord always, don’t be anxious but turn it over to God and focus on what is noble, what is pure, what is lovely, admirable , or praiseworthy think about such things…

I’ve made it 10 days, I’m ALMOST 1/2 way there, and I’ve been enjoying myself immensely. I read Philippians this morning, the whole book, it’s rather short, Pauls exhortation (am I using that in the right context?) to the peace of God is such a good reminder for me, Rejoice in the Lord always, don’t be anxious but turn it over to God and focus on what is noble, what is pure, what is lovely, admirable , or praiseworthy think about such things…

It might have had something to do with the temp. this morning but I had a tough time forcing myself to get up this morning, at least with the exercise, which was abbreviated this morning.

Quiet time took me through Matthew 7&8 and I can’t help but feel like my faith just isn’t where it needs to be. At least compared to some of the examples there, my prayer for toady Lord, give me the faith to trust everything in my life to you Jesus, help me have the faith of a centurion whom you said had greater faith than any you had found in Israel.

It might have had something to do with the temp. this morning but I had a tough time forcing myself to get up this morning, at least with the exercise, which was abbreviated this morning.

Quiet time took me through Matthew 7&8 and I can’t help but feel like my faith just isn’t where it needs to be. At least compared to some of the examples there, my prayer for toady Lord, give me the faith to trust everything in my life to you Jesus, help me have the faith of a centurion whom you said had greater faith than any you had found in Israel.

Never got around to posting yesterday, and thoughts on yesterday will make it to a separate post.

Yesterday’s quiet time was through James 1, and going through it I realized it was the origins of a quote I use occasionally, to know and not to do is not to know, though Scripture puts it “22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

This mornings time went through some of Ephesians and parts of Genesis.

Getting ready to go through morning exercise now, so that post I mentioned earlier will have to come later

Never got around to posting yesterday, and thoughts on yesterday will make it to a separate post.

Yesterday’s quiet time was through James 1, and going through it I realized it was the origins of a quote I use occasionally, to know and not to do is not to know, though Scripture puts it “22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

This mornings time went through some of Ephesians and parts of Genesis.

Getting ready to go through morning exercise now, so that post I mentioned earlier will have to come later

Well I didn’t get my quiet time in this morning, I was in PA getting ready to drive back home, and having arrived home I grabbed my bible and headed out.

I ended up, as I often do when I want some solitude and a chance to think at the Battlefield. During the fall and winter it’s extremely tranquil, often the only sound being heard is the squirrels hurrying about.

So I ended up talking some long walks and conversing with God and in between, I read some psalms. For me it was a great experience.

Well I didn’t get my quiet time in this morning, I was in PA getting ready to drive back home, and having arrived home I grabbed my bible and headed out.

I ended up, as I often do when I want some solitude and a chance to think at the Battlefield. During the fall and winter it’s extremely tranquil, often the only sound being heard is the squirrels hurrying about.

So I ended up talking some long walks and conversing with God and in between, I read some psalms. For me it was a great experience.

Short post, running late. Missed exercise this morning but I will get it in before the end of the day.

Quiet time was in 1 Corinthians 12 (The spiritual gifts chapter) need to find a) spiritual gift test, and b) if that is the complete listings, I know I have talents, but I’m not sure what my SG is.

Right, was supposed to leave 5 minutes ago.
~M

EDIT: Well As I had a conference in PA I got my exercise in, but not until 1 am that morning, but as I hadn’t gone to sleep yet I still count it as part of a day.

Today was much better than yesterday as far diving into the Word goes.

I read this morning Philippians 1&2, I think God knew I needed a boost. 1:6 was something I had to be reminded of, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. I mean wow, knowing that God is going to see us through everything we may face until out work is done, or Christ comes back, that just gave me a much needed boost. (Especially knowing that Paul was in prison at this point? I think,)

Chapter 2 has amazing insight on humility and unity, but what really grabbed my attention even on my first pass through, was 14-15 ” 14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” We look at society now and consider it the same as Paul did now, Steve Fee said it well in one of his songs, “In the darkest place we shine!”

Edit: did lower body today (yesterday was upper)

Today was much better than yesterday as far diving into the Word goes.

I read this morning Philippians 1&2, I think God knew I needed a boost. 1:6 was something I had to be reminded of, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. I mean wow, knowing that God is going to see us through everything we may face until out work is done, or Christ comes back, that just gave me a much needed boost. (Especially knowing that Paul was in prison at this point? I think,)

Chapter 2 has amazing insight on humility and unity, but what really grabbed my attention even on my first pass through, was 14-15 ” 14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” We look at society now and consider it the same as Paul did now, Steve Fee said it well in one of his songs, “In the darkest place we shine!”

Edit: did lower body today (yesterday was upper)

While yesterday was extra early as we had the meeting I had more trouble today getting myself up to do this. If I can make it through a solid week I think I’ll manage the 21 days needed to form the habit.

Quiet time This morning took me through Galatians 4,5 and 6, The the re-occuring theme in my last (well first?) two days of quiet time seems to be that sin is bondage, slavery, a yoke around us, while Christ offers us Freedom.

Towards the end of chapter five the scripture talks about the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

My prayer is that I live my life rich with the fruits of the spirit, Lord that You would help me live my freedom without the sinful nature and that I would not deceive myself, and that my life be spent sowing to please you God.

Exercise this morning was upper body and thankfully kept short as I am on a time crunch. (I didn’t hurt myself, but another 15 minutes or so and I probably would have).

Hopefully I’ll have a more substantial posting here later today.
~Matt