100 Days to Brave: 80-Day Update

I have been plugging away at the 100 Days to Brave devotional book this summer. In full disclosure, there have been some days when I had to play catch-up, but I believe I'm still on track to finish on September 4 (or whenever it's scheduled to end).

One thing that I have appreciated from this book is that the author, Annie F. Downs, shares real examples from her life of how God has been leading her to be brave. You would expect this from an author, but I think sometimes books can be more theory than practice.

The past few days have been having us look at practical areas of our lives:  eating, exercise, rest, time. These are all areas that I need to be consistent about evaluating in my life and it's given me ways to pray and look at what I need to work on.

Eating:  For three and half months, I was not in my own kitchen. I gladly shared meals with my friends who I stayed with, and am thankful for those times around the table. Now that I've moved into my new home and have a functional kitchen, I'm trying to get back in the groove of meal planning and cooking food for myself to eat throughout the week. I need to curb my sugar habit, but that is an ongoing struggle in my life.

Exercise:  Over a year ago, I began experiencing lower back pain, which also started affecting the range of motion in my hips. Thanks to the skilled hands and ideas of Rebecca Lowe, Manual Physical Therapist, I have a new plan for strengthening my core and getting cardio by walking and doing the recumbent bike. My goal is to get stronger and pain-free enough to be able to go sky diving someday!

Time:  This is a broad area, but I want to be more intentional about how I spend my time, mainly when I am away from work. My evenings are a lot freer since I gave up my part-time job at the Y, but I can easily fill up my time with social events, church events and frivolously wasting time on social media. I don't have set goals for this area, but being more mindful of time will hopefully help me to be more intentional.

I'm looking forward to the next 20 days and to getting to the finish line of this book. I think looking at ways that I am brave and at how God is calling me to courageous living has been good for me this summer.