Daily Bread

Considering I have been fighting with white bread this week (meaning I am trying not to eat so much of it) I found this article in the January issue of the Ensign by Elder D. Todd Christofferson entitled "Recognizing God's Hand in our Daily Blessings" I would recommend reading it.

He talks about the tribes of Israel when they were in the desert and receiving Manna from Heaven. The tribes were only suppose to collect enough for one day. Elder Christofferson says that the Lord was teaching them to have faith in Heavenly Father. That He would sustain them, every day. But then he goes on to explain.

"Once the tribes of Israel were in a position to provide for themselves, they were required to do so. Likewise, as we plead with God for our daily bread—for help in the moment that we cannot provide for ourselves—we must still be active in doing and providing that which is within our power."

I found this comforting this week. In the moment when I am feeling rather tempted or losing the battle the Lord will provide for me and while he will never leave me comfortless he does require me to do all within my power.

Elder Christofferson continues.

"Asking God for our daily bread rather than our weekly, monthly, or yearly bread is also a way for us to focus on the smaller, more manageable bits of a problem. To deal with something big, we may need to work at it in small, daily bites. Sometimes all we can handle is one day—or even just part of one day—at a time."

This is exactly what I needed to hear this week. Stop focusing on the fact that I am going to fight this fight for the rest of my life. Just focus on making the right choice right now.

To repent, improve, and eventually reach “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13) is a step-by-step process. Incorporating new and wholesome habits into our character or overcoming bad habits or addictions often means an effort today followed by another tomorrow and then another, perhaps for many days, even months and years, until we achieve victory. But we can do it because we can appeal to God for our daily bread, for the help we need each day.

I have a quote that says simply "NOT TODAY". Nope not today am I going to eat those chocolate covered peanuts, not today am I going to make another batch of chocolate chip cookies. But maybe I should put up another quote that say TODAY. Today I will choose to be a better daughter of God, I will choose....

^fliberty and eternal ^glife, through the great Mediator of all men,

-2 Nephi 2:27-

In reality, there aren’t many things in a day that are totally without significance. Even the mundane and repetitious can be tiny but significant building blocks that in time establish the discipline and character and order needed to realize our plans and dreams. Therefore, as you ask in prayer for your daily bread, consider thoughtfully your needs—both what you may lack and what you must protect against. As you retire to bed, think about the successes and failures of the day and what will make the next day a little better. And thank your Heavenly Father for the manna He has placed along your path that sustained you through the day. Your reflections will increase your faith in Him as you see His hand helping you to endure some things and to change others. You will be able to rejoice in one more day, one more step toward eternal life.

I am going to put this into practice this week, considering what I need and what I need protected against, and then following through at the end of the day by thinking about the success and failures hopefully making the next day better. I have to be honest the food Goliath has been winning lately. I really need to kick him out of the drivers seat and buckle him up in the back.

Meanwhile I have got my training schedule down for the Legacy 1/2 Marathon in May for those interested. All numbers are in miles. You will notice that the training is three days a week, this will be followed by three days of Kettlebells in between. I am loving that the longest I have to run durning the week is 4 miles, because the weekday runs will have to be done on a treadmill and then all the long runs will be done on Saturdays mostly outside I hope. I have never used this training schedule before all I really did was take my Marathon training schedule and cut out a day and halved it.

week	day 1	day 2	day 3	Total
1	1.5	2	2.5	6
2	1.5	2	3	6.5
3	1.5	2	3.5	7
4	1.5	2.5	4	8
5	1.5	2.5	5	9
6	2	2.5	5.5	10
7	2	3	6	11
8	2	3	7	12
9	2	3.5	8	13.5
10	2.5	4	9	15.5
11	2.5	4	10	16.5
12	2.5	4	11	17.5
13	2.5	4	9	13.5
14	2.5	4	4.5	11
15	1.5	2.5	4	8
16	1.5	1.5	13.1	16.1

You are all welcome to join along I am very excited to have a plan, I really love a plan.

xoxo

Barb