Discipline and water

With joy you will draw waters from the wells of salvation
Isaiah 12:3

And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Isaiah 58:11

Struggles: Water! It has been difficult for me to maintain a balance level of water. Some days it feels like I am overdoing it, waterlogged and over flushed and other days, like yesterday I have felt dehydrated and under watered. Today I have decided to only drink with food and to drink water before I drink anything else. For example, before I had my coffee I drank 4 oz of water with each meal I have had water. Then before and after a workout I will drink 32 oz just to be sure I am well hydrated.

"If water carries the miracle of life, it also has the power to perpetuate, amplify it and enhance it's dynamic, with the condition of being open to it's message."
taken from www.health-benefit-of-water-.com

We all know the benefits of water we've heard it a thousand times! However, I know that too much water will flush vital minerals and sodium from you as well, it's all about balance! So drink up! Any suggestions on how you regulate your own water intake?


Triumphs: I am not hungry all the time! I have not felt too huge of a desire to eat outside my parameters. Ryan and I were shopping yesterday and I was oohing and ahhing over all the baked goods and looking longingly at the cheese. He reminded me that it is good to deny myself instant pleasures.

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I should be disqualified
1corinthians 9:27

Lesson Two and Three: Water and Discipline!

Joy thief Number 2: Lack of discipline.

Application: It is good to deny yourself momentarily for the greater joy of discipline. One of my favorite quotes that I hold close and remind myself of regularly, especially when I am feeling my own desires are not being fulfilled:

"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition [and cheese, and chocolate, and artisan bread, and prime rib....] when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

C.S Lewis.

Our God loves us! He created our world full of pleasures! Beauty, amazement, splendor, indulgence, and enchantment. He wants us to enjoy our time here. However He created us! He knows us! He knows that we are easily pleased with his creation, wasn't it the temptation of his created fruit that caused Eve to sin? Discipline is knowing when to enjoy and when to wait, or abstain all together.
Wiki says:

Self-discipline refers to the training that one gives oneself to accomplish a certain task or to Self-discipline is to some extent a substitute for motivation, when one uses reason to determine a best course of action that opposes one's desires. Virtuous behavior is when one's motivations are aligned with one's reasoned aims: to do what one knows is best and to do it gladly. Continent behavior, on the other hand, is when one does what one knows is best, but must do it by opposing one's motivations.^[3] Moving from continent to virtuous behavior requires training and some self-discipline.

I was particularly interested in the difference between Continent and virtuous behavior. Definitely in the Continent behavior stage right now! Hoping to move quickly to the virtuous behavior stage!

Recipes: Last nights dinner: Acorn squash and black bean soup: roasted 1 whole acorn squash, 1 red pepper, 1 passilla pepper. peeled skin off all and chopped. Sauteed 1/2 an onion and a tbs of minced garlic in the bottom of a pot. added roasted vegetables, pureed with my immersion blender (or you can keep in chunky!) added 3 cups of cooked black beans. I also added but you may omit, 3tbs of cumin, 1tbs of chipotle powder. For those of you still enjoying dairy it would be awesome with a dollop of sour cream! For complete protein serve with rice.

breakfast: sauteed 1 cup diced fresh papaya, and 1/4 c raisins in a pan, added 1 c cooked rice and 1 c almond milk until rice was warmed and almost pudding like. I mixed in a pinch of cardamom but cinnamon or allspice or clove would be great too!

lunch: Mountain high roll up wrap filled with : homemade baba ghanoush, sliced red pepper, spinach, sliced tomato, avocado and a few dots of sarachi sauce (there is a small amount of sugar in sarachi)

Enjoy with water and discipline!