Julianna’s Spiritual Hot Dog
July 14 2010 | Christianity Today | 1 Comment »
Archive for the 'Christianity Today' Category
1st Day
So I had the brilliant idea to drive through the night, leaving at midnight & arriving at 9am. In many ways, this was genius-all except the part where I couldn’t move in until 3pm & could find nowhere to sleep.
I did find a cute park called Sunnyside with trails for running. After a 74 yr old named “Pops” basically called me fat, I decided to go on a 3 mile run on no sleep. So then I was left sweaty, smelly, and delirious. Finally at 3 pm, it was time to go to registration. I was feeling a little anxious when everyone I saw looked high school-aged. Thankfully, the average age in my apartment is probably about 26. I did not meet one person from the same state.
The 2-bedroom apartments have 2 bunk beds in each bedroom, a kitchen, living room, and 2 bathrooms. We were rushed after unpacking straight into our first session. This included an introduction to the leaders, a message, going over the schedule, and a meal. The meal was not impressive, but at least they had salad bar.
After this, I took a much needed 30 minute nap. Then it was back to another teaching session, with worship & prayer. The message was on seeking knowledge of God like treasure. We are headed to the prayer room now to pray from 12am until 1:30am. Tonight is an early night-bed at 4am. Thank goodness cuz I am beat!
June 30 2010 | Christianity Today | 3 Comments »
Praying Outside the Box
Sometimes it feels like I am still figuring out the most basic aspects of this Christian walk. One thing has become apparent over the last several months. It started when I began opening up in conversation to my friend Bekah. She also began discussing intimate issues with me. During these discussions I would receive very clear answers to problems that had riddled me. As we spoke, I would say this very clear answer sometimes even before I had discovered it. As I would hear the words from my mouth, it would take me by surprise. God’s presence would come on me, across the back of my shoulders, that light touch somewhere between tingling and goosebumps that let’s me know it’s Him that is answering. Stranger still, the issues that we discussed, concerns very close to our heart, began to be answered also. I began to see that my definition of prayer might be very limited for a God without limits.
Doesn’t His word say, “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am also.” Let’s get real: this form of prayer is much more enjoyable than the other. You know, “getting on your knees before the Lord”. (hey! It turns out I can say/feel things like that. It’s called grace 
) So, I began to let this outside the box prayer spill over into my prayer life. I began to talk things out with… myself on my runs, walks, on my bed at night. Crazy at I might look, it worked. God interrupted my “conversation”.
Maybe this is more what prayer should be-plain old, heartfelt conversation with my sisters & brothers in Christ and with my own spirit. It seems so simple like something I should have known all along. Sometimes I just have to figure out the practical application of things. You know, the how behind the what. It something that much of the church has failed to do for me. So I’m just putting it out there.
June 09 2010 | Christianity Today | 1 Comment »
Focus on Trouble Spots
I am your typical girl with parts of my body that really drive me crazy. My “trouble area” is my lower back. Lately, I have been wrestling with the frustration of working out and eating right and getting nowhere… Or so I thought.
You see I track my progress with photos. If anyone ever stole my phone, they would think I was a crazy person for real! But I both fear and loathe scales. And sometimes my body changes shape before it changes size. You know what I mean? So photos are the only way to go. Well, for the last couple months I’ve Bern working my butt off, but everytime I would look at my “before & afters” I would see no change. There it was the stubborn 2-4 lbs of fat sometimes called love handles, sometimes muffin top (which I had foregone many muffins with the hopes of shedding). After several weeks of this, I was beyond frustrated.
Then the other night something amazing happened! As I was staring at the b & a’s, my gaze fell for a second, and suddenly I realized how much thinner my legs were. I had been so focused on where I wasn’t progressing that I didn’t see such a dramatic change in other areas.
I think this is such a metaphor. Do we focus so much on our “trouble spots” that we completely miss where we are making progress?
May 05 2010 | Christianity Today and My Life | 1 Comment »
Applying the Phillipians 4:8 Filter
In the battlefield of the mind, we must make a choice to apply the filter of the phillipians 4:8 virtues. Use these rules to check what you are putting into your mind. If they don’t correlate, stop putting it in. God is love, and his word and laws are written so that you can be victorious and happy beyond your imagination.
Fix your thoughts on what is
true
honorable
right
pure
lovely
admirable
excellent
worthy of praise
Happy Easter! Live like he is alive! Because he is!!!
April 04 2010 | Christianity Today | 3 Comments »
Be near….
Shane and Shane Lyrics from Shanebweb
be near
by shane barnard
You are all
big and small
beautiful
and wonderful
to trust in grace through faith
but i’m asking to taste…
for dark is light to You
depths are height to You
far is near
but Lord, i need to hear from You
be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good, our good
Your fullness is mine
revelation divine
but, o, to taste
to know much more than a page
to feel Your embrace…
for dark is light to You
the depths are height to You
far is near, but Lord
i need to hear from You
be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good, our good
(psalms 73:28; 139)
April 01 2010 | Christianity Today | No Comments »
How to Run Intervals
We read everywhere new studies surfacing what we should probably already know. Interval training leads to greater weight loss versus steady state training. Also, you can achieve the same or better results with less time per session. Now I love my 45-60 minutes of cardio (running/elliptical) at 60-80 % of max heart rate. It’s comfortable, but it also yeilds results (ie weight loss, changes in body composition) much slower. I think I hold a secret contempt for intervals because of high school and college sports scarring of being forced to run them da after day, but I guess I will just have to get over it. (sad face)
Moving on, literally and physically (smiley face), it occurred to me today that others who have not had interval training driven into their skull may not know how to go about beginning this type of workout. So here is a beginners course on running intervals.
An interval is defined as a length of time. I use the length of 1 minute (or 2 if I am feeling brave). Now the length of time you choose is broken into two phases or sections. Let’s call them run and rest. First, choose the amount of time for each. Your rest phase should be at least twice as long as your run phase. Three times as long is better. I usually use 15 seconds for my run phase and 45 sec for my rest phase. The run phase pace should be just about an all out sprint. Usually I count to 12 (quietly but out loud) while glancing down at the timer on my iPod from time to time. Let’s say you started your run at 5:05 (after a 5 minute warmup. That’s important!). You would run/sprint until 5:00:15 and then rest/walk until 5:01:00. Continue this for about 20-30 minutes. At least half the time you spend on steady state cardio. And that’s really it. There are certain variables I like to play with to keep it fresh and fun.
1. Length of run/rest phases. Try 10/50 or 30/90
2. Activity of run/rest phases. Try stairs/calisthenics or hills/downhills.
3. Location: high school tracks (open to public usually at night or in summer), stadiums (for stair running), parks, gardens, trails. Look for places around your city that have good hills or stairs. There are all sorts of hidden treasures like this in different towns.
4. Break it up. If you have time or have only a little time at the beginning and end of each day, break up your sessions into two 20 minute sessions. Studies have shown that this has just as much fat burning and cardiovascular benefits. Use the time in between to read or stretch (or both).
Despite all the emotional scarring, I’ve found a fresh appreciation for interval training. The short term goals keep me fully engaged moreso than a slow 5 mile run. It challenges me I. A very different way than endurance training. I’ve actually decided to commit to 3 days a week for 30-40 minutes of interval training keeping my one or two endurance cardio days as sort of a reward. Try integrating just a couple of these workouts into your routine each week, I promise you will see greater results!
March 31 2010 | Christianity Today | 1 Comment »
I Have Decided …
To follow Jesus…
I have been struggling lately with a decision. God called me to give Him a season 3-4 months of my life. At the time I was unemployed. But right around the time that it was time to make the decision I got a job offer. Still not having heard from the 3 month program, I took the job. While there, I got another job offer. Only this time, the job paid a lot more. Having been warned off of this job in a dream, I turned it down. One door closed. Then the ministry internship called me. I thought I had not been accepted until that point.
It came time to choose. Would I leave my nets and follow Him? Would I be willing to spend every penny in my bank account in order to follow Him? It has been such a struggle, but I have decided to respond to His calling.
At the end of this month, I’ll be leaving my job, my town, friends, & mom to go to Kansas City,MO to attend the Fire in the Night internship. For more information: http://ihop.org
If anyone reading this wants to donate towards the cost of this school or to help with expenses while I am there, there is a link on the side of this page. But really, I need your prayers more than anything. Thank you.
March 06 2010 | Christianity Today | 4 Comments »
