Jesus Calling

My plan for your life is unfolding before you. Sometimes the road you are traveling seems blocked, or it opens up so painfully slowly that you must hold yourself back. Then, when time is right, the way before you suddenly clears—through no effort of your own. What you have longed for and worked for I present to you freely, as pure gift. You feel awed by the ease with which I operate in the world, and you glimpse My Power and My Glory.

Do not fear your weakness, ...for it is the stage on which My Power and Glory perform most brilliantly. As you persevere along the path I have prepared for you, depending on My strength to sustain you, expect to see miracles—and you will. Miracles are not always visible to the naked eye, but those who live by faith can see them clearly. Living by faith, rather than sight, enables you to see My Glory.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
—Psalm 63:2

We live by faith, not by sight.
—2 Corinthians 5:7

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
—John 11:40

Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young

Warrior's Prayer

Heavenly Father,
Your warrior prepares for battle.
Today I claim victory over Satan by putting on
the whole armor of God.

I put on the Girdle of Truth.
May I stand firm in the truth of Your Word
so I will not be a victim of Satan's lies.

I put on the Breastplate of Righteousness.
May it guard my heart from evil
so I will remain pure and holy,
protected under the blood of Jesus Christ.

I put on the Shoes of Peace.
May I stand firm in the Good News of the Gospel
so Your peace will shine through me
and be a light to all I encounter.

I take the Shield of Faith.
May I be ready for Satan's fiery darts of
doubt, denial and deceit
so I will not be vulnerable to spiritual defeat.

I put on the Helmet of Salvation.
May I keep my mind focused on You
so Satan will not have a stronghold on my thoughts.

I take the Sword of the Spirit.
May the two-edged sword of Your Word
be ready in my hands
so I can expose the tempting words of Satan.

By faith your warrior has put on the whole armor of God.
I am prepared to live this day in spiritual victory!

Based on Ephesians 6, written by Dr. David Jeremiah.

My 1 year anniversary with AdvoCare!

Before Advocare I was a stay at home Mommy to two beautiful boys, but was unhappy with the post-baby, 10 stubborn pounds that would not come off. My husband was working 55+ hours a week at his environmental job, and when we had the time to spend together as a family, I didn't have the energy (or finances) to do many things outside the home. I kinda felt stuck in a rut but didn't know where to go. We weren't looking for a business when Danielle introduced us to Advocare- I just wanted to lose weight, have the energy AND more time with my family, and anything extra financially was a bonus. I'll be completely honest here- I was confident in the products, but not the business side. I didn't want to sound "sales-y", or feel like I was competing against other distributors.

Three months after starting with Advocare, I had lost all the baby weight, had more energy to do those family things, and we started bringing in $200/month. What?! I was on board. This past year, we were finally able to build up our savings, we funded our first family vacation, we were able to give and be a part of 3 mission trips, and save up for a cash Christmas. The financial freedom has been soooo nice. I'm on track to averaging $500/month in the year 2014, and most importantly- my weight's been consistent.

While at Destin, my gallbladder started letting me know it was time to come out! After fighting it a year, Heath and I made the decision to remove it. I was told it would be an easy-breezy, outpatient procedure. I knew to expect some troubles with my GI tract, but learning what I could eat and what I couldn't was an experience. Gas pills became my friend! I actually lost weight after the procedure because I was eating soups and super, super light for about a week, but I hated feeling weak and light-headed. I started introducing normal foods a few weeks in and it either stayed with me.....or didn't. I was on this roller coaster of being hungry and tired, or full and bloated. And I mean bloated. Like, pants wouldn't button or zip, it was super embarrassing. At the post-op I asked when I could do another cleanse. I wanted to set the reset button on my body and start with a clean slate. The doctor told me to wait about a month to allow more time for my cystic duct to take over it's new role. That put me close to Thanksgiving...and by then I could finally eat and I was NOT about to give up my pecan pie! :) I asked my neighbor, Jenifer, if she wanted to try it with me, and we were set to go the Monday after Thanksgiving.

The products I used:

Herbal Cleanse

Chocolate Meal Replacement Shakes

Spark

Catalyst

Ahhhh, how I love a good cleanse! I felt so much better afterwards and more like myself, with a flatter midsection.

 

Four pounds and four and a half inches gone in 10 days and pants that button. :)

 

 

Ms. Jenifer had an even bigger weight loss:

 

 

 



and side angle...

Jenifer lost an incredible eight pounds and 9.75 inches in 10 days!!!!! Go girl!

It's been a fantastic year with Advocare and I'm excited about helping others achieve their goals in 2014. If you’re new here and have no clue what the 24 Day Challenge is, check out this short video...It explains it really well.

Here's the run through again on how to become a member:

• $79 membership fee which includes your start-up kit, and $50 worth of Spark and Slam.

• 20% off all products, immediately!

• NO monthly memberships or quotas to meet. None. Zip.

You also have immediate access to 30% and 40% discount levels. Just ask me how. I'm an Advisor and love getting 40% off my products, and watching and learning from the people who helped me get started. Here's a direct link with more info on how to become a member: https://www.advocare.com/12111508/BecomeMember.aspx.

I'm super thankful someone shared this with me, and if you're not interested right now but think you know someone else who's looking to lose weight, or make extra cash for the holidays, I'd love your referral!

Love,
Catherine

The DMS Class

Of course I knew how I felt when I heard the news, but as the days passed these emails started coming in from the other students that were also accepted....

"I am completely shocked. Are they going to refund the money from the background check? I worked really hard for this and now I am walking away with nothing...it doesn't seem right to me. Anna was emailing us just 2 weeks ago. Now she has suddenly decided to resign after we were already sent through the interview and accepted. It doesn't make sense to me. Did the school do something to cause her to suddenly make that decision? I feel really bad for everyone one of you guys that I know worked hard like I did. I really had my heart set on this so I really don't know what to do. If anyone wants to talk about it feel free to give me a call. I still haven't had time to really process this and I'm very disappointed. I would like to schedule another meeting with Ginger. They don't even know if they are going to try to find a new teacher. They should have called us all into the same meeting in my opinion. Good luck to everyone and I'm so sorry :( I was really looking forward to meeting everyone."

"Just sending this e-mail to my classmates that, unfortunately, I will probably never meet now. We all worked very hard, spent time and money to enter the DMS Program at ATC and now have been discarded like it was no big deal-just enter another program or go to another school. Well, I do not know about any of the rest of you, but I moved, quit my job, my wife quit her job and we made some big adjustments just to plan for the program in which I had been accepted and looked forward to studying. I even turned down acceptance at another school. I graduated from UGA and lived in Athens years ago and wanted to return.

 

Really, I do not know what happened, but I know it is more than we are being told. No one just retires overnight and the school did nothing about letting us know-just kept leading us on as all was well. Excuse me, they did let us know 1 day before orientation."

 

"I am very disappointed the way the school has handled the situation and our professional lives."

"I agree. I made big adjustments too, as did the rest of my family. I used valuable time, resources, and energy into applying, and was looking forward to meeting others who had been just as dedicated as I was to this program. I also believe that you don't wake up one day and decide to retire. The day before orientation. I've wondered what the school is not telling us. I've considered writing nasty emails, I've considered making a big fuss, but I also don't see the point. If there is no teacher, then there is no teacher. We could make our complaint known, but it wouldn't help us start the program in January, which is what I think we all want in the long run. I don't even know what to say? I feel lost."

 

"ATC is not really concerned about the students. They just discarded us like it was nothing to cancel someone's professional life and here they can go on the same like nothing happened."

 

"I want all of you to know that I am not going to let any of you or myself to be treated like this, I want the truth to be known. I want you all to know that regardless of how this turns out, we are not powerless, I plan on writing a letter to every accrediting agency related to the DMS program and the School to tell them our story. I encourage you to do the same.
I hope for the best for all of you, I know from personal experience this is a crazy/hard time in life, especially since this was the stepping stone to most of our futures and professional careers. I hope regardless of the outcome everything works out for each and everyone of you."

 

It's heartbreaking....please pray for them. I didn't want to attach their names for privacy sake, but I can't even put a face to these names, we never had the chance to meet. It makes me feel guilty for not even thinking of these other students, I was so wrapped up with how this affected Heath and I. It's hard all around, I don't feel like I could reply back with, "Hey this is God's plan and everything is going to be okay!" What do you say? I don't know. It's confusing and I'll be praying for these people now.

 

Cancelled

 

Well, I prayed for guidance throughout this whole thing, right? I prayed for a clear sign, right?

I really don't know what happened, and I don't know if I ever will, or if I'm meant to understand it. Our school orientation was set to be before Thanksgiving and the night before, the admissions office called to cancel it. I thought it was strange that admissions was calling and not my teacher. They said they'd give out more information soon. I think that was when I got the first feeling that something big was up. When Thanksgiving passed and still not a word, I told Heath it was odd that they still hadn't planned orientation. I mean, we had all of our hospital orientations to complete, badges to pick up, we had to order uniforms, we had to register for classes, none of that was done. When I got the second call from admissions asking me to come in, I just knew it was over. I told Heath they were going to cancel the program. He tried to tell me I was overreacting, but somehow I knew?

I was led into a room where a few of the administrators and deans were seated, and they apologized, and told me the instructor resigned. The school offered me a list of the other programs they offer- not a free ride into them, but just options to look into. They apologized and told me to call them if I wanted to apply for something else, but I would not be starting in January.

Athens Tech was one of the schools within a wide radius that offered the CAAHEP accredited program. It's extremely hard to be accredited, and the next closest school that offers sonography is Columbus or Rome. Needless to say, that's not an option. Heath and I knew we would not "chase" schools or programs.

I came home and squeezed my Easton for the blessing of extra time with him. December no longer feels like the last month I get with my family. Christmas was a looming event- it marked the last few days I'd get to be at home.

I have to say that, of course, I am confused. But God answers prayers, and I can almost laugh at his crystal, clear answer. "Not now." Who else could shut down an entire program?! Only He could! In no way do I believe all that work was a waste!! God will use it. I don't know how. It'll be exciting to see how He will use that knowledge He gave me for something. I'll be excited to share it with you guys.

I'm so thankful we didn't borrow unnecessary money. I'm so thankful we didn't go into debt doing this. I'm so thankful that Cory and Easton had not started childcare yet. I'm so thankful that the most money I spent was on immunizations (ain't getting sick for a year!) and a background check (don't worry, friends, it's clear). I'm thankful God showed me that I could be smart, and I could do it. I'm thankful for the confidence this has given me!

Love what my good friend Tammy said, "Get some popcorn and watch, cause He's going to do something big with this."