Sweeping Crumbs Under the Temple Rug-updated

(Updated: If you are just now reading this post, you'll see there is an award of sorts in it...I want to clarify that the award was the one I chose for myself...not the one Linda chose for me. I have been learning a lot about myself this week)

Some days, I write well (just to warn you, this is not one of those days). Other days, I can barely write a cohesive sentence. Some days I write insightful posts, other days, I'll just give you a link. But, there is one constant you can count on finding here at Becoming Me: Honesty. I'm not going to lie to you...ever.

So, please do not come up to me while wearing black capri pants patterned with florescent pieces of fruit and ask for my opinion, because I will tell you to change your outfit. I use those pants as an example, because I once owned a pair until someone begged me to never wear them again. And that's one of the reason's I started Becoming Me. No, not because of the pants that nearly landed me on What Not to Wear, but the part about learning from my mistakes and sharing the gleaned wisdom with others. I cannot do that without taking an honest look at myself and coming clean when I mess up.

During the past three weeks I have been inspired to take better care of my body and also to go on a spiritual journey of sorts. I began a 21 day Daniel Fast and then after Linda posted the 30X5 challenge on her blog, I told her that I was game... I thought the two went well together. And they do. But I didn't do a very good job with either. Oh... I stuck to the fast, but I encountered some issues that I'll post about tomorrow...or next week.

As for Linda's challenge? I got this award:

I did not complete the challenge. That's not a completely honest sentence, because to finish something means one first must start it.

I did not start the challenge.

I had good intentions and a decent plan of action, but I also welcomed every single excuse I could find to get out of those plans. When my kids got sick, I reasoned that they needed the extra time with me and even asked Linda if holding a 30 pound two-year-old on my hip for 30 minutes while swaying to soft music counted, because I was, afterall, moving. I also thought about asking her if I could count the 30-60 minutes a day I spend playing "Crash and Roll," with my little boy. It is a game where he crashes his little body into mine and then we roll on the floor and repeat the fun insanity for about 500 to 1,000 times. But as far as actually getting myself in gear to excericise. I didn't, because I really didn't feel like it.

In the book of I Corinthains, Paul writes how the body of a follower of Christ is a temple/dwelling place of God, and how it should be taken care of and honored. Have you ever walked into a church building and heard someone say, "be on your best behavior, because this is the house of God?" In reality, every person who has accepted Christ as Lord and Savior is the house of God.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." I Corinthians 6:19-20

As I reflect on those verses, my unwillingness to exercise, and my attitude regarding food and some other issues, I realize that I do not always do such a good job of taking care of God's temple. Lately, instead of doing the heavy-duty cleaning that needs to be done...I've been sweeping crumbs under a rug instead and saying, "Hey, this place doesn't look so bad afterall."