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Today’s Inspiration (7-24-22)…
The easiest way to fail, is to give up! God a specific, wonderful, amazing plan for your life. He never said the road would be easy…but that the reward will be worth the journey.
Satan will do everything he can to discourage you from fulfilling God’s plan for you. Trust the plan! God’s got a lot in store for your life.
““For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
~ Jeremiah 29:11
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Cooking With Fresh Vegetables, Meat, And Fruit From The Farmers Market!
There’s nothing like fresh vegetables, fruit, and meat from your local farmers market to make dinner AWESOME!
Dinner Menu: Corn on the Cob, green beans, sautéed mushrooms on the grill, and grilled chicken! And for dessert…sweet watermelon!
I Do Not Own The Rights To Te Music. *Che La Luna by Antonio of Italy! -
Today’s Inspiration (7-22-22)
From birth until I was 26 years old, I participated in various quests and adventures (real and imaginary). As a kid, I’d fight Nazis to find hidden treasure. I’d ride my horse to the castle to free the princess for the evil Wizard. Then, as I got older, I found adventure in hunting wild game, playing various sports for the win, and treasure hunting for gold and silver with metal detectors. Sometimes I would risk body and limb to fulfill these quests, but in the end…I was rewarded with the knowledge of knowing I had “done it.” I saw my mission through to the end, and I gained experience and wisdom (and sometimes massive deer, victory over the opposing team, and pockets full of silver). Sadly, as I got older, the desire to go find adventure slowly ceased and I transitioned into a life of comfort…living for the 9 to 5.
Lil’ Mitch fightin’ Nazis while looking for buried treasure. I fear that we live in a day and age where risk and adventure have been traded for comfort and convenience. The light of the wild American Spirit that helped build, shape, and grow this great land is slowly being snuffed out. Why? Comfort and convenience!
Men (and women) are slowly losing their desire for quests and adventures. Instead of going and climbing a mountain, we can simply go online and look at pictures and videos of other people climbing mountains and we’re content. No need to do it…just Google it!
Unfortunately, when we opt to read about someone else’s journey or watch a video documenting a great adventure or quest- instead of participating in such endeavors- we miss the experiences, adrenaline rushes, overcoming of obstacles, and personal growth associated with equivalent feats that test our own personal courage, strength, and endurance.
The fact of the matter is, we were created to take part in, learn from, and find joy in completing great adventures and quests. God gave us a desire for chasing after the crusades, expeditions, and journeys. From the time we were young and we crawled or skipped around the house, the neighborhood, and the schoolyard looking for pirates, treasures, ghosts, monsters, and aliens, we’ve had that spirit of exploration and discovery. It’s built into our DNA. Not only has God instilled this trait in us, has assured us that as we engage in pursuing similar adventures, what we gain from the journey makes us stronger, wiser, and better prepared to meet and conquer the next quest.
NOTE: our personal adventure doesn’t have to be a climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro or the quest to find Cortez’ gold. Our adventure might look more like a treacherous journey to overcome depression, a groundbreaking quest for a promotion at work, the daring adventures of parenting teenagers, or “pushing the limits” of our body and mind so that we may live a healthier lifestyle. It’s the act of getting outside our comfort zone and seeing what awaits us on the other side.
The Bible tells us in the Book of James: “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” ~ James 1:2-4
These were words of encouragement and inspiration to Christians who were (and still are) being persecuted, BUT the message is universal and applicable to our lives today. God is basically saying, “Hey look! Adventure awaits. It will be hard. It might be dangerous. Take a chance on yourself and do the thing you’ve been so afraid of doing.” It’s easy to read about “it”…it’s so much more rewarding to “DO IT”!
Don’t Google it…go out and do it! Experience it! Live the adventure! AND…know that as you progress through your quest, there will be hard times. There will be roadblocks. There will be setbacks. There might even be danger and heartbreak. But if we endure the hardships, learn from them, and rise above them, we will have endured and completed our quest. Like James tells us, “…let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
So Go! Be daring. Be inquisitive. Be adventurous. Go and begin your own quest to find the reward, success, and life you’ve been looking for. At the end of the day, the only one who can start the adventure that awaits…is you! And the only one who can walk beside us and see us through yo the end of our journey…is Jesus!
NOW…get off your Bloomin’ Arse and go find (and experience) you Adventure!
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Healthy Living Rocks: Wife Is An Even Bigger Loser; Farmers Market With Friends; Restoration Of Self
Weight update for Courtney and I (in case you missed it Sunday). I’m down 77.6 AND Courtney is down 21 (well…one ounce away).
Overall, we’re doing great! Feeling great! Our summer is almost over and we both report back to work in 2 weeks…WAH!!!
I’m still reading Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men…and it’s still AWESOME! Yesterday’s reading was over the importance of restoration in a man’s life. No matter how bad we’ve been or how bad we’ve had it…we need to restore our relationships with others and ask to be forgiven if necessary.
Restoration makes us stronger. Let God in on the situation. Let Him help you restore yourself in the eyes of family, friends, and community.
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Today’s Inspiration (7-20-22)…
All too often we let our fear of failure stop us dead in our tracks and that’s were our dreams start to die.
Whatever your dream is…no matter how small or how big… CHASE IT WITH ALL YOUR HEART.
The last thing we want to do is look back five, ten, twenty years from now and say, I wish I had followed my dreams!”
Remember, failure makes us stronger.Ernest Hemingway said it best, “The world breaks everybody…afterwards we’re stronger in the broken places.”
Now Go…Chase That Dream!
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Today’s Farmers Market Haul (7-19-22)
purple onions, 10/15 onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapeños, squash, new potatoes, eggplant, and sweet banana peppers We had a “veggie run” this morning and even got some friends to go with us! Love me some farmers markets!
Todays haul: purple onions, 10/15 onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapeños, squash, new potatoes, eggplant, and sweet banana peppers!
There’s gonna be some good eating this week at Casa De Fairchildren!!!
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Day 64 75 Hard Results: Weigh In Day (7-17-22)
Such an incredible journey so far! The mind shift, the healthy lifestyle, the weight loss …all of it! No desire to go back!
Day 64: 3 1/2 books down; healthy eating habits; healthier mind/body; 77.6 pounds down!Day 64 of the 75 Hard Challenge!
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Runners Toe! It’s For Real Y’all!
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What We’ve Learned From Two Months Of Shopping At Farmers Markets AND Today’s Farmers Market Haul
Today was a good day at the farmers markets! We hit two local FMs in our county. They both had great produce and meats…and tons of other products. We were able to purchase some amazing fruits and vegetables!
I love shopping for locally grow produce. We are becoming good friends with our growers and ranchers and they love to answer our questions. There are so many options and even some lesser known vegetables and fruits to try.
We came home with sacks full of goodies like a good shopper will do. hopefully none of it will go bad in the crisper. We definitely a weeks worth of groceries.
The hot season (temperatures) are wreaking havoc on my tomato crop. We need some rain asap! Seasonal issues are just something we’re going to have to deal with as garden across the area are suffering in this heat. We’ll get used to it.
Meal planning and shopping are becoming our norm as we transition into this healthy lifestyle. NOTE: If you’re going to head out to the farmers market as part of your healthy journey…take cash as some vendors don’t take credit cards. most do though…just a heads up.
Also…take your own reusable bags if possible. Most vendors have bags, but having your own will reduce waste. AND…take a cold bag with you if you are going to buy beef, poultry, pork, milk, etc. Especially if you’re going to visit more than one farmers market or produce stand. Keep those meats cold people! Oh…and don’t forget eggs. Fresh eggs are available in abundance at the farmers markets!
Make sure you get to the markets early to get the best produce AND to ensure they have the fruits and veggies you want. Our corn supplier sells out within the first hour! He’s got good product! With that being said…if you are at the FM toward closing time…they give you great discounts so that they don’t have to take the produce back to their farms and possibly throw it away.
And of course there’s peace in knowing that you can choose farmers that don’t use pesticides and ranchers that raise grass fed beef and free range chickens. As we continue down the path of healthy living, one thing we’ve agreed on is that we want to be as far removed from processed foods and take in more wholesome natural produce and meats. That’s a priority. We believe a lot of the health issues we’re seeing in America are due to pesticides, added hormones, and stressed cattle, chickens, and hogs that are masses produced. We’re all in on all natural!
Today’s Farmers Market Haul…water melon, cantaloupe, squash, tomatoes, corn on the cob, zucchini, cucumbers, purple onions, mushrooms, pan pork sausage, t-bone steak, hamburger patties, fresh salsa, and jalapeño cheddar pork sausage! Yummy #fruits and #veggies for the week!
water melon, cantaloupe, squash, tomatoes, corn on the cob, zucchini, cucumbers, purple onions, mushrooms, pan pork sausage, t-bone steak, hamburger patties, fresh salsa, and jalapeño cheddar pork sausage -
Healthy Eating: Wife Is Rocking It; What’s On My Plate; General Patton Rocks!; Lifestyle Change
Today we touch on day 62 of the 75 Hard Challenge. Courtney’s progress and weight loss. One of my favorite lunches to eat (cottage cheese, yogurt, and tomatoes)…very low calorie.
I also discuss a deep dive into the life of General Patton. Great man! Godly man!
Overall…our healthy lifestyle journey is going great! I need to do better at getting sleep…but I’ve got a new project in the works that I am extremely excited about. I’ll be posting more on that later.
We are blessed that you’ve taken the time to hang out with just and join us on this healthy lifestyle journey. Y’all ROCK!
Until next time…blessings to you and your family!
Pivot Then Live It: The Blog
Mitch Fairchild 
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