couch potato and john

i got home around 6:30 last night to a boiling pot of sinigang. i had been craving it since last week and my husband decided to surprise me with a pot of the yummy goodness filled with tomatoes, onions, kang-kong, squeezed tamarind, and pork ribs. delicious. although i had told myself that i would hit the gym that evening, i felt gorged so i decided to watch some tv until i was able to function again. wrong move. i ended up watching tv for 3 hours straight. 3 HOURS. the worse part is, this has become a daily routine. Lord, help me. i ’ve fallen into that trap.

as i lay in bed @ 11:30pm, i was restless with guilt. that’s when i busted open my yoga mat and decided to do some pilates (mediocre stretching was more like it). it helped me breathe a little easier (still being satiated with asim soup). regardless, i knew deep inside what i had become…

a couch patato. (cue: scary horror music)

you know that feeling when you haven't been exercising but you convince yourself that you can still do the things you did when you were 19? it's the biggest mental denial ever. anyway, the good thing about this entry is that i have accepted the truth -- and knowing what i've become is half the battle.

here’s another segment on my thoughts on john 1.

[verse 43-50 NLT]

45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses[a] and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”
48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”
49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”

i ’m going to begin by focusing on this question– can anything good come out of Nazareth?
i guess it's best to describe nazareth as mean and ugly place. in one passage the Nazarenes even attempted to kill Jesus by throwing him off a cliff (Luke 4:29) Uh, can anything good come from south central LA? (i’m tempted to talk about how God can use second-rate people to do great things but i ’ll leave that for another entry)
in the next verse, jesus heralds nate (aka bartholomew) as a true descendant of jacob, a righteous man without a false bone in his body. nate is stumped and asks, “how do you know this about me?” then jesus replied, “coz i saw you chilling under the shade, studying my word, wondering when will i ever come.” then bam! with such a simple revelation nate is awestruck with certainty and excitement- his Savior has come!

one of the best things i love about jesus is his ability to bring colossal revelations in the simplest, sweetest, and most basic of ways- in ways that are personal and customized to hit my christie-shaped heart. and the best part? once you decide to believe, he’ll show you even greater things unimaginable. why? coz like i said, he’s just that awesome.