Are You A Christian Cheerleader?

By Cami Checketts

I used to be a rah-rah. Yes, many years ago I donned a too-short skirt and pom-poms and cheered my team on to victory. That was back in the days when cheerleaders wore cheerleading uniforms that covered all their sides. Our group of rah-rahs firmly believed we were supporting our team. We were their good-luck charm. In our minds we were selfless creatures holding up the sidelines for the greater good.

As Christians, we are all called to be Christian cheerleaders. We take upon us the responsibility of lifting and loving everyone in our path. To get you in the spirit of Christian cheerleading, I have a couple of challenges for you today.

Read more

You Really DO Have Self-Control!

By Cami Checketts

I often talk myself into making health-related mistakes. It’s easier to convince myself that I don’t have any self-control rather than make my taste buds suffer. For example, I say that I can’t stop myself from eating that bowl of ice cream. I can’t stop myself from baking another batch of cookies and eating snitches of dough. I can’t stop myself at a party because everything looks so amazing. It’s always nice to say I can’t help it or blame someone else. It’s easy to say it’s not my fault–it’s my innate lack of self-control. Or if all else fails, I can blame it on my mother’s sweet-tooth gene.

I am here to tell you that this is a load of garbage!

From this day forward, I am going to look at things in a different way: Because of Jesus, I’ve got more self-control than I know what to do with! He tells me in John 15 that if I abide in him, he’ll produce spiritual fruit in me. And when I look at the list of spiritual fruit found in Galatians 5, I discover that self-control is right there! That means that if I stay close to Jesus and rely on him, he will produce all of the self-control I need.

Read more

Delayed Gratification

By Cami Checketts

“The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want now.” Zig Ziglar

We live in a society of instant gratification. Need a question answered? Minutes on the internet and you’ll have more information than you could possibly use. Hungry? Wendy’s will have your dinner ready in minutes. Tired? Drink a Red Bull and you’ll feel pep immediately.

Read more

Variety Is The Key

The human body is amazing!  It adapts quickly to stresses placed upon it.  This was a very good characteristic for our ancestors, but not so great for us.

Stuck in a modern society of ease and convenience–with washing machines, fast food, and speedy cars–we also have obesity, heart problems, and many different health challenges that come with inactivity.

Because our bodies are so impressive, we have to work harder and challenge ourselves differently to maintain optimum health and vigor.  When we look at living better and longer, we would be wise to remember what Theodore Roosevelt said: “Nothing worth gaining was ever gained without effort.”  If we want to increase our fitness and health, we have to be willing to push ourselves.  But if we do the same activity over and over again, we will really have to work hard to keep seeing results.

Read more

Bring on the Sunshine

By Cami Checketts –

Serving others brings sunshine into our very souls and health to our bodies. Jesus gave us the greatest example of serving our fellowmen. I suppose part of the joy that comes from serving is because we are acting as Jesus would.

I’m always searching for ways to teach my four sons to serve each other and serve others. They love to play outside and be active so we try to combine making opportunities to serve… and get some exercise. The following list includes a few of our favorite ways to do both:

1 – Going to the park. We love riding our bikes to the park and bringing our baseball mitts, lacrosse sticks, or a soccer ball. The little ones play on the play-set while the big guys work on improving their skills with their favorite sports, and we all enjoy some great family time. When we have the chance, we bring neighbor or family members’ children to give the parents a break and do a little service.

2 – Yard work. Sometimes it’s hard to convince the boys that this is fun, but we usually make it through once they get in the spirit of it. Gardening also burns almost three hundred calories per hour and if you plant vegetables you’ll be blessed with healthy and inexpensive food. It’s especially fun if we can help others with their yard work or share the produce from our garden. Last spring our nine-year-old came up with the idea to pick all the peas in the garden and take them to elderly people who couldn’t get out and grow their own vegetables. It was an unreal experience. The people were grateful for the peas, but even more grateful for a boy who took time to think of them.

3 – Going on visits. When it’s nice outside and we can ride bikes or scooters to visit the elderly or those who need a friend, it makes it much easier to get my boys excited about visiting.

4 – Nature walks. We love to walk around our area and appreciate the beauty the Lord has blessed us with: a newborn calf, wildflowers, frogs in the pond, sticks we can battle brothers with. Our world is so beautiful. And there are many opportunities to bond with family members when we get outside to enjoy them (except when the stick battle gets a little out of hand!).

5 – Hikes. We recently took our boys on a seven-mile hike through ankle-deep sand. It was miserable, but they were champions. They helped each other and they helped me have a good attitude. They talked about our ancestors who had to walk across the plains, and they reminded me that sometimes they were starving and dehydrated, but we had water and half a granola bar to share. It turned into a neat experience (that I don’t want to repeat soon!). We learned a valuable lesson: we need to be more prepared when we go on serious hikes (pack more than half a granola bar) and always keep a positive attitude.

These are just a few ideas that get our family outside, give us more opportunities to serve and bond together, and have fun. During this beautiful time of year, I pray we can all get out and enjoy the sunshine as well as share the sunshine with others.

What is your favorite outdoor activity? How can you incorporate service into these activities?

Next Page »