Psalm 91

You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night in Shaddai's shadow,
Say this: "God, you're my refuge.
I trust in you and I'm safe!"
That's right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
under them you're perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm.
Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,
not flying arrows in the day,
Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
not disaster that erupts at high noon.
Even though others succumb all around,
drop like flies right and left,
no harm will even graze you.
You'll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
watch the wicked turn into corpses.
Yes, because God's your refuge,
the High God your very own home,
Evil can't get close to you,
harm can't get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they'll catch you;
their job is to keep you from falling.
You'll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

"If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God,
"I'll get you out of any trouble.
I'll give you the best of care
if you'll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times;
I'll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I'll give you a long life,
give you a long drink of salvation!"

Updates

Good Morning, Bloggers.

Allan's dad Mark, who stayed with him in the hospital last night, just called to give me an update on Allan's condition: he has been stable all night and is still improving. Allan's second surgery to repair the bullet's damage will be some time today based on the emergency surgery schedule. Please keep him your prayers, as he still has a long road ahead of him.

If you are interested in receiving updates on Allan's status, I will be tweeting updates that auto update my facebook page. I am making both mine and Allan's profiles on Twitter and Facebook private, as I do not want the news outlets using this information. So, please follow me or send me a friend request and if I know how who you are or if you explain to me who you are, I will let you follow the updates. I am hoping that this will all blow over and I can once again make my tweets/updates public.

Last night WCCO, a local news outlet, specifically Maya Nishikawa, one of their resporters, went against our wishes and used Allan's name and facebook profile photo on the lead story of the evening news along with:

• Giving an incorrect update on his status (the opposite of what was true)
• Recounting a false account of what ensued at our home
• Interviewing our neighbors
• Stopping by my HOUSE when my parents were there picking up some of my belongings
• Calling our family, friends and the hospital repeatedly

If the reporters and news outlets would really like Allan to get better and keep this sort of thing from happening to someone else, they should be respect our privacy and the delicate nature of this ongoing investigation. The hospital staff is not there to be give you an update on Allan's status every hour on the hour, they are supposed to be ensuring that sick people get better - let them do their job.

Prayers Needed...

Early this morning my husband, Allan, was the victim of a shooting and is in need of your prayers. Please keep him in your thoughts.

Allan is currently in stable condition at the Hennepin County Medical Center. The local newstations have been covering the story and I would appreciate it if they would respect our family's privacy in this very difficult time.

Thanks.
Maria

Birthday Week

Good Morning, Bloggers! I hope that you are having a wonderful week so far! I know that I have... clean, busy, and filled with activity. ;-)

Around our house, we celebrate Birthday Week, not just a Birth Day. So, starting last Sunday, my Birthday Week has begun. Usually Birthday Week would start exactly a week from my Birthday (which is Saturday, the 5th), but this year I opted to have it start a day later so that I can get the entire holiday weekend into Birthday Week.

In reality, there is not much that goes down during Birthday Week that is out of the ordinary... but it's just fun to say it's my birthday week and I can do what I want to do...

Over the weekend I planned on creating a new lifting program for the next few weeks; however, after much consideration, I have decided to restart New Rules of Lifting for Women (NROL4W). I finished all the last stages of the book last June and saw great results in fat loss, muscle gain and overall endurance. I also enjoyed the challenge and workout combinations and realized that I really miss the structure that the book brings to my routines. I started Workout A of Stage 1 on Monday. Does anyone want to join me?

I wish that I could find another book like NROL4W that is specifically tailored to women lifting heavy. I know that Rachel Cosgrove is coming out with a new book for women in November, The Female Body Breakthrough, and I am hoping that it will be a resource like NROL4W; but until then, I will be pumping iron in the NROL4W fashion.

I have not posted my eats in a couple days, so here they are:

Monday
Meal 1: 1/3 c dry oatmeal cooked with 4 egg whites, ½ banana, and 2 tbsp ground flax, 2 tbsp wheat germ
Meal 2: nonfat plain yogurt + mango
Meal 3: Summertime Risotto leftovers + cucumbers
Meal 4: pumpkin protein muffins
Meal 5: (post workout) kefir + protein powder + spinach + ½ banana
Meal 6: adobo rubbed pork tenderloin + pico de gallo
Meal 7: sprouted grain toast (during the Vikings game)

Tuesday
Meal 1: 1/3 c dry oatmeal cooked with 4 egg whites, ½ banana, and 2 tbsp ground flax, 2 tbsp wheat germ
Meal 2: nonfat plain yogurt + mango
Meal 3: (at a lunch meeting) chicken + strawberries + romaine + 1 tsp poppyseed dressing
Meal 4: pumpkin protein muffins
Meal 5: Almost Tandoori Chicken + Sautéed Broccoli Rabe + whole wheat baguette

Wednesday
Meal 1: 1/3 c dry oatmeal cooked with 4 egg whites, ½ banana, and 2 tbsp ground flax, 2 tbsp wheat germ
Meal 2: nonfat plain yogurt + mango
Meal 3: Pork tenderloin + pico de gallo + cucumbers
Meal 4: pumpkin protein muffins + celery
Meal 5: (postworkout) kefir + protein powder + spinach + ½ banana
Meal 6: apple glazed pork chops + potatoes

Have you pre-ordered the new Eat Clean Cookbook and Eat-Clean Diet Companion? If not, what are you waiting for? Both books are releasing this fall and Tosca just posted previews both books here. They look fabulous and I cannot wait to get my hands on them!!!

Also, Tosca's new book The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged is now available for Amazon pre-order.

Now if we could only get Flexing at 49 aired in the U.S. we would be set!