Live Well - Burning Calories While....

Today at "Live Well Wednesdays" our precious sister Darlene continues to bless us with fabulous, fun and creative ways to lose weight by honoring God first in our lives! I just LOVE that about her! Please be sure to visit her today to read her post as well as others who are participating in "Live Well Wednesdays".

Like Darlene, I LOVE to garden! And it is definitely a wonderful way to have some sweet, sweet quiet time with the Lord, as it seems I can hear Him better when I'm in the midst of His beautiful plants and flowers! But as she stated, winters-a-comin' so we gardeners have gotta get goin' out of our gardens and IN some where else to stay fit.

Darlene has a fun and creative way to do that....but you'll have to go visit her post to find out what it is! *wink* *wink*

For me, well, it may not sound too exciting, but necessary....can I get a drum roll please?

It's, it's.......HOUSEWORK!!!! Yes, what you've all been waiting to hear and I'm sure long to do each day! I know you dream about housework because you love it so much! I sure do! NOT!!!

Okay, the truth is, I don't mind housework and I do very much enjoy when it's done (I LOVE a clean house, it's so satisfying!), but I certainly do not dream about it. :-)

Just in case you're wondering, refer to the table below to review the stats on how many calories you can burn doing housework :

**The numbers listed are determined for a person who weighs 160 lbs. and involve themselves in each "chore" for 30 minutes. People who weigh more than 160 lbs. or work longer than 30 minutes will burn more calories than noted.**

Playing with Kids	192 calories
Cooking	96 calories
Mopping	112 calories
Dusting	120 calories
Grocery Shopping	190 calories
Making a Bed	94 calories
Ironing Clothes	190 calories
Vacuuming	196 calories
Washing dishes	144 calories

The thing that inspires me so much about this is that the ordinary always becomes extraordinary when given to the Lord. Everyone LOVES a clean house, but not everyone loves to clean one. Everyone LOVES to be believe they're right with God, going to Heaven and have a clear conscience before the Lord our God. But not everyone wants to repent (confess your sins, hate them, turn to God and love Him and all His ways) and get their hearts clean. Both are "dirty work"....but someone's gotta do it!

So, I propose to you today a different perspective on housework, that will not only benefit your body, but your spirit as well. Don't look at your housework as a mundane and necessary chore, like the world does, but look at it with the perspective of Heaven, as a child of God would.

As you clean your house today, pray (Psalm 139:23-24 and Psalm 19:14) and get your heart clean as well! Not only will you burn physical calories, but you will be burning away the chaff of your spiritual burdens as well!

No wonder God had King Solomon write in Ecclesiastes 3:13:

"Also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil -- this is God's gift to man."

So will you join me in taking pleasure in all our toil today? A clean house and a clean heart....ahhhh, what a beautiful pair!

cleaning house and heart today,