In God's time...

Our Daily Bread
I have to apologize.  I am impatient sometimes!  DOH!  hehehe  When I am driving.  When I am in line at the grocery store.  When I want to look at directions on my iPhone.  Waiting for the special man in my life.  Oh well.  I try to be patient!

The devotional today talks about how God's time is not always our time.  We can see delays and things not going as we planned as inconveniences instead of opportunities from God.  I have actually been patient and looked for these opportunities a few times in my life.  ;-p  They can be amazing.  God can use you to speak to someone who needs a kind word.  Make someone smile who had a hard day.  Call a friend that needs some encouragement.  Or, call your best friend to vent about your week!  I have done them all!  Sometimes I just wait and listen for God to speak to me.  How cool is that!

Lord, I want to be patient so I can act on the opportunities that you send my way -- even if I might be late!

Witness Wednesday
Deliverance...
I thought a lot more about the first part of Exodus over the weekend.  I kept thinking to myself how much I am like the children of Israel in that period.  They kept romanticizing the past life in Egypt.  The food tasted better (they actually HAD food...)  hehehe  They had water.  They didn't have to walk around the desert.  They didn't have to fight for their lives.  Blah, blah, blah.  None of those complaints were really valid.  God promised them an exciting new life of freedom and blessing if they only served him.

I kept thinking about how I romanticize some of the unhealthy things in my life.  Wow, that box of Hohos was the best yet!  Wow, that guy was the nicest guy I have ever gone out with! (not by a long shot).  I decided that I will do my best to stop that!

I am listening to a song by Holly Cole called "I can see clearly now".  You have probably heard the song by other artists.  I am finally letting God open my eyes to the things around me.  I can see clearly now (despite my eye problems!).  It IS going to be a bright sun-shiny day in my life because I have God in my life.  Wow!

So when I start to think about the past and romanticizing the old life I now say "I will NOT go back to Egypt! I will NOT go back to Egypt!"  Yes, things will be different.  I will not take one step forward and then two steps back.  I will NOT look back!

What thing or relationship or situation in your life is an "Egypt"?  Identify them.  Vow to yourself and to God "I will NOT go back to Egypt".  If I can do it, then anyone can!  ;-)

Other Stuff
I was very tired after work so I took a short nap when I got home.  I bounced up and went outside to work on the landscaping one last time this year.  I broke up the clump of hostas that my buddy gave me last night and planted them.  I relocated the decorative grass from the side of the garage to the back beds.  I raked the leaves on the street in front of my house.  Whew.  I also poured my two gas cans into my gas tank.  I started filling up three five gallon gas cans when I get a large gas discount at Giant Eagle.  I can save the discount on another fifteen gallons.  Woohooo!  The cans paid for themselves the first time I used them!  I have to admit that pouring the gas in manually is a pain in the patootey.  I save money.  I can deal with it.

I had a reasonable supper that was very tasty (turkey and veggies).  I picked up a box of high fiber brownies at Costco that are low in sugar.  They help me feel full in the evenings.  I have lost 15.8 pounds so far during my lifestyle change.  Woohooooo!  I will keep plugging along.  I would like to be at the 25 pound mark when I drive to St Louis for Thanksgiving.  I can almost fit in my normal pants again.  Double Woohoooo!

Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you!