Our Daily Bread
While I am usually a very organized planner type of person. I have had several occurrences of "last minute"-itis in my life! Won't go into details. Sometimes things worked out OK. Sometimes not so much. Whew... At least I started my relationship with God early in life!
The devotional talks about the tragedy of waiting til it is too late to establish a relationship with God. Yikes! That is way more horrible than waiting til the last minute to turn in a writing assignment (not that I have ever done that...). WAY more horrible! Turn to God today. Pray for others today. Serve God today. This is the day the Lord hath made. Let is rejoice and be glad in it!
Lord, we rejoice in this day. Please help us overcome and not just survive!
Wellness Wednesday
I am sort of a frugal person. I joke that I spend less on the stuff I need so I can buy more of what I want! ha! Here is a cool article I found recently.
7 Frugal Habits Everyone Should Develop
[full article]
One of the most direct way to change your life, you need to change your attitude.
No one else is responsible for what happens to you but you, so you can either complain about the things you don’t like in your life or you can set about changing them. Not surprisingly, this directly relates to the state of your finances.
If you’re tired of living paycheck to paycheck, having your phone regularly cut off, or making excuses to skip dinners with your friends, then you can use these seven habits to take control of your money situation and live a happier and more frugal lifestyle.
Habit One: Be Proactive
The first habit to develop is to take responsibility; if you fail, you have no one to blame but yourself. Regardless of how you were raised or how you were treated at school, you can choose your behavior now. Being proactive means understanding that YOU are in control of your day-to-day interactions, and thereby, the direction your life takes. This is in stark comparison to a reactive person, who is often affected by their environment and will find external sources to blame for their behavior. For example, if the weather is good, they’re in a good mood, but if the weather is bad, it affects them and they blame the weather for their bad mood.
[Here are 6 action steps to take when you feel financially vulnerable.]
What most people forget is that though you can’t control the stimulus, you can control your response. One of your most important choices is your words; the language you use is an effective indication of how you see yourself. If you use proactive language, such as “I can” or “I will,” you’re starting with a more positive attitude than someone who uses language like “I can’t” or “I have to” or “If only.”
How to be proactive for effective frugality:
Take the first step. You cannot take control of your finances until you make the commitment to do so; the more you ignore the situation, the worse it will get. Instead, take a long hard look at your finances — your budget, debts, income, and expenses, and try to understand where your money is going and where you can budget better. (To help you out, here are 25 ways to pay off your debt more easily.)
Tell people. Using proactive language to vocalize your hope of being more financially responsible not only helps you crystallize your goal, but it can also help you avoid the peer pressure that makes budgeting and frugality hard. If you explain to your friends and family that you’re trying to live a more frugal lifestyle, they’ll be less likely to pressure you into one more round of drinks or another dinner out.
Listen. Listen to yourself and to the reasons you give each time you make a purchase outside of your budget or decide not to put spare money into your savings account. Taking the time to stop and listen to the reasons you give yourself for spending more than you earn will give you the opportunity to hear just how shallow many of those reasons are. This can stop you from making purchases that impede your goal of effective frugality.
Habit Two: Begin with the End in Mind
Those who are effective in achieving their goals are able to envisage their desired end result in spite of the obstacles. Effective people adhere to this habit based on the principle that all things are created twice; there is first the mental creation, then the physical creation. The physical creation follows the mental creation the same way that a building follows its blueprints.
If you don’t visualize what you want, then you’re at risk of other people and external circumstances influencing your life – because you’re not influencing it yourself. Instead, begin every day and every task with a clear vision of where you want to go and how you’re going to get there. Make that vision a reality with your proactive skills from habit one.
How to visualize effective frugality:
Define your goal. There are many ways to live a frugal lifestyle, and you need to decide how frugal you want to be. Do you want to be debt free, build a savings account of a certain value, or live on one income in a two-income household?
Decide how you’re going to get there. This will again draw on your budget, but you need to be aware of the obstacles that are standing in your way. These may be literal obstacles, such as credit card debts, or they may be obstacles you’ve identified in your behavior. An example of a behavioral obstacle would be spending $10 every day on junk food on your way home from work, because you’re starving. Instead, you could be packing an inexpensive granola bar to keep you going until dinner. Or, do you find that when you go shopping with your sister, she always helps you justify a frivolous purchase, when you could leave your credit card at home?
MoneyNing Tip: Make sure your goals are SMART!
Habit Three: Put First Things First
Knowing WHY you’re doing something is an incredible motivator in helping you transform a mental creation into an actual physical creation of your goal. Ask yourself what the things are that you find most valuable and worthy to you. When you put these things first, you’ll be organizing and managing your time around your personal priorities to make them a reality.
For many people, it’s hard to say no, but this is exactly the skill you have to learn to keep your goals as your first priority. While we are constantly told we can have it all, in reality, having it all is really about prioritizing what is most important to YOU to have, and then focusing on that.
How to put effective frugality first:
Recognize the effects of your finances. You may not dedicate as much time as you should to managing your finances and practicing frugal principles because you feel there’s always something more important to be doing — whether it’s work, taking the kids to soccer practice, or getting ready for dinner with the girls. If your finances aren’t under control, however, and you’re regularly spending more than you earn, then they’re having a negative impact on every other aspect of your life, from your work to your family and friends. You need to recognize that being frugal is your first priority.
Just say no. It’s easy to spend more than your budgeted amount each month when you’re worried about missing out on a dinner with friends, feel as though you have to cater a birthday party for your son and 50 of his closest friends, or don’t want to wear the same suit to a work conference two years in a row. If you recognize that you don’t have to take on everything and that it’s okay to say no, then you’ll find you’re more in control of your spending and your budget.
Habit Four: Think Win-Win
Most of us are taught to base our self-worth on comparisons to others and competition against our peers. We think we can only succeed if someone else has failed. We’re also taught that there’s only so much pie to go around, so if you get a big piece, then someone else is missing out. When you think like this, you’re going to feel like nothing is ever fair. As a result, many of us retaliate and take the pie before someone else can take it from us.
Thinking in a win-win mindset allows you to see mutual benefits from all of your interactions. By doing this, you’ll see that the pie tastes even better when it’s shared. If you can approach conflicts and problems with a win-win attitude, you’ll be able to express your ideas and feelings with courage, while still maintaining consideration for the feelings and ideas of others. When you have an abundance mentality, you’re able to see that there is enough for everyone, and that by balancing your confidence with empathy, you can achieve your goals while helping others achieve theirs.
How to create frugal win-win situations:
Recognize that you don’t always know the full story. As you aim to implement frugal principles and stick to a budget, you may often find yourself thinking “it’s not fair.” It’s not fair that they get to go out to dinner. It’s not fair that they get a new car. It’s not fair that they get to go on vacation, and I don’t. Take the time to realize, however, that you’re only seeing a small part of the finances of your friends and family who seem to “have it all.” And though it’s hard to watch your best friend take a dream European holiday, or your brother buy the car you covet, you’ll get there, too — if you manage your finances frugally. And the best part? There will still be plenty of holiday destinations and fast cars when that time rolls around.
Understand the difference between possessions and net worth. While your friends and family may seem to have a fuller lifestyle because their house is bigger or their car is newer, you need to consider that it could just be a facade covering their mountains of debt. True wealth is not measured in possessions, but in assets. When the value of your assets is greater than the amount you owe on mortgages, car loans, and credit card debts, then you have a strong net worth and are truly wealthy. By trying to live a more effectively frugal lifestyle, you’ll be able to achieve true wealth, rather than just a life full of stuff.
MoneyNing Tip: When building wealth, remember to look at the big picture, too.
Habit Five: Communication
At its base, communication is the desire to be heard and understood. Most people will listen with the intention to reply to what you’re saying, rather than to understand what you’ve said. To effectively communicate, you need to first understand. If you communicate with the sole intention of being understood, you may ignore what others are saying and miss their meaning entirely. Don’t just wait for your turn to talk; pay attention to what people are trying to tell you.
How listening can help you be effectively frugal:
You are not the only person in your life. Chances are you’re married or in a relationship, have friends or children, or all of the above. As a result, you’re not the only person being affected by your decision to live a more frugal lifestyle. To be effective in your goal of frugality, you need to be able to listen to and understand the goals and behaviors of the other people in your life, too. Consider how effective your frugality would be if you were taking packed lunches to work and avoiding the afternoon coffee run, while your partner was going on shopping sprees during their lunch break. Instead of living a more frugal lifestyle, you’d really be saving on one end and spending on the other.
Understand the goals and needs of others. While it’s important to explain your desire to live more frugally, it’s also important that you understand the goals and needs of those around you. This way, you can find a way to be more frugal without them having to give up all of the things that are most important to them. You can’t know what those things are unless you listen.
Habit Six: Synergize
Interactions and teamwork are some of the most important ways you can learn new skills and more effective behaviors. Synergizing is the habit of creative cooperation — working as a team to find new solutions to existing problems. Synergy is not something that just happens. It’s a process where you bring all of your personal experience and expertise to the table, enabling more effective results than those you would have been able to achieve individually. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
When you have genuine interactions with people, you’re able to gain new insights and see new approaches to your problems — ones you might not have thought of before.
How to synergize for effective frugality:
Look for new ways. In a society that excels at consumerism, you’ve probably already realized that you need to find new ways of doing just about everything to be frugal. It’s easy to buy your lunch every day, but it’s more frugal to pack it. It’s easy to drive to work, but it’s more frugal to take the train. It’s easy to buy a new cocktail dress, but it’s more frugal to make one.
Surround yourself with other frugal people. To be successful in your quest for frugality, surround yourself with like-minded people. Find people who are where you want to be by joining online frugal-living forums, striking up a friendship with a fellow coupon-cutter, or starting a sewing club. When you’re around people with the same goals as you, you’ll be able to share ideas and learn from each other.
MoneyNing Tip: Learn to embrace the positive influence of saving money.
Habit Seven: Sharpen the Saw
You’re the greatest asset you have on your journey to achieving the lifestyle you want, so you need to look after yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Taking the time to renew yourself in these areas of your life will give you strength to maintain the previous six habits, which are essential for your success.
How to frugally renew yourself:
Physically. By eating better, you’ll feel better. Take it another step further and start your own vegetable patch, which will save you money at the supermarket and be healthier for you. Exercising keeps you fit and healthy, and it doesn’t cost you anything to go for a walk, ride a bike, or skip rope in the backyard. To rest your body, you don’t need to go to a day spa; you can simply relax in the tub at home.
Emotionally. Interacting socially with others allows you to make meaningful connections, and it makes you feel good. This can be achieved by chatting with the woman at the coffee shop or by calling your mom once a week.
Mentally. Exercising and expanding your mind through learning, reading, writing, and teaching can be done frugally. Visit your local library, or volunteer at a school or retirement home to teach others a skill you may be taking for granted.
Spiritually. Spend time close to nature and expand your spiritual self through meditation, music, art, or prayer. Take a quiet moment to center yourself and empty your mind before going to bed. Or, go for a hike and be grateful for the beauty of nature surrounding you.
Frugality doesn’t mean having to give up all the luxuries and things which make you happy. Don’t get burned out by developing habits one through six without taking the time to renew yourself. Frugality is something you want to develop and maintain for the long-term. Follow these seven habits, and you’ll be on your way to becoming a highly frugal person.
Do you consider yourself a highly frugal person? How did you get there?
This post was originally written by Alban, and a parody of the amazing book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He’s a personal finance writer for Finder.com.au.
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For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.- Psalm 117:2
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Wake up!
Our Daily Bread
A close friend tells a joke about the supposed death of his grandfather (who was not really dead yet). "Yes, my grandfather died peacefully in his sleep. The screaming of the other folks in the car he was driving at the time didn't phase him!" ha! My side my side! hahaha
Just like the passengers wondered how the grandfather could have fallen asleep at such a critical time, the disciples wondered how Jesus could have fallen asleep in a terrible storm that threatened to kill them all. I can just hear our Lord awaking, lovingly calming the storm then looking at the disciples incredulously when he asked "Why are you afraid? I GOT this!" (my translation) hahaha
How many times in our lives do we act all disciple-ish? We have Jesus on board in our lives and we still fear the storms as if he wasn't around! Maybe we need one of those cute little signs in our car windows: Jesus on Board! ;-)
Lord, you are always with us and calm the storms within us and around us. We thank you and praise you!
Teaching Tuesday
Ephesians
We read the book of Ephesians this week. I am not sure what all to say about the experience of reading it again and what our text said about the book. It is very different than what most folks learn in Sunday school. It could be upsetting to some folks to say the least. Here are some of my notes in the four category format we use in EFM:
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I pray the weight of my sins doth not crush me back to dust from where I came. I pray that God create in me a new, clean heart and place a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. Praise the Almighty God from whom all blessings flow.
A close friend tells a joke about the supposed death of his grandfather (who was not really dead yet). "Yes, my grandfather died peacefully in his sleep. The screaming of the other folks in the car he was driving at the time didn't phase him!" ha! My side my side! hahaha
Just like the passengers wondered how the grandfather could have fallen asleep at such a critical time, the disciples wondered how Jesus could have fallen asleep in a terrible storm that threatened to kill them all. I can just hear our Lord awaking, lovingly calming the storm then looking at the disciples incredulously when he asked "Why are you afraid? I GOT this!" (my translation) hahaha
How many times in our lives do we act all disciple-ish? We have Jesus on board in our lives and we still fear the storms as if he wasn't around! Maybe we need one of those cute little signs in our car windows: Jesus on Board! ;-)
Lord, you are always with us and calm the storms within us and around us. We thank you and praise you!
Teaching Tuesday
Ephesians
We read the book of Ephesians this week. I am not sure what all to say about the experience of reading it again and what our text said about the book. It is very different than what most folks learn in Sunday school. It could be upsetting to some folks to say the least. Here are some of my notes in the four category format we use in EFM:
This is Amazing
Eph 2:8 saved by faith
3:18 love of Christ
This Befuddles/Bothers me
The predestination passage in 1:11
Stop fighting each other and fight against evil.
This is worthy of Celebration
We are sealed by his HS through faith
Ch 6 spiritual armor
I want to Dig Deeper into this
Submit to husband stuff
I have been thinking and praying about the submit to husband passage for several years now and how it applies to relationships today. Does it apply at all? Does it apply to a same sex marriage? I got some very stern looks when I suggested that last possibility in the "gay" church in Columbus like I was crazy. As I joke with friends -- I am not crazy; my mother had me tested. ha!
Ephesians has some very cool passages. I tend to focus on those!
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I pray the weight of my sins doth not crush me back to dust from where I came. I pray that God create in me a new, clean heart and place a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. Praise the Almighty God from whom all blessings flow.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Walk the talk
Our Daily Bread
Have you ever met someone who actually lived what they professed to believe? Whoa! You might say. I do! If I am honest with myself, I have to admit that I am not as loving or Godly as I think I am! Just ask my coworkers! Yikes! How about you? Do you walk the talk?
The scripture passage today is from 1Cor 13, affectionately known as the Love chapter. I hadn't thought of the fact that Christ gave us the example of how to live this chapter. He was our example. He lived what he preached. He "walked the talk"! Let us pray for each other that we can truly walk the talk!
Lord, thank you for being our example. We love you and praise you!
Psalm Sunday
Wow! We are nearing the end of the Psalms! Let's look at Psalm 140 this week. Woe be to the evil ones!
Psalm 140
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers;
protect me from the violent,
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts
and stir up war every day.
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s;
the poison of vipers is on their lips.
4 Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from the violent,
who devise ways to trip my feet.
5 The arrogant have hidden a snare for me;
they have spread out the cords of their net
and have set traps for me along my path.
6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Hear, Lord, my cry for mercy.
7 Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,
you shield my head in the day of battle.
8 Do not grant the wicked their desires, Lord;
do not let their plans succeed.
9 Those who surround me proudly rear their heads;
may the mischief of their lips engulf them.
10 May burning coals fall on them;
may they be thrown into the fire,
into miry pits, never to rise.
11 May slanderers not be established in the land;
may disaster hunt down the violent.
12 I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
and upholds the cause of the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will praise your name,
and the upright will live in your presence.
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Revivals greatest enemy is Pride, and the only bride Revival will walk down the isle with is Humility. Humility will deny herself the right of self gratification rather than turn away from God to fulfill her own pleasures, and she will not allow herself to receive the praise that should go to another (especially the Lord). Finally, she will rush to renounce herself, rather than sitting quietly when her Lord is robed of His glory. Oh, Father, we are so unlike her, but may we meet her so that we may walk down the isle to Revival and true Christlikeness? from Jonathan Edwards on Humility in Religious Affections
Have you ever met someone who actually lived what they professed to believe? Whoa! You might say. I do! If I am honest with myself, I have to admit that I am not as loving or Godly as I think I am! Just ask my coworkers! Yikes! How about you? Do you walk the talk?
The scripture passage today is from 1Cor 13, affectionately known as the Love chapter. I hadn't thought of the fact that Christ gave us the example of how to live this chapter. He was our example. He lived what he preached. He "walked the talk"! Let us pray for each other that we can truly walk the talk!
Lord, thank you for being our example. We love you and praise you!
Psalm Sunday
Wow! We are nearing the end of the Psalms! Let's look at Psalm 140 this week. Woe be to the evil ones!
Psalm 140
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers;
protect me from the violent,
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts
and stir up war every day.
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s;
the poison of vipers is on their lips.
4 Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from the violent,
who devise ways to trip my feet.
5 The arrogant have hidden a snare for me;
they have spread out the cords of their net
and have set traps for me along my path.
6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Hear, Lord, my cry for mercy.
7 Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,
you shield my head in the day of battle.
8 Do not grant the wicked their desires, Lord;
do not let their plans succeed.
9 Those who surround me proudly rear their heads;
may the mischief of their lips engulf them.
10 May burning coals fall on them;
may they be thrown into the fire,
into miry pits, never to rise.
11 May slanderers not be established in the land;
may disaster hunt down the violent.
12 I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
and upholds the cause of the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will praise your name,
and the upright will live in your presence.
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Revivals greatest enemy is Pride, and the only bride Revival will walk down the isle with is Humility. Humility will deny herself the right of self gratification rather than turn away from God to fulfill her own pleasures, and she will not allow herself to receive the praise that should go to another (especially the Lord). Finally, she will rush to renounce herself, rather than sitting quietly when her Lord is robed of His glory. Oh, Father, we are so unlike her, but may we meet her so that we may walk down the isle to Revival and true Christlikeness? from Jonathan Edwards on Humility in Religious Affections
Why?
Our Daily Bread
Have you ever been around a young child that is in the "Why?" stage? Every answer you give generates another "Why?" question! Aren't we that way with God sometimes? ha!
In my journey, I find that a healthy mixture of prayer, Bible study and asking Why? helps me grow in faith. There are times, as I have learned. that the Why? is not important. Trusting God is the most important thing during those times. Answering the Why? questions in a meek and patient manner is our goal when helping others when they ask the Why? questions!
Why, why, why, dear Lord? I love you, I trust you, I thank you, I praise you. They Why's don't matter!
Movie Monday
I got to see three movies last week (to make up from the week before!).
Brick Mansions
This is one of Paul Walker's last movies. I hadn't heard of it until a week or two before it was released. It is the story of a policeman who is on a revenge journey about the death of his father who was also a policeman. There is LOTS of action in this movie. Amazing stuff! Lots of action. A good story line. Very cool flick. The only thing I didn't like was the cursing. ;-(
I give this movie three bear paws. See it at the theater to get the full effects of the action scenes.
Haunted House 2
Do NOT waste you money on this film. I knew what I was getting in to and was still disappointed! ha! There were a few funny parts. I saw it because Gabriel Iglesias and Cedric were in it. Do not waste any of your life seeing this movie. Life is too short! hahaha
I give this movie zero bear paws. It was that bad.
Transcendance
This is a Johnny Depp movie that was different than most of his others. I was fascinated by the artificial intelligence and nano technology aspects of the movie. Many folks would not be. In short, the consciousness of Johnny Depp's character was uploaded to an AI system before he died. He "transcended" as he put it. His incredible mind set free inside a massive AI system yielded incredible results in the movie.
I give it three bear paws. I was fascinated by it. You will probably still like it if you aren't a science geek like me. ;-)
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Living out of love for God and pleasing Him should be our heart’s desire. - Our Daily Bread
Have you ever been around a young child that is in the "Why?" stage? Every answer you give generates another "Why?" question! Aren't we that way with God sometimes? ha!
In my journey, I find that a healthy mixture of prayer, Bible study and asking Why? helps me grow in faith. There are times, as I have learned. that the Why? is not important. Trusting God is the most important thing during those times. Answering the Why? questions in a meek and patient manner is our goal when helping others when they ask the Why? questions!
Why, why, why, dear Lord? I love you, I trust you, I thank you, I praise you. They Why's don't matter!
Movie Monday
I got to see three movies last week (to make up from the week before!).
Brick Mansions
This is one of Paul Walker's last movies. I hadn't heard of it until a week or two before it was released. It is the story of a policeman who is on a revenge journey about the death of his father who was also a policeman. There is LOTS of action in this movie. Amazing stuff! Lots of action. A good story line. Very cool flick. The only thing I didn't like was the cursing. ;-(
I give this movie three bear paws. See it at the theater to get the full effects of the action scenes.
Haunted House 2
Do NOT waste you money on this film. I knew what I was getting in to and was still disappointed! ha! There were a few funny parts. I saw it because Gabriel Iglesias and Cedric were in it. Do not waste any of your life seeing this movie. Life is too short! hahaha
I give this movie zero bear paws. It was that bad.
Transcendance
This is a Johnny Depp movie that was different than most of his others. I was fascinated by the artificial intelligence and nano technology aspects of the movie. Many folks would not be. In short, the consciousness of Johnny Depp's character was uploaded to an AI system before he died. He "transcended" as he put it. His incredible mind set free inside a massive AI system yielded incredible results in the movie.
I give it three bear paws. I was fascinated by it. You will probably still like it if you aren't a science geek like me. ;-)
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Living out of love for God and pleasing Him should be our heart’s desire. - Our Daily Bread
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Humble ourselves
Our Daily Bread
I had a preacher friend that said the word "humble" without the "h". He informed me that the "h" was silent. After referring to the dictionary, he also informed me the dictionary was wrong! Hmmmmm. Not sure he was living the word he couldn't pronoun!
No matter how you say it, being humble is not easy in today's toot-your-own-horn society we live in. We even have popular songs like "Lord Its hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way" topping the charts. We have TV shows that lift up talented individuals as "idols". What is a well-meaning follower of Christ to do? The devotion offers us some help. Pray and read about our example, Jesus Christ! Could you imagine if Jesus acted like we do today after he rose from the tomb? He might have taunted death or poured Gatorade on the disciples or some other silly act of not being humble! Let us all work on our humility. I know I need to!
Lord, please help us grow in humility and love!
Simply Saturday
I haven't listened to many of Amy Grant's songs the past decade, but this one caught my attention. The line "for someone wired to please" really spoke to me. God sure knows me well!
"Don't Try So Hard"
(with James Taylor)
Another Monday comes and I just wanna breathe
'Cause it's a long, long week for someone wired to please
I keep taking my aim, pushing it higher
Wanna shine bright, even brighter now
Wish I would tell myself
Don't try so hard
God gives you grace and you can't earn it
Don't think that you're not worth it
Because you are
He gave you His love and He's not leaving
Gave you His Son so you'd believe it
You're lovely even with your scars
Don't try so hard
Do you remember how the summers felt when we were kids?
Oh, we didn't think much about it, we just lived
Taking our time, beautiful leisure
When did we start, trying to measure up
When all of this time, love has been trying to tell us
Don't try so hard
God gives you grace and you can't earn it
Don't think that you're not worth it
Because you are
He gave you His love and He's not leaving
Gave you His Son so you'd believe it
You're lovely even with your scars
Don't try so hard
Don't try so hard
Don't try so hard
God gives you grace
You can't earn it
Stop thinking you're not worth it
Because you are
He gave you His love and He's not leaving
Gave you His Son so you'd believe it
You're lovely even with your scars
Lovely the way you are
So open up your lovely heart
Don't try so hard
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Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
I had a preacher friend that said the word "humble" without the "h". He informed me that the "h" was silent. After referring to the dictionary, he also informed me the dictionary was wrong! Hmmmmm. Not sure he was living the word he couldn't pronoun!
No matter how you say it, being humble is not easy in today's toot-your-own-horn society we live in. We even have popular songs like "Lord Its hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way" topping the charts. We have TV shows that lift up talented individuals as "idols". What is a well-meaning follower of Christ to do? The devotion offers us some help. Pray and read about our example, Jesus Christ! Could you imagine if Jesus acted like we do today after he rose from the tomb? He might have taunted death or poured Gatorade on the disciples or some other silly act of not being humble! Let us all work on our humility. I know I need to!
Lord, please help us grow in humility and love!
Simply Saturday
I haven't listened to many of Amy Grant's songs the past decade, but this one caught my attention. The line "for someone wired to please" really spoke to me. God sure knows me well!
"Don't Try So Hard"
(with James Taylor)
Another Monday comes and I just wanna breathe
'Cause it's a long, long week for someone wired to please
I keep taking my aim, pushing it higher
Wanna shine bright, even brighter now
Wish I would tell myself
Don't try so hard
God gives you grace and you can't earn it
Don't think that you're not worth it
Because you are
He gave you His love and He's not leaving
Gave you His Son so you'd believe it
You're lovely even with your scars
Don't try so hard
Do you remember how the summers felt when we were kids?
Oh, we didn't think much about it, we just lived
Taking our time, beautiful leisure
When did we start, trying to measure up
When all of this time, love has been trying to tell us
Don't try so hard
God gives you grace and you can't earn it
Don't think that you're not worth it
Because you are
He gave you His love and He's not leaving
Gave you His Son so you'd believe it
You're lovely even with your scars
Don't try so hard
Don't try so hard
Don't try so hard
God gives you grace
You can't earn it
Stop thinking you're not worth it
Because you are
He gave you His love and He's not leaving
Gave you His Son so you'd believe it
You're lovely even with your scars
Lovely the way you are
So open up your lovely heart
Don't try so hard
*******************************
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
Friday, April 25, 2014
We don't always understand
Our Daily Bread
Whether it is animals or people, especially children, there is more fear than normal if you have been abused or hurt. Usually only someone who has also experienced that same pain or abuse can understand and empathize.
It is my understanding that is why God sent his Son Jesus into the world. While I fully believe that God didn't need to do this to understand us better, I believe He did this so that we could better understand Him! What an amazing God! He keeps reaching out to us over and over. We sometimes reach back. Many times not. Let us make an effort to reach out to him today (and tomorrow and the day after that, etc).
Lord, we know why you sent your Son -- so we can better understand your love for us!
Foodie Friday
I was asked to make a batch of hummus for our church retreat this weekend. Here is the recipe I used for this batch. I use a food processor because I like mine very creamy. The recipe doesn't tell you to save the liquid fromthe garbaanzo beans. Put it aside and use it add more liquid to the mix to make it creamier! If you don't keep tahini around the house, you can make your own by buying a small bag of sesame seeds and pulverizing them in the food processor with a little olive oil.
Spicy Three Pepper Hummus [url]
INGREDIENTS:
2 (16 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices jarred jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon liquid from the jar of jalapeno peppers
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
DIRECTIONS:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the garbanzo beans, olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, jalapeno, and juice from the jalapeno jar. Season with black pepper, cayenne, cumin and oregano.
2. Mix using the whisk attachment on low speed until the ingredients start to blend, then turn the speed to medium, and blend to your desired consistency. Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to blend. Make sure your container is sealed well, or your fridge will smell like garlic!
**************************************
You cannot say you've forgiven someone if in your heart you hope they are still suffering. Howerton
Whether it is animals or people, especially children, there is more fear than normal if you have been abused or hurt. Usually only someone who has also experienced that same pain or abuse can understand and empathize.
It is my understanding that is why God sent his Son Jesus into the world. While I fully believe that God didn't need to do this to understand us better, I believe He did this so that we could better understand Him! What an amazing God! He keeps reaching out to us over and over. We sometimes reach back. Many times not. Let us make an effort to reach out to him today (and tomorrow and the day after that, etc).
Lord, we know why you sent your Son -- so we can better understand your love for us!
Foodie Friday
I was asked to make a batch of hummus for our church retreat this weekend. Here is the recipe I used for this batch. I use a food processor because I like mine very creamy. The recipe doesn't tell you to save the liquid fromthe garbaanzo beans. Put it aside and use it add more liquid to the mix to make it creamier! If you don't keep tahini around the house, you can make your own by buying a small bag of sesame seeds and pulverizing them in the food processor with a little olive oil.
Spicy Three Pepper Hummus [url]
INGREDIENTS:
2 (16 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices jarred jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon liquid from the jar of jalapeno peppers
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
DIRECTIONS:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the garbanzo beans, olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, jalapeno, and juice from the jalapeno jar. Season with black pepper, cayenne, cumin and oregano.
2. Mix using the whisk attachment on low speed until the ingredients start to blend, then turn the speed to medium, and blend to your desired consistency. Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to blend. Make sure your container is sealed well, or your fridge will smell like garlic!
**************************************
You cannot say you've forgiven someone if in your heart you hope they are still suffering. Howerton
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Jesus never fails
Our Daily Bread
Gary Driskell wrote a song that I used to sing a lot - Jesus Never Fails. Here are the lyrics. The music is sort of schmaltzy, but the lyrics are very meaningful!
The song fits with the theme of today's devotional - Jesus is always with is and never faills us. Praise God! I usually think of times of trials in terms of purifying silver. The metalurgist carefully turns up the heat on the silver and carefully filters off the dross (impurities). The heat has to be gradual. Full attention must be given during the process. The result is a pure product! Doesn't that sound like the way God works with us? He stretches us to help us grow, sometimes stretching us to our limits (or at least we feel that way!). I sometimes joke that our loving God is using a rack on me! HA! We all know that is not the case. Being more pure in our thoughts, actions and faith is our life goal! woohoooo!
Lord, we thank you for stretching us and helping purify our minds, thoughts and hearts! We love you!
Technology Thursday
Regulators pave way for Internet "fast lane" with net neutrality rules [full article]
By James O'Toole
Federal regulators plan to propose new rules Thursday that would allow Internet providers to create a "fast lane" for certain websites and services.
The news quickly drew condemnations from net neutrality activists, who say the proposal from the Federal Communications Commission will give large companies that can afford to pay for priority access a permanent advantage over smaller competitors.
The proposal follows a January court decision that struck down the FCC's previous net neutrality rules, which barred Internet service providers like Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) and Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500) from blocking or "unreasonably discriminating" against online content. Those regulations were challenged in 2011 by Verizon, which claimed the move overstepped the commission's legal authority, and the FCC has since been working to craft new rules that will pass legal muster.
The rules to be proposed on Thursday, according to an FCC spokesman, will require ISPs to offer "a baseline level of service" to their subscribers while allowing them to "enter into individual negotiations with content providers." That means that companies like Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) and Netflix (NFLX) could conceivably pay ISPs to ensure that their sites load for Web users faster than those of competitors.
In all cases, the FCC proposal says, Internet providers must act in a "commercially reasonable manner," with agreements between ISPs and content providers subject to review by regulators on a case-by-case basis.
"Exactly what the baseline level of service would be, the construction of a 'commercially reasonable' standard, and the manner in which disputes would be resolved, are all among the topics on which the FCC will be seeking comment," the FCC spokesman said.
The commission will vote on the proposed rules May 15 before putting them out for comment. In the meantime, Net freedom activists are already crying foul.
"If it goes forward, this capitulation will represent Washington at its worst," Todd O'Boyle, program director of Media and Democracy Reform Initiative at Common Cause, said in a statement. "Americans were promised -- and deserve -- an Internet that is free of toll roads, fast lanes, and censorship -- corporate or governmental."
Craig Aaron, president of the media freedom group Free Press, said the FCC was "aiding and abetting the largest ISPs in their efforts to destroy the open Internet." He said the FCC proposal would create the incentive for Internet providers to manufacture congestion on their networks and then charge content providers for the ability to avoid it.
Verizon spokesman Ed Mcfadden declined to comment directly on the FCC proposal, but said his company is committed to letting customers "access the Internet content they want, when they want and how they want."
"Given the tremendous innovation and investment taking place in broadband Internet markets, the FCC should be very cautious about adopting proscriptive rules that could be unnecessary and harmful," Mcfadden said.
Comcast and AT&T did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The FCC's planned rules relate specifically to broadband, which is used for most home Internet connections. They won't cover the mobile Web, which is much more lightly regulated.
Concerns about traffic discrimination have already arisen in the mobile world. Earlier this year, AT&T (T, Fortune 500) announced a "sponsored data" plan for mobile customers in which content from paying businesses won't count against monthly data caps. Verizon and AT&T have also previously blocked use of the Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) Wallet app, which competes with their own offerings.
The FCC rules also won't cover deals like the one reached earlier this year between Netflix (NFLX) and Comcast, in which the online video company reluctantly agreed to pay for a direct connection to Comcast's network to boost lagging streaming speeds. That's because the proposal only relates to what ISPs do with content in the so-called "last mile" of their networks, where they connect directly to the homes of customers.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has called for the FCC to implement "stronger" net neutrality rules that would also cover connections between networks.
Vivofit update
I mentioned last week that I was having trouble synching my Vivofit to my iPhone. The issue was USER ERROR! ha! I must start the Garmin app before starting the sync process on the wristband. DOH! It works great. I am trying to work out and exercise more with the goal of losing weight We will see how that goes!
***********************************
“The highest pinnacle of the spiritual life is not happy joy in unbroken sunshine, but absolute and undoubting trust in the love of God.” = A. W. Thorold
Gary Driskell wrote a song that I used to sing a lot - Jesus Never Fails. Here are the lyrics. The music is sort of schmaltzy, but the lyrics are very meaningful!
The song fits with the theme of today's devotional - Jesus is always with is and never faills us. Praise God! I usually think of times of trials in terms of purifying silver. The metalurgist carefully turns up the heat on the silver and carefully filters off the dross (impurities). The heat has to be gradual. Full attention must be given during the process. The result is a pure product! Doesn't that sound like the way God works with us? He stretches us to help us grow, sometimes stretching us to our limits (or at least we feel that way!). I sometimes joke that our loving God is using a rack on me! HA! We all know that is not the case. Being more pure in our thoughts, actions and faith is our life goal! woohoooo!
Lord, we thank you for stretching us and helping purify our minds, thoughts and hearts! We love you!
Technology Thursday
Regulators pave way for Internet "fast lane" with net neutrality rules [full article]
By James O'Toole
Federal regulators plan to propose new rules Thursday that would allow Internet providers to create a "fast lane" for certain websites and services.
The news quickly drew condemnations from net neutrality activists, who say the proposal from the Federal Communications Commission will give large companies that can afford to pay for priority access a permanent advantage over smaller competitors.
The proposal follows a January court decision that struck down the FCC's previous net neutrality rules, which barred Internet service providers like Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) and Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500) from blocking or "unreasonably discriminating" against online content. Those regulations were challenged in 2011 by Verizon, which claimed the move overstepped the commission's legal authority, and the FCC has since been working to craft new rules that will pass legal muster.
The rules to be proposed on Thursday, according to an FCC spokesman, will require ISPs to offer "a baseline level of service" to their subscribers while allowing them to "enter into individual negotiations with content providers." That means that companies like Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) and Netflix (NFLX) could conceivably pay ISPs to ensure that their sites load for Web users faster than those of competitors.
In all cases, the FCC proposal says, Internet providers must act in a "commercially reasonable manner," with agreements between ISPs and content providers subject to review by regulators on a case-by-case basis.
"Exactly what the baseline level of service would be, the construction of a 'commercially reasonable' standard, and the manner in which disputes would be resolved, are all among the topics on which the FCC will be seeking comment," the FCC spokesman said.
The commission will vote on the proposed rules May 15 before putting them out for comment. In the meantime, Net freedom activists are already crying foul.
"If it goes forward, this capitulation will represent Washington at its worst," Todd O'Boyle, program director of Media and Democracy Reform Initiative at Common Cause, said in a statement. "Americans were promised -- and deserve -- an Internet that is free of toll roads, fast lanes, and censorship -- corporate or governmental."
Craig Aaron, president of the media freedom group Free Press, said the FCC was "aiding and abetting the largest ISPs in their efforts to destroy the open Internet." He said the FCC proposal would create the incentive for Internet providers to manufacture congestion on their networks and then charge content providers for the ability to avoid it.
Verizon spokesman Ed Mcfadden declined to comment directly on the FCC proposal, but said his company is committed to letting customers "access the Internet content they want, when they want and how they want."
"Given the tremendous innovation and investment taking place in broadband Internet markets, the FCC should be very cautious about adopting proscriptive rules that could be unnecessary and harmful," Mcfadden said.
Comcast and AT&T did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The FCC's planned rules relate specifically to broadband, which is used for most home Internet connections. They won't cover the mobile Web, which is much more lightly regulated.
Concerns about traffic discrimination have already arisen in the mobile world. Earlier this year, AT&T (T, Fortune 500) announced a "sponsored data" plan for mobile customers in which content from paying businesses won't count against monthly data caps. Verizon and AT&T have also previously blocked use of the Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) Wallet app, which competes with their own offerings.
The FCC rules also won't cover deals like the one reached earlier this year between Netflix (NFLX) and Comcast, in which the online video company reluctantly agreed to pay for a direct connection to Comcast's network to boost lagging streaming speeds. That's because the proposal only relates to what ISPs do with content in the so-called "last mile" of their networks, where they connect directly to the homes of customers.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has called for the FCC to implement "stronger" net neutrality rules that would also cover connections between networks.
Vivofit update
I mentioned last week that I was having trouble synching my Vivofit to my iPhone. The issue was USER ERROR! ha! I must start the Garmin app before starting the sync process on the wristband. DOH! It works great. I am trying to work out and exercise more with the goal of losing weight We will see how that goes!
***********************************
“The highest pinnacle of the spiritual life is not happy joy in unbroken sunshine, but absolute and undoubting trust in the love of God.” = A. W. Thorold
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Facing death
Our Daily Bread
One of the reasons the Easter season can be such a somber one is that we come face to face with death. The death of Christ and sometimes facing our own fears about death. When Jesus prayed about not having to face his horrifying death, we see how much of a struggle this is even for the Son of God. We can only imagine in our puny little minds what heaven is like. He had actually seen it! Wow!
Facing death in a healthy fashion is only made possible through a relationship with God in my opinion. Yes there are lots of ways to face death. We see it in movies and TV shows and the news. Facing death with the knowledge of what is to come for those who have accepted Christ as their Lord is definitely the way to go! ;-)
Lord, we can face death in confidence because we know you!
Wellness Wednesday
I chuckled a little bit when I read this article. My first thought was "maybe the problem starts with the fact the people think they have a relationship with food... " ;-P I know my Hohos and I have spent a lot of lonely Saturday nights together, but I wouldn't call that a relationship! ha!
14 Habits Of People With A Healthy Relationship To Food
by Sarah Klein [full article]
There's a fine line between thinking carefully about what we put into our bodies and obsessing over it or restricting it dangerously.
Whether our particular issue is emotional eating, binge eating, disordered eating or we just can't seem to get a handle on the whole nutrition thing, we can all stand to learn a few things from the people for whom healthy eating just comes easily. Here are a few of the things they do differently.
1. People with a healthy relationship to food eat mindfully.
Our body has some pretty significant built-in cues to tell us when to eat -- and when to stop eating. But we're not always listening. The practice of engaging all of our senses to guide our eating-related decisions is called mindful eating, explains Megrette Fletcher, M.Ed., RD, CDE, co-founder and current president of the Center for Mindful Eating. Mindful eating can help us "acknowledge our response to food without getting into judgement," she says.
2. They swear by everything -- yes, everything -- in moderation.
"No food is forbidden," says Edward Abramson, Ph.D. a clinical psychologist and author of Emotional Eating. "Foods are not intrinsically 'good' or 'bad.'" He tells an anecdote of a client who once told him French fries were the work of the devil -- and it was not a joke. "French fries are just French fries," he says.
Morality attached to food may stem from the fact that some religions do have prohibitions when it comes to food, he says. Take, for example, how "some foods are described as sinfully delicious," he says.
"It isn't food that's good or bad, it's our experience," says Fletcher. "And that's not judging, it's categorizing." Recognizing foods and eating situations that you find pleasant can help inform your future choices, she says. People with a healthy relationship to food tell themselves, "'Eating is a chance for me to nourish and nurture my being,'" she says, "as opposed to, 'I have to eat this way or those foods.'"
3. But they know the timing has to be right.
However, if you do decide you're in the mood for fries or pizza or chocolate, says Abramson, enjoy your pick at a time when you're not hungry for a full meal, so you don't overdo it. "If you're starving and then you're confronted with a favorite food, you'll consume a lot more of it," he says. "Let's say, if you have it for dessert, you already had your meal, your tummy is full, you can really appreciate the sensations that chocolate provides."
4. They eat when they're physically hungry.
"Emotional eating is typically to soothe unpleasant emotional arousal," says Abramson. Unfortunately, stress and anxiety often cause us to crave higher-calorie, fattier foods and "most of us don't need additional caloric intake," he says.
When we use food to try to soothe an emotion, he adds, we mask what that emotion is trying to teach us, and instead replace it with regret or guilt for eating whatever we grabbed.
5. And they stop eating when they're comfortably full.
Hunger and satiety both start off small and grow bigger and louder, says Fletcher. "Some of us don't hear hunger or fullness until it's screaming in our ears," she says. But being more tuned-in while eating can help us "hear" better as well. "Mindfulness is saying, 'I'm going to listen harder to my hunger and hear it when it's not yelling at me, and I'm going to listen harder to my fullness so it's not yelling at me [either].'" Both hunger and fullness change after every bite, so listening in can help you find the level of fullness where it's comfortable for you to stop eating, she says.
6. They eat breakfast.
Regular breakfast eaters have more energy, better memories and lower cholesterol. They also feel healthier overall and are typically leaner than their peers who don't eat a morning meal. "Starting your day with a healthy, balanced breakfast with proteins, fats and carbs and not high in sugar is the key to healthy eating," says Marjorie Nolan Cohn, MS, RD, CDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics and the co-author of Overcoming Binge Eating For Dummies.
7. They don't keep problematic foods in the house.
Once you know your specific patterns of emotional eating, says Abramson, you can take small steps to redirect them. One strategy he recommends is no longer keeping a particularly tempting food in the house, so you'd have to leave home after dinner to get a taste. If, for example, you really love ice cream, "rather than having it sitting in the freezer calling your name," he says, a couple of times a week, go out for ice cream.
8. They don't sit down with the whole bag.
Hitting up your local ice cream shop also has the benefit of providing your treat in a single serving size. "If you have a cup or a cone you know when you're finished, as opposed to sitting there having one spoonful after another" straight out of the carton, says Abramson. Buying single-serving packages of your favorite chips or cookies can also help, he says, as can simply serving yourself in a cup or bowl rather than sitting down with a whole family-size bag of chips.
9. They know the difference between a snack and a treat.
Letting yourself get too hungry is a recipe for overeating -- especially those foods you most want to keep to smaller portions. Snacking is a smart way to make sure you're not ravenous come dinnertime. But snack choice is crucial to both keeping you full and keeping your healthy eating plans on track, says Abramson. "A treat is purely for enjoyment, while a snack is something you eat between meals to stave off hunger," he says. "Nuts or fruit or cheese could be a good snack," he says, but chocolate? A treat.
10. They give themselves permission to enjoy eating.
These tips aren't plausible if we don't make time to value our relationships with food. "So many times we forget to take the time to eat, and eating does take time," says Fletcher. She suggests looking ahead at your day and making sure you have enough time carved out to eat, rather than planning to scarf something down in the three minutes you have between afternoon meetings. "We make it three minutes, and that may feed you, but does it nourish you?" she asks. And it's not about feeling guilty for missing something else by making time to eat, she says. It's about truly believing we are "worth sitting down and eating food."
11. They don't "make up" for a meal.
When we find ourselves feeling guilty about a food choice, "there's this instinct to make up for it by either overdoing it at the gym or being very restrictive at the next meal," says Cohn. Instead, she suggests thinking of this process as a more subtle "balancing out". People with healthy relationships to food will have a lighter meal later in the day if they decide to indulge at brunch, for example, but they won't restrict that later meal so much so that they end up binging later because they've made themselves excessively hungry. "You can balance out slowly over the course of a week, but you can't make up within the same day," says Cohn.
12. They don't eat to see the scale shift.
Ideally, we'd all eat what makes us feel good, says Cohn. We'd pick the foods that gave us energy to fuel our daily activity, and we'd avoid foods that, say, gave us indigestion, regardless of how good they tasted, rather than restructuring our eating plans to make the number on the scale change.
13. They're not afraid of feeling hungry.
One of the most restrictive patterns of thought that Cohn sees among clients is a fear of eating too much and consequently gaining weight. "People who have a sense of what their body needs and eat mindfully and intuitively when they can, they're not as afraid of their hunger," she says. "What's there to be afraid of? If you get hungry, you just eat something!"
14. Their concerns for food don't interfere with daily life.
After a long list of rules and habits like the above, even the healthiest eaters might feel a little overwhelmed. The key to taking in all this advice healthfully is remaining balanced. Being too rigid, restrictive or strict about nutritious eating can also cause problems, including disordered thoughts or behavior that could be classified as orthorexia, says Cohn. Scheduling a date with the gym is one thing; scheduling a date three evenings in a row when your best friend is visiting from out of town and you don't make any time to see her may raise red flags, she says. "If you're missing out on normal social engagements or sleep in order to maintain a certain lifestyle, that's definitely crossing the line."
**************************************
One of the reasons the Easter season can be such a somber one is that we come face to face with death. The death of Christ and sometimes facing our own fears about death. When Jesus prayed about not having to face his horrifying death, we see how much of a struggle this is even for the Son of God. We can only imagine in our puny little minds what heaven is like. He had actually seen it! Wow!
Facing death in a healthy fashion is only made possible through a relationship with God in my opinion. Yes there are lots of ways to face death. We see it in movies and TV shows and the news. Facing death with the knowledge of what is to come for those who have accepted Christ as their Lord is definitely the way to go! ;-)
Lord, we can face death in confidence because we know you!
Wellness Wednesday
I chuckled a little bit when I read this article. My first thought was "maybe the problem starts with the fact the people think they have a relationship with food... " ;-P I know my Hohos and I have spent a lot of lonely Saturday nights together, but I wouldn't call that a relationship! ha!
14 Habits Of People With A Healthy Relationship To Food
by Sarah Klein [full article]
There's a fine line between thinking carefully about what we put into our bodies and obsessing over it or restricting it dangerously.
Whether our particular issue is emotional eating, binge eating, disordered eating or we just can't seem to get a handle on the whole nutrition thing, we can all stand to learn a few things from the people for whom healthy eating just comes easily. Here are a few of the things they do differently.
1. People with a healthy relationship to food eat mindfully.
Our body has some pretty significant built-in cues to tell us when to eat -- and when to stop eating. But we're not always listening. The practice of engaging all of our senses to guide our eating-related decisions is called mindful eating, explains Megrette Fletcher, M.Ed., RD, CDE, co-founder and current president of the Center for Mindful Eating. Mindful eating can help us "acknowledge our response to food without getting into judgement," she says.
2. They swear by everything -- yes, everything -- in moderation.
"No food is forbidden," says Edward Abramson, Ph.D. a clinical psychologist and author of Emotional Eating. "Foods are not intrinsically 'good' or 'bad.'" He tells an anecdote of a client who once told him French fries were the work of the devil -- and it was not a joke. "French fries are just French fries," he says.
Morality attached to food may stem from the fact that some religions do have prohibitions when it comes to food, he says. Take, for example, how "some foods are described as sinfully delicious," he says.
"It isn't food that's good or bad, it's our experience," says Fletcher. "And that's not judging, it's categorizing." Recognizing foods and eating situations that you find pleasant can help inform your future choices, she says. People with a healthy relationship to food tell themselves, "'Eating is a chance for me to nourish and nurture my being,'" she says, "as opposed to, 'I have to eat this way or those foods.'"
3. But they know the timing has to be right.
However, if you do decide you're in the mood for fries or pizza or chocolate, says Abramson, enjoy your pick at a time when you're not hungry for a full meal, so you don't overdo it. "If you're starving and then you're confronted with a favorite food, you'll consume a lot more of it," he says. "Let's say, if you have it for dessert, you already had your meal, your tummy is full, you can really appreciate the sensations that chocolate provides."
4. They eat when they're physically hungry.
"Emotional eating is typically to soothe unpleasant emotional arousal," says Abramson. Unfortunately, stress and anxiety often cause us to crave higher-calorie, fattier foods and "most of us don't need additional caloric intake," he says.
When we use food to try to soothe an emotion, he adds, we mask what that emotion is trying to teach us, and instead replace it with regret or guilt for eating whatever we grabbed.
5. And they stop eating when they're comfortably full.
Hunger and satiety both start off small and grow bigger and louder, says Fletcher. "Some of us don't hear hunger or fullness until it's screaming in our ears," she says. But being more tuned-in while eating can help us "hear" better as well. "Mindfulness is saying, 'I'm going to listen harder to my hunger and hear it when it's not yelling at me, and I'm going to listen harder to my fullness so it's not yelling at me [either].'" Both hunger and fullness change after every bite, so listening in can help you find the level of fullness where it's comfortable for you to stop eating, she says.
6. They eat breakfast.
Regular breakfast eaters have more energy, better memories and lower cholesterol. They also feel healthier overall and are typically leaner than their peers who don't eat a morning meal. "Starting your day with a healthy, balanced breakfast with proteins, fats and carbs and not high in sugar is the key to healthy eating," says Marjorie Nolan Cohn, MS, RD, CDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics and the co-author of Overcoming Binge Eating For Dummies.
7. They don't keep problematic foods in the house.
Once you know your specific patterns of emotional eating, says Abramson, you can take small steps to redirect them. One strategy he recommends is no longer keeping a particularly tempting food in the house, so you'd have to leave home after dinner to get a taste. If, for example, you really love ice cream, "rather than having it sitting in the freezer calling your name," he says, a couple of times a week, go out for ice cream.
8. They don't sit down with the whole bag.
Hitting up your local ice cream shop also has the benefit of providing your treat in a single serving size. "If you have a cup or a cone you know when you're finished, as opposed to sitting there having one spoonful after another" straight out of the carton, says Abramson. Buying single-serving packages of your favorite chips or cookies can also help, he says, as can simply serving yourself in a cup or bowl rather than sitting down with a whole family-size bag of chips.
9. They know the difference between a snack and a treat.
Letting yourself get too hungry is a recipe for overeating -- especially those foods you most want to keep to smaller portions. Snacking is a smart way to make sure you're not ravenous come dinnertime. But snack choice is crucial to both keeping you full and keeping your healthy eating plans on track, says Abramson. "A treat is purely for enjoyment, while a snack is something you eat between meals to stave off hunger," he says. "Nuts or fruit or cheese could be a good snack," he says, but chocolate? A treat.
10. They give themselves permission to enjoy eating.
These tips aren't plausible if we don't make time to value our relationships with food. "So many times we forget to take the time to eat, and eating does take time," says Fletcher. She suggests looking ahead at your day and making sure you have enough time carved out to eat, rather than planning to scarf something down in the three minutes you have between afternoon meetings. "We make it three minutes, and that may feed you, but does it nourish you?" she asks. And it's not about feeling guilty for missing something else by making time to eat, she says. It's about truly believing we are "worth sitting down and eating food."
11. They don't "make up" for a meal.
When we find ourselves feeling guilty about a food choice, "there's this instinct to make up for it by either overdoing it at the gym or being very restrictive at the next meal," says Cohn. Instead, she suggests thinking of this process as a more subtle "balancing out". People with healthy relationships to food will have a lighter meal later in the day if they decide to indulge at brunch, for example, but they won't restrict that later meal so much so that they end up binging later because they've made themselves excessively hungry. "You can balance out slowly over the course of a week, but you can't make up within the same day," says Cohn.
12. They don't eat to see the scale shift.
Ideally, we'd all eat what makes us feel good, says Cohn. We'd pick the foods that gave us energy to fuel our daily activity, and we'd avoid foods that, say, gave us indigestion, regardless of how good they tasted, rather than restructuring our eating plans to make the number on the scale change.
13. They're not afraid of feeling hungry.
One of the most restrictive patterns of thought that Cohn sees among clients is a fear of eating too much and consequently gaining weight. "People who have a sense of what their body needs and eat mindfully and intuitively when they can, they're not as afraid of their hunger," she says. "What's there to be afraid of? If you get hungry, you just eat something!"
14. Their concerns for food don't interfere with daily life.
After a long list of rules and habits like the above, even the healthiest eaters might feel a little overwhelmed. The key to taking in all this advice healthfully is remaining balanced. Being too rigid, restrictive or strict about nutritious eating can also cause problems, including disordered thoughts or behavior that could be classified as orthorexia, says Cohn. Scheduling a date with the gym is one thing; scheduling a date three evenings in a row when your best friend is visiting from out of town and you don't make any time to see her may raise red flags, she says. "If you're missing out on normal social engagements or sleep in order to maintain a certain lifestyle, that's definitely crossing the line."
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Tuesday, April 22, 2014
How much does it cost?
Our Daily Bread
I love the counseling service provided by the Peanuts character, Lucy. You can get all the help you need for only a nickel! What a bargan! ha!
Seriously, how much does kindness really cost us? A kind word. A kind deed. A smile to a stranger who looks down. These acts usually take very little energy and cost us very little. Then why don't we practice kindness more? I think the key word here is "practice"! It does make perfect! ha! Practicing simple acts of kindness can start at home with our family and friends. The acts can spread to others as we feel more comfortable. Practice does make perfect -- like our pefect Lord and Savior!
Lord, please help us practice love and kindness even though the world doesn't understand it!
Teaching Tuesday
Galatians
We read "the angry book" this week, considered to be the most stern of Paul's letters (though I think I Corinthians is very close in tone). Each time I read a book attributed to Paul or the his school of followers, I wonder what the heck he was thinking! After reading a few chapters this week to get ready for the last few weeks of class, I learned that some of the things that Paul states in his letters are actually parts of letters he received. He is responding to those letter fragments. It is not made clear which parts is parts! ha! Here are my notes from the lesson:
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We are far from perfect, but despite our mistakes and our sins, we will never abandon the Lord and he will never abandon us - adapted from a statement about Abraham from the EfM Training Guide
I love the counseling service provided by the Peanuts character, Lucy. You can get all the help you need for only a nickel! What a bargan! ha!
Seriously, how much does kindness really cost us? A kind word. A kind deed. A smile to a stranger who looks down. These acts usually take very little energy and cost us very little. Then why don't we practice kindness more? I think the key word here is "practice"! It does make perfect! ha! Practicing simple acts of kindness can start at home with our family and friends. The acts can spread to others as we feel more comfortable. Practice does make perfect -- like our pefect Lord and Savior!
Lord, please help us practice love and kindness even though the world doesn't understand it!
Teaching Tuesday
Galatians
We read "the angry book" this week, considered to be the most stern of Paul's letters (though I think I Corinthians is very close in tone). Each time I read a book attributed to Paul or the his school of followers, I wonder what the heck he was thinking! After reading a few chapters this week to get ready for the last few weeks of class, I learned that some of the things that Paul states in his letters are actually parts of letters he received. He is responding to those letter fragments. It is not made clear which parts is parts! ha! Here are my notes from the lesson:
This is Amazing
Justification by faith
We are free in Christ , free to serve
This Befuddles/Bothers me
Circumsion stuff
Known as Paul's angry letter. What about 1 Cor?
North or south Galatia?
Paul's thorn in the flesh
This is worthy of Celebration
Gentiles can know the God of Abraham
The old laws do not matter in Christ
I want to Dig Deeper into this
History of the letter.
Did Jesus remove the favor of God from the Jews?
***********************************
We are far from perfect, but despite our mistakes and our sins, we will never abandon the Lord and he will never abandon us - adapted from a statement about Abraham from the EfM Training Guide
Monday, April 21, 2014
Victory!
Our Daily Bread
I read article about the University of Louisville basketball program the other day about how the coach was going to miss the good times. The good times meaning having a group of players who accomplished great things including a few Final Four appearances and an NCAA championship. He will have to replace those players to feel those good times again.
That article made met think of the disciples after Jesus' death. What are we to do? Do we go back to our old jobs? These last few years have been amazing, but they seem to have ended with the death of Jesus. What next? Doesn't that sound just like us? God made us promises in his Word and we act like God left us to our own designs. That we are alone in this world. Doubts arise. Faith wanes.
As we continue to celebrate the resurrection, let us make a point to praise the resurrected Christ each and every day. He is with is. He even sent his Holy Spirit to live within us and through us. Our Savior and Judge will come again. We thank you and praise you!
Movie Monday
Jesus of Montreal
Our minister mentioned a curious film in his sermon yesterday. It is called Jesus of Montreal. It is about a small acting troupe in Montreal who perform their own version of the Passion of Christ. The man who plays Jesus recruits the cast (sound familiar?). Here is a link to the movie on Youtube. Notice how the lives of the characters change after they started performing the play. Notice how they add their editorial comments based on the different versions of the Passion story in the Gospels. Check it out sometime.
**************************************
I am far from perfect, but despite my mistakes and my sins, I will never abandon the Lord and he will never abandon me - adapted from a statement about Abraham from the EfM Training Guide
I read article about the University of Louisville basketball program the other day about how the coach was going to miss the good times. The good times meaning having a group of players who accomplished great things including a few Final Four appearances and an NCAA championship. He will have to replace those players to feel those good times again.
That article made met think of the disciples after Jesus' death. What are we to do? Do we go back to our old jobs? These last few years have been amazing, but they seem to have ended with the death of Jesus. What next? Doesn't that sound just like us? God made us promises in his Word and we act like God left us to our own designs. That we are alone in this world. Doubts arise. Faith wanes.
As we continue to celebrate the resurrection, let us make a point to praise the resurrected Christ each and every day. He is with is. He even sent his Holy Spirit to live within us and through us. Our Savior and Judge will come again. We thank you and praise you!
Movie Monday
Jesus of Montreal
Our minister mentioned a curious film in his sermon yesterday. It is called Jesus of Montreal. It is about a small acting troupe in Montreal who perform their own version of the Passion of Christ. The man who plays Jesus recruits the cast (sound familiar?). Here is a link to the movie on Youtube. Notice how the lives of the characters change after they started performing the play. Notice how they add their editorial comments based on the different versions of the Passion story in the Gospels. Check it out sometime.
**************************************
I am far from perfect, but despite my mistakes and my sins, I will never abandon the Lord and he will never abandon me - adapted from a statement about Abraham from the EfM Training Guide
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter!!!
Here is one of my favorite quotes from the Bible:“Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Luke 24:5-7
Live today my friends. Live for Him!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
In Christ alone
Our Daily Bread
While listening to a new batch of contemporary Christian songs, I heard In Christ Alone by Brian Littrell (see lyrics below in the Simply Saturday section). Wow!
I feel this song expresses what the author of the devotion and what Paul express. No matter what successes we have in life, all glory and praise should go to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for his power and grace to accomplish these things. I think it is a little easier for me to think that way after all the health issues I have been through in my life. It is by the Grace of God that I live and breathe. Praise God!
Lord, please help us love you and praise you with our hearts... and our lives!
Simply Saturday
In Christ Alone (as sung by Brian Littrell) [video]
In Christ alone will I glory
Though I could pride myself in battles won
For I've been blessed beyond measure
And by His strength alone I'll overcome
Oh, I could stop and count successes like diamonds in my hands
But those trophies could not equal to the grace by which I stand
In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone
In Christ alone do I glory
For only by His grace I am redeemed
For only His tender mercy
Could reach beyond my weakness to my need
And now I seek no greater honor in just to know Him more
And to count my gains but losses to the glory of my Lord
In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone
[ These are In Christ Alone Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]
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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit - Romans 15:13
While listening to a new batch of contemporary Christian songs, I heard In Christ Alone by Brian Littrell (see lyrics below in the Simply Saturday section). Wow!
I feel this song expresses what the author of the devotion and what Paul express. No matter what successes we have in life, all glory and praise should go to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for his power and grace to accomplish these things. I think it is a little easier for me to think that way after all the health issues I have been through in my life. It is by the Grace of God that I live and breathe. Praise God!
Lord, please help us love you and praise you with our hearts... and our lives!
Simply Saturday
In Christ Alone (as sung by Brian Littrell) [video]
In Christ alone will I glory
Though I could pride myself in battles won
For I've been blessed beyond measure
And by His strength alone I'll overcome
Oh, I could stop and count successes like diamonds in my hands
But those trophies could not equal to the grace by which I stand
In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone
In Christ alone do I glory
For only by His grace I am redeemed
For only His tender mercy
Could reach beyond my weakness to my need
And now I seek no greater honor in just to know Him more
And to count my gains but losses to the glory of my Lord
In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone
[ These are In Christ Alone Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]
*************************************
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit - Romans 15:13
Friday, April 18, 2014
Not yet dead
Our Daily Bread
I loved the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail when it was released. It was British and odd and funny! ha! When they came up with the bright idea of making a Broadway musical out of the story line, there were many funny songs including one called "Not yet dead". [video] What a hoot!
If it were up to Satan, we would all be dead, physically and spiritually, and joining him in everlasting torment. We are NOT yet dead because of the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior. Praise God! We have eternal life through that sacrifice so we can live eternally with God! Wow! What a great deal! ;-) My prayer is that you will ask God to come into your heart if you haven't already done so. Living life in Christ is the way life is supposed to be lived -- with God!
Lord, we are not dead yet thanks to your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Foodie Friday
Two parts of Foodie Friday this week: Louisville Favorites and a breakfast recipe.
Louisville Favorites
I drove to Louisville last Sunday for a day trip. After attending a concert, I stopped to pick up some of my favorites on my way home. Woohooo! First, I bought two orders of fried green chili wontons with avocado sauce from the Bristol. Second, I ordered a medium pizza from Wicks. Wow! Lastly I bought some desserts at Homemade Pie and Ice Cream. Wow! My waistline suffered but my mouth was very very happy!
Breakfast recipe
The choir at church is having a brunch in between services on Sunday. I want to make something tasty and fun so I thought I would bring out my homemade breakfast casserole. I will make some version of this.
Breakfast Casserole
9 slices of low cal/low carb whole wheat bread
8 egg whites
1/4 cup skim milk
1 cup sliced Johnsonville Farms chicken sausage (with chipotle seasonings and cheese)
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1/2 cup pieces of red pepper (optional)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
Spice to taste (I used garlic powder, cajun seasoning, seasoned salt, pepper)
Preheat oven to 350° and grease baking pan with your choice of oil or butter (I used Pam cooking spray). Place bread pieces in pan and distribute evenly. Beat the eggs, milk and any spices you desire (salt, pepper, garlic powder...) and pour over the bread. Add the remaining ingredients and bake for 25 minutes or until top is golden brown and a knife put in the center comes out clean. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Serves: 10
Cooking Time: 30 Minutes
Here is the link to the original recipe for the breakfast casserole below:
http://www.traderjoes.com/recipes/recipe.asp?rid=5
************************************
Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God - William Carey
I loved the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail when it was released. It was British and odd and funny! ha! When they came up with the bright idea of making a Broadway musical out of the story line, there were many funny songs including one called "Not yet dead". [video] What a hoot!
If it were up to Satan, we would all be dead, physically and spiritually, and joining him in everlasting torment. We are NOT yet dead because of the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior. Praise God! We have eternal life through that sacrifice so we can live eternally with God! Wow! What a great deal! ;-) My prayer is that you will ask God to come into your heart if you haven't already done so. Living life in Christ is the way life is supposed to be lived -- with God!
Lord, we are not dead yet thanks to your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Foodie Friday
Two parts of Foodie Friday this week: Louisville Favorites and a breakfast recipe.
Louisville Favorites
I drove to Louisville last Sunday for a day trip. After attending a concert, I stopped to pick up some of my favorites on my way home. Woohooo! First, I bought two orders of fried green chili wontons with avocado sauce from the Bristol. Second, I ordered a medium pizza from Wicks. Wow! Lastly I bought some desserts at Homemade Pie and Ice Cream. Wow! My waistline suffered but my mouth was very very happy!
Breakfast recipe
The choir at church is having a brunch in between services on Sunday. I want to make something tasty and fun so I thought I would bring out my homemade breakfast casserole. I will make some version of this.
Breakfast Casserole
9 slices of low cal/low carb whole wheat bread
8 egg whites
1/4 cup skim milk
1 cup sliced Johnsonville Farms chicken sausage (with chipotle seasonings and cheese)
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1/2 cup pieces of red pepper (optional)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
Spice to taste (I used garlic powder, cajun seasoning, seasoned salt, pepper)
Preheat oven to 350° and grease baking pan with your choice of oil or butter (I used Pam cooking spray). Place bread pieces in pan and distribute evenly. Beat the eggs, milk and any spices you desire (salt, pepper, garlic powder...) and pour over the bread. Add the remaining ingredients and bake for 25 minutes or until top is golden brown and a knife put in the center comes out clean. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Serves: 10
Cooking Time: 30 Minutes
Here is the link to the original recipe for the breakfast casserole below:
http://www.traderjoes.com/recipes/recipe.asp?rid=5
************************************
Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God - William Carey
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Give me your eyes
Our Daily Bread
Brandon Heath expressed the central message of today's devotional in his song "Give Me Your Eyes". Here is the chorus:
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
What would we do if this really happened? If we could see through God's eyes for even a millisecond? I don't think we could handle even a millisecond! Let's start with asking God to open our eyes each day. Be open to God's leading. What changes would that make in our lives?
I talked about "giving God my calendar" with some friends the other day. I am a planner. I plan things so I can accomplish the most in my life for myself and for God. I learned a long time ago that God deserves my calendar. There are times when I need to put my own plans aside, no matter how well intended, so I can do the things God needs me to do. It could be talking to a friend who needs someone to listen. It could be stopping to help someone you don't even know. Be open. Trust God to use you each day! Praise God!
Lord, our time is in your hands, not completely booked on our busy calendars!
Technology Thursday
Garmin Vivofit
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I ordered the new Garmin Vivofit fitness band that came out on March 31. I received the new device a few days later and started wearing it immediately. Here is what I think so far.
There are two versions: one with the heart rate monitor and one without. The one without is $40 cheaper. I bought the version with the heart rate monitor. I have only used the heart rate monitor once so far. I found it it useful as it helped guide my workout to the appropriate heart rate levels for my goals. They have the heart rates in different zones. I should stay in zone 2 or zone 3. I had trouble moving up to zone 3. I will have to work on that and make my workouts more strenous after I feel comfortable with that.
The data I receive from the device is handy, though I think the recording of steps is WAY too generous. One friend suggested that it uses your arm movements to determine steps. I know that I don't walk nearly as much as what it says! I think the calories are a little over estimated as well but they seem to be more in line to what I am used to compared to the steps calculation.
I really like these things:
These things could be different:
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Tolstoy once said; “Where there is faith, there is love; Where there is love, there is peace; Where there is peace, there is God; And where there is God; there is no need.” Can your faith in God move you beyond your own needs and seek a way to live in this broken world and serve the children of God? - J. Perez
Brandon Heath expressed the central message of today's devotional in his song "Give Me Your Eyes". Here is the chorus:
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
What would we do if this really happened? If we could see through God's eyes for even a millisecond? I don't think we could handle even a millisecond! Let's start with asking God to open our eyes each day. Be open to God's leading. What changes would that make in our lives?
I talked about "giving God my calendar" with some friends the other day. I am a planner. I plan things so I can accomplish the most in my life for myself and for God. I learned a long time ago that God deserves my calendar. There are times when I need to put my own plans aside, no matter how well intended, so I can do the things God needs me to do. It could be talking to a friend who needs someone to listen. It could be stopping to help someone you don't even know. Be open. Trust God to use you each day! Praise God!
Lord, our time is in your hands, not completely booked on our busy calendars!
Technology Thursday
Garmin Vivofit
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I ordered the new Garmin Vivofit fitness band that came out on March 31. I received the new device a few days later and started wearing it immediately. Here is what I think so far.
There are two versions: one with the heart rate monitor and one without. The one without is $40 cheaper. I bought the version with the heart rate monitor. I have only used the heart rate monitor once so far. I found it it useful as it helped guide my workout to the appropriate heart rate levels for my goals. They have the heart rates in different zones. I should stay in zone 2 or zone 3. I had trouble moving up to zone 3. I will have to work on that and make my workouts more strenous after I feel comfortable with that.
The data I receive from the device is handy, though I think the recording of steps is WAY too generous. One friend suggested that it uses your arm movements to determine steps. I know that I don't walk nearly as much as what it says! I think the calories are a little over estimated as well but they seem to be more in line to what I am used to compared to the steps calculation.
I really like these things:
- I can wear the band all the time, even in the shower
- The battery life is amazing. No need to charge it every few days.
- I love the "get off you butt" feature that displays a red bar when I need to get up and move after sitting too long!
- It is easy to wear.
- It has a time feature.
These things could be different:
- the band can pop off unexpectedly. This could be user error!
- Can't see the display at night. Not a big deal, but it has caught me a few times.
- Can't sync to my iPhone consistently. I usually sync to my PC as part of my morning routine.
**************************************
Tolstoy once said; “Where there is faith, there is love; Where there is love, there is peace; Where there is peace, there is God; And where there is God; there is no need.” Can your faith in God move you beyond your own needs and seek a way to live in this broken world and serve the children of God? - J. Perez
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
We are fam-i-ly...
Our Daily Bread
I attended a reunion concert on Sunday. The group has been together for twenty years. I was an original member of the group! The last song they sang was We are Family because the number one reason folks sing with the group is the feeling of family amongst the singers!
I hope and pray that we have the same feeling about our spiritual family. Do we feel that our church folks are our family? Do we treat others like they are family? It goes both ways! Being family includes sharing good times and not so good times. Being vulnerable. It is not easy for most folks. God gives us strength to share so we can help others on their journey! Be brave!
Lord, we thank you for our spiritual family. Please help us love and accept each other!
Wellness Wednesday
4 Habits of Superbly Confident People [article]
Agapi Stassinopoulos
Having confidence, to me, is this awesome feeling that feels like you are walking on steady and solid ground, 10 feet tall.
Wanted to share with you some of my thoughts of how to have that feeling.
One of my favorite movie scenes is from the movie Chariots of Fire, where the runner Eric Liddell is running in a race by the ocean. As the wonderful music of Vangelis plays, he asks himself, "Where does the power come from, to see the race to its end?" He then hears his inner voice respond, "The power comes from within." (If you haven't seen the movie, give yourself an inspiring treat and watch it!)
When you are feeling confident, it's like having that inner power propel you forward, and all parts of yourself are conspiring in your favor, cheering you on. It feels like an inner dance that has nothing to do with the externals and how we are doing with our outer achievements. (Interesting that the word confidence at the end sounds like dance!) You just feel good about yourself. That power is in the core of our beings. It holds us, walks us, breathes us, and when you find that core, you also find the confidence to do things that you never thought possible.
Rumi said it best: Life is rigged in your favor! And having that belief makes you feel confident to take action, without second-guessing or doubting yourself.
I want to share with you a specific moment in my life when my confidence was shaken, and how I regained it. It was during the time I was writing my first book, Conversations With the Goddesses. I was feeling terribly insecure and doubtful about my ability to write or think that I had anything to say.
In the middle of this uncertainty, quite unexpectedly, a friend from out of town came to stay with me for the weekend while she attended a neuroscience seminar in the city. She was rather unusual in the way asserted her authority, and had a sixth sense about things.
The night my friend arrived, I shared the doubts and difficulties of my writing with her, and to my surprise, I found that she was listening to me without offering any advice. I was a bit surprised when she knocked on my bedroom door the next morning, while it was still barely light outside, asking me to wake up.
She urgently said, I have an insight about your book and it can't wait.
She said to me, you have everything you need to write this book. But you lack one thing: confidence. And the reason you lack confidence is that you think you are going to do it on your own. You are forgetting that you have inner support, inner allies, inner knowledge that comes from something beyond you. You are not alone. You already have the information in you and you need to trust it. If you are open to receiving this assistance, all sorts of support will come your way and you are going to write a wonderful book.
I wrote everything she said down in red marker, every word. It was a catalytic moment, and I felt so alive that to this day I have saved that paper as a reminder that confidence and strength come from the knowledge that we are never alone. It comes from that power within. She was absolutely right. Once I opened up to that knowledge, my creativity was unleashed and I was able to complete my first book.
How do we find that power within? That is the question and the inner work that each one of us has to do -- to go inside and get a hold of our core. We all struggle with the issue of confidence. It leaves us when things don't go our way. Like a negative current that tries to consume us and spiral us downward, before you know it you can sink into the quicksand. Reconnecting with that wiser part of us -- that knows our value beyond our achievements or outer recognition, and has a larger perspective -- is the winning strategy that changes the negative current that comes against us, and transforms it into a positive wave that pushes us forward to our next committed action.
Our negative voices, which play in our head, say to us that we are not good enough.
They lie to us, making us feel that we are less than others and deplete us from the most valuable commodity a human being can have, trusting oneself and one's inner wisdom. The antidote is radical self-acceptance. I don't know if you know the character that Al Franken played in a television series called Stuart Smalley, but he famously said "I am good enough, I am smart enough, and doggone it, people like me." It is a good mantra for all of us to run inside our heads.
I have learned from my mother, who had unshakable inner trust in life, that the ability to create the life you want is not based on resumes and degrees, but on giving yourself permission to be who you are; accepting yourself the way you are; trying new things; not being afraid to fail; and using this world as your playground, knowing that you are writing the script as you go along. But often in our minds and creative imaginations, we start to write scripts that have negative outcomes that undermine us. Our critical voice stops us from attempting something new and following the spark of a new idea. I think Shakespeare said it best, "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt."
There are four principles I have discovered that help me get back to my confidence when it falters.
1. Affirm that you are not alone. What that means, is that we often abandon ourselves, and that creates a feeling of tremendous insecurity. You are the one who has got to have your back and heart. There are three factors to knowing you are not alone: you reach within and you grab hold of your core self; you reach outward and you ask for help; and you reach to others and offer help.
2. Move into radical self-acceptance. Start appreciating every little thing about you, reinforce the positive, and refrain from focusing on lack. When you are feeling insecure, tell yourself, "I can't afford the luxury of indulging in my own insecurities." I often play the Bruno Mars song "Just the Way You Are," which energizes me (and I wonder if Bruno wrote it for me).
3. Don't wait to be perfect before you take action. You are always going to be a work in progress. Don't wait for perfect circumstances. We put conditions on our happiness and well-being that distract us from being open to the opportunities that are in front of us.
4. Your presence is required. Call your heart energy present as you are living your daily life. Bring it present in your conversations and all your interactions. Do not disconnect from your heart. It is what brings fulfillment in your day.
Let's get into that sweet spot of really accepting and cherishing our vulnerabilities, our humanness and ourselves! Let's embrace the whole package, the things we are good at and the things we are not so good at, because that is how we find our confidence and how we make the ground we walk on not only steady, but sacred.
**************************************
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
I attended a reunion concert on Sunday. The group has been together for twenty years. I was an original member of the group! The last song they sang was We are Family because the number one reason folks sing with the group is the feeling of family amongst the singers!
I hope and pray that we have the same feeling about our spiritual family. Do we feel that our church folks are our family? Do we treat others like they are family? It goes both ways! Being family includes sharing good times and not so good times. Being vulnerable. It is not easy for most folks. God gives us strength to share so we can help others on their journey! Be brave!
Lord, we thank you for our spiritual family. Please help us love and accept each other!
Wellness Wednesday
4 Habits of Superbly Confident People [article]
Agapi Stassinopoulos
Having confidence, to me, is this awesome feeling that feels like you are walking on steady and solid ground, 10 feet tall.
Wanted to share with you some of my thoughts of how to have that feeling.
One of my favorite movie scenes is from the movie Chariots of Fire, where the runner Eric Liddell is running in a race by the ocean. As the wonderful music of Vangelis plays, he asks himself, "Where does the power come from, to see the race to its end?" He then hears his inner voice respond, "The power comes from within." (If you haven't seen the movie, give yourself an inspiring treat and watch it!)
When you are feeling confident, it's like having that inner power propel you forward, and all parts of yourself are conspiring in your favor, cheering you on. It feels like an inner dance that has nothing to do with the externals and how we are doing with our outer achievements. (Interesting that the word confidence at the end sounds like dance!) You just feel good about yourself. That power is in the core of our beings. It holds us, walks us, breathes us, and when you find that core, you also find the confidence to do things that you never thought possible.
Rumi said it best: Life is rigged in your favor! And having that belief makes you feel confident to take action, without second-guessing or doubting yourself.
I want to share with you a specific moment in my life when my confidence was shaken, and how I regained it. It was during the time I was writing my first book, Conversations With the Goddesses. I was feeling terribly insecure and doubtful about my ability to write or think that I had anything to say.
In the middle of this uncertainty, quite unexpectedly, a friend from out of town came to stay with me for the weekend while she attended a neuroscience seminar in the city. She was rather unusual in the way asserted her authority, and had a sixth sense about things.
The night my friend arrived, I shared the doubts and difficulties of my writing with her, and to my surprise, I found that she was listening to me without offering any advice. I was a bit surprised when she knocked on my bedroom door the next morning, while it was still barely light outside, asking me to wake up.
She urgently said, I have an insight about your book and it can't wait.
She said to me, you have everything you need to write this book. But you lack one thing: confidence. And the reason you lack confidence is that you think you are going to do it on your own. You are forgetting that you have inner support, inner allies, inner knowledge that comes from something beyond you. You are not alone. You already have the information in you and you need to trust it. If you are open to receiving this assistance, all sorts of support will come your way and you are going to write a wonderful book.
I wrote everything she said down in red marker, every word. It was a catalytic moment, and I felt so alive that to this day I have saved that paper as a reminder that confidence and strength come from the knowledge that we are never alone. It comes from that power within. She was absolutely right. Once I opened up to that knowledge, my creativity was unleashed and I was able to complete my first book.
How do we find that power within? That is the question and the inner work that each one of us has to do -- to go inside and get a hold of our core. We all struggle with the issue of confidence. It leaves us when things don't go our way. Like a negative current that tries to consume us and spiral us downward, before you know it you can sink into the quicksand. Reconnecting with that wiser part of us -- that knows our value beyond our achievements or outer recognition, and has a larger perspective -- is the winning strategy that changes the negative current that comes against us, and transforms it into a positive wave that pushes us forward to our next committed action.
Our negative voices, which play in our head, say to us that we are not good enough.
They lie to us, making us feel that we are less than others and deplete us from the most valuable commodity a human being can have, trusting oneself and one's inner wisdom. The antidote is radical self-acceptance. I don't know if you know the character that Al Franken played in a television series called Stuart Smalley, but he famously said "I am good enough, I am smart enough, and doggone it, people like me." It is a good mantra for all of us to run inside our heads.
I have learned from my mother, who had unshakable inner trust in life, that the ability to create the life you want is not based on resumes and degrees, but on giving yourself permission to be who you are; accepting yourself the way you are; trying new things; not being afraid to fail; and using this world as your playground, knowing that you are writing the script as you go along. But often in our minds and creative imaginations, we start to write scripts that have negative outcomes that undermine us. Our critical voice stops us from attempting something new and following the spark of a new idea. I think Shakespeare said it best, "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt."
There are four principles I have discovered that help me get back to my confidence when it falters.
1. Affirm that you are not alone. What that means, is that we often abandon ourselves, and that creates a feeling of tremendous insecurity. You are the one who has got to have your back and heart. There are three factors to knowing you are not alone: you reach within and you grab hold of your core self; you reach outward and you ask for help; and you reach to others and offer help.
2. Move into radical self-acceptance. Start appreciating every little thing about you, reinforce the positive, and refrain from focusing on lack. When you are feeling insecure, tell yourself, "I can't afford the luxury of indulging in my own insecurities." I often play the Bruno Mars song "Just the Way You Are," which energizes me (and I wonder if Bruno wrote it for me).
3. Don't wait to be perfect before you take action. You are always going to be a work in progress. Don't wait for perfect circumstances. We put conditions on our happiness and well-being that distract us from being open to the opportunities that are in front of us.
4. Your presence is required. Call your heart energy present as you are living your daily life. Bring it present in your conversations and all your interactions. Do not disconnect from your heart. It is what brings fulfillment in your day.
Let's get into that sweet spot of really accepting and cherishing our vulnerabilities, our humanness and ourselves! Let's embrace the whole package, the things we are good at and the things we are not so good at, because that is how we find our confidence and how we make the ground we walk on not only steady, but sacred.
**************************************
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
You can't handle the truth!
Our Daily Bread
There is a poignant line in the movie "A Few Good Men" that is quoted a lot. "The truth? You can't handle the truth!" Satan has lead us to believe that in our daily lives as well! Nooooo!
The Truth, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is what leads us to God! Satan obviously doesn't want that to happen. Resist him! ha! Seeing the real truth about the lies of this world help us focus our lives on the truth that God sent us in his Son. The Truth! Yes we CAN handle the Truth and the Truth will set us free!
Side note: I discovered a truth that I didn't want to discover yesterday. God has been telling me some things for almost five years now. I haven't listened. I didn't trust God. I learned yesterday the "wages" of that disobedience. I will look forward and not back. I will accept God's love and forgiveness and learn to do better. The Truth really does set us free.
Lord, help us listen to YOUR truth and not the lies that surround each each day!
Teaching Tuesday
Galatians
The letter to the Galatians is probably one of the most strongly worded books in the New Testament. Most folks think of the New Testament as being all about love and that is mostly true. It is also about sin, restoration and faithfulness to God! Paul harshly addresses the Galatians after they leave behind the Gospel that Paul preached and took up some false hybrid teachings from false teachers, those who would pervert the Gospel of Christ. I can just hear Paul saying something like "I gave you TWO simple things to do -- love God and love others. But NOOOOOOO!" hahaha I was saddened that even at the begining of the church that folks had to go their own way instead of following Christ. This has continued over and over in our Christian history! Yikes!
There's a line in a song by Casting Crowns that caught my attention:
"We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing"
Can't we stop doing that?
******************************
As wise King Solomon said, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).
There is a poignant line in the movie "A Few Good Men" that is quoted a lot. "The truth? You can't handle the truth!" Satan has lead us to believe that in our daily lives as well! Nooooo!
The Truth, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is what leads us to God! Satan obviously doesn't want that to happen. Resist him! ha! Seeing the real truth about the lies of this world help us focus our lives on the truth that God sent us in his Son. The Truth! Yes we CAN handle the Truth and the Truth will set us free!
Side note: I discovered a truth that I didn't want to discover yesterday. God has been telling me some things for almost five years now. I haven't listened. I didn't trust God. I learned yesterday the "wages" of that disobedience. I will look forward and not back. I will accept God's love and forgiveness and learn to do better. The Truth really does set us free.
Lord, help us listen to YOUR truth and not the lies that surround each each day!
Teaching Tuesday
Galatians
The letter to the Galatians is probably one of the most strongly worded books in the New Testament. Most folks think of the New Testament as being all about love and that is mostly true. It is also about sin, restoration and faithfulness to God! Paul harshly addresses the Galatians after they leave behind the Gospel that Paul preached and took up some false hybrid teachings from false teachers, those who would pervert the Gospel of Christ. I can just hear Paul saying something like "I gave you TWO simple things to do -- love God and love others. But NOOOOOOO!" hahaha I was saddened that even at the begining of the church that folks had to go their own way instead of following Christ. This has continued over and over in our Christian history! Yikes!
There's a line in a song by Casting Crowns that caught my attention:
"We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing"
Can't we stop doing that?
******************************
As wise King Solomon said, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).
Monday, April 14, 2014
Who are you?
Our Daily Bread
I attended a reunion concert yesterday for the Gay and Lesbian chorus in Louisville, KY. We were celebrating 20 years of concerts and serving the LGBT community. While it was a lot of fun to see old friends, there were several cases of mistaken identities and "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you!" ha!
That made me think about how Christians are seen in the world. How are each viewed? Do they see Christ in us? Do they see his love and mercy? Do they see the Living God in our lives? Or do they say "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you!" when looking for Jesus in the way we act and treat people? Let us think about this during this Holy Week!
Lord, we know who you are. Please help us show others through our lives!
Movie Monday
I got to see two movies last week: Noah and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Noah
I told my mother that I think the screen writers mixed the story of Noah with The Lord of the Rings a little too much! Hollywood also took some liberties with the story line that I didn't like. I think they were trying to explain some things that humans have had a hard time understanding since the first time the stories were told. I'm sorry, it didn't work for me! The special effects were amazing. The acting was pretty good. It may have just been me, but it seemed the actors developed British accents towards the end of the movie.
I give this two bear paws. If it had been a fictional story, I would have given it three bear paws. See it on the big screen to get the full view of the special effects.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
I really liked this action thriller movie. I saw it with my roomie so we both fed off each other's excitement when viewing. There were some nice plot twists. Lots of blow em up - shoot em up. A little scariness in a "could this really happen" kind of way. It was fun if you didn't take it too seriously!
I give this three bear paws for the overall effect and the plot twists. See it on the big screen!
**************************************
The only remedy for hearts that “want it all” is the contentment found in the presence of the living God. He is sufficient for our needs and longings, and He alone can bring us the peace and contentment we’ll never find in the pursuits of this life. - Our Daily Bread
I attended a reunion concert yesterday for the Gay and Lesbian chorus in Louisville, KY. We were celebrating 20 years of concerts and serving the LGBT community. While it was a lot of fun to see old friends, there were several cases of mistaken identities and "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you!" ha!
That made me think about how Christians are seen in the world. How are each viewed? Do they see Christ in us? Do they see his love and mercy? Do they see the Living God in our lives? Or do they say "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you!" when looking for Jesus in the way we act and treat people? Let us think about this during this Holy Week!
Lord, we know who you are. Please help us show others through our lives!
Movie Monday
I got to see two movies last week: Noah and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Noah
I told my mother that I think the screen writers mixed the story of Noah with The Lord of the Rings a little too much! Hollywood also took some liberties with the story line that I didn't like. I think they were trying to explain some things that humans have had a hard time understanding since the first time the stories were told. I'm sorry, it didn't work for me! The special effects were amazing. The acting was pretty good. It may have just been me, but it seemed the actors developed British accents towards the end of the movie.
I give this two bear paws. If it had been a fictional story, I would have given it three bear paws. See it on the big screen to get the full view of the special effects.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
I really liked this action thriller movie. I saw it with my roomie so we both fed off each other's excitement when viewing. There were some nice plot twists. Lots of blow em up - shoot em up. A little scariness in a "could this really happen" kind of way. It was fun if you didn't take it too seriously!
I give this three bear paws for the overall effect and the plot twists. See it on the big screen!
**************************************
The only remedy for hearts that “want it all” is the contentment found in the presence of the living God. He is sufficient for our needs and longings, and He alone can bring us the peace and contentment we’ll never find in the pursuits of this life. - Our Daily Bread
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Stubborn for God
Our Daily Bread
I had a close friend a few years ago that was as stubborn as I am. We would talk about things and obviously clashed while discussing some areas of our lives. To be honest, we both were right about some things and wrong about some things. Yes, I can admit when I am wrong! We joked "yes, we are a stiff-necked people!" (Old Testament reference to the people of Israel).
After praying for each other, we talked a lot about how great stubbornness is when we use it for God's glory! Instead of being stubborn and fighting God's ways, being stubborn in our resolve to live for him is quite a blessing! It can be a blessing to us and an inspiration to others! One of the greatest responses I can give to someone who compliments me on my resolve or a job well done is "It is only through Christ that I can accomplish these things!" Praise God!
Lord, you know that I am a stiff-necked people since you made me that way! Please help me apply that stubbornness to following you!
Psalm Sunday
Psalm 139:14 is one of my favorite Bible verses. I love the phrase "fearfully and wonderfully made". How can someone be depressed when we know this? ;-) Praise God!
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
***********************************************
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40
I had a close friend a few years ago that was as stubborn as I am. We would talk about things and obviously clashed while discussing some areas of our lives. To be honest, we both were right about some things and wrong about some things. Yes, I can admit when I am wrong! We joked "yes, we are a stiff-necked people!" (Old Testament reference to the people of Israel).
After praying for each other, we talked a lot about how great stubbornness is when we use it for God's glory! Instead of being stubborn and fighting God's ways, being stubborn in our resolve to live for him is quite a blessing! It can be a blessing to us and an inspiration to others! One of the greatest responses I can give to someone who compliments me on my resolve or a job well done is "It is only through Christ that I can accomplish these things!" Praise God!
Lord, you know that I am a stiff-necked people since you made me that way! Please help me apply that stubbornness to following you!
Psalm Sunday
Psalm 139:14 is one of my favorite Bible verses. I love the phrase "fearfully and wonderfully made". How can someone be depressed when we know this? ;-) Praise God!
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
***********************************************
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Beginners
Our Daily Bread
There was movie out a year or two ago called Beginners. It had some very interesting story lines about the love lives of a father and son as they started new relationships. The son with a woman he fell madly in love with. The father with another man after coming out late in life. Beginning again as if everything is new is a refreshing and scary experience!
The important point of today's devotional is that God is with us throughout every second of our lives and will guide is through all situations. It is amazing to me how this works. I gave the example of a youngster riding a bike. When the child first starts, the parent installs the training wheels and holds on to the bike for the first few rides. When the parent sees that the child can handle the training wheels, the parent lets go and gives the child some freedom to ride (or to fall). The same process happens when the training wheels come off! Does any of this sound familiar? Does it sound like the way our spiritual lives work? Just because the parent doesn't have hands on the bike, it doesn't mean the parent isn't watching! Trust God as he holds the bike of our lives and as he gives us freedom to serve him!
Lord, your ways are not our ways. Please help us live, learn and serve.
Simply Saturday
I heard this song on the radio last week and had to purchase it. I think we can offer up this prayer to God at any age!
Write Your Story
Sung by FRANCESCA BATTISTELLI [video]
They say
You're the King of everything
The One who taught the wind to sing
The Source of the rhythm my heart keeps beating
They say
You can give the blind their sight
And You can bring the dead to life
You can be the hope my soul's been seekin'
I wanna tell You now that I believe it
I wanna tell You now that I believe it
I do, that You can make me new, oh
I'm an empty page
I'm an open book
Write Your story on my heart
Come on and make Your mark
Author of my hope
Maker of the stars
Let me be Your work of art
Won't You write Your story on my heart
Write Your story, write Your story
Come on and write Your story, write Your story
Won't You write Your story on my heart
My life
I know it's never really been mine
So do with it whatever You like
I don't know what Your plan is
But I know it's good, yeah
I wanna tell You now that I believe in
I wanna tell You now that I believe in
In You, so do what You do, oh
I'm an empty page
I'm an open book
Write Your story on my heart
Come on and make Your mark
Author of my hope
Maker of the stars
Let me be Your work of art
Won't You write Your story on my heart
Write Your story, write Your story
Come on and write Your story, write Your story
Won't You write Your story on my heart
I want my history
To be Your legacy
Go ahead and show this world
What You've done in me
And when the music fades
I want my life to say
I let You write Your story, write Your story
Write Your story, write Your story
I'm an empty page
I'm an open book
Write Your story on my heart
Come on and make Your mark
Author of my hope
Maker of the stars
Let me be Your work of art
Won't You write Your story on my heart
Write Your story, write Your story
Come on and write Your story, write Your story
Won't You write Your story on my heart
[x2]
************************
The Lord gives us His grace to live purposeful lives of faith as we await His coming.- Our Daily Bread
There was movie out a year or two ago called Beginners. It had some very interesting story lines about the love lives of a father and son as they started new relationships. The son with a woman he fell madly in love with. The father with another man after coming out late in life. Beginning again as if everything is new is a refreshing and scary experience!
The important point of today's devotional is that God is with us throughout every second of our lives and will guide is through all situations. It is amazing to me how this works. I gave the example of a youngster riding a bike. When the child first starts, the parent installs the training wheels and holds on to the bike for the first few rides. When the parent sees that the child can handle the training wheels, the parent lets go and gives the child some freedom to ride (or to fall). The same process happens when the training wheels come off! Does any of this sound familiar? Does it sound like the way our spiritual lives work? Just because the parent doesn't have hands on the bike, it doesn't mean the parent isn't watching! Trust God as he holds the bike of our lives and as he gives us freedom to serve him!
Lord, your ways are not our ways. Please help us live, learn and serve.
Simply Saturday
I heard this song on the radio last week and had to purchase it. I think we can offer up this prayer to God at any age!
Write Your Story
Sung by FRANCESCA BATTISTELLI [video]
They say
You're the King of everything
The One who taught the wind to sing
The Source of the rhythm my heart keeps beating
They say
You can give the blind their sight
And You can bring the dead to life
You can be the hope my soul's been seekin'
I wanna tell You now that I believe it
I wanna tell You now that I believe it
I do, that You can make me new, oh
I'm an empty page
I'm an open book
Write Your story on my heart
Come on and make Your mark
Author of my hope
Maker of the stars
Let me be Your work of art
Won't You write Your story on my heart
Write Your story, write Your story
Come on and write Your story, write Your story
Won't You write Your story on my heart
My life
I know it's never really been mine
So do with it whatever You like
I don't know what Your plan is
But I know it's good, yeah
I wanna tell You now that I believe in
I wanna tell You now that I believe in
In You, so do what You do, oh
I'm an empty page
I'm an open book
Write Your story on my heart
Come on and make Your mark
Author of my hope
Maker of the stars
Let me be Your work of art
Won't You write Your story on my heart
Write Your story, write Your story
Come on and write Your story, write Your story
Won't You write Your story on my heart
I want my history
To be Your legacy
Go ahead and show this world
What You've done in me
And when the music fades
I want my life to say
I let You write Your story, write Your story
Write Your story, write Your story
I'm an empty page
I'm an open book
Write Your story on my heart
Come on and make Your mark
Author of my hope
Maker of the stars
Let me be Your work of art
Won't You write Your story on my heart
Write Your story, write Your story
Come on and write Your story, write Your story
Won't You write Your story on my heart
[x2]
************************
The Lord gives us His grace to live purposeful lives of faith as we await His coming.- Our Daily Bread
Friday, April 11, 2014
Off the charts!
Our Daily Bread
As you might know, I like science fiction movies. How many times I have I heard something like "Gosh, captain, the readings are off the charts!" "We have never seen anything like this before!" "Our instruments can only read up to one kazillion whatevers and this thing is more powerful than that!" hahaha
I say things like this about our God when I read the Bible. Yes, I choose to simply believe the stories in the Bible. Instead of trying to explain the phenomena that we can't grasp, I choose to believe that God has the power to do these things whether we understand them or not! Are we really looking for God to act in today's world? It is confusing at times. I choose to believe in our everlasting, amazing God!
Lord, our minds cannot comprehend you power and glory. Our hearts cannot accept all the love you have for us. Please help us have faith and to praise you no matter what!
Foodie Friday
One of the treats I made for the bake sale tonight is called Lazy cake cookies. Lazy you say? Yes because the recipe only has a few ingredients and is very, very easy! I made it with a white cake mix and used the Spring color chips with some Mint M&Ms. I have also made this with chocolate cake mix with chocolate chips for a fudgey treat!
Lazy Cake Cookies [recipe link]
Ingredients
1 box yellow or white cake mix
2 eggs beaten
5 Tbsp melted butter
2 cups M&M's or mini chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix together all ingredients and spread into a greased 9x13 pan.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Notes
This would be AWESOME with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!
*************************************
CELEBRATE CALM
I refuse to give you power over my attitude and mood.
I refuse to allow you to dictate my response to you.
I refuse to give you the power to change my behavior.
I refuse to allow you to steal my peace and joy.
You can be mean. I will be kind.
You can hurt me. I will forgive you (but not trust you!).
You can be a jerk. I will have mercy.
You can be bitter. I will be grateful that I don't have to live with that poison in my soul.
I cannot tell you what you are going to do.
But I can tell you what I am going to do.
This is self-control. This is humility. This is dignity.
As you might know, I like science fiction movies. How many times I have I heard something like "Gosh, captain, the readings are off the charts!" "We have never seen anything like this before!" "Our instruments can only read up to one kazillion whatevers and this thing is more powerful than that!" hahaha
I say things like this about our God when I read the Bible. Yes, I choose to simply believe the stories in the Bible. Instead of trying to explain the phenomena that we can't grasp, I choose to believe that God has the power to do these things whether we understand them or not! Are we really looking for God to act in today's world? It is confusing at times. I choose to believe in our everlasting, amazing God!
Lord, our minds cannot comprehend you power and glory. Our hearts cannot accept all the love you have for us. Please help us have faith and to praise you no matter what!
Foodie Friday
One of the treats I made for the bake sale tonight is called Lazy cake cookies. Lazy you say? Yes because the recipe only has a few ingredients and is very, very easy! I made it with a white cake mix and used the Spring color chips with some Mint M&Ms. I have also made this with chocolate cake mix with chocolate chips for a fudgey treat!
Lazy Cake Cookies [recipe link]
Ingredients
1 box yellow or white cake mix
2 eggs beaten
5 Tbsp melted butter
2 cups M&M's or mini chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix together all ingredients and spread into a greased 9x13 pan.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Notes
This would be AWESOME with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!
*************************************
CELEBRATE CALM
I refuse to give you power over my attitude and mood.
I refuse to allow you to dictate my response to you.
I refuse to give you the power to change my behavior.
I refuse to allow you to steal my peace and joy.
You can be mean. I will be kind.
You can hurt me. I will forgive you (but not trust you!).
You can be a jerk. I will have mercy.
You can be bitter. I will be grateful that I don't have to live with that poison in my soul.
I cannot tell you what you are going to do.
But I can tell you what I am going to do.
This is self-control. This is humility. This is dignity.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
For our benefit
Our Daily Bread
There is a lot of blah blah blah and knashing of teeth about the US Government and the reduction of our freedoms today. Our data is scanned from our phones and computers. We are now required to have health insurance. Some folks scream whenever anyone mentions regulating guns more closely. There will always be doubts and complaints.
As Christians, God tries to get through to us at times that the things we are praying fo may not be to our benefit. That new job may not be all we think it is. The relationship we pray for may not be all we think it will be. The new home we long for may not be what is best for us. As one song says "He loves us way too much to give us lesser things" (Blessings by Laura Story). Let's pray for each other to pray wisely and with discernment and to be patient for God to lead us to the amazing things he has for us!
Lord, you love us WAY too much to give us lesser things. Please help us realize this and trust you when we don't understand your ways!
Technology Thursday
The 3 R’s of Retiring Your Old Gadgets: Reuse, Resell, or Recycle
by Dan Tynan
My home is an electronics warehouse from hell. Even I am appalled by the amount of gear that has piled up over the years. Desktops, laptops, tablets, cameras, game consoles, scanners, printers — if it’s digital, you’ll find it covered in dust and squirreled away in my storage room.
Hey, don’t judge. When you’ve been writing about gadgets since the dawn of time, as I have, these things collect. Every time I ship one back, two more show up. I have a banker’s box overflowing with orphaned power bricks I neglected to return. And cellphones? Don’t get me started.
While you probably don’t have quite this much techno-crap in your house, I’ll bet you have some. According to the NPD Group, the average U.S. household owns nearly six Internet-connected devices. A recent survey by used gadget marketplace uSell reports that seven out of 10 Americans own gizmos they haven’t touched for at least two years. As a species, we generate 20 million to 50 million metric tons of e-waste each year, most of it toxic, the vast majority of which still goes into landfills.
So in my household and probably yours, it’s time for some serious spring cleaning. But if you want to do it in a responsible way, your options boil down to the three R’s: reuse, resell, or recycle.
But before you do any of that, read this first: Five Things You Must Do Before You Ditch Your Old Gadgets.
Give to a good cause
The first and best option is to give your old technology to someone who needs it more than you do. For years, we donated old desktops to our kids’ schools, until we realized they simply weren’t equipped to deal with the deluge of gear. Your school may vary, and if you’ve got any geek skills at all, most nonprofits will benefit more from your time and expertise than your stuff.
A better idea is to find an organization that restores old tech and distributes it where it will do the most good. Seattle’s InterConnection.org, for example, will wipe everything from your device, reinstall an operating system and software, replace any broken bits, and distribute it to a nonprofit organization. If you’re donating a laptop or a phone, you can mail it in, and InterConnection will pay the shipping, provided that it still works and is less than seven years old. The rest it sends to a certified recycler.
Dell has a program with Goodwill Industries. Take an old computer of any brand to a participating store, and Dell will refurbish it if possible so it can be resold to a needy family. If there’s no participating Goodwill near you, try searching Microsoft’s directory of registered refurbishers.
Did I mention that you can deduct the current value of your tech donation? Sites like WorthMonkey and GadgetValue help you figure out how much to claim on next year’s taxes.
Resell your cell
If your old electronics aren’t really that old — and especially if they’re mobile devices — you could make a few bucks by selling them. All the major wireless carriers will cut you a deal if you trade in your old handset when you get a new one; there are also dozens of sites that will buy your old smartphone or tablet. It’s amazingly easy: Select your device, get a price, pop it into a prepaid mailer, and wait for the money to roll in.
Or you can bring your phone, tablet, or MP3 player to an ecoATM kiosk, which will evaluate your device, take it off your hands, and give you the option to donate the value to charity or to take home cold, hard cash.
The downside? Prices vary wildly, and you probably won’t get as much as you want for it. For example, my black, WiFi-only, 16 GB iPad 2, which cost me $500 new two years ago, will fetch $106 at NextWorth. Gazelle offered me $120 for one in flawless condition. BuyMyTronics offered $125, which was also the top of the price range for ecoATM. uSell, which provides a marketplace of buyers rated and ranked by its customers, showed me offers ranging from $80 to $145.
If I wanted to sell it on Amazon, Craigslist, or eBay, I could get significantly more; eBay’s pricing estimator tells me I could snag nearly $250. But I’d be in for a lot more hassle, from creating and posting the ad to managing the offers, closing the deal, and shipping it. I don’t want to open an electronics shop, I just want to get rid of stuff.
Another big problem: If it doesn’t carry an Apple or a Samsung logo on it, you won’t get much, if you can sell it at all. My old HTC Radar phone would snag a paltry $15 at uSell and $20 at BuyMyTronics; Gazelle and NextWorth wouldn’t even touch it.
Recycling to the rescue
When your gear is too old, too broken, or too obscure to donate or sell, your last, best option is to recycle. Nearly any device older than five years is fodder for the recycletron, and there are dozens of companies more than happy to mine your tech for the rich trove of gold, silver, cadmium, and other precious metals they contain.
You can use the directory at Earth911 to find a recycler near you. Most major electronics manufacturers also offer some kind of trade-in or recycling program, but your mileage will vary. For example, I had two broken inkjet printers that weren’t worth selling or donating, so I visited HP’s trade-in site to see if I could get something for them. No dice. Even if they were in perfect working condition, they were worthless, though HP would take them off my hands if I paid $10 apiece for shipping. No, thanks. I tossed them in the back of the car and drove them over to Best Buy, which will accept almost any kind of electronic gear and recycle it responsibly. (Office Depot, Staples, RadioShack, and other big retailers also offer electronics recycling, though some charge nominal fees.)
Frankly, that is my go-to option when all others are exhausted. Every few weeks I dig into the storage closet and haul a bunch of electronics to my closest big-box store. Best Buy’s official recycling policies say the stores will accept only three items per household at a time, but my local store apparently didn’t get the memo — they have yet to turn me away, no matter how much stuff I dump on them.
Eventually I will even get to that box of orphaned power bricks. And that, my friends, will be a glorious day.
***************************************
We are far from perfect, but despite our mistakes and our sins, we will never abandon the Lord and he will never abandon us - adapted from a statement about Abraham from the EfM Training Guide
There is a lot of blah blah blah and knashing of teeth about the US Government and the reduction of our freedoms today. Our data is scanned from our phones and computers. We are now required to have health insurance. Some folks scream whenever anyone mentions regulating guns more closely. There will always be doubts and complaints.
As Christians, God tries to get through to us at times that the things we are praying fo may not be to our benefit. That new job may not be all we think it is. The relationship we pray for may not be all we think it will be. The new home we long for may not be what is best for us. As one song says "He loves us way too much to give us lesser things" (Blessings by Laura Story). Let's pray for each other to pray wisely and with discernment and to be patient for God to lead us to the amazing things he has for us!
Lord, you love us WAY too much to give us lesser things. Please help us realize this and trust you when we don't understand your ways!
Technology Thursday
The 3 R’s of Retiring Your Old Gadgets: Reuse, Resell, or Recycle
by Dan Tynan
My home is an electronics warehouse from hell. Even I am appalled by the amount of gear that has piled up over the years. Desktops, laptops, tablets, cameras, game consoles, scanners, printers — if it’s digital, you’ll find it covered in dust and squirreled away in my storage room.
Hey, don’t judge. When you’ve been writing about gadgets since the dawn of time, as I have, these things collect. Every time I ship one back, two more show up. I have a banker’s box overflowing with orphaned power bricks I neglected to return. And cellphones? Don’t get me started.
While you probably don’t have quite this much techno-crap in your house, I’ll bet you have some. According to the NPD Group, the average U.S. household owns nearly six Internet-connected devices. A recent survey by used gadget marketplace uSell reports that seven out of 10 Americans own gizmos they haven’t touched for at least two years. As a species, we generate 20 million to 50 million metric tons of e-waste each year, most of it toxic, the vast majority of which still goes into landfills.
So in my household and probably yours, it’s time for some serious spring cleaning. But if you want to do it in a responsible way, your options boil down to the three R’s: reuse, resell, or recycle.
But before you do any of that, read this first: Five Things You Must Do Before You Ditch Your Old Gadgets.
Give to a good cause
The first and best option is to give your old technology to someone who needs it more than you do. For years, we donated old desktops to our kids’ schools, until we realized they simply weren’t equipped to deal with the deluge of gear. Your school may vary, and if you’ve got any geek skills at all, most nonprofits will benefit more from your time and expertise than your stuff.
A better idea is to find an organization that restores old tech and distributes it where it will do the most good. Seattle’s InterConnection.org, for example, will wipe everything from your device, reinstall an operating system and software, replace any broken bits, and distribute it to a nonprofit organization. If you’re donating a laptop or a phone, you can mail it in, and InterConnection will pay the shipping, provided that it still works and is less than seven years old. The rest it sends to a certified recycler.
Dell has a program with Goodwill Industries. Take an old computer of any brand to a participating store, and Dell will refurbish it if possible so it can be resold to a needy family. If there’s no participating Goodwill near you, try searching Microsoft’s directory of registered refurbishers.
Did I mention that you can deduct the current value of your tech donation? Sites like WorthMonkey and GadgetValue help you figure out how much to claim on next year’s taxes.
Resell your cell
If your old electronics aren’t really that old — and especially if they’re mobile devices — you could make a few bucks by selling them. All the major wireless carriers will cut you a deal if you trade in your old handset when you get a new one; there are also dozens of sites that will buy your old smartphone or tablet. It’s amazingly easy: Select your device, get a price, pop it into a prepaid mailer, and wait for the money to roll in.
Or you can bring your phone, tablet, or MP3 player to an ecoATM kiosk, which will evaluate your device, take it off your hands, and give you the option to donate the value to charity or to take home cold, hard cash.
The downside? Prices vary wildly, and you probably won’t get as much as you want for it. For example, my black, WiFi-only, 16 GB iPad 2, which cost me $500 new two years ago, will fetch $106 at NextWorth. Gazelle offered me $120 for one in flawless condition. BuyMyTronics offered $125, which was also the top of the price range for ecoATM. uSell, which provides a marketplace of buyers rated and ranked by its customers, showed me offers ranging from $80 to $145.
If I wanted to sell it on Amazon, Craigslist, or eBay, I could get significantly more; eBay’s pricing estimator tells me I could snag nearly $250. But I’d be in for a lot more hassle, from creating and posting the ad to managing the offers, closing the deal, and shipping it. I don’t want to open an electronics shop, I just want to get rid of stuff.
Another big problem: If it doesn’t carry an Apple or a Samsung logo on it, you won’t get much, if you can sell it at all. My old HTC Radar phone would snag a paltry $15 at uSell and $20 at BuyMyTronics; Gazelle and NextWorth wouldn’t even touch it.
Recycling to the rescue
When your gear is too old, too broken, or too obscure to donate or sell, your last, best option is to recycle. Nearly any device older than five years is fodder for the recycletron, and there are dozens of companies more than happy to mine your tech for the rich trove of gold, silver, cadmium, and other precious metals they contain.
You can use the directory at Earth911 to find a recycler near you. Most major electronics manufacturers also offer some kind of trade-in or recycling program, but your mileage will vary. For example, I had two broken inkjet printers that weren’t worth selling or donating, so I visited HP’s trade-in site to see if I could get something for them. No dice. Even if they were in perfect working condition, they were worthless, though HP would take them off my hands if I paid $10 apiece for shipping. No, thanks. I tossed them in the back of the car and drove them over to Best Buy, which will accept almost any kind of electronic gear and recycle it responsibly. (Office Depot, Staples, RadioShack, and other big retailers also offer electronics recycling, though some charge nominal fees.)
Frankly, that is my go-to option when all others are exhausted. Every few weeks I dig into the storage closet and haul a bunch of electronics to my closest big-box store. Best Buy’s official recycling policies say the stores will accept only three items per household at a time, but my local store apparently didn’t get the memo — they have yet to turn me away, no matter how much stuff I dump on them.
Eventually I will even get to that box of orphaned power bricks. And that, my friends, will be a glorious day.
***************************************
We are far from perfect, but despite our mistakes and our sins, we will never abandon the Lord and he will never abandon us - adapted from a statement about Abraham from the EfM Training Guide
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