P.S. - ONE MORE TOOL

This is sort of an addendum to my Tools of Encouragement post. It's something else I do to help build my faith and also keep me from wavering when I hear people say certain promises in the Word are no longer for today.

I'm not sure if you can see it on this picture I took, but my Bibles are all marked up. I underline verses that speak to my heart, sometimes put little hearts next to them, and whenever one of the promises is actually manifested in my life, I put a little TP next to it (Tested and Proven). Then if someone comes along and tells me it's not for today, I can tell them they've come too late to let me know because I've already seen it happen.

I'm going to elaborate on it more in my other blog, but just wanted to mention it here as well.

FITNESS FRIDAY: JUST AN OBSERVATION

I know, I know, it's Saturday and I am a day late with my post, but it was a choice of late or never. LOL

As far as our assignment for the week is concerned, my focus has been on my feet and trying to get them in shape for summer when I'll be painting my toes and wearing sandals. I may be pushing 70, but I still like having pretty feet. Hey, that's probably the only part of me that doesn't have that crinkly look to it and that I don't mind the rest of the world being able to see.

And speaking about crinkly, that's one of the main reasons I don't enjoy wearing swimsuits anymore. On the few occasions that I do wear one, it's the same one I've had for the last 12 years, and I cover it up with a long tee.

At first I wasn't going to share this week because I didn't feel I had anything to contribute, but then maybe I do, because although I'm feeling a bit discouraged that cutting down considerably on my food and exercising more regularly hasn't caused my weight to budge, I did have an aha moment.

I have been trying to get into the habit of running to the Lord and His Word before running to food every time I'm frustrated, wanting an excuse to procrastinate, or in need of comfort. I've also been running to the Lord for help with my new blog, which leads to even more time spent in the Word. What I've noticed is that the more my focus has been on the Lord, the less it has been on food, and there have been several occasions when I've actually skipped meals, or had to rely on the "growlies" to remind me when it's time to eat. That was a most enlightening observation.

TOOLS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

"The Lord who delivered me from the

paw of the lion and from the paw of

the bear, He will deliver me from the

hand of this Philistine."

(1 Samuel 17: 37)

My memory does not always serve me well, especially when I'm unexpectedly hit with scary symptoms, or when I'm in a funk, and so several years ago I came up with some tools to help me through these difficult times.

The first tool is a notebook in which I keep track of answered prayers, special blessings, and miracles. I decorated the cover to read Memories to Ponder on Difficult Days, and added the Awesome God chorus to remind me that that's exactly who He is.

Then I divided the notebook into sections, and added tabs so that I could quickly find everything related to a certain topic or name of God all in one place.

For instance, under the God's Grace tab, I have put dates and descriptions of times when the Lord rescued me from very close calls, or intervened to turn a negative situation around for good; under Jehovan Jireh, My Provider, I have written about awesome financial miracles; under Jehovah Rapha, My Healer, I have recorded miracles of healing; and so on. I even have a tab, Lessons Learned, to remind me of the times I missed out on God's very best for me because I let pride or fear keep me from making the right choice.

Under each tab I have also included a few relevant scripture verses and choruses, and I must say, no matter how deep into the doldrums I might be, I can't stay there long if I start leafing through this notebook. Before I know it, the darkness has lifted, I find myself praising the Lord and giving Him thanks for all He has done, and wondering why I was depressed in the first place. Amazing what a change of perspective can do.

The second tool is a little fat notebook which has become sort of a mini reference Bible to help me out when I'm trying to think of a particular Scripture and where to find it, but my mind draws a blank.

I have divided it into tabbed sections so that I can easily find what the Word has to say about a specific issue all in one place.

For instance, I have tabs for Attitudes, Fear, Health, Discouragement, Fear, Running the Race, Spiritual Warfare, Food and Exercise, and so on, and whenever I come across a new verse that speaks to my heart, I just add it under the appropriate tab.

This little reference book has been a lifesaver on more than one occasion, and I have copied everything in it to my computer so I can share it with anyone who would like a copy. So if you want one, just send me your e-mail and I'll be happy to send it to you. These are such good reminders of the promises of God.

NEW BLOG STARTING UP

Never thought I would say this, but one blog really isn't enough. LOL

Please visit the new one I'm trying to set up. Techno challenged as I am, it's been a struggle getting it to look the way I would like it to.

Comments are welcome and would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

A LANDMARK BIRTHDAY

Happy 21st birthday to a very cool granddaughter. May all your dreams come true. I love you lots and lots, and wish you much joy in the years ahead.

FITNESS FRIDAY: TIME CAPSULES AND REVELATIONS

This week Brenda gave us a fun assignment. She told us to create a time capsule we can hopefully "all open together in a year and marvel at our progress!" So I did, and here is what I put in mine:

• A bunch of pictures. Some of me at my current weight, one of my sadly neglected hands, and several I took of the foods that presently call my name the loudest--a big plate of roasted potatoes; a large chunk of buttered artisan sourdough bread with cheese; and a bowl of potato soup.


• A record of my current measurements.


• Printouts of a couple of posts that speak to where I am right now in my walk.


• A couple of WW tracking sheets with everything I ate for the last two weeks recorded on them (including what I ate that pushed me way over my allotted points for the week).


• A record of where I'm at where exercising is concerned.


• A list of goals of I hope to have reached by the time we open our time capsules a year from now.


• A Dear God letter.

But I also want to share about a revelation I had this week. It all started when I read Debbie's FF post in which she mentioned a free online study called The Lord's Table. I was curious to see what it was about, and so I checked it out, was interested in pursuing it further, and signed up so I could try it out.

It is a 60-day study you do with a mentor, and I'm not quite sure how to describe it. It's not a diet, or a food plan, or even about food as we think of it, but I can see how an overweight person would lose weight by the end of the study. The focus is on spiritual food, and feasting at the Lord's table.

Now I've known all along about the Word being spiritual food that noursihes our soul, but I think that was head knowledge, as opposed to heart knowledge or I would have made my time in the Word much more of a priority. I mean, it is a priority, and I do intend to spend more time in it every day, but things happen, and before I know it the day is over and much of that allotted time has been eaten up by other stuff. No matter how I plan, my days seem to escape me.

Well at some point this week a veil must have been lifted because it suddenly dawned on me that almighty God, the creator of the universe, was inviting me to come feast at His table. What an awesome privilege. And here I am letting other things stand in the way. What if this were the President of the United States inviting me for dinner, or the Queen of England, or some other prominent person? Is this how I would respond to their invitation? There's what I would call some good food for thought.

INTERPRETATION OF A RECURRING DREAM

This week we had an open assignment. Brenda told us we could write on anything we wanted to. Well, this morning I had a very aha moment, so I'm going to write about that.

For some time now I've been having a recurring dream where I am on my way somewhere, usually to a place very close to my starting point, and a very familiar place at that, but somehow I wind up getting lost, far, far away from where I need to be, and not being able to find my way back. If I ask someone for directions, I wind up getting even more lost (if even more lost is an option when you're already that lost to start with).

Today the interpretation suddenly dawned on me. Duh!!!

I am totally overwhelmed with things that need to get done, and despite the best of intentions and writing down a plan of how the day should go, I invariably get lost by allowing myself to get sidetracked. Before I even realize what I'm doing, I've started several things and not finished any.

Example: My planner says 9:00-10:00 - Work on clearing up e-mails in In Box.

I get started, and all goes well (I'm reading, responding, deleting) until I get to one about a comment on my blog from someone unfamiliar. I click on their link to see who they are, and I'm liking their blog, so I start reading some of their posts and even decide to leave a comment of my own. As I scroll down to leave the comment, another comment catches my eye and so I click on the link of the person who wrote it, and so it goes for the next couple of hours and I'm suddenly shocked to see it's now time for lunch and not only did I squander the 9:00-10:00 hour allotted to cleaning out my In Box, but I've also skipped over the 10:00-11:00 and 11:00-Noon hours. Now is this a parallel to my recurring dreams, or what?

Does anyone else out there in Bloggyland have such experiences too, or am I just suffering from a severe case of Adult ADD?

FITNESS FRIDAY: SOMETHING NEW

This week's assignment was to try something new. At first I couldn't think of anything, but then Brenda suggested a new healthy recipe. This motivated me to check out quinoa, since I've been hearing so much lately about how healthy it is.

What I discovered, much to my surprise, is that quinoa is gluten free, and it's not a grain at all. It's actually a tiny berry that contains all nine essential amino acids, and is therefore classified as a complete protein. It is also a great source of fiber, iron, and magnesium. So off to the grocery store I went, and was able to find a package of it in the health food section.

My recipe is sort of improvised, but I'll call it Quinoa with Sauteed Onions and Greens.

First I rinsed and boiled the quinoa as per the instructions on the package. It doesn't take very long to cook, but what did take forever was trying to pick out all the little black berries that need to be removed before cooking. Do any of you readers use quinoa and know of a quick way to do that?

Next I sauteed a diced purple onion and some garlic in olive oil, and when the onion was really limp, and the garlic was starting to brown, I added leafy greens (a combination of chopped collards and kale). Then I covered the skillet, turned down the heat, and continued cooking until they turned a bright green.

Last step was to stir in the already cooked quinoa, take a picture for this post, and enjoy. It actually tasted pretty good. The quinoa has a bit of a crunch to it, and a slightly nutty flavor, and now that I know how healthy it is, I think I'll look up some other quinoa recipes to try.