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.

FITNESS FRIDAY: BUNGLED PLANS

"Nothing's impossible I have found,
For when my chin is on the ground,

I pick myself up, Dust myself off,

Start all over again."

(From 1936 movie, Swing Time)

That little chorus from Swing Time pretty much sums up what I need to do this week, since last week's goals turned out to be a bit of a bust.

I started out with a great deal of enthusiasm, but on day two I woke up with a painfully swollen knee, and that was the end of my exercise resolution. And then I wasn't as careful as I had intended to be about not overeating because I tried to rationalize that if I had messed up in one area, I might as well just wait until my knee got better and then get back to the plan. Am I the only one who comes up with such lame excuses?

The one good thing that did come out of the week is that I did follow my goal of tracking how I spend my time, and it became very clear that if my most important priority is going to be time spent in the Word, then there are several other things that need to go. No use trying to figure out how to get around that. Twenty-four hours is written in stone. There's no way to stretch it, no how.

That made me consider my ongoing battle of the bulge. Seems like I'm always trying to figure out how I can continue eating everything I want and still lose weight. When will it finally dawn on me that I have to make a choice?

P.S. Hope nobody from our group read this post yet because I forgot to answer our assignment question about what tempts us and how we deal with it.

I am most tempted by things like potatoes soup, mashed potatoes, home fries, almost everything that has potato in it; artisan breads with butter and cheese; frozen yogurt. Nothing too healthy, as you can see. I try not to keep icecream or frozen yogurt in the house, and to buy regular bread instead of the artisan kind. Sometimes when I feel hungry, which seems to be almost all the time, I try getting a drink of water in case I'm really feeling thirsty instead of hungry. Other times I try to distract myself by taking a walk with the promise that if I'm still hungry when I get back I can eat, and most of the time the hunger passes before I get home.

I'm also tempted by just about anything that will give me an excuse for not exercising. And I really don't understand why that is, because once I get up and start doing it, it's not bad at all.

WHAT A VIEW

First it snowed. Then the sun came out and it started to melt. Last night the temperature dropped and what had melted turned to ice. Today I walked cautiously so I wouldn't take a flop, but the kids were having great fun on their sleds. Definitely a sign that winter is here. And yet when I looked out my window, this is what I saw. Other than the fact that the trees are bare, it reminded me of fall.

FOLLOW THAT VOICE!

This is sort of a P.S. to the Fitness Friday post I just posted. It is an old Ron Hutchcraft devotional I came across while sorting through some papers today, and that I thought might be a good message to share since it really does tie in with what I have been struggling with and trying to express.

Follow That Voice! - #5218
Wednesday, January 10, 2007

The thought of a fire on an airplane is really pretty unsettling. That's exactly what happened on an Air Canada flight a few years ago. The fire started in the lavatory and smoke quickly spread throughout the plane. The pilot couldn’t see and he didn't know how he was going to land. But suddenly this calm, measured voice came into the cockpit, "Just do what I say. I'll bring you in." It was the flight controller. And that calm voice literally talked the pilot in for a miraculously safe landing!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Follow That Voice!"

If your life is like mine, there are lots of choices you have to make - it's a turbulent flight. There are lots of voices pulling at you; even smoke that makes it difficult to know how to proceed sometimes. What will bring you in safely is what brought that pilot in safely - that one calm voice from the Tower.

Our word for today from the Word of God takes us to one of those moments in Jesus' life when the pressure was really on. The day before He has been in Capernaum healing sick people who were brought to Him, even casting demons out of people. Then in Luke 4:42-44 it says, "At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him and when they came to where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them. But He said, 'I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.' And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea."

Here is Jesus, surrounded by voices that are vying for His time and for His attention, and everyone had a legitimate need. Does that sound familiar? But Jesus has a clear "I must" and it helps Him stay on course as He makes His daily choices. Now, your life is the sum of hundreds of little choices you make each day. Tomorrow you'll reap today's choices. And if you're like me, you have a lot of needs and a lot of possibilities tugging at you every day. Most of them are good, but God has you on earth for some special missions and you must be true to those, no matter how noble the detours that are pulling on you.

Often we end up running around all stressed out, trying to satisfy everybody, and often satisfying nobody. We lead these fragmented, frustrated lives because we forget our "musts." And those non-negotiables have to come from God. And if you ask Him, God will lay on your heart your personal mission or missions. And some will be needs that only you can meet - like being there for your family or like reaching your lost friends and family for Christ. You need the kind of clear "I must" priorities that Jesus had.

But how do you keep your course when the flight seems to be out of control? Look at how your Lord did it. "At daybreak He went out to a solitary place." You know what He was doing. It's what He always did: going to hear from His Father. Jesus stayed on course by staying in touch with the Tower - with His Flight Controller in heaven. That's how you're going to stay on course. And, like Jesus, you have to get in touch with the Tower daily, and early, and by yourself.

Listen to your Father's calm voice before you let any other voices get to you. Let Him affirm the musts in your day. You will always land where you're supposed to if you begin with the voice from the Control Tower. Let God set your course. Forget the confusion, forget the smoke, forget the danger, and focus on your Father's instructions. Then follow that voice!

FITNESS FRIDAY: OFF ON A TANGENT

"All the impossibility is with us when we

measure God by the limitations of our

unbelief." - (Smith Wigglesworth)

This week's assignment was to expand on our goals, which is what I started out doing.

Food: Drink at least 4 large glasses of water a day; eat slowly, taking small bites and chewing well before swallowing; stop eating when I feel full.

Exercise: Do one of my Leslie Sansone in-home walking workouts at least three times a week.

But at this point I digress. I'm thinking of what I said in my first Fitness Friday post about commitment and discipline. This is my biggest battle, and my most important goal is to gain mastery over my flesh, because I know everything else will follow. So this week I'm going to go back to seriously using my planner instead of just making up lists. The lists are great in that I feel a wonderful sense of accomplishment each time I cross an item off, but my days seem to escape me before I get to the end of the list. There never seems to be enough time.

The truth is, we are all given the same 24 hours to work with every day, and there is no way to squeeze in even an extra minute. So the secret is in prioritizing. What are the things that are most important. In order to say yes to those things, we may need to say no to some others. And right now the most important thing to me is being able to spend more time in the Word. So this week I will keep a record of how I am spending my time so that I can see what it is that is keeping me from doing it. There are some things I may need to eliminate going forward. I need to learn to make wise choices. And here I digress again.

Unlike most of you in this group, I am in the winter of my life, and have spent much time bewailing the poor choices of my past. I condemned myself for a wasted life and time squandered so that I have nothing to show for all the gifts I started out with. But the past cannot be undone, and regrets serve no useful purpose. All I can do with the past is acknowledge my mistakes and learn something from them.

What I have learned is that I serve a loving God whose mercies are new every morning, and so every day can be a new beginning. I will never know if I truly missed out on God's best for me, and what that best might have been, but I do know that He is in control. So if He allowed my life to unfold the way it did, He must have a special purpose in mind. He can turn all things around for good, and do it when we least expect it.

Looking back, I see how ignorance and instant gratification played major roles in the decisions I made. Self discipline was definitely not my forte. What I wanted were instant results. So now it's time to work on that self discipline and to gain mastery over my flesh by renewing my mind with the Word of God, something I knew nothing about in those earlier years. It's also time for new goals. I used to think it was too late for me, but that is a lie from the pit of hell. It's never too late. And so I have turned this blog over to the Lord and pray that He would use me as His instrument to provide hope and encouragement to anyone traveling along the path I once trod.