WORTHY TO BE POSTED TWICE

After I wrote yesterday's post, HOW DO THEY DO IT?,I really did dig up my time management notes and sit down to plan the week ahead, and as I did, a great big lightbulb went off in my head, which led to a post on my other blog, which I am copying here because I really do think it's an insight worthy to be posted twice.

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"I will praise You, for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made."
(Psalm 139:14a)

Did you know that you are a Divine, one of a kind, original, created for a special purpose no one else can fulfill? I lost sight of that for a while, and in my frustration, wrote a post on my other blog which you can read here, if you are interested.

As I wrote, I had a flash of insight. I have been trying to compare apples to oranges. This was confirmed as I sat down to schedule my week in a planner. I really was trying to cram more than what is humanly possible into the 24 hours allotted to me, but because I was comparing my 24 hours to the surgeon's 24 hours and to my daughter's 24 hours, and the 24 hours of my single mom friends who are trying to juggle family and work, I felt I wasn't accomplishing anything.

What a difference a change in perspective can make. I was putting value on what I was getting done by human standards, which are quite different from God's. He did not create me to be a surgeon, or my daughter, or my friends. He created me to be me. If I am faithful to do the things He has called me to do, that is of the greatest value in His sight. That is what will make Him smile and say those glorious words I long to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:23)

HOW DO THEY DO IT?

It's been a long time since I posted on this blog, or have even had a chance to read many of the blogs on my Google Reader. Some people have actually published 20 or 30 posts since that time. How do you do it? I'm amazed.

Now I know we are all allotted the same 24 hours a day, but at the end of mine I don't seem to have accomplished a whole lot. Instead, I feel overwhelmed by all I still have to do and haven't gotten done. What is my problem?

The other day I was at my GYN for a routine visit and she was asking me what I did in the way of exercise. So then I asked her what she did, and she rattled off going to the gym, hiking, playing tennis, biking. And here's a woman who not only spends a full week seeing patients and doing surgery, but who also has a husband and kids to go home to, and an active social life, and I've even bumped into her doing her shopping at Costco. Plus I'm sure she must attend seminars and such to keep updated on all the latest techniques, and who knows what all else. How does she do it?

And take my daughter and friends, some of them single moms, who so adeptly juggle work, homeschooling, serving on committees, preparing meals for the family, chauffeuring the kids to various activities, babysitting grandkids, hosting sleepovers, and still find time to blog, exercise, play games on Facebook, Twitter, read books, go to the movies, and a whole lot more. It exhausts me just to think of the schedules they keep.

So now I have a new goal. After publishing this post and getting caught up on my blog reading, I'm going to look for the notes from the time management seminar I took several years ago, dust it off, and give my planner one last shot. Maybe I'll get it right this time and be able to squeeze a whole lot more into my days too.

RAIN SOUNDS

This is amazing. (I found it on Annie's blog.) Enjoy!

AN AMAZING WAKE UP CALL

I was having a hard time getting up this morning, but after falling back asleep twice, the good Lord interceded by having a friend "accidentally" dial my phone number at 6:30 AM.

At first she felt terrible about waking me up, but when I told her I had been unsuccessfully trying to get myself out of bed for the last hour or so, we shared a good, hearty laugh.

The second wake up call came in the afternoon, after I decided to take a short break from the computer and sat down on my bed to read. It wasn't long before I fell into a deep sleep only to be awakened with a start by the loud ringing of the telephone. Was I really awake, I wondered, as I heard a voice telling me I had won a PNC Bank Grocery Giveaway of $365 in Giant gift cards.

Thank you, Lord, for your unexpected blessings, and the ingenious way you provide for my needs. This was truly amazing!

SIX WORD SATURDAY

When I saw Cate's post today, I remembered having posted something similar over here, so I went back to take a look.

I still wouldn't be able to choose just one phrase, but I've narrowed it down to three.

• How did I wind up here
• God's agenda proves better than mine
• When all else fails, God doesn't

FITNESS FRIDAY: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A ROCKET SCIENTIST

This week's assignment was to write about our top three (or five) tips for health and fitness. In Brenda's words, "If someone were to remember only these 3 (or 5) things, what would be the most important things for them to know?"

1. LAUGH: Look for the humor in things and laugh, laugh laugh. God's Word in Proverbs 17:22a tells us that "A merry heart does good, like medicine." Science tells us that a good belly laugh, among other things, massages the internal organs, increases the flow of oxygen, and activates the endorphins (which are the body's natural pain killers). A man by the name of Norman Cousins healed himself of a life threatening disease by watching a steady flow of movies that made him laugh. He wrote about his recovery in a book entitled Anatomy of an Illness.


2. FORGIVE: Harboring anger, bitterness, and resentments can only hurt you. They poison your system, and have been scientifically proven to be the root of many ailments. Best to follow the exhortation found in Ephesians 4:31-32, "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."


3. BE GRATEFUL: Focus on your blessings rather than your disappointments. Look for things to be thankful for. They are all around you if you open your eyes.


4. STAY ACTIVE: Physical activity makes us strong. Take an example from the past. People walked to where they were going instead of jumping into a car, and physical chores kept them fit without the need for fancy equipment or a membership at the gym.


5. GET ENOUGH REST: Sleep is really important, because it is while we sleep that the body regenerates itself. We cannot function at our best when we are sleep deprived, and it definitely affects both our physical and emotional health.

Oops. I have used up all my points and still have one thing to add. The importance of putting natural things into our body, like water and unprocessed foods. Learn to read labels and avoid anything that contains ingredients you can't pronounce, or that is processed, loaded with sugar, and/or contains hydrogenated oils.

Now it's not to say that I actually adhere to all these points, but I am trying.

FITNESS FRIDAY: SETTLING IN

"For it is God who works in you to

will and to act according to his

good purpose." - (Philippians 2:13)

Last week I posted about a very liberating aha moment I had experienced related to this fitness journey we are on, and when I first saw this week's assignment, I was tempted to skip it. After all, what more could I say than what I already had in that last post? However, here I am again.

This week has been pretty uneventful. It's sort of been a time of settling in and becoming more sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, rather than trying to do things the way I thought they should be done. Although I didn't start out with any specific goals, I found myself seriously focusing on portion control and drinking more water, and wound up shedding those couple of extra pounds I had gained back the week my walks increased my appetite to ravenous proportions..

I can't wait to see where the path leads next.

FITNESS FRIDAY: JUST A LITTLE THINKING

"I will give you a new heart and put a

new spirit in you. I will remove from

you your heart of stone and give you

a heart of flesh. And I will put my

Spirit in you and move you to follow

my decrees...and keep my laws."

(Ezekiel 36:26-27)

This week Brenda gave us an open assignment. Since that means we can write about anything, I'm going to share some thoughts--after first praising the Lord once again, for his awesome and unexpected blessing that enabled me to purchase a Wii and a Wii Fit. This is so fun, it will surely keep me moving even on the hottest of days. :-) Now if only I could find something to motivate me to stick to the rest of my goals.

It seems like I've been battling the same old battles week after week, year after year, for almost half a century now, and wondering why it's so hard to break bad habits. Seems like I'm forever setting goals and declaring new beginnings, only to fall short time and time again. I can so relate to what the great apostle Paul says in Romans 7:15--"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." That's me to a tee, and I spent much time this week pondering that very question.

Well, a few days ago I took one of my neighbors to an Alpha course. This week's session was all about the Holy Spirit. Nothing new that I haven't heard or read about before. My mind started to wander a bit, but all of a sudden I was sitting bolt upright in my chair. It was one of those moments when you see something you've seen a zillion times before, but this time it jumps off the page and knocks you right between the eyes.

The Lord brought something to my attention that was so obvious, I couldn't believe it hadn't impacted me before. All along, without realizing it, I have been trying to do what the "Law" proved it was impossible for us to do. I have been trying to transform myself, when the Holy Spirit is the only one who can set me free from my various bondages. Hello!!!

The whole purpose of the law was to show us our need for grace. Nobody was able to keep all the commandments, ever. The old covenant was constantly being broken. However, God promised that one day He would make a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:33) and the law would become something inside of us instead of an external thing. Instead of all those rules weighing us down from the outside like a heavy sack of potatoes, we would be energized by the power of the Holy Spirit within us.

The moment we come to the foot of the Cross and receive the gift Christ offers us, we receive complete forgiveness of our sins. The barrier between us and God is removed, and the Holy Spirit comes to live within us, and begin His work of transforming us from the inside out. This takes time. Only rarely does it happen overnight.

Sorry if I've gone off on a tangent here, but it's been an incredible experience to have the light turned on and to finally realize (in my heart rather than my head) that all I have to do is turn everything over to the Holy Spirit and let Him take the lead. Not only is transformation his responsibility, God (through His Spirit) "who works in [me] to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13). What ever success I have is a result of His grace and His grace alone.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU LORD

For several months now I have been dreaming of some day owning a Wii. However, given my downward spiraling financial situation, that hardly seemed like a realistic dream. So imagine my surprise when a certified letter was delivered to my door, and inside the letter was an unexpected check for unpaid royalties long written off, that not only enabled me to catch up on the bills and pay off my overdraft protection loan, but there was even enough left to purchase a Wii and a Wii Fit. How awesome is that?

I have had many incredible experiences of the Lord coming through for me at the 11th hour to meet a pressing need, and I've always been very, very grateful, but what manages to really melt my heart and humble me, is when He chooses to indulge me with a totally unnecessary want.


To add a little extra icing to an already perfect cake, my bloggie friend and sister in the Lord, Valerie Lynn, sent me another beautiful award. Thank you, Valerie, for making the day complete.

FITNESS FRIDAY: THE SERIOUS SIDE

This week's assignment was to talk about the other motivators for our fitness goals, other than just wanting to look better. Brenda wants to know what we are up against in terms of actual health issues, or potential genetic ones. Mine are high blood pressure, cholesterol, and osteoporosis.

Eating the right foods, taking the right supplements, and getting enough exercise are vital to my keeping them under control without having to resort to prescription drugs, and for the most part, I do eat pretty healthy. It's the portion control that trips me up and keeps the scale from budging. On the positive though, not budging means that the numbers are not going up either, so that's a good thing.

As far as my week's goal to walk instead of drive to wherever I needed to go in town, I am happy to announce that I did meet it. and what a great feeling that was. The only day I took the car locally, was to do my grocery shopping. The weather has been so gorgeous, those walks were real mood boosters. My only challenge has been that all that fresh air really revved up my appetite too. LOL.