New Beginnings

In my quest to honor God with my body, I have been exercising every morning and it leaves me with not enough time to sit, read my bible and write a blog entry. NO. No excuses. The reality is I have been in a slump without the motivation to delve into writing. I like to have the time to really contemplate what I am reading and not just toss out whatever I can each morning. So, in an attempt to get my motivation back I am working on some topics that I want to explore more and grow from. As I go through the exploring and growing, I will share with you what I have been enlightened to, what I have learned and how I am applying it to my life. This may or may not come to you daily but as the Lord guides.
I will also be starting the new year by doing a reading through the bible in a year plan. I will post the plan here when I find one and will encourage you to follow along with the reading plan and make comments to my entries about the readings.
Lord, we thank you for the thousands of chances for new beginnings you give us when we wake to each new day. Please forgive me for letting worldly life things control my everyday actions. Help me to do everything I do for your glory whether it be in what I eat, what I say, what I do, how I act and react and every aspect of my day. I give my life to you in words but help me to live that out in my life with actions. You are the one and only God in which all things are possible. Amen and Amen.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 345

My daughter and I went to see the new Disney movie, Frozen last weekend. It had a great message about fear and how love conquers fear. I am not going to do a spoiler on this so no worries if you haven’t gone to see it yet.

Have you ever wondered how another person can be so fearless while you are shaking in your boots? It is a part of who God made us to be. Some of us will have lots of fears and some of us will be fearless. Some of us will have problems with anger and some of us have no problem letting our anger out. Some of us will feel worthless for no reason and others will think they walk on water. God made us each in a unique way but in this uniqueness is a place for God to come in and take those troublesome parts of us and make them into something beautiful. His love will conquer our fears. His love will conquer our anger issues. His love will make you feel worthy. His love can do all this and more for the inner parts of you that only He can see.

He has helped me overcome my low-self esteem, my feelings of being unloved, my fears of what others think of me, my fears of being assertive with my feelings. He continues to work on the inner parts of me, refining me and weeding out those trouble areas in the inner garden of my soul. Don’t wait for some unknown to come and help you with “your stuff”. Don’t think you can do it all by yourself. Allow God to work within you by being in his Word. Through His Word I have learned so much but I have also taken it and applied it to my life. Let His Word become a part of who you are.

Psalm 97:11 Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 344

In all my gung-ho-ness about Paleo, I ended up reserving a grain-fed, no antibiotics or hormones kind of turkey from Natural Groceries. Did I bother to ask about the price? Nope. I went for the best of the best. So, I go on Tuesday before Thanksgiving to pick up the turkey. It is a nice 18lber…and then they ring up the price. Ouch! $120. I said, “WOW, this better be the best damn turkey ever” and the checker says it is. My second thought was what is my hubbie going to think of this? Well, the cost didn’t come up until we were actually at the table with my brother’s family diving into the food. It turned out to be the best turkey I ever had but was the $120 price really worth it? The answer came through the voice of my daughter. My husband stopped everyone talking and said our daughter had something to say. You remember the commercial about Life cereal. Mikey liked it. She liked it. Now, this is a big thing because my daughter is by far the pickiest eater ever and is especially not fond of meat. She liked it and actually had some more. That made the cost of the turkey all worth it! The cost of Christ dying on the cross is worth it to God. Every time a new person chooses to believe in Jesus, God is smiling and his heart is saying he or she is worth it. That kind of love is unfathomable. Our salvation was paid for because of he loves us that much. Will I buy another $120 turkey? Probably not. I think it is best to let it be a treasured memory of the Thanksgiving of 2014 when my daughter declared she liked the turkey. Thankfully, Jesus took on the sins of us all so his death and resurrection are a done deal. The price has been paid. You just have to accept it.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 343

As you know, I have been eating Paleo which in a nutshell basically means no sugar, no processed foods, no dairy, no grain and no alcohol. I did the Whole 30 Challenge and did all these No’s for a full 30 days. I decided to keep eating Paleo but of course allowing the some exceptions within reason. I am pretty sure I blew my exceptions for the next month or so in this one last weekend. In any case, I am committed to making this way of eating a permanent lifestyle choice. I was eagerly anticipating my follow-up cholesterol appointment with my doctor last Monday. I had to go on a small dose of Lipitor in the Spring because my cholesterol had gone up into bad territory. One of the main reasons for going Paleo was losing weight but I also wanted to get my cholesterol down again through my diet. I actually went down a whopping 90 points! I told my doctor I was doing Paleo and committed to it so she said I was young enough to go off the Lipitor and do another cholesterol check in three months to see how much my diet is contributing to this drop. I have my results taped to my bathroom mirror. It is my goal to keep those numbers down so I don’t have to go on medication again. I am confident that with the power of God within me I can conquer this cholesterol for good.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 

Paleo Cauliflower Fried Rice breakfast

Process cauliflower in your food processor so it becomes small like rice.

Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in skillet. Add cauliflower rice.

At this point you can add chopped onions and garlic or if you don't have a lot of time just season with garlic powder and salt and pepper.

Add a 1/4 cup water to skillet and let simmer.

Add pre-cooked chopped bacon, turkey bacon or Canadian bacon.

Plate the cauliflower rice.

Cook egg in same skillet to your liking and top over rice.

Enjoy!