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 273

I have been steadily preparing to take the Whole30 Challenge with the Paleo diet. Preparing is definitely key to being successful. First, I have been preparing my body by week by week taking something out of my diet. The first week I took out creamer in my coffee. I have never had my coffee black but what they say on their website made me think yes it can be done. Here is the section on it not being hard:

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime.

http://whole9life.com/2013/08/the-whole30-program/

Actually, it was only a day or so and I was used to black coffee. The next week I cut out dairy. It has been an almost ritual at dinner time to have a class of milk. I miss it but I will survive. This week I am cutting out desserts. No more ice cream, cake, pie, brownies, candy, sugar of any kind. This is challenging but thank God for strawberries which make for a good alternative. The other part of preparing has been in having on hand the right kinds of foods and ingredients to make some Paleo recipes and of course, researching those recipes I would like to try. I have a notebook all set-up with my recipes and Whole30 guidelines. I have tried 4 different kinds of vegetables that I never tried: beets, swiss chard, bok choy and kale and am happy to say I like them all especially in a chopped salad. I am learning to cook with all fresh foods which is really awesome. So, I officially begin my 30 day challenge on Sept 9^th and I am feeling ready. I just need to plan out my menu to make day to day eating go smoothly. My hubbie is being super supportive and even saying he will eat anything I make for dinner. We have a cruise coming up in April 2014 that we want to both be ready for physically. I am so thankful to my sister-in-law and brother for sharing with me about this lifestyle of eating called Paleo and the Whole30 challenge. It really is all about helping each other. You may not be ready for this eating lifestyle change but maybe someone you know is. Please share the link with them.

Isaiah 6:3 And they were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 238

Have you ever wondered about some of the people in the bible who may not even be named but you wonder what happened to them. Paul and Silas in Acts 16 are beaten, flogged and put in chains and thrown in jail. They are praying and singing hymns to God about midnight when an earthquake happens, their chains fall off and the doors open. Now it says that the prisoners had been listening to them. I am betting this praying and singing went on for some time. I can imagine some of the prisoners complaining wanting them to keep quiet and maybe some of them snickering and making wise cracks but as midnight approached they were listening. Had the time and words finally sunk in. Did Paul and Silas just plant seeds of faith? The earthquake and escape are like the water and fertilizer all at once. Did the other prisoners leave, racing to their homes and telling of what they heard and witnessed? Were they forever changed just because they were in that prison with Paul and Silas? We don’t know. There are many things we just don’t know. It would be impossible to write every story of every person who encountered or experience Jesus or the early church. A lot will remain a mystery. Paul and Silas may never have seen these prisoners again until heaven. Maybe the prisoners greeted Paul and Silas when they entered Heaven and shared with them their story that started the night in that prison. Perhaps one day we will have people we have touched, encouraged, loved and cared for and shared with about Jesus that will come to us in Heaven and share their story with their own Seed Sower.

Lord, We don’t know the plans you have for any of us but I do know you love us in ways we cannot ever understand. Lead me to be a Seed Sower of your love and truth. Amen.

Acts 16:25  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 331

I am working on my Isaiah 9:6 faithbooking project that I will be submitting to the church to be displayed this Christmas season. It is coming together beautifully. The faces all around us can and do reflect the roles of Christ as they are written to us in Isaiah 9:6: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. I cannot wait to share the finished project but am thrilled to be in the midst of learning how very much we see Christ in everyone around us. Thank you Lord for the opportunity the church is giving to artists to share their passion and heart with others.

2 Timothy 1:6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 108

Good News is always a wonderful delight. I got some unexpected good news at my job this week when one of the IT guys came and told me I was getting duo monitors this weekend. I have never worked with duo monitors so it will take a little getting use to but I can imagine how much easier it will be to navigate between all my windows and opened programs. I am sure my productivity will increase with this new feature. This good news made me think of the ultimate good news of Jesus Christ. I felt that same way after accepting Christ, giddy with excitement. I am so grateful to God for not giving up on me and for finally receiving and accepting the good news he offers all of us. Just like God, we cannot give up on giving the good news to those around us. It may not happen today or tomorrow but we have to continually help fertilize the ground where the seed has been planted. Share some good news today and share in their delight.
Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"