An Interesting, But Lovely Problem to Have

As of today, I am .6 pounds from having lost 30 pounds.  I have SHOES that are no longer fitting me.  SHOES!!!  I am so very happy about the weight loss, but shoes?  Seriously?  I am absolutely stunned by this.  I am so confused, but elated about this.  And, I get a good chuckle about it as well.  I told my hubby about it this afternoon when I was taking my shoes off.  He said, "I guess we're just going to have to start getting rid of the old ones and getting you new ones."  LOL

So, without further adieu...I'm going to post face pictures, but know that I do have full length pictures from the front and side views.  I'm wearing the same thing each time to just document changes so I can see it for myself.  I need it for confirmation and for encouragement.  And...since my hubby lives with me and sees me every day, it's for him too.  :0)

                                         August 11, 2012                           November 11, 2012

More Time...

I'm finding that the more time I spend in prayer and study, that the more time I want to spend in prayer and study.

Dining on God's word feeds and nourishes the desperately hungry soul.

Psalms 145:16-21  

"You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.  

(17)  The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.  

(18)  The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  

(19)  He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. 

 (20)  The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 

(21)  My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever."

November

Yes, it came in like a whirlwind.  We prepared for a hurricane here in NWPA, but ended up with a windy night, rain and cloudy days.  We were so very thankful that all we had was just a little rain and wind too.

Oddly enough, I received phone calls--numerous times in fact--from my mother making sure we were alright.  Apparently in South Dakota the weather reports were not as accurate as what was actually occurring here in our neighborhood and it worried my mother and other family out there.  Why is this so strange to me that my mother would be calling us to check up on us?  She hasn't called for the longest time--2008--and now she calls.  I am hoping this in answer to prayer for reconciliation in the relationship with her.  Time will tell.

Over last weekend, we went through the house like a whirlwind trying to make sure things were cleaned up and ready since this week was going to be crazy busy.  We had Sunday morning church, then Bell Choir and Choir practice, rush home to inhale something, then we were off to piano and flute lessons.  Sunday afternoon was spent getting ready for homeschool co-op and company on Tuesday.

For some reason on Monday morning, it was so difficult to just simply get out the door to the homeschool meeting.  Fortunately we were there with one minute to spare since my daughter, HJ, had to get to her Biology lab.  Yes, I admit, there are days like that here at our house!  :)   The rest of the day went absolutely wonderful with classes and meetings and picture day and looking at how much my kids have grown picking out pictures.  We stopped off at the store and came home to the wonderful scent of a beef roast cooking and getting yummy for dinner.  We brought everything in from the Suburban, put it away and crashed on the couch to watch Netflix.  I fell asleep, exhausted.  I decided at that point that I was pretty much useless the rest of the night and felt so very thankful for the stuff in the crock pot and a clean house.

Tuesday morning began very early.  The children and I got up early to go get water at the Spring, so I stopped off to get breakfast pizza for everyone.  What an awesome idea that was!  Everyone had their fill, we went to vote, then home to tidy up, get lunch together and our company arrived.  What a sweet and wonderful time we had with our dear friends, the Posts.  We went down to Cook's Forest to show them the wonderful place we get to walk and refresh ourselves.  What a blessing!

There is a playground just behind Lisa's hubby where the little ones were playing while Lisa and I walked with the older ones to climb this wonderful hill that my kids love to climb and slide down.  Guess who enjoyed it too?  LOL

HJ and Josiah enjoyed roller blading.

Elizabeth is up above, Esther's hand is just visible by the tree, Ben and JL are sort of racing down the hill.  It's steeper than this picture shows.  They love this hill!  

Almost to the bottom.

And Elizabeth slowly and cautiously making her way to the bottom. In the winter at the bottom of this hill the park service fills an indentation in the grassy area so people can ice skate.  They also make an area for sledding.  What fun!  

We walked for a bit more and by the time we returned to the van, it was almost loaded with the kids ready to come back to the house.  

Upon arriving back at our house, my Mr. G was already starting on dinner.  You see, backtracking just a bit, we were originally going to have the Posts over the week before, but the hurricane decided to come.  Mr. G had that day off and was going to make his Chicken Jambalaya that he usually makes for me every year for my birthday, which is in September. This week, he had been mandated to work on his day off.  I told him that he didn't have to make it, but he insisted.  So he was home when we arrived and in the kitchen making dinner.  What a wonderful hubby I have!   [When we went to the Post's house in September to visit, I didn't say anything about it being my birthday then.  When I usually have my yearly birthdays, the day is very low key.  We try to plan things but for some reason each year the home owner's insurance keeps increasing which completely takes up any part of the budget we were going to do anything with.  What a wonderful birthday I had when we could go and visit and enjoy the day.  What a gift!   I don't know if you've noticed by now, but the gifts I treasure most is the gift of time with people I love and care about.  You can't wrap those things, but you can hold on to those precious memories.]  Anyway, when Lisa found out it was my birthday back in September, she planned and plotted this lovely and wonderful wall hanging to give to me.  It is so much more breathtakingly beautiful in real life than it is in the pictures.  I was so very surprised and thankful for such a precious and beautiful gift from such a wonderful friend.  When I get the rods and hanging  hardware for it, I'll post a picture of it hanging in our bedroom.  

 We had a wonderful dinner, played games, knitted (those of us ladies who knit), and enjoyed each other's company.  In fact it was hard to say good-bye.

Such wonderful sweet times of fellowship are often times hard to come by.  When we do experience them, we savor them and hold them in our hearts all the more as precious jewels.  

And so, our November has begun with a whirlwind, quite literally and it continues daily with lots of work to be done every day for the glory of our King Jesus.  I pray that your days are filled with love and laughter and lots of wonderful blissful memories.

May God Bless your days!  

Complaining

This particular post has been on my mind since I wrote my last post on making excuses.  I figured I would break them up though, because they're both different in nature and tend to have roots in different places.

I saved this as a draft on Monday, just to remind myself to come back and work on it.  Yes, I work that way.  I make the topic, don't write anything, then come back after I've prayed about it more, organized my thoughts, and figured out which direction to go with it.

Oddly enough, last night at Bible study, we were reviewing the 10 commandments and the discussion went to the 8th, 9th and 10th commandments of no lying, stealing or coveting.  The interesting thing that occurred to me was that if we are simply content with all that we have, regardless of our circumstances, then we will not complain, nor should we.  If we don't complain, then we shouldn't feel the need to covet, nor steal, nor feel like we need to lie to cover up the stealing.  I'm not saying that I do these things, but just linking the 3 together in a way that I've seen happen before.

Why complain though?  Well, what do we have a tendency to complain about?  Well, the weather, the barometric pressure affecting our backs [this is very real here at our house with osteoarthritis], the house not being clean, things needing to be done, it's too cold...oh wait, that was under excuses too.  I guess they are related?!  Imagine that!

There are other complaints people have as well, like they don't have a roof over their head, they have to push all of their worldly possessions all over the place in a buggie, they have to live in a tent while the wind blows cold outside, they lose their life savings due to the economy and have to live paycheck to paycheck now, they lose their job, they have no food to feed their children, they just got their test results back and it is a debilitating blow of non-treatable cancer.

I confess that I am one of the biggest culprits here.  I may not verbalize my complaints, but they're still in my head which makes my sin just as bad as the next person.  What is the sin?  What is so wrong with complaining?

Complaining makes a person a sour-puss who is full of a sour attitude that reflects in their words and actions, an unhappy countenance with an unthankful attitude and disrespectful to the ONE who created us.  All of this complaining and dwelling upon what we do NOT have makes us bitter.

How does one get out of the complaining mode?

Emulate Paul!

Philippians 4:11-13  

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, 

therewith to be content. 

 (12)  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,

 both to abound and to suffer need.  

(13)  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

emphasis mine

I know there are many out there who feel as if they have the "right" to complain, or so they think.  But if all of us thought that way, there would be bitterness and discontent running rampant through our society right now.  

1 Timothy 6:6-8 

 "But godliness with contentment is great gain:  

(7)  for we brought nothing into the world, for neither can we carry anything out;

(8)  but having food and covering we shall be therewith content."

Contentment is the direct opposite of complaining.  How do you find contentment?  Pray!  List everything in your prayers to God that you're thankful for.  Each time you pray, thank God for something that you haven't thanked Him for before this time.  Make your thankfulness different each time you pray.  Tell people that you're thankful to God for them in your life.  Verbalize thankfulness every day, in every single situation that you come across.  Give God praise at every turn for every little thing.  Make thankfulness lists with your family.

Then...

...when something not so good happens...

...you can thank God for the opportunity to lean deeper into Him and say, "Ok God, I'm going to find shelter under your wings, I've given this to you.  I know you've got my back." and completely be content in the knowledge that the God of all will be faithful.

Excuses

I try to stay away from negative posts, but honestly, this topic has really weighed heavily on my mind as of late.

Recently, on Netflix, we've been watching shows like "Clean House."  I have found myself truly loving the host Niecy Nash.  Although she's had some issues in her personal life, she makes some very life changing and important points on the show with people who are pack rats and unable to pull themselves out of being so overwhelmed with their clutter.  She doesn't mince words with them and tells it like it is.  In other words, she's being brutally honest, showing people how their clutter is affecting their lives and relationships.

While I love the overarching message of this show, I am finding that I am pulling those same messages into the rest of my life and beginning to truly wonder if I make excuses.  In all of my soul searching, I've been busier cleaning up, picking up and putting things away, not that my house even comes remotely close to ANY of the houses we've seen on the show.  I just felt it's a good thing to just cull what little clutter there is and get more organized.

Along with all of the cleaning and organizing (even more than we've been), I've felt pulled toward my Instructions in Righteousness book by Doorposts.  In looking at the section on "Shifting Blame/Making Excuses," it says in the introduction,

"This is an essential problem to deal with.  We want our children to be honest in examining themselves against God's standard [interesting, huh?], and to learn to readily confess and

 forsake sin.  Excusing our sin and blaming our actions on others is dishonest and self-deceptive,

 and can lock us into immaturity and stagnation.  It can also add a great burden of guilt to a life." 

Boy, doesn't THAT say it all!  I know there are many adults who have a difficult time with this.  Even I have some problems making excuses for not doing things like exercising,  tidying up when I could have and practicing music when I could have, just to name a few.  I can make excuses right now for why I didn't, but truly, there isn't any excuse good enough to truly pass for not doing the things that are needful.  

Hebrews 10:23-25

  "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; 

(for he is faithful that promised;)  

(24)  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

(25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, 

as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:

 and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

[emphasis mine]

Making excuses for NOT gathering with other like minded believers is commonplace.  I know there have been times when I've dragged myself out of bed and just felt like I'd been hit by a MAC truck and wanted to go back to bed and sleep.  I start thinking, "Ugh, it's so far to drive, it's cold, it's rainy, I don't have any clothes to wear, my back hurts, my sinuses are sore, my        [fill in any excuse here]    ."  And pretty soon, I've talked myself out of going to church, receiving uplifting words of encouragement, singing in worship with other believers and learning about God's word.  BUT!  I stop myself from that "stinkin' thinkin'" and get in to the shower, get my hair dried, makeup on, get dressed and have some breakfast.  Pretty soon I'm expecting and anticipating the sweet soul filling balm that only God can give to a hungry believer who's had a rough week.  

AND...

He

Doesn't

EVER

let

me 

down!

As I write this, I have my Instructions in Righteousness book open to read about "What Happens or Should Happen to the Person Who Makes Excuses."  The list is interesting.

Proverbs 28:13  

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:

but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

Matthew 7:1-5  

"Judge not, that ye be not judged.  

(2)  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged:

 and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 

 (3)  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye,

 but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 

 (4)  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye;

 and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 

 (5)  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; 

and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

Proverbs 19:3  

"The foolishness of man perverteth his way: 

and his heart fretteth against the LORD."

Job 9:20  

"If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me:

if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse."

Ezekiel 18:4  

"Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: 

the soul that sinneth, it shall die."

Making excuses instead of doing what is needful and right in the eyes of God and His word is disobedience.  I've heard it said, "Delayed obedience is still disobedience."  

Proverbs 28:13  

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: 

but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

I am guilty and I confess this to you today.  I've made excuses and as a fallen, sinful person, I still humbly struggle to teach this concept to my children.  How better to teach them this concept than to simply STOP making excuses?  

Finishings and Beginnings

Busy fingers as of late...

Finished on Saturday...

then...

Began on Saturday.

After I finish JL's socks, it will be my turn.  :0)

Early Mornings

This morning began with the alarm going off at 6AM.  While I'm usually awake by then, I wasn't this morning.  I went to sleep last night around 10:30 and felt well rested, thankfully, when the alarm went off, so I got out of bed.  I made my way downstairs and my youngest son, JL, was already up and getting his breakfast of homemade buckwheat pancakes.  While it was in the toaster, I asked if he would make coffee while I made his Daddy's lunch for today.  It consisted of 2 ham and cheese sandwiches on 12 grain bread complete with pickles.  LOL  He loves pickles.  :0)  I added some cheese sticks, cauliflower and carrots, then an ice pack too.  HJ came down to put her lunch together and get something to eat before they left. 

Yup!  Today is Hunter's Safety day.  I have today to do some things together with our oldest son, DA.  I was hoping to take him to a movie today, but there is absolutely nothing worth seeing, unfortunately.  I looked on movieguide.com to get some suggestions and nothing good is playing in our area.  DA suggested a video arcade, but honestly, I have no idea where one would be.  So, I figured I'd let the young man sleep in this morning, have some breakfast, then do some cleaning and then play some Wii games for a bit.  We'll see though.

Right now I'm sitting here listening to the radio--praise and worship music, then some Focus on the Family.   

I love early mornings.  They're a balm to my soul. 

James 4:8a  
Draw nigh to God, 
and he will draw nigh to you.

 

Migraines and How I Deal with Them

Yes, migraines are a very real part of our lives.  I get them.  My husband gets them.  My children are now beginning to get them.  They're hereditary for both my husband and I and it looks as if they're also hereditary for our children, but they get a "double whammy" [as my dad always said] since both Mr. G and I get them.  

Diet and exercise play a large part in my migraines.  I can't say the same for my husband, but for me it does.  

I'm finding that the less processed foods I consume, the less migraines I have.  This means that when I have carb days and I eat something processed (like a Big Mac), I can get a migraine.  How do I know?  I had a Big Mac yesterday and it was so delicious....but I'm paying for it this morning.  Mind you, it's been about 2 years since I've had a Big Mac, so it's all good.  Now this gives me a reason to eat a spinach salad with purple onion, almond slices and sliced chicken breasts instead.  Live and learn!

I also take 5HTP which is a plant extract from the griffonia simplifica bush that grows in Africa.  It is a natural way of supplying the brain with serotonin.  When first diagnosed with migraines in 1997, I was prescribed all kinds of barbiturates, tricyclics and other antidepressants that, according to my neurologist, would "work for the nervous system to help the migraines."  I figured that since I was nursing my daughter at the time, that it was time to do some research and prayer about natural alternatives.  The book 5HTP came to my attention, so I bought it and devoured it.  It is a very "brainiac" book, so keep that in mind when deciding to purchase it.  I enjoyed learning the science behind all of the reasons for migraines  insomnia, back problems, obesity and a host of other issues.  I learned so much in how the blood-brain barrier works and how serotonin affects our bodies.  I also learned about how much our bodies need in vitamins and minerals to keep the brain healthy.

This was not the beginning of my realization about eating healthier.  I already made our own breads and so forth.  But what I didn't know would gradually load my body up with weight that was unhealthy and no matter what I did, or how much I ate and exercised, it still wasn't going to help.  More on that in another post...

I discussed this 5HTP with my doctors and they were fine with me taking it in lieu of the barbiturates.  I felt better knowing that it wasn't a drug and the only side effect was that it gave you an upset stomach if you didn't take it with food. 

I began taking 5HTP to keep the migraines away, but some would still pop through on their monthly course, which is the same with my aunts and cousins, so I figured I may as well deal with it, understand it and move on.  I started taking Excedrin Migraine when I felt any symptoms of the beginning of a migraine.  This meant that when I felt pressure in my temples, auras in my eyes, or just woke up with the beginnings of the migraine pains in my head, I took it immediately.  It usually took about an hour or so for the symptoms to disappear.  Three-quarters of the time, it would work.  The full blown migraines that dragged on for days kept me on my back, away from light and my family.  Thankfully those only occurred around once every 6 months.

I started going to the chiropractor when my neck was out because when the vertebrae are misaligned, the nerve impulses from the misalignment could be sent to your brain and trigger a migraine.  This happens to both my husband and I, so it's important to relax our spines and necks, try to lay some way that will realign everything and give relief.

We use these pillows to help our necks.  Sometimes we help one another with back rubs to help relax, laying on hard flat surfaces, basket balls, exercise balls, stretching, laying on tables or anything that might realign the spine.  We've considered an inversion table, but they're expensive.  The point is that we work to try to make the spine and neck realign itself before it is time for a chiropractor visit.

Disclaimer:  This is not intended to replace medical counsel from your doctor.  Please seek the advice of a wise physician or naturopath and a chiropractor if you suffer from migraines.

Busy Days

Much of my time as of late has been spent cleaning, organizing, doing bills, schooling my kids, knitting and crocheting.  Unfortunately, not a lot of sewing has happened on my part due to needing to finish the socks you see in the above picture.  Since taking the above picture, I've knitted the heel flap, turned the heel and continued on to make the instep.  As you can see in this morning's picture below,  I have about 2 more inches to knit on it before I can decrease for the toe.  I suspect I'll be finished by Friday at my current rate of knitting while listening to children read, wait for answers and so forth.

In our schooling, there is all kinds of learning going on.  We're learning about Moses in our Old Testament Bible study right now.  In Zoology we're learning about vibration sending sound through things like water and solid things like walls as well as the freezing point of salt water.  The older two children have been eyebrow deep in their Biology 1 & 2 studies.  The older son is learning that sometimes learning about the skeleton and muscles can be tedious, but needful nonetheless.  Our daughter is learning about mushrooms and other fungi.

Of course there are other things they are learning, like participial phrases and so forth, but the needful things remain a daily thing to conquer.

These are our days, nothing overly exciting, but blessed nonetheless.

Praise God!

James 4:10  

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

A First

I just have to laugh at myself.  My son came up to my bedroom this morning while I was talking with my daughter to tell me that we're out of coffee.  Then he clarified, "The coffee is going to taste kind of weak this morning, Mom.  Before I looked in the coffee container, I filled the thing up with water and pushed the on button before I realized it would be very weak coffee."  I asked him how much coffee he was able to get and he said about half, so I told him to go turn it off.

After calling my  husband to request he stop off to get our coffee on his way home, we headed to the convenience store to get some coffee. What a treat for the kids!  My daughter mixed french vanilla and pumpkin spice for my oldest, she did a blueberry toffee for herself and my youngest did what I did and just got coffee and half and half.  We added our own sweetener at home.

For the first hard frost of the year AND the coldest morning of this season, coffee in the morning is a wonderful welcome thing to have to wake up to and to warm up to.  The season of snuggling under blankets has begun.  Coffee and snuggles while reading is a good thing.  :)