Unattractive and Obsolete?

The other day, The Bud and I were taking a ride in his old truck.  It’s a 1990 Ford F15 pick-up --with no A/C.  And it was one of those muggy, hot, late-July days here in the Mid-Atlantic region --very soupy, to say the least!  But the greatest thing about that truck is something we don’t even think about anymore with newer vehicles --air vents!  You know, those little triangles at the front of the door windows.  The kind you have to manually open and adjust?  They were a godsend that day!  We opened those babies up and pointed the air flow right into our faces for the entire ride --how wonderful!

But, somewhere along the way, someone decided that air vents in windows were either unattractive or obsolete --or both.  Look around at any new vehicle today --not one with a window vent.  I personally think these added character, as well as a tangible benefit to vehicles, but I don’t work for a major automobile think-tank.



Ever feel like this looks?



Ever feel unattractive or obsolete?  Right now in my life, I could feel that way; I just finished 18 years of homeschooling all my children, my youngest just turned 18 which means all my Lovelies are now young adults, and I am waiting for the “next season” to start.  I say “waiting” because I’m no longer homeschooling, but not yet working that illusive full-time job --I’ve put in lots of applications, had some interest, but nothing solid…..

I could begin second-guessing myself: Am I too old?  Do I not have enough skills to make it in the “real” world?  Did I not use the right lingo in the interview?

Can I get an amen?  I see that hand :)

BUT, then I am reminded of who I am in Christ.  I live in the blessing of Abraham, according to God.  He is faithful and true to His promise and will not allow me to stumble.  His banner over me is love.  His will for me is good.  THIS is how God sees me. 

Ah…..that feels better :)

So, take heart, dear one!  His plan for you is sure.  You are neither unattractive, nor obsolete to Him.  “He has made everything beautiful in its time”  (Eccl. 3:11a)  He will continue to work out His will in your life no matter what life throws at you or what you feel like --because “even when we are faithless, He remains faithful, because He cannot deny Himself.” (II Tim. 2:13)

Unattractive or obsolete?  Pish-posh!  Open that air vent, let that wind blow through your hair, and enjoy your day!

Tis the Season.....for Spittin'???

Ah, summer…..that wonderful, lazy, hazy time of year when there’s an abundance of local produce for us to choose from --including watermelon! Gotta LOVE that! This year, we planted some of those smaller, personal-sized watermelons -I think they’re called “sugar babies”??? --anyway, I just can’t wait ‘til they’re ripe. Nothing better after a summer dinner than a cold slice of watermelon --it’s so refreshing after a hot, humid day.

And, of course, what goes along with eating watermelon? Why, the seed-spittin’ of course! How many of us have childhood memories of seed-spitting contests, pitting cousin against cousin, friend against friend? Who could spit their’s the farthest? Who could hit a paper-plate target? And of course you HAD to spit the seeds out; we were told that a watermelon would grow in our stomachs if we didn’t…wasn’t sure about that one, but didn’t want to find out…..;)

“Life and death are in the power of the tongue…” --Prov. 18:21
“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” --Luke 6:45

Our words can be looked at like those watermelon seeds. Sometimes they’re just spit out into the air in general, sometimes they have a direct target. But, in whichever case, our words do take root and grow something.

Are we being cautious of what’s coming out of our mouths? Do you speak with purpose? Jesus said to let our yays be yay and our nays be nay. Be succinct. Don’t just blather on, just to fill up space in the room. Be purposeful in your conversation. Do you find yourself just going on and on in a conversation, and in your mind you’re thinking, “why can’t I just stop talking?” Yes, I can be like that sometimes. But, my wise husband has taught me over the years to rein myself in --I do not have to fill up the room just because no one else is talking. And I don’t have to give complete explanations for why something is being done (or not done). Yes, that does mean that less conversations are taking place, but the ones that do are actually more edifying, encouraging, and helpful. Ephesians 5 talks about that.

And what about how we speak to people? Do you speak to build someone up? To encourage them? To help them through a crisis situation? That takes purpose of mind to do most of the time. Just throwing a platitude or an insult out into the air does not take much thought at all; but we then spend a huge amount of time trying to take back the hurtful word spoken, and restore a relationship. So much unnecessary “farming”…

What are your words growing?

And what will your thoughts be the next time you slice open that red, ripe watermelon? Happy Summer!
　

Out of the Ordinary

I consider myself a nice person. I try to be happy most of the time, it doesn’t take much to make me happy, and I don’t get all worked up that easily. I pride myself on being the one who doesn’t fly off the handle, who is understanding and patient when someone needs to talk, who--

Oops! Houston…..we have a problem….

I pride myself…..those three little words there. Yikes.

“Let him who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall.” --I Cor. 10:12



The Bud and I feeling just fine!

 Last week, my husband began dealing with another bout of a recurring illness. At first we thought it was a side effect from a medication he is on for something else. We went to the doctors, got switched to a different medication, came home, but the symptoms got worse through the day and became exactly like those of his recurring illness. We are currently dealing with the problem from this angle now and things are (hopefully!) starting to move in a positive direction and we expect him to be feeling back to normal in a few days.

HOWEVER, the reason I bring this up is because of my own bout with a recurring “illness”: a lack of compassion. I don’t know what it is, but whenever my husband is dealing with an illness, you could take those first couple sentences up there at the beginning of this blog and change them around with negatives for positives, and THAT would be the real picture of me:

I am NOT a nice person. I am NOT happy most of the time, it takes A LOT to make me happy, and I get worked up VERY easily.

Ugh and grrr…..I hate that about myself. WHY oh why do I act like that each time? I keep telling myself, “you can do this --you can be a good caretaker”, and then I find myself bristling each time he lays on the couch asking for something or just showing the general malaise that comes with a recurring illness. I catch myself saying all the same things in my head each time:

“Men! They’re such babies when they’re sick!”
“Are you kidding me? Try having cramps each month!”
“Hello? Childbirth --me--three times”
“Ginger Ale? Sure….let me stop folding these clothes, cleaning the kitchen, etc.”

I think my response is because of both nature and nurture. “Nurture” because when I was growing up, my poor mom’s way of dealing with us when we were sick (she mustn’t have had a very good nursing example herself!) was to tell us to stay in our beds and not to come out all day. At some point throughout the day, she would come into our room and practically toss a Tupperware cereal bowl of soft-boiled eggs (yes, Virginia, I said soft-boiled!) at us and tell us to eat them --oh joy!

No, you didn’t really want to stay home from school --mission accomplished :)  But this never really taught me compassion for the sick either.
 

One of the most compassionate people I know


And “nature” because I just am not a naturally “nursing-type” of a person. I see other people like this --my own Lovely #1 is a person like this --and I think, “Wow! There really are people who have a gift for taking care of others“ --so compassionate and caring, it’s a thing of beauty to see in action. God working through them so effortlessly; His hand reaching out and giving whatever a person needs to feel better --simply amazing!

“His strength is made perfect in my weakness” --II Cor. 12:9

Thanks be to God --I know that because the Lord’s mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:23), I KNOW that I can get up today and make a fresh start. I know that I can try to be that nurse that my husband needs me to be at the moment, despite my inabilities.

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" --Phil 4:13

Even nurse The Bud through an illness when my flesh is lazy? YES! Because I am not my own, I am bought with a price, the Holy Spirit lives in me to work out HIS good and perfect will, both in me and through me to others. So, He can give me His thoughts of compassion, His ideas on how to make my mate more comfortable in his recovery, and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

THAT’S definitely out of the ordinary!

I’d better go put my nurse’s cap on --I hear another request for Ginger Ale :)

Wellness Wednesdays: Baby Steps; Finding Alternatives

Several years ago, I began a journey of bringing wellness into my life; spiritually, mentally, and physically. Along the way, I stumbled across several realizations about myself:

1. I like sweets
2. I REALLY like sweets
3. I LOVE sweets (did I mention that?)

Yes, I have a sweet-tooth. But, through reading and research, I found that it can be a vicious cycle; I like sweets, I eat sweets filled with white sugar, the white sugar wreaks havoc with my body and my emotional health, but leaves it wanting more the next time. On and on it goes…..somewhere along the line I had to break the cycle.

Part of the problem lies in the wonderful way we are created. Our bodies work much like a slow-burning wood stove. It processes food like that so we can be on an even keel throughout the day. It is designed to break-down materials we put into it and convert that material into energy (or stored energy for later). The “breaking down” part is the key. That’s why natural, whole foods are so much better for us --our bodies NEED to do the work of breaking down, digestion, and distribution in order for the system to work at its optimum level.

What happens when you put little twigs and leaves into a woodstove? They burn up immediately and disappear without adding to the heat-output of the stove.

Okay, so that’s what it’s like with white sugar (and white flour, btw!). White sugar has already been processed, broken down, REFINED. It goes directly into our blood stream and gives us a quick jolt of energy, sends our pancreas and adrenal glands into a seesaw operation and then we get the big “letdown feeling” from all that craziness! ……Until we drink that next soda, or eat that next candy bar, or two…..and then it starts all over again.

That was me --I was on a constant emotional roller-coaster and part of that was caused by my diet. I had to get off that ride and do something different. First, I took myself off ALL white sugar and white flour. I had nothing that contained either of those two ingredients for a period of time. I never felt so good! It was VERY difficult at first, but I wanted wellness more than anything, so I disciplined myself to do it.

But then, real life started to creep back in and I found myself slipping. Going out to eat, going to a celebration of some sort, not reading the label first; all these played into me not being able to live completely free of sweetness. There had to be another way of doing things!


I found that finding alternatives worked better for me than completely shutting off the world.

Finding alternatives allows not only is healthier, but also allows you to be in control of more of our eating habits and gives you a sense of empowerment. So…what are these alternatives I speak of?

Well, for starters, for white sugar, there is a natural alternative called STEVIA (also called “sweet leaf”). This is the Sweet Leaf plant whose leaves have been dried and crushed. Because of its super-sweetness, you don’t need as much as white sugar. And even though it has been processed, it will not change your blood sugar at all. You can buy stevia (it also comes in a brand name of “Truvia”) in bulk (for baking, etc), liquie, or in single packets --I like to carry around packets in my purse for when we go to restaurants, visit people, etc. This way I always have my “alternative” for drinks needing sugar. Another alternative for white sugar is natural unrefined cane sugar; most stores carry this now as more people are looking for alternative food choices. Honey is, of course, another great substitute; an added bonus for honey? If you buy local honey, it has anti-allergen properties to local plants which help with your seasonal allergies J

Next week --other alternatives to other favorites!

Too-Funny Tuesday

Here we are at another Tuesday.  Blah.  What.Ever.

So, again, I wanted to inject a little humor into the day by showing another funny video.  I didn't have to look very far for this one --one of my own Lovelies put this together during last semester.  She is an English major and became intrigued with the works of John Donne, a late-16th century poet.  You really should read his works --they're beautiful.  In fact, you may want to google this particular sonnet before watching the video --it is indeed very spiritually uplifting!

This video is actually a recitation of one of his more famous sonnets, "Death, Be Not Proud".  The subject matter itself is quite stirring, when read in its intended seriousness, but Lovely #2 was at the end of a long semester and needed to do something to lighten things up a bit.

I can never watch this too many times --it cracks me up each time I watch it!

HAPPY Tuesday!

A Great Read: The Glass Menagerie

A Great Read: The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams

As a post-homeschooling mom, I now find myself with extra reading time. For the last almost 20 years I have read many things. MANY things. But, most of them have been for not only my own edification, but also for the edification of others; be they my own children or other students I have taught in co-ops or umbrella schools. Most of the books have been either history or health related, as those were the two main fields of interest I taught, in addition to the “Three R’s”.

Apparently, there are other books out there? This is what I’m told, anyway.

Our Lovely #2, being the English major, has taken it upon herself to develop a reading list for me; a post-homeschooling reading list of sorts. She knows how I love various types of stories but have just not had time to read, just for the pleasure of reading! There are stories she’s been introduced to in her classes, as well as classics I’ve never had time to read --all of these are “going on the list”, she says J

My first one completed was not really a book at all; it was a play. Now, I have stayed away from reading plays since high school. I don’t even know why --I just always have had this notion that they were hard to follow since they were not in paragraph form, or some such nonsense. But, she convinced me to give them a second look.

So I did. Obedient mom that I am, I recently read The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams. First of all, if you’ve never read a play, I encourage you to just from the standpoint of how time-friendly it is in our fast-paced world. You can read this play in an afternoon; while the kids are out playing, while you’re at the beach, while your little ones are napping --whatever! Imagine how smart and how good you will feel, knowing you finished a “book” in one sitting! Well, at least that’s the way I felt J

The story is a bit melancholy, so get ready for that. But, the characters are each very interesting in their own ways, and you find yourself drawn into the storyline almost immediately. That’s another great thing about plays; whereas “books” take their time to lay out characters and backstory, plays do not. You are given the backstory and personality of each character up-front and you put it into drive and go. LOVE that!

There are only 4 main characters, so your brain doesn’t have to work very hard on remembering a lot of interweaving of story and personality, either. And I found that at various times in the story, each character would evoke the same emotion from me for different reasons: pathos, annoyance, anger, joy. Very cool.

So, if you want a quick, easy, summer afternoon read, I highly recommend The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams. Read it and let me know what you think!