Trust and Obey

Worry is so common among us all today...especially today with so many financial and economical, social and spiritual uncertainties looming in our sights. But there is One I know Who knows what is coming, and how to conquer it all. 

Okay, here is another quote or saying that I have heard all my life that has such strong meaning to me now: "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." We are all planners to some extent or another, and that is a good thing, I think. But something happens to us when those plans get thrown off in the slightest. We freak out!! Our plans are not always God's plans for us...and thankfully so. When I think back over my life, there are so many situations that I would have liked to have happened differently, at the time. But now, seeing the outcome and result and blessings from those times, I am SO happy that my God is in control! He is the creator of our universe! Why do we think we know better than Him in what should or shouldn't happen?! Who do we think we are?! (Totally talking to myself here!) 

Trust is an incredibly hard thing to do for us. I have had "trust issues" my whole life. It is something I struggle with to this day, but that does NOT give me the right to doubt anyone, most of all God. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that love believes all things. Do I believe all things good about others? About God?! I know what you are thinking now, "Wait, Lari, you don't mean that you don't trust God!" Well, I hope I trust Him with every fiber of my being. But you tell me, what does it say to Him when I doubt or worry? Isn't that saying, in essence, that I don't trust Him to work things for my good? Isn't that saying that I doubt His ability to handle my piddly problems?! If we get to the heart of the matter, I'm afraid it does say that to Him. In order to give control of my life to my Creator, I cannot doubt or worry. The LORD will provide for me and my family if we seek Him and His will. And I know these things, oh so well, but the devil is a lurking foe with fear, doubt, worry, and self-reliance dripping from his bared fangs. He is waiting for me to give him a foothold with a shadow of a doubt. He doesn't need much to grab a hold of me and drag me into his misery. I must cling to my Father as a child frightened in the night clings to the strong arms of her earthly daddy. But instead of asking my Father to make it go away, I have decided I want to ask Him to make it less scary. The struggles and scary things of this world will never go away while we are on this earth. So I want to ask God to help me defuse the fear and doubt. And He will because He has promised us all the "peace that passes all understanding". I have recently gotten to enjoy that peace, and although I can't explain it, let me share this with you, it is amazing and wonderful. Please take Him up on that offer. Give your worries and cares to Him and trust! He commands us to do this. Isn't it an amazing comfort to know that when we are Home with Him, this will all seem as NOTHING! So don't let NOTHING stand in your way of rest in your Father's arms! How sad to turn to our own understanding, and thinking that we can make it on our own! How arrogant and pitiful we can be. God waits to answer our knock for peace and comfort. Let Him be your Hero.

Lemons, Anyone?!

"If life gives you lemons, make lemonade." 

"That car is nothing but a lemon."

"She's as sour as a lemon."

These sayings or thoughts are things we have all heard our whole lives. But the other day, I was preparing my new favorite water concoction (I'll tell you about that later), and got to really looking at the lemons floating in the water. How pretty a slice of lemon is, and the perfection God puts into each little fruit.  How, if used properly, and with distinct purpose, they can be quite a treasure in the kitchen. But, lemons can be such a sour, unpleasant little fruits. So, as my mind usually does, it wandered to another thought. Our lives, and our tongues more so, are just like that lemon! I have heard a thought by someone guiding me spiritually that if you squeeze, or apply pressure to a lemon, you get lemon juice. So what do you get when you apply pressure to a Christian? Well, hopefully you get a Christ-like reaction. But unfortunately, more times than not for me, I emit something not very Christ-like at all: anger, frustration, stress, doubt, worry. I hate to say it, but it's true. And what truly concerns me, is that my children learn how to react by how I react, right? What a scary thought. There is no measure to the regret for the way I have handled myself in the past. But I am human and fall short daily. So what is truly important is that I teach these sweet little souls repentance. I tell them when I over-react, "I disappointed God with how I just acted. I'm really sorry you saw that." Honesty and humility is what our kids need today more than ever. I pray they remember that, and not how I flew off the handle to spilled milk...no pun intended there! 

Okay, so my point today is this: we, as Christians, can be really a sour thing in someone's life, or we can be a sweet, refreshing, healthy part of the life of others. I pray that I will use my life, my words, my example to be the sweet lemon to those around me. 

And so, as I promised, my refreshing, "detox" water is just this:

1 orange sliced

1 lemon sliced

1 gallon of water

Place the lemon and orange in a gallon-sized pitcher, and pour water over the fruit to fill the pitcher. After your first pitcher is done, refill water. You can do this a couple of times, but know that the more you do it, the stronger the citrus taste. So when that happens, I like to pour just a little in a glass and then add tap water to fill my glass. This citrus water, if you will, really, REALLY helps to keep your water retention down...so makes for really nice weigh-ins!!

Failure is Not an Option

Okay, so here we are...post holiday rush, excitement, planning, and stress. How did you do? Did you get everything done you wanted to get done? Were all your visits with family friends everything you hoped they would be? Did all your stressing pay off? OH, WAIT! Did you forget any presents stowed away in the closet?!?! Oh, well, if so, they will be there for next year! 
 Let me ask you one more question about the past two weeks: did you remember to sit back and enjoy the time? I have to confess to you that I let the trees choke out the forest. I got caught up in the "have to get done's", and let them drown out the "get to do's". How foolish of me. Something else I let happen over the past two weeks is the ever serious lapse in judgement of all thing health and fitness. Oh yes, I did. I let my routine be so altered and, well, non-existent, that now I am horribly miserable with the process of getting back what I have gained over the past ten months.
It all began on the Friday before Christmas. It was Anniversary Date Night at the Richards' house, and movie theater popcorn was on my radar! Now, I am a firm believer in letting yourself enjoy a little indulgence every now and then. BUT, when that occasional indulgence gives way to a cookie whenever, dessert with every meal, and NO exercise, you have THEN blown your diet! Yeppers! I blew it.  So is all lost? Do I just say, "Oh well! At least I am not where I was last year. Maybe this is just where I am suppose to be. This is my healthy." Or, do I get up, shake the dust from my shoes and carry on? I think I'll choose the latter, but it's not easy. It's funny how staying on track for a long period of time is so much easier than having a long break only to start over at, what seems like, square one. I am back to forcing myself to move, forcing myself to journal food, forcing myself to NOT eat that chocolate from the kids' stockings, and forcing myself to be good. But I do know that God helped me through this before, and I can, and will do get through it again. I have to remember that this body is not my own. I was bought for that price Jesus paid. I belong to HIM. I cannot live as I want, but as He decrees. And I love that He carries these loads for me. He is the reason I can face tomorrow. He is the reason for everything, and I hope that you have come to know that! There is nothing of me that is not HIS.
I hope that you will join me in beginning again this year! I hope that you never stopped, but if you did, never give up! I am not where I want to be yet. I am not at my healthy. I am not who I am meant to be. God is with me, so it is impossible to be against myself! Failure is NOT an option!