An inspiration and a great 3pt shooter!!!!

My friend Bona sent me this to put on my blog
I love stories like this. It's rare that you find a school that embraces someone with a disability.
I love the fact that he scored all of those baskets...they ahould have put him on the team sooner!!!!!!

Jumper

My husband gets stuck on certain songs and he will play them over and over in the morning on his computer. Then, I get them in my brain.
He and Zach went to "Yes Man" and I think that's what started him playing this song.
Anyway here it is with the lyrics.
I definitely know some people I'd like to sing this to.

A Letter to Sasha and Malia Obama

I read this on one of the blogs I look at. It was also shown on The Today Show.
I think it shows that just as much as it's an honor to have their dad as president,it can be hard to hear the criticism, but at the end of the day...he's their dad, he's a great dad, and they are the ones who really know him. What great advice to pass on.

A Sunday of Worship and a DEPRESSING movie

We went to hear Kristen and Lee Campus Choir sing this morning in Cincinnati. They did an amazing job as usual. The pictures above show the whole choir, Kristen worshiping,and Kristen and her grandparents.
We also got to meet Rachel, the girl Zach is dating, and she is adorable.

This afternoon Darrell and I went to a matinée. It was between Gran Torino and Revolutionary Road. We picked Revolutionary Road. We should have picked Gran Torino.
Not that it wasn't a good movie.It's got amazing acting by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio but it is the MOST DEPRESSING movie!! I think we'll try a comedy the next time :)

"Casting"

These are my notes from Apex
It was nice to go back to Saturday Night Service.
It has a different atmosphere...more relaxed and worshipful.
Isaac and Neil did an awesome job with worship.
We brought our friend Doug with us and we have recently met a guy named Al who recently moved here from Richmond. We all went to eat at City Barbecue after service.

Jonah 1:7-16

Jonah track vs Sailor track
Life can feel like a storm

Jonah track
Sometimes the Lord engineers a storm for chastisement because He loves us

God sends a storm of his chastisement to:

1 Do a work in and around you.
God uses this time as an opportunity to witness to unbelievers.
Acts 5:5
Matthew 18..church discipline
Discipline is one of those things that good dads do.
Is there a weight on you?
God loves you so much He won't let you stay there.

2 Clarify who He is and who you are.
Sometimes we try to be God. We try to usurp God's authority.

3 Humble you
"I am the problem"

The result is God keeping you in his crazy Grace.


The Sailor Track

God's storm causes the sailors:

1 To be desperate for answers
Our education,life experience can't explain it
They cast lots. It falls on Jonah. This is not a normative way to find God's will.

2 Row in their own power..work harder.
We live in a culture that is mentally and physically exhausted. We are rowing but getting nowhere.

3 Acknowledge their helplessness and cry out for mercy.

4 Throw off the cause of the storm. It was Jonah.
What is the "Jonah" in your life causing the storm? A secret, a relationship,an addiction, your thought life.

The result is God rescuing through his crazy grace.

The Express

One of the best movies I've watched in a long time.
It's the story of Ernie Davis, the first black Heisman trophy winner, from Syracuse.
The story is about football, but more importantly about racism and integrity and doing the right thing.
If you know the story, you know he died at the age of 23 from Leukemia.
It's not a sappy story at all. Dennis Quaid plays his coach and is great.

Miscellaneous things

Just thought I'd post on some miscellaneous things:

1. I went to see Carrie and she and Ben are doing good. Carrie should be able to go home Thursday. Ben will be there for 3-4 more weeks. He has dark curly hair and is doing very well for being born about 6 weeks early. He's breathing on his own but has to wear a little oxygen mask and has had to get some surfactant injections to help with the maturing of his lungs. They'll start feeding him through a little tube tomorrow until he learns how to nurse.

2. It was so awesome to watch the inauguration today. They had TV's set up down in the cafeteria but I just watched it on Hulu.com on a computer. Barb and I both put it on our computers but our screens were different. Mine was a little ahead of hers. How weird is that?

3. I'm doing ok with my healthy eating but I smelled pizza today and would LOVE to eat pizza! I might have to cave in for SuperBowl Sunday. Marion's Piazza and Cassano's are my alltime favorites cause I'm a Kettering girl. Those were our big hangouts at Fairmont West.

4. LOST starts tomorrow. I LOVE that show. I can't wait to watch it. Chris canceled house church for tomorrow(since he is a new daddy :) so I won't have to watch it the next day :)

5. I have a new way of getting free books. Navpress has a blogger review program. They give you the choice of 4 books..you write a 200 word review and put it on your blog as well as a site like Amazon or Borders and Navpress site.You can do it as many times as you want. I'm already doing this for another publishing co. so this is awesome! If you want to do it go here

How to watch the inauguration on your computer

Benjamin Lincoln Brown is born

My dear friends and house church leaders Chris and Carrie Brown had their beautiful little boy Benjamin Lincoln tonight. Please keep all of them in prayer. Carrie had an emergency C-section after the bleeding started again so even though it was 6 wks early,Dr.Kilian felt it was time. Ben weighs 5lb and 4oz. He will spend about 3 weeks in NICU until his lungs are fully developed and he learns to suck. They are all doing very well and are feeling blessed.

Warming up the congregation...literally :)

It's been really cold this past weekend so my pastor,Rob Turner, thought he would start off the service warming us up. He used to DJ and still has the moves :)

Listening and Running

These are my notes from Apex. We went this morning because of the Leeland concert(see my previous post). We are starting a new series called "Overboard".

Scripture- Jonah 1: 1-6

The Bible is full of runners.
Adam and Eve
Elijah
David
12 disciples

You can be sitting and still be running
The first question the Peace Corps asks "What are you running from?"
We go from running to exhaustion to anger to bitterness
Jonah..minor prophet

Three levels of running with Jonah

1. Jonah ran away from the Lord
You can never flee the personal presence of God
Jonah fled the express will of God.
He ran to Tarshish which is known for it's jewels. It's a resort city.

2. Jonah ran away from his mission.
When we dwell on God less time..we lose a sense of mission.
A fruit of gospel sharing is either reception or rejection. What is our mission?
Sharing even if it's to those who don't listen.

3. Jonah ran away from himself.
We were created to reflect God's word to a dark world.

We will resource our running .materialism..it becomes our way of running.
Jonah paid a fare.

We can hurt others in our running..God sends a storm. Sailors suffer because of Jonah.
They throw their cargo overboard.

We can rest in our running. Jonah was sleeping. Heat and mind become sealed. You have no conscious. You sleep even though God's wrath is building.

Questions
Are you listening to the Lord?
Do you know how?
Is there something so big or evil in your life that it makes you run?
Could Natural calamities of God's way of mobilizing his people for mission?
Psalm 135:5-7
Psalm 107:25-31
Sometimes we don't turn around until we hit calamity
Be anti-Jonah.

Leeland...AMAZING!!!!

Last night, Darrell and I went to the Underground,a teen center in Cincinnati, to see Leeland. We were not disappointed. It was one of the best concerts I've seen for a long time. There were 2 opening bands, Divine Day and After Edmund. They each played for 30 min. After Edmund is up for a grammy. Divine Day is a local band that won Battle of the Bands this fall.
As you can tell from my pictures we were pretty close. There weren't as many people there as I thought there would be which was ok with me :) The teen center reminds me of The Avenue at Ginghamsburg Church.
Leeland Mooring is the lead singer. He is only 20 but spiritually he is 90. He started each song with a verse from scripture and a meaning as to why he wrote the song. He was very upfront with sharing the gospel. He is extremely humble and worshipful. The whole band is. There were several times through songs that you could see them praying and worshipping God.
They will be at Cedarville on Feb 13. We're hoping to have most of our house church go that night. It's well worth the money and drive

Dreams

I'm doing a study with my friend on the book of Daniel.
In the part we're studying the king has a dream and wants it interpreted.
Daniel interprets the dream as to what will happen in the future.
This book is very rich with prophecy which intrigues me.
I was thinking about dreams. I'm not a person who has vivid dreams. Most of the time if I do have a dream it is a mixture of what happened that day mixed with things I've thought about. I really don't understand how and why the brain does that.
I'm wondering why there aren't people today who have dreams like the king which are interpreted for the future...or are there?
There all kinds of people predicting the future...is there any truth to what they say?
God gave Daniel that gift of interpretation...are there people like that today?
If so...why don't we hear about them?

Just some thoughts I had this morning that I thought I would write down.

Bitter cold

It's been a few years I think since it's been this cold in Ohio.
You know it's cold when:

You still see your breath after 15 minutes of warming the car

Your dog creeps outside on her tippy toes and wants to come right back in

You have a car that won't start(poor Darrell :^()

Your fingers and toes stay cold even with gloves on

You want to exercise because it will warm you up

You see no homeless walking around MVH

I am so ready for spring....or a vacation to a warm place!

Hope everyone reading this is in a nice,safe,warm place for the night.

Momma's Boys

Any station you turn to you see Reality TV..whether it's dancing,singing,losing weight.
The one my kids and I started watching is called "Momma's Boys" It's 3 guys who are looking for "Miss Right" with the help of their mothers input. That's where it gets interesting because the mothers have very strong opinions. In fact, one mother is down right rude and racist. I'm not sure how much of it is an act. I would hate to think that someone is filled with that much hate.
The mothers live with the girls so they have some insight into what they are like in day to day situations. There really haven't been cat fights between the girls but between the mothers and girls..oh yeah. There is one mother who doesn't think any of the girls are good enough for her son.
Part of me understands that the mothers want what's best for their sons. Don't we all?
But where does it end? When do they plan to cut the umbilical cord? I didn't realize until last night that one of the options is for the guy to choose no girl and choose his mother...ARE YOU KIDDING!! That's just wrong!
I would hope that when Zach finds "Miss Right" that I will be able to welcome her no matter what color,religion,or past she may have...but I guess you never know until you're actually put in those shoes. It's hard to let go sometimes.

"Never Say Diet" by Chantel Hobbs

I'm on a "get healthy" kick so when I was offered the chance to read and review these books by Chantel Hobbs I said "Sure,why not?" I had never heard of her before. I'm honestly glad I got the chance to read her books. She has an amazing story of how she lost 200lbs in a period of 2 years and kept the weight off. Unlike alot of diet books that focus on food ...she puts the focus on your brain and changing how you think of food. She does put alot of emphasis on exercise as well. The first 4 weeks are about becoming disciplined in how you move or exercise. She gives very simple examples of cardio as well as strengthening. Her food isn't something you have to spend alot of money on. It's simple things with portion control and balance.
I also like her personal fitness trainer guide where you can actually write down what you do daily to keep progress. I find in my job..if they don't write it down..it didn't happen. When you're first trying to make a change it is so important to track your progress so that you can see you are making steps toward the goal. Weight loss isn't something that is easy or that happens without time,effort,motivation,and guidance. Chantel is a Christian who uses scripture as a support and motivator.
She's very honest in her own personal story and tells you about her successes as well as failures. She has a great website that gives you some of the basic info in the book such as the primary fuel foods and exercises to try. It's also there for support and questions.
One of the biggest things I've found with the people I work with is that they need support and encouragement.
If you struggle with weight or just want to lose a few pounds and feel healthy,these are excellent books to help you.



Author Bio: Chantel Hobbs is a personal trainer, certified spinning instructor, and motivational speaker whose no-excuses approach to fitness has won her a grateful following across the country. The author of Never Say Diet, Chantel hosts a weekly fitness program on Reach FM radio and is a regular guest on Way FM. Her “Ditch the Diet, Do the Weekend” bootcamp takes place several times a year in a variety of locations. She has presented her unique approach to lasting fitness in People magazine and on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox News, The 700 Club, Living the Life, and Paula White Today. Chantel enjoys life with her husband and their four children in South Florida.

Day #7 The Last Day

I'm delayed in posting this because I wanted to get my final weight this morning.
Yesterday was tough because after 7 days of being told what to eat..I want to balk.
It was brown rice,vegetables and fruit juice today. I found this to be an interesting combination.
For breakfast I did strawberries,blueberries,and banana mixed in the blender..probably not what they deem fruit juice but hey it works for me.
Lunch was brown rice with mixed vegetables...I hate cooked carrots so I had a hard time with this and brown rice is bland.
I snacked on carrots and drank my water..which is getting easier now.
For supper we went to DLM and got salads.
I had no hunger pangs at all today.
So this morning I woke up ready for my oatmeal. I did my weigh in first and.....
I lost 7 lbs. Not too bad for a week of torture :^)
Would I do this again...no..at least not as strict as they make it.
I think the key to this is fruits and vegetables,water, and no white flour and sugar.
I absolutely feel better. My fat is all abdominal..I always tell my kids it's because they were so big (9.5 lbs and 10.3) but it's my own fault. I never thought when I was in my 20's and 30's that I would ever struggle with weight. I was always underweight even with eating junk and drinking pop. I found out the hard way that as you age your body metabolism slows down. It was so obvious at my 30 yr high school reunion this summer. So many people were overweight..so much so that I didn't recognize some of them. I'm sure they thought the same of me. I weighed 50 lbs more than I did in high school.
So now what? Well, I am going to discipline myself with an exercise program of cardio and strengthening. I'm going to cut out white sugar/flour as much as possible. I'm going to drink water instead of juices/pops and we'll see what happens over the next month or so.

"How do we win the respect of outsiders?"

These are my notes from Apex's sermon this morning. As I put in my last post , we listened to worship music last night and then came back this morning for Frontline and the sermon..the bonus..I got to hear worship music again and we came in just as they were doing "God of Wonders". I love that song.

1 Thessalonians 4:1--12

The message was done by Brian Pelphrey. Brian is an elder and housechurch leader. He hopes to plant his own church in the Miamisburg area.

This message is written for Christ followers but at the end of the message is something for nonbelievers.

How do we win the respect of outsiders?

1 It's important how we live

We need to live by the spirit not by our sinful nature
Galatians 5 reminds us of the fruits of the spirit.
When you are work...are you filled with joy?
What do you look like at work?
Matthew 5 teaches us to be the salt of the earth.
What type of salt are you?

Table salt...adds flavor and gives things a "pop"
Rock salt...only used in certain situations..sporadic

2 Important how we love

Share our lives with people and put their needs above our own
At work ..are you someone who comforts,encourages,cares, and shares your life with people?
You can't wear a mask and pretend to have joy,love,etc.
Take off your fricking mask...( yeah he used those exact words and I'm sure comment cards will be written...)

Be kind..1 Peter 3:8
Don't retaliate back.
Be available.
In order to share your life...you have to give your time!
God defines who we need to share with. It's not just "who you like"

3 The way we work
Working with our hands and working hard.
At work ...do you get your hands dirty? Or do you sit there and read emails all day?
Don't be a complainer or the one who argues.
You should be shining the light of Christ
Don't gossip.
Don't put the focus on "me". Listen to what others are saying. Don't plan what you are going to say next about yourself.
Mind your own business. Don't judge others on stories other people tell or stories you've heard.

Nonbelievers
Have you seen anyone like this?
If the answer is yes..they are looking to share Jesus with you.
If the answer is no...Read the book of John and see Jesus as he truly is.

The Power of the Cross can change:
Nonbeliever to Believer
enemy to friend
alientated to close
evil to Christlike
dark to light
far to near
dead to life
blind to see
deaf to hear
mute to speak
guilty to innoncent
proud to humble
alone to having Christ always with them

Day#6..Beef and vegetables

I have to say there is nothing less exciting than getting up and knowing your choice at breakfast is roast beef and vegetables. I had a small amt of roast beef and some carrots.
I meet my friend Tina on Saturdays at Starbucks. Normally I have a vanilla latte...today it was green tea..I'm really tired of tea right now too.
I went to my Mom's for lunch and had a grilled hamburger and salad. My kids had fillets and baked potatoes.
I really had no hunger pangs at all today. Darrell, however, felt the need to get up at 3 am and eat roast beef. I don't really think you're supposed to do that. Dr. B. always says it's not normal or healthy to get up and eat in the middle of the night.
We went to Apex just for the worship music. We do frontline greeting in the morning and we miss the worship music which is my favorite part so that's why we just went for the music tonight. Hosanna,God of Wonders,Mighty to Save...yeah I won't mind hearing those again from the info table. Brian Pelphrey is doing the message this weekend. He is one of our younger elders in the church. I don't think I've heard him speak before.
After worship music, we went to City Barbecue..beef brisket and side salad..Darrell had the nasty greens..ugh! It was nice to have a little variety in the meat.
My mom bought me a scale so I weighed myself....I have lost 4 lbs. That's not too bad.
Darrell has lost 5. Why is it men lose weight faster than women? I'm sure it has to do with metabolism.
Tomorrow is the last day. Brown rice,fruit juices and vegetables. We're making our own juice shakes in the blender.
I am looking forward to Monday. I'm not going to gorge myself but I'm definitely having something with chocolate! I will start to exercise..cardio and strengthening exercises to increase my metabolism. I will watch my food and portion intake more carefully. My goal isn't weight...it's to be healthy.

Day #5..Beef and tomatoes

I'm a little late posting this. I watched a movie last night and then went to bed. If you're looking for an action movie "Eagle Eye" is pretty good. It's a little hard to follow in some places but the concept of corrupt government and computers and "Big Brother" was kind of fascinating.
Anyway Day 5 of the weight loss is beef and tomatoes. Darrell bought lean hamburger,buffalo burger, and roast beef. I had the lean hamburger for breakfast and lunch and the roast beef for supper. He liked the buffalo burgers best. I heated up my tomatoes and put them on my hamburger so it was kind of like eating pepper steak. The water was a killer. You have to increase your water intake by a quart which meant I had to drink 7 bottle waters. Let's just say..you better have a pretty strong bladder for this day. They say it's to flush the uric acid out of your system. Uric acid creates gout and that's the last thing I need!
The hardest thing about today was no snacking..again. It was beef and tomatoes..no other vegetables. This had definitely been my least favorite of the days. I don't like tomatoes..ugh!
The positive..I don't need a scale to know I've lost weight..I can tell by my pants.
So...2 more days. The hardest part is over..I hope :^)

Day #4 Bananas and milk

Well, today has been a long day. It's cold out. I still feel like I have a mild flu but my voice and cough are better.
Day #4 of the experiment is bananas and milk. I had 2 bananas this morning with a glass of milk and a glass of tea. I did ok but about 12 I was getting hungry. We didn't have enough bananas for the rest of the day ( my kids decided they needed banana smoothies yesterday) so Darrell had to go get more. Not a problem right? Wrong. Darrell is a procrastinator and he does stocks on Thursday so I had to get a little whiny when he kept putting me off. I did eat some of the cabbage soup but I really don't like that stuff!
We decided to make banana smoothies with 4 banannas and 1 cup of milk and ice in the blender. I would definitely recommend this. It tasted like a milkshake.
The problem I've had with today is I'm a snacker. There is nothing I can "snack" on so I'm starting to not like this day.
For supper I had another bowl of the cabbage soup and I'm waiting on Darrell to get more bananas..nope he didn't buy enough this morning. He had to take a friend to get a printer. Sigh..so I'm waiting to have my last meal.
Tomorrow we actually get to eat meat..we bought lean roast beef and lean hamburger to grill. We also have to eat 6 tomatoes...I HATE tomatoes so I'm looking at ways I can choke those things down!
I don't own a scale but I can tell I have lost weight. I haven't been miserable with hunger but I definitely feel it. I've tried to stay busy with laundry,reading..I even watched a soap opera I used to watch in my 20's..those things never change including the characters. Tonight I have football and Grey's Anatomy to keep me amused :)

Day #3 A Hard Day

Well I think I know why many people quit after today..it's hard!
To make it harder...I'm sick..Achy,fever,cough and no voice.
I had to call in sick to work which I haven't done in 8 years, and they had to cancel my patients at the office for the next 2 days.
My job partner was also sick so our outpatient educator, Cindy, came in to teach the class at the office. Our nurse practitioner, Barb, did the education for our Bull Family patients in the hospital and the rest of the hospital had to wing it for a day.
When you're sick you want comfort food not fruit and vegetables and that's what today is..fruit and vegetables.
I had melon for breakfast with tea and honey and of course water.
I slept until 10am...that NEVER happens.
I ate carrots and a clementine and water at lunch
I had an orange mid day and water.
I had a salad that my dear husband brought me from DLM for supper with peach flavored water.
I just ate a handful of raisins and I'm working on the water.
I was VERY tempted to give in because I don't feel good and I have a growling stomach but I hung in because Darrell coached me on. He said to go ahead and put a teaspoon of honey in my tea even though you're not supposed to have sugar so if I don't lose weight I'll blame it on the honey :)
I know that fruit was probably a healthier thing for me to do than comfort food but it was hard to talk myself into it!
Tomorrow is an interesting day....bananas and milk. Kristen has a friend who did this diet and she made a smoothie with her bananas and milk. We got a new blender so I think I'll try it :^) Luckily I do like bananas and milk.
This is the point of the diet where your body goes into "burn fat" mode so we'll see what happens.
3 days down..4 to go!!

Day #2 ...Vegetables are good for you :)

Today is vegetable only day. You start off with a baked potato with 1 pat of butter. That wasn't too bad...I eat oatmeal so I figured it was just a different kind of starch.
The water is getting a little bit hard. I feel water logged and it makes me go to the bathroom every 30 minutes!
For lunch I had salad. Luckily I work at a hospital which has a good salad bar with a variety of vegetables. I like croutons,cheese, and bacon bits which I couldn't have so it made it a little bland. I ate carrots and celery.
For supper..my favorite vegetable is spinach..I know I'm weird but I do love it.
I also ate some of the cabbage soup although I have to say...that stuff isn't my favorite.
I didn't have too many hunger pains or cravings until I came home and saw that Kristen made oatmeal cookies...That hurt!!!
I met my friends at Starbucks and just had the green tea..no lattes. Actually I have laryngitis so the tea was good for my throat..no honey though :^(
Some things I've learned about food so far :
1 I'm more disciplined than I thought I would be
2 Eating healthy is definitely a mindset.
3 I don't drink enough water. My skin is healthier.
4 I eat out of boredom
5 I'm missing milk(that comes Thursday) and my peanut butter/jelly sandwich..that's not part of the diet at all

Tomorrow is vegetables(no potatoes) and fruit(no juice). We have house church on Wednesdays and it's salad/sandwich theme. The salad will work...not the sandwich..and I am totally missing bread!!!

Sidenote: My friend Carrie who is pregnant with her 3rd baby was put back in the hospital with bleeding again. She is doing ok but I think she'll have to stay the rest of the pregnancy which is another 5 weeks or so. Please keep her in prayer.

455 Million!?!?!?

Date Built 2006
Ownership
(Management) Arizona Sports & Tourism Authority
(Global Spectrum)
Surface Tifway 419 Hybrid Bermuda Grass
Cost of Construction $455 million
Naming Rights The University of Phoenix paid $154 million for 20 years.
Former Names Cardinals Stadium (2006)
University of Phoenix Stadium (2006-Present)
Stadium Financing Public/Private
The Cardinals contributed $147 million, the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority contributed more than $298 million, and Glendale, Ariz. contributed $9.5 million.

I was watching pregame and heard them give the figure for building the stadium where the game between Ohio State and Texas is tonight. Seriously? 455 million?
There are people who don't have a place to live or food and clean water and we spend this amt of money for sports?
That's just sick.

Day #1 Fruit

Well, today begins the diet experiment.
I work everyday this week so this should be interesting.
I tend to eat healthy at breakfast and lunch but when I come home in the evening..It's carb load time!!! I'm more of a starch eater than a sweet eater.
Today is fruit only.
I had honey dew and watermelon for breakfast with water and coffee. I actually didn't feel weak or hungry all morning.
At lunch I had more melon and 2 clementines and water.
It was a little tough at lunch cause Barb had chicken wings and tater tots so the smell wss tempting :)
When I got home, Kristen let me know she wasn't happy with this plan and she was going to eat a pnut butter/jelly sandwich. She felt weak and dizzy and so I told her not to worry about doing it. I don't want her obsessing about her weight anyway.
I had an apple and 1/4 cup of natural raisins and water for supper.
I don't feel bloated. I don't feel too hungry..yet. The bummer is this is Fiesta Bowl night and I can't have the usual snack foods :^(
Tomorrow...vegetables...ok that is NOT going to be my favorite day!

Preparation Day

Well the diet starts tomorrow so we needed to do some preparation.
We decided to go to Sam's Club for most of our food. We love DLM but they are way too pricey for fruits/vegetables in bulk.
While we were there we ate the samples (Sunday and Thursday are sample day)
Kristen chatted with the women and found out that 2 of them have actually done the diet.
Both said they lost weight. My only concern is that the one lady said after she had her gallbladder out she had trouble with it. I haven't had a gallbladder for 7 1/2 years. It was the cabbage soup that caused her the problem so we'll see how I do. I don't typically have the "irritable bowel symptoms" you can have after gallbladder surgery unless I have something that is extremely high in fat content.
Our soup is cooking right now...we have our fruits and vegetables and water. We decided to wait on the end of the week stuff (beef,brown rice,bananas) until we make sure we're going to get through the first 3 days.
I think everyone who shopped in Sam's Club knows our story and way too much information about us :^) They also were treated to random bursts of gospel music from Kristen :^)
Tonight, we plan to eat Italian as our last hurrah meal for a week.
I honestly think the hardest thing for me will be the water...I'm not a big water drinker and you are supposed to drink 10 cups/day.
Darell,Kristen and I all plan to follow it. Zach wants no part of it...he prefers his protein/workouts routine.

"Don't Waste The New Year"

These are my notes for the sermon at Apex this morning.
Worship was great.. " All Creatures of Our God and King" and "O Praise Him", "Majesty","I Am" ..Phil Wing's new song.

Lamentations 3:19-33

19(A) Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
(B) the wormwood and(C) the gall!
20My soul continually remembers it
(D) and is bowed down within me.
21But this I call to mind,
and(E) therefore I have hope:

22(F) The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;[a]
his mercies never come to an end;
23they are new(G) every morning;
(H) great is your faithfulness.
24(I) "The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
(J) "therefore I will hope in him."

25The LORD is good to those who(K) wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26(L) It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
27(M) It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke(N) in his youth.

28Let him(O) sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
29(P) let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30(Q) let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.

31(R) For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32but, though he(S) cause grief,(T) he will have compassion
(U) according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33(V) for he does not willingly afflict
or(W) grieve the children of men.





This message is for 3 groups of people
1 Non Believers
2 New Believers
3 Those who have been through hard times in 2008

Lamentations was probably written by Jeremiah. It has the same attitude/writing style(poetry). It measns wailing,crying,tears,durge(song sung at a funeral)
It was written in 586 B.C.
Nebechenezzar destroyed Jerusalem. He destroyed the buildings including the temple.
There was separation of families.
It is the equivalent to the morning after Sept 11,2001 in New York.

Life has sudden curves and they can hurt.

There are moments in life that are hard to swallow (v.19-20)
worwood and gall-plants in the desert. They were ground up and put in drinks. It had a foul odor to it. It was used for those in pain to take their mind off of their pain.
When Jesus was on the cross he was offered gal.
YOU NEED TO REMEMBER THE MOMENTS

God is actually involved in those moments (v.32)
God is authority and in control of those hard to swallow moments

Those moments are part of God's continual flow of mercy (v.22-23)
God pours mercy at the same time he pours grief

God's merciful grief:
1 Refines our hope. (v.24)
Nothing amplifies our life more than pain. We tend to make everything Jesus +____
God refines us so that it's just Jesus..he is our portion..we don't need more.

2 Matures our hope (v. 25-30)
A follower of Jesus that isn't growing in Jesus..isn't a follower of Jesus..something is terribly wrong. Hebrews 12: 9-11

Discipline is teaching..He is growing us to be more like Him.
You may hear people say " I tried the God thing...." 99/100 times they got hit with the hard thing in life and they believed the lie.

3 Culminates with the love of our hope (v.31-33)
Psalm 30:5
Someday that bruising and pain will be over. Revelation gives us that promise.

DON'T WASTE YOUR NEW YEAR BY:

1 Not looking back at the wilderness..taste the wormwood and gall
2 Having incomplete worship.talk,pray, sing,etc
3 by not coming to the end of yourself
4 By not receiving all of God's methods to mold you to Himself

The 7 day experiment

Starting Monday I'm doing a "cleansing" diet with Darrell. I have to start by saying that I'm not convinced that this is going to work. "Supposedly" you lose 10 to 12 lbs. in a week. I'm doing this mainly to be support for Darrell as his "accountability" person. Hopefully I don't "wimp out"
I do not advocate these type of diets because my experience with my patients..they don't work. In some cases they can be dangerous.
In order to lose weight and maintain weight loss it has to be a change in mind and a lifestyle change in eating and exercise. So I'm looking at it more as an experiment than a diet.
Anyways, I plan to post about my days next week..what I'm eating,how I'm feeling, and if I truly lose any weight. I am in normal BMI weight but it wouldn't hurt me to lose 10 lbs as a cushion. I'm more focused on getting healthy. Darrell needs to lose 20 +
lbs to get to his normal BMI(Body Mass Index). He knows that after the week, he has some hard changes to make...no cereal and ice cream at 10 o'clock at night!
Our biggest challenge is exercise. I HATE to exercise and Darrell works a lot of hours so it's hard for him to fit it in. We make all kinds of excuses :^)
I think the book I'm reading now will help because it puts focus on the change of mind and the exercise more than the food.
Sooo..we'll see what the next week brings..good,bad and ugly !

New Year's Day