Through the Seasons

It’s time for our annual conference again.  We will begin our 3-day journey to Kenya this Saturday and our internet is *supposed* to work there but we’ll see.  We can update Twitter from our phones so watch my blog (that space on the right over there) and Jonathan’s to see the latest.  We’re hoping to have a good time connecting and re-connecting with other missionaries in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Congo.  After conference we’ll travel to Dar to get Asher’s MMR vaccination then travel 2 days back home.  All this will happen Lord willing of course!  It’s our plan but the Lord directs our steps. 

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Week two of my scripture memorization adds these:

Proverbs 22:4 (NIV), “Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.”

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV), “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

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I have decided to start memorizing scripture so I can keep it fresh in my mind as I am challenged in different areas of my life.  Jonathan and I used to do this but for whatever reason we have stopped – and – some of the passages that I want to remember pertain to wives and mothers so I would have done those on my own anyway.

The first two I am starting with are:

Colossians 3:17:

And whatever you do in word or deed, do in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Ephesians 5:21:

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

(When I first looked at Ephesians 5:21 as a possibility my reaction was, “Ewww.  Submission.  Not that one.”  And that is precisely why I chose it!)

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Well the time has come for me to figure out what to add back into my diet.  I’ve learned so much through this detox!

1.  I can survive without sweets, sugar, and refined flour.

2.  I turn to sweets, sugar, and refined flour when I have a bad day.

3.  I do enjoy whole grains, fruit, and veggies.

4.  I can cook very good tasting meals even without sweets, sugar, and refined flour!

5.  I have less cravings and more energy when I eat healthy.

So now I’ll start re-entering the world full of food choices.  Right now I’m planning, planning, planning.  I don’t want to just start eating like I used to.  The goal is to make a lot of these changes permanent.  So at first I’ll continue as if I’m still detoxing and just barely adjust what I’m doing on a daily basis.  Probably the biggest difference will be what I occassionally allow myself. 

I’ve read about people who eat NO sweets and will NEVER eat ANY again.  And to that I say, “WOW.”  That’s not for me.  Not right now.  I’d have to have some real medical concerns to go that far. 

I realize that part of my food issues are really matters of the heart.  Why oh why do I feel I’m entitled to chocolate on a bad day?  Why do I think that will comfort me more than running to Jesus?  It’s me believing a lie (because you know after I pig out on chocolate I do NOT feel better.  I feel WORSE.  MUCH WORSE).  Lies, lies, lies.  Idolatry.  Those are the next steps in my journey – confronting the lies and idols that want to push into my life. 

This has been a very, very positive, rewarding experience for me.  It never felt oppressive or confining.  I actually feel more liberated and in control.  I can decide what to eat and what not to eat.  I can make choices that make me feel wonderful or icky.  And if I do make a bad decision it only takes one more good decision to put me right back on track.  I don’t want food to have so much power in my life.  I feel like I’ve taken that power back and now I get to decide what to allow back into my body and how often.

Oh and I’ve lost a couple pounds too.  I don’t really need to lose weight.  I’m already below my pre-pregnancy weight but any additional weight loss is fine with me since I’m of the thinking that there’s no such thing as “too skinny” but my main concern is to be healthy and not to set food up as an idol in my life.  Those are of much greater worth than a dress size or a number on a scale.

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According to Galatians 5 every day I can have:

love

joy

peace

patience

kindness

goodness

faithfulness

gentleness

self-control

Lord, please help me to live by the Spirit, not the flesh.

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To my daddy who is still a good daddy – and who is now the best Granddaddy ever. 

To my honey who is the best father Asher could have.  He’s loving, attentive, affectionate, caring, disciplining, and a whole lot of fun!

Happy Father’s Day to you and to all the other fathers out there!

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I’ve known all year when conference is but somehow it still snuck up on me! 

I spent the day stuffing, stuffing, stuffing gift bags for ladies’ night.  And I’m only about a third of the way through them!  I’m excited!  They look great and the goodies inside are real treats.  I hope they really make the women at conference feel cared for.  (Thank you everyone for sending stuff!  Great stuff!  Lots and lots of stuff!!)

I also spent some time today making lists (oh you know how I love that).  I’ve got my “things to do before conference” list, “things to take” list, “things to buy in Kenya” list, and “things to buy in Dar” list.  Hopefully those will keep us straight until we return.  Oh and I’m making travel bingo cards for the trip.  They’re great.  Some of the items we’ll be looking for include termite mounds, Obama’s name, goats, and potholes.

Then we have to determine the best way to keep the house safe while we’re gone.  We plan to make a list for our house help and a list for our guard so they know what to do each day (such as turn on the security lights and turn off the stove).  They’ll also take care of the poochies.  (And yes there just may be a list for that too.  )

The main thing we’re trying to do is cut down on what we pack.  We are over-packers.  Always.  Always, always, always.  But boy do I want to take the stroller, and lots of toys, and things to play on the beach with, and the exercauser, and his big feeding chair, and lots of books, and DVDs, and the external hard drive, and plenty of food for the 3-day journey (in the big cooler of course).  And of course there are the essentials including Jonathan’s equipment that they use for conference meetings. 

We really need a bigger car… 

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Now I don’t get to hear the news all around me like you do:  on the radio, on TV, overhearing others talking… so my perspective is limited.  I just log onto FoxNews a couple times a week to see if anything big is going on (although I figure someone will tell me if something really big happens). 

So I got up the other morning, sat down with my breakfast as Asher was still snoozing.  I turned my computer on, pulled up FoxNews, and the main story was this:  “Breaking News:  Obama swatted a fly during a press conference.”

And this makes me wonder why I ever log on.  Maybe 24/7 news isn’t such a good idea after all.  I’m just saying.

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A few years ago Jonathan and I sold our house and moved into an RV.  Sold a house.  Moved into an RV.

I

was

so

sad.

I never even realized I’d react that way.  I didn’t think I had a “hold” on my house.  And I didn’t really.  It was my home.  And I loved my home.  I loved keeping it in order and relaxing in it. 

On the flip side I hated being so weird.  I lived in an RV!  People were always inviting us to stay with them a night or two out of sympathy for crying out loud!  You’d think we would have felt comforted by our RV neighbors but OH NO they had those big motorhomes.  That’s a whole different thing from our little pull behind thingy that we didn’t even have a vehicle able to pull. 

Now, years later, it seems so trivial.  I met a lady in the blogosphere who is in the midst of selling her home to be an overseas missionary.  That made me look back and realize as hard as that step was, it’s not really that great a loss (not in the long run that is). 

I do have a home again and granted it’s not as nice as our little house in Matthews but I have still made it our home.  Some friends of ours commented to us the other night that we have made great strides to settling in here saying that that others have been here years and haven’t done half of what we’ve managed to do.  But that’s because our home being a home is of huge value to us.  Huge! 

No matter what else is going on here if I can feel comfortable in my own house then I’ve accomplished something.  I’ll look out at the flowers, watch the dogs, or bring in a little harvest from the garden and feel comforted and happy.  It’s truly a gift from God that this far away from home I can still feel at home.

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After watching the coverage of the election in Iran I am so, so thankful that we live in a politically stable environment.  I am also thankful that America is a politically stable country.  We don’t get shot in the face if we oppose the winner of the election.  That’s comforting when you see what’s happening in Iran.  What a scary place to live!!

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