De-spare

My son David: Mom, what is round and sad and goes in the back trunk?

Mom: I don't know, what?

David: De spare tire!

:: Mom rolls on the floor, laughing in utter delight ::

For some reason, perhaps because I am rising from a pit of despair, I absolutely love this joke! It seems to have a lot of dimensions to it, and if I'm am anything at all, I am a trans-dimensional individual. I mean, really, my despair is not something I wear on my sleeve - I would really prefer that it go in the trunk of my car so that I could go on my "merry" way and no one would realize that I was needy. And if I had a trunk on this vessel 'o mine, I would certainly put my "spare tire" in it, instead of wearing it for all the world to see.

Despair is something we need to take a little more seriously, however. In all honesty, I feel that it can be a good thing in my life. Growth in the Lord Jesus Christ seems to come in cycles in my life. I'll enter a season where my face is turned toward the Sonshine and the wonder and delight of God endlessly impresses me and doing the right thing is effortless! The transformation of glory - halleiluia!

Transversely, I'll enter a cloudy season, where my heart begins to drift from God and I am doing my own thing; never dreaming that I will falter in one area or another. It seems that I begin to sink when my heart begins to put it's hope in the wrong place.
The definition of despair is: To lose, give up, or be without hope.

Here are a few scriptures about hope...

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Romans 8:24-25 " For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."
Romans 5:5 "Hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

So my faith is the substance and evidence of things hoped for and not seen, I am saved by hope, and hope squashes my shame because of the Holy Spirit living in my heart. This is cool stuff! I think the Holy Spirit must be a hope generator. And when I am listening and obeying Him on a moment-by-moment basis, God becomes so evident; hence, my faith grows.

Hmmmm.

There doesn't seem to be any room here for despair.

So I think I'll just ask God to breathe some more air (pneuma) in my tires :-).

I'm Back!

Just when you thought I had abandoned my blog!

I had such hopes of splashing across October with "Happy Birthday to Me!" And my new blog design. It was going to be such a cool birthday present to myself. However, there was one glitch. My new blog design isn't finished yet (I can assure you, however, that it will sport a lamb and a limerick...perhaps the grand opening will be March?). I've had a few (five, to be precise) distractions also :-).

But God is GOOD! We are in the midst of some overdue tomato-staking, and He has given me the power and perspective I need to undertake this adventure. Tomato-staking? Huh? It has to do with my little tomato plants :-) They just needed a little TLC. More on that later.
Here is my sweet baby, for those of you who have been awaiting a picture:

Smiles Motivate

"But Moooooooom..." my child moaned as she fell forward in her chair.

The whine was like a vacuum, sucking the life out of me and weakening my resolve. I am happy to report that not all of my commands are greeted by such negativity, but I've realized that my own contribution can make or break a good attitude in my kids, regardless of consistent consequences.

I've figured out that my default mode is activity. There is nothing like getting a lot done to put a smile on my face. I think often that I seek out that good feeling by jumping into the day with a list of intended accomplishments. The problem is that my focus tends to get off balance. Sometimes I let my "getting stuff done" part be too important, and I respond with impatience and irritability when that is "interrupted".

Balance is so important. I've determined that to change my default mode, I must focus on the smile, and take the time to really listen and love on my little blessings. The irritation is like a thief, stealing away not only my joy, but also the amount that would have been accomplished had I been focused on an encouraging smile.

The reason for my joy is also key. If my joy receiver is plugged into my accomplishments, then I am going to be one depressed Mama on some days. But if I am plugged into the source of joy Himself, then surely my smile will come first; it won't depend on something that I do. It will instead spill out of my actions instead of waiting on them.

I found this little poem online and had to share it...

Smiling is infectious,
You catch it like the flu,
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner,
And someone saw my grin,
When he smiled I realized,
I'd passed it on to him.
I thought about that smile,
Then realized its worth,
A single smile, just like mine,
Could travel round the earth.
So, if you feel a smile begin,
Don't leave it undetected.
Let's start an epidemic quick,
And get the world infected.
(author unknown)

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13

Handfuls On Purpose

We've been studying the book of Ruth in Bible Study Wednesday nights. It has been so exciting to be getting into the Word with other ladies, encouraging others and being encouraged. Leslie brought out an unusual commentary on the Bible called "Handfuls On Purpose" and read the following:

Boaz commanded the young men, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and let fall also handfuls on purpose for her." What words of grace are these. Gleaning among the sheaves is the privilege of those who have found favour in the sight of the Master; and what rich sheaves of promise we have in the field of His Word! But only believers have the liberty to glean here (Eph. 2:12), and according to your faith be it unto you. Those also who have found grace in His sight find many an unexpected handful that has been dropped on purpose for them. And notice, these handfuls did not fall by chance, they were each a gift of his grace. So our blessed Master does not leave His servants to the caprice of blind chance, or to pick up what joy and comfort they may; but many a rich handful He drops on purpose to comfort and cheer them in their work. Gleaning among the greedy and the selfish is most arduous, miserable work, and such is the worldling, seeking satisfaction in other fields. But how different is the field where grace reigns! There the handfuls are dropped on purpose. If you go to glean on other fields be sure the handfuls will cease. Jesus says, "Follow Me."

Need I say more? I am so enthralled to recognize the times that the Lord has spoken to me so clearly through the scriptures as times when He has dropped "Handfuls On Purpose".

A Gentle Answer

Let the words fall gently
Compelling though it be
To stir them up
They rise again
A weapon fit to flee

But when you let them lie there
Like a softly fallen snow
The heart is cool
There is no fool
And you are free to go

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1

Note: I wrote this for David, because God does not want us to be puppets :-).

Testimony

When I was 16 years old, I had a great job, my own car and I was just about to start college. On the outside I seemed to have it all together, but on the inside, I was a mess. I was still living at home in the midst of a very disfunctional family, and my life did not taste good to me. In fact, it gave me a very bad taste, and I was seeking in my heart for something, but I didn't know what.

When the light of my cousin swept into my life, I think I was a little attracted to her glamour. She was tall and she had this big head of beautifully styled blond hair and perfectly made-up face. It was curious for me, to meet a cousin whom I did not know existed, who came to mean a lot to me in a very short period of time (kind of like she was an angel). She listened to me. She really cared about me as a person, and seemed to understand what I was going through. And she was full of praise and thankfulness to a person she called Jesus Christ. However, I was truly not interested in Him. For I equated Him with "religion" and rejected it. I was enamored of the person who cared about me enough to listen and really seemed to love me.

Cynthia eventually invited me to live with her, as I was desperate to escape my home life, and I took her up on it. I remember that her daughter Crystal, 10 years old at the time, gave up her bed for me. She stayed in a small "L" shaped bedroom and she was so delighted to sleep on a bean bag at the top of the "L", while I slept in the comfort of her canopy bed at the bottom of the "L". My life started to taste good:-)

Eventually, through her testimony and prayers and other influences, I did believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And now when I reflect on how He drew me to himself, I can't help but think of this verse:

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
2 Corinthians 4:6-7

An earthen vessel who influenced my life was my cousin Cynthia. She was far from being a perfect person, like the Lord. But He shined out of her into my heart so brightly; and eventually I recognized Him and fell at his feet (splashed really, but we won't go there:-). God desires each one of us to shine and sprinkle as we go about our daily lives.

He knows things that we aren't always aware of. That there are people walking about in darkness, partaking of a tasteless existence. People who really need Jesus Christ. It is my prayer this morning that we would lift up our eyes to the Lord, from whence our help cometh, and lower our eyes again, to the people He seeks to help.

Jesus says: "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

Let the Change Come! Part 2: Hydrogenated Oils

I dream of a time when I will not have to go to the grocery store. With my mind's eye I can see myself pushing a button to order the month's needed groceries, and then receive them at my door in a few days. Ahhhh! It will be wonderful :-) For I truly hate shopping.

Right now I do once-a-month shopping. I've found that this makes it easier to stay on track with what I was intending to spend. At the moment it also has unintended consequences; we are pottytraining Joshua because we ran out of diapers and I refuse to buy more. At least until the first of July, but potentially never :-) The problem is that he is not motivated to be pottytrained. He knows that I will buy him a new bike when he is trained, but that far-away reality doesn't stick with a three-year-old in the day-to-day grind. I think I need to get some stickers. Or something.

But what does pottytraining have to do with hydrogenated oils? Absolutely nothing. I am truly on a rabbit trail. Ahem. Shopping. Right. Well, when Nathan said I was not to buy anything else with hydrogenated oils it really made shopping difficult. I became a label-reader; and the kids were really bored and acted up during our three-hour shopping trips. On the up-side, we now had a hard-and-fast reason to say "no" to our seven-year-old son if he was eyeing the Twinkies....

David: "Mom, can we get these cupcakes?"
Mom: "I don't think so. Just read the label David."
David: "Does it have hydrogenated in it mom?"
Mom: "Yes"
David: "Aw Mom, why does everything have hydrogenated in it?"

He is right. Nearly everything in the store has hydrogenated oils in it. We sadly walked by the hydrogenated underwear, and for awhile I had the children convinced that all of the toys were hydrogenated :-) (I'm sure if they don't have hydrogen bubbles blown into them, they must surely have "hypnotic" bubbles blown in). I jest, but nearly every cracker and cookie in the store contains this health-risk. All donuts and all peanut butter except for a few natural brands (we buy Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter). Most of the chips contain hydrogenated oils. Even the ones which now say: "0 Grams Trans-Fat" have hydrogenated oils. The law states that they are allowed to make this statement if the product has less than a gram (per serving?). Considering the risks associated with just a small amount of trans-fat, this seems a bit sneaky to me.

What are the risks anyway? Why is it important to avoid hydrogenated oils? Consider the following:

What's Wrong with Hydrogenation?

Unlike butter or virgin coconut oil, hydrogenated oils contain high levels of trans fats. A trans fat is an otherwise normal fatty acid that has been "transmogrified", by high-heat processing of a free oil. The fatty acids can be double-linked, cross-linked, bond-shifted, twisted, or messed up in a variety of other ways.

The problem with trans fats is that while the "business end" (the chemically active part) is messed up, the "anchor end" (the part that is attached to the cell wall) is unchanged. So they take up their position in the cell wall, like a guard on the fortress wall. But like a bad guard, they don't do their job! They let foreign invaders pass unchallenged, and they stop supplies at the gates instead of letting them in.

In short, trans fats are poisons, just like arsenic or cyanide. They interfere with the metabolic processes of life by taking the place of a natural substance that performs a critical function.

We have not been able to eliminate 100% of these poisons; I'm sure some of our food when we eat out is contaminated, and we sometimes "cave" when an urge for some favorite storebought good overcomes common sense (arrrgggghhhh!). But over time, by focusing on reading labels, we have drastically changed the amount we consume. Who knows? Maybe soon the companies who are continuing to poison the American public will be forced to change too. Then everyone would benefit. :-)

Update: I started writing this in June; sorry about the reference to July 1st! Also, my son has utterly resisted my efforts to potty-train (even with M&M's and our potty song), so rather than continue washing diapers I bought "just one more" pack of Walmart diapers :-).