A New Journey-Part 2

With the new year approaching, I am looking forward to new beginnings.  As I shared in a previous blog, I will be having gastric bypass surgery on February 13^th.  There are some things that have to happen prior to surgery.  My liver needs to be healthy.  To accomplish this, I am required to go on a strict diet for the 2 weeks prior to surgery.  I will have 2 protein shakes (15-25 grams of protein, less than 7 grams of carbohydrates) and one meal of 4-6 ounces of protein and 1 cup of vegetables.  This should result in a loss of about 15 pounds. Finding protein shakes that meet the requirements and are palatable is somewhat challenging so I ventured out to Walmart today and bought each kind that they had that met the requirements.  I also ordered some protein broths to try out.  Over the next few weeks, I will test them out and hopefully find something that I like.  When the time comes for me to “have” to use the shakes, I should be prepared.

Another step that I took was to try to create a fail-proof environment.  After having 17 people living in the house over Christmas, there was quite a bit of food that was not weight-loss friendly.  I didn’t want it all to just go to waste, so my daughter-in-law Dani went through the cupboards, fridge, and freezer and took everything that I wasn’t supposed to eat.  There wasn’t much food left in the house, but I won’t be tempted to eat something I shouldn’t.  I also packed up my cookbook collection. There’s no sense in having them here tempting me to cook things that will interfere with me reaching my goal. 

My last step for this weekend was buying ingredients to make a couple of the recipes from the cookbook that Corey and Raissa gave me for Christmas.  It is written specifically for success after weight loss surgery.  Tomorrow I plan to prepare and puree the recipes, freeze them in ice cube trays, then store them in Ziploc bags so I have some ready meals when the time comes. 

This may seem like some drastic measures and I know that not everyone would need to do this much prep work to be successful, but I know the hard work now will pay off later.

This isn’t the end.  If you’ve read any of my blogs, you know that I try to find a lesson in everything.  When I was creating my fail-proof environment, I thought about how we need to make our spiritual environment fail-proof.  If you know that there are areas in your life that cause you to be tempted to sin, you need to do the work to remove those things when possible and have a game plan in place for when temptation arises.  Just as having food in the house that isn’t consistent with my successful weight loss, having things in my life that I know will cause me to sin doesn’t make any sense either.  Is it easy?  No.  Is it worth it?  Absolutely!!!

Five on Friday...a little late

My five on Friday post is a couple of days late.  I’ve been busy getting things ready for the kids and grandkids to come home this week.  In addition, my mind has been trying to process recent events in this country.  Sometimes, I feel so inadequate in trying to put my thoughts and feelings into words, but I’ll try.

1.       My heart breaks for the families affected by the shooting in Connecticut.  I can’t begin to imagine the fear, grief, anger, disbelief, and anguish that is happening. 

2.       This morning, I sat in church and looked at the empty seats around me.  I can’t wait for next Sunday, when those seats will be filled with my children and grandchildren.

3.       Why is it so easy to believe and hang on to the things that people say about me that are hurtful and mean, but so difficult to accept that someone is being honest when they see beauty in me?  There are areas of my life that I live with confidence, but two conversations about things I have done wrong seem to constantly overshadow anything I do right.  I hate that.

4.       My plans for second semester are coming together.  I will miss at least 12 days of school for surgery.  I’m trying to find ways to continue to teach even though I can’t be in class.

5.       Sometimes God needs us to get out of the way so He can move.

God Answers Prayers

God always answers prayers. Maybe not the way that we expect or understand, but He always answers.  Recently, I was faced with a situation where I really wanted God to answer with a resounding, “Yes”, but He said, “No”.  I argued with Him, but He was pretty insistent.   Generally, my inclination is to analyze situations, complete with bullets and sub-points.  I have been trying to not analyze as much and instead trust God’s leading.  In this situation, I asked for that guidance and He came through with a red light.  I really don’t understand it, but have a peace about it.  God has been asking me, “How much do you trust me to provide what you need and answer your prayers in a way that you can’t begin to imagine?”  Hmmmm…good point.  Yeah, God always answers prayers. Sometimes, He says, “Yes”.  Sometimes, He says, “No”.  Sometimes, He says, “Just wait.  I have something better planned”. 

Five on Fridays

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  It won’t be long until the kids and grandkids start coming home.  I can’t wait to see them.  There will 17 of us staying here when we are at our peak.  I am thankful that Justin married someone local.  I’m not sure where I would put more adults.  I firmly believe that God has a sense of humor.  Who else would orchestrate placing a woman with crowd anxiety in a family like this?

I really like my job.  This week, my students made beef kabobs.  I love the looks on their faces when they taste something that they made and I know that they think it tastes awesome.

My niece and her family have been here for a few days.  It was great to see the little girl that I once knew, all grown up into a wonderful woman.

I discovered an iphone app called Paprika.  With this, I can import a recipe that I find online into a consistent recipe format.  I think I’m going to like it.

I fell asleep in the bathtub earlier tonight.  I love that feeling.