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.

Five on Friday

     I had a nice Thanksgiving with my family.  As tradition has it, my Grandma prayed for the meal, or should I say tried.  She became emotional and the prayer was finished by someone else.  My mom asked her about it later.  Grandma said that she became emotional because this might be her last Thanksgiving.  Grandma is in relatively good health so there is no reason to worry.  It was a reminder that we aren’t promised tomorrow, so we need to cherish every minute that we have

This time of year brings back a lot of memories.  It was when Dan and I started dating. It was when we looked forward to our wedding that would be right after Christmas.  It was also when Dan’s health really got bad and there many lasts.  I am so blessed to have shared 9 years and 37 days with this man.

My Christmas tree is up.  Crystal will decorate it when she gets here in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait to have all of the kids home.  They are such incredibly awesome people.

My surgery is officially scheduled for February 13^th.  I feel good about this decision.  This week, I bought a couple of pairs of jeans in smaller sizes in anticipation of what is to come……or go as the case may be.  Out of curiosity, I attempted to try them on.  They definitely did not fit.  I am looking forward to the day when I give the away because they are too big.

I love listening to Christmas music while I sew.  I sing along…..loudly….and harmonize.  

Hot Guy in Church

I saw a very attractive man this morning.  I don’t know who he is or even his marital status.  The attractiveness that I saw wasn’t based on physical appearance or even how he interacted with other people.  The attractiveness came from how he interacted with God.  You see, during a time of worship through music, I saw a man with his hands raised toward heaven, lost in worship.  For those of you who attend churches where this is the “norm”, you might not see this as a big deal.  Although, a person worshiping this way is certainly not unusual in my church, it is also not what you would see being done by a majority of the congregation.  This area, up until the last few years, has primarily been Norwegian and German……two cultures not readily known for their expression of emotion and expression of worship is often very private.  Maybe one of the good things to come out of the population explosion here is that our boundaries are being stretched in how we experience worship.  That’s a blog for another day, though.

It’s no secret that I desire to share my life with someone.  I am tempted at times to lower my standards to accomplish that.  I am thankful for reminders like the one that I got today, that any man who isn’t sold out to God in a way that causes him to be lost in worship, isn’t a man I should be with.  That doesn’t mean that he has to express his worship the same way as the man I saw this morning, but he must have a heart that seeks God.  That’s the man who will have my attention.  That’s the man I will worship with.  

Five on Friday-11/16/12

I borrowed this idea from my niece.  My inspiration for blogs entries hasn't come as easily as I would like.  There are glimpses of beginnings, but they haven't come to fruition.  I have decided to fill in those barren times with Five on Friday words.

1.  Even on days like today when my students were really ornery, I love them and I love what I do.  

2.  The more that I talk to my students, the more I am learning that while there is drama in their lives and relationships, it is actually the adults that can't let things go.  The problem is that adults who don't know the whole story, involve themselves and cause more problems.  By the time they realize how wrong they are, the poison has been spread all over Facebook and in their little gossip circles.  The damage is done and the student is the one who has to try to overcome not only the initial situation, but now all of the collateral damage too.

3.  I don't like that the Hallmark Channel shows so many Christmas movies right now.  Boy meets girl, conflict happens, they live happily ever after.  Yeah....life isn't like that.

4.  I am really looking forward to seeing my kids and grandkids in about a month.  I miss them so much.

5.  God has made me more than good enough....even if others don't recognize that.